ELIAS

ONCE I TOLD Cannon about Rylie and I planning on hanging out tomorrow, he was ecstatic about it. For the entire afternoon, it was pretty much all we talked about. I wasn't shocked about it in any way. Knowing Cannon, I expected it. He wants to know every detail he can get about it, and I don't blame him.

"Do you, you know . . . like her?" He teased as he made kiss noises.

I didn't respond right away. It's the end of the school day and I'm already being interrogated with questions. I looked up to the baby blue sky to see puffy, pillow-like clouds dotted across as I pondered on his question. I was stumped on what to think. Even worse, I was stumped on what to say.

If I'm going to be honest here, I like Rylie. I like hanging out with her and I like talking with her, even if she doesn't talk that much. She's a nice friend and a great person. However, I can't figure out if I like her in that way. Feelings are just too confusing. I mean, she is cute and I like her personality. I enjoy talking to her—I really do.

Is it possible that I liked her in that way? Maybe, but I don't want to rush things. I still enjoy just being friends with her and I don't want to lose that. 

"I don't know, man," I replied to my best friend as we entered his raven black Mercedes Benz. "Feelings are so confusing."

"Honestly," Cannon agreed while practically tossing his backpack into the backseat. His car was nice, inside and out. I didn't have a ride on my own just yet, unless you count me borrowing my mom or dad's car to get around. "What will you two be doing on your date?"

"Cannon, it's not a date," I rolled my eyes playfully as he drove way too fast out of the student parking lot. At this point, we were practically at risk of bumping into the curb, or worse, driving over it to hit a sign or something. "You're a horrible driver."

"I know, but don't use this as an opportunity to change the topic," he smirked as he turned around a corner, causing me to suddenly lean to the left. "Seriously, though, what are you two going to do?"

"We're going to hangout at my house. It'll be casual," I said. "My mother will probably insist on her staying for dinner, so she probably will."

"That's cute. What are you going to wear?" Cannon interrogated, taking a quick glance at me. I could practically see question marks shooting out of his eyes. 

"I . . . haven't decided yet. I mean, it's not too much of a big deal, right? We're just hanging out," I murmured. Cannon let out a disappointed sigh while shaking his head. He looked as if he wanted to do a facepalm. I grimaced as I looked out the window, automatically seeing storekeepers removing Halloween decorations from the windows of their stores and replacing them with ones that were autumn-themed, specifically for Thanksgiving coming up in a few weeks.

"It's kind of a big deal, Eli. What you wear does matter. It's a make or break kind of thing," he explained as he stomped on the brake too hard, causing me to lean forward against my seat belt. If only the light hadn't turned red. "Since it's a casual occasion, you can just wear whatever. However, if it were more . . . formal . . ."

Let's be real. Cannon knows a lot more about what to wear to a certain occasion than me. This scenario is a perfect example of it. He isn't crazy about it to the point where he'd drag me to the mall to pick out something fancy, however, he will give certain advice that he believes will help.

"Does a nice sweater and jeans sound okay?" I questioned. I needed a second opinion of it just in case.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Just make sure it matches and has no wrinkles," he replied. It was common sense. I wasn't going to wear anything mix-matched to any occasion, really. Unless you count several occasions of me wearing mix-matched pajamas to sleep at night. That didn't matter, though.

Once we pull up at my house, Cannon parks on the left side of the driveway due to my dad's car being in the way of the right side. "Bye, Eli. See you tomorrow," he gleamed, unlocking the car doors so I could make my departure. "Make sure to tell me all about your date with Rylie tomorrow night."

"For the love of God, it's not a date, Cannon," I rolled my eyes playfully as I nudged his arm.

"Keep telling yourself that," he tutted.

I said one more goodbye as I abandoned his car, my backpack tossed on my back. I sauntered towards the house as Cannon started to drive away. Once I got inside the house, I slipped off my shoes and placed them at the foot of the stairs so I could take the pair up to my room later. "I'm home," I hollered, placing my backpack on the floor beside the couch. Mom and Dad were in the living room watching something on our television while pretty much cuddling. Up until they saw me, at least.

"Elias, hey," Mom gleamed. "How was your day at school?"

"It was okay," I shrugged as I walked off into the kitchen meters ahead to grab a snack.

"That's great to hear, son," Dad said as he turned back to the TV to adjust the volume. 

I opened the refrigerator in hopes that there would be something I desired to eat, but instead, I saw leftover fried rice, baby carrots, orange juice, ham slices, bread, and dozens of vegetables and fruits. I closed the door shut and opened it again in hopes of something else magically appearing. To my disappointment, nothing happened. Instead of walking off to the pantry, I took out the pack of baby carrots and put several of them into a bowl. It was better than nothing.

I joined my parents into the living room once again. I needed to tell them about Rylie coming over tomorrow and I was clueless on how they would react to it. I don't want them to get the wrong idea or anything. Her and I are hanging out as friends, and maybe they'll assume that we're more than that. No matter what, I just want them to approve of her.

"So tomorrow, my friend is coming over," I gathered all my courage as I bit my lip, slouching into the accent chair near the sofa my parents were on.

"Is it your friend Cannon?" Mom questioned, her eyes lightening up. "He's so sweet."

"No, not him. Another friend," I corrected. "Her name is Rylie."

"So it's a girl, eh? I see you, son," Dad smirked. He was already getting the wrong idea. "You're growing up so fast. It was like you were in diapers just yesterday."

My hand swept across my face, my face warming up. "No, Dad, we're not dating or anything. We're just going to hang out like normal people."

"If you say so," he shrugged with a wink. I rolled my eyes as I shook my head before taking a bite of one of my carrot sticks. Telling them both about Rylie coming over wasn't too difficult. Unsurprisingly, Dad did take things the wrong way, but it's all good. I had no worries about that whatsoever. The real deal to worry about was my dad embarrassing me in front of Rylie like this. I gulped at the thought. It was more than likely to happen, but I'll be just fine. Right?

During art class the next day, Ms. Daniels taught us about collages and the art in them. It's pretty much what she's been teaching us for the past few days. Today, however, we'll have the opportunity to take that into action. We're supposed to use an 8.5 by 11 inch piece of paper and paste various small photos to make one meaningful art using old magazines she has available at every table.

The assignment itself wasn't difficult. So far, I've stayed productive and found plenty of pictures to glue to my paper, mainly pictures of buildings, trees, rivers, etcetera. Rylie, Cannon, Nora, and Axel, who were also at the same table as me, appeared to not have a difficult time with their collages, as well.

Cannon and Nora were in deep conversation about modeling television shows, like America's Next Top Model, from what it seemed like, and Rylie was basically third-wheeling, coming into the conversation here and there. Axel was basically multitasking between the assignment and typing furiously into his phone for what seemed like every few minutes, but since Rylie sat across from me, I decided to make a move.

"What's the theme of your collage? It looks cool," I admired, slightly getting up to get a good look at her assignment. Multiple cut-outs of books, pillows, coffee cups, and anything that could possibly be related to that were pasted on the paper.

"M-My collage just . . . has this calm theme with all the things I like when it comes to comfort. It's nothing special," she informed, sneaking a peek at mine. "I like yours. It's so colorful." 

I looked down to my paper. Mine had various cut-outs of buildings and anything landscape related. It wasn't too appealing, but I liked it. "Thanks," I acknowledged. After that, it was silence between us. It was awkward silence, too. It can't be like this when her and I hang out today, and I think she realized it as well. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Then, she placed a finger on her chin. 

"I've been wondering . . . how exactly did you get into art? Like, what made you so interested in it?" She questioned, her eyes gazing into mine. It was direct eye contact. 

"Art has been something I've been interested in since I was little. I liked the idea of envisioning something and putting it on paper, so I did," I explained, a hand brushing behind my neck. "No regrets." 

"Oh, that makes sense. It was pretty obvious," she mustered an awkward smile. "I feel stupid for asking." 

"Don't be. You were just wondering, so it's not stupid at all," I assured her. 

She insisted, lifting her head up to look at the ceiling, paper honeycombs dangling down from it. "If you say so." She paused for a second, then looked back at me. "I'm looking forward to later on."

"I am too. We can talk and you can meet my parents and we can maybe watch some kind of movie," I suggested. "You can even stay over for dinner if you want."

"I think I'll have to check in with my mother for that, but I think she'll be okay with it as long as I'm back by curfew," she reasoned, flashing a grin to me. 

"Well, my mother will most likely insist on you staying," I chuckled.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Then I guess I should—"

That moment, the final bell rang. I could see a smile appear on Rylie's face. My face mirrored that smile. The school day was over and done with. I looked down at my collage, empty white spaces here and there. It was a no-no according to Ms. Edwards, since she wanted us to have our papers with little empty space. I would've been finished if I hadn't been so caught up in talking with Rylie to the point where I forgot to finish working. I guess I'm a bad multitasker. 

"Class is dismissed, everyone," Ms. Edwards cleared her throat from her desk as she stacked a couple of papers. "You all can finish and turn in your collages tomorrow." 

I reached down to my backpack, which was still on the floor and slid my collage into a plastic, standard-sized folder. After, I threw my backpack onto my back and gathered any paper scraps from the magazines—small or large—and cupped them into my hands. I didn't plan on staying long since I'll have to quickly finish my homework and start getting ready to hang out with Rylie afterwards, so I prepared to say goodbye to everyone at our table. Not to mention that I have to work on some kind of drawing to give to her later on. 

"Bye, guys. I have to get going now," I cleared my throat.

Everyone else said their goodbyes as I got ready, but Cannon specifically winked at me. I knew exactly what it meant. It was his way of telling me good luck for later on—but more so to tell him everything that has happened after Rylie and I hang out. He's expecting to hear from me after, so I made a mental note to tell him everything. 

I just can't contain my excitement for later today.