East Kids - Tessa & Elijah

Chapter 23

Tessa

With a bowl of Asian noodles and a bottle of coke I return to my room. Fortunately the conversation with Mom went well and the problem of moving in together was also tackled. She admitted that she should have told me earlier, while I admitted that I could have ruled a little better.

I still don't doubt that it will be terrible to live with Elijah, but what can I do about it. I'll hardly be able to persuade Cole to give Elijah up for adoption.

Nevertheless, I like Cole and want my mother to be happy with him. So I guess I'll shift my anger from Mom to Elijah. After all, he's the only thing that bothers me about the situation.

I close the door with my foot and then run towards the bed, from which Jil seems not to have moved an inch. Carefully I place the meal, the plastic bottle and two glasses on my dessert.

Normally I would ask my friends if they like the food at all, but I know Jil so well that it is not necessary. After all, these noodles are as good as the only thing I see eating them at school. One could almost think that she only feeds on them.

"Did you settle it with your mother?" she asks when she lies down on the bed. "Yes, she said that you could stay here for today, I handed her the bowl. Let us now come to the unpleasant part: "But she calls your parents to say that you are here. She wants to prevent them from worrying." Immediately she swallows hard. "Your mother won't mind', I try to reassure her: 'After all, our mothers are friends. She will certainly not say no to a spontaneous overnight stay. That will relieve them a little." "So you find me exhausting?", finally a smile appears on her lips. "A little", I tease her while unscrewing the lid of the bottle and pouring something into it: "Do you want to?" She nods as she reaches for the fork and starts poking at her food.

So I pour her something too and hand her the glass. "Can I tell you something," I suddenly ask from an impulse. She turns her fork between her fingers as she looks at me with interest from her big eyes: "Sure, you know you can always talk to me". "And you always with me', I say quickly. "Yes, I know that," she rolls her eyes: "So tell me!" "All right, my mom told me this morning that we're having dinner with Cole and his son tonight," I start. "That's right, you told me," Jil starts eating slowly: "How was it?" "Horrible," I have no idea, but suddenly I start laughing.

Probably because I finally realize how absurd the whole thing is. I cry to my girlfriend about dinner, while she probably has much worse problems than me.

"Why? What's going on? "You won't believe it, but my mother's boyfriend's son is none other than Elijah Baxter," my voice suddenly becomes completely dramatic as I sip on the glass. "Do you mean the Elijah Baxter?" Now she sounds even more interested: "The one from our school?" Her eyes are almost mischievous. She is always available for such stories.

"Exactly that," I sigh. But her growing enthusiasm makes me smile. "Oh God, I feel so sorry for you. He's really obnoxious, even though the girls from our school who don't really know him would rather call him irresistible," she affirms.

"Yes, that's true, but that's not all", finally being able to talk to someone about it and defeating my pent-up anger feels liberating: "My mother also wants them to move in with us. But fortunately not immediately. Instead, the adults simply decided that Cole and Elijah would stay here for the weekend. So they want to test if it would work."

Now my best friend's mouth is wide open: "And you just go along with that?" "No, I was totally shocked and angry," I admit, "but I decided not to make life extra difficult for my mother. But if Elijah provokes me or starts a fight, I'm sure I won't hold back." "That's how I know my girl," she grins and moves a bit to the side on the mattress to make room for me.

Following the silent invitation, I lie down next to her and stare at the ceiling: "Well, life hates me." "Me too', from the corner of my eye I perceive how she also observes the white ceiling. "By the way, I brought your mobile phone up with me", I pull the small high electronic box out of my trouser pocket and hand it to her. Only now do I see how fragmented the screen really is. I really can't tell what happened with it. After all, she always pays attention to it as if it were vital for her. "Maybe you want to tell me what actually happened? Mom said that you can stay longer if she knows what's going on,' I ask carefully and turn my face towards her.

At first it seems as if she does not react, but then I notice how tears begin to form in her eyes. Again I want to tell her that it's not important and that I don't have to know, so she takes the phone out of my hand: "All right, I'll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it to yourself".

She holds her little finger out to me. I rake in my own and thus confirm my oath: "I promise you high and holy". She takes another heavy breath and wipes away the tears before getting ready to start her story.