LAST TIME I WAS AT YOUR HOUSE, YOU SET ME ON FIRE.

SCOTT wanted to kill Javi. Why? Because he'd given Eli the AUX chord as they drove for two hours searching for a storm. And she only played one of two things — Taylor Swift and the 'Glee' cast. It made him want to tear his hair out.

Not to mention she'd beaten him to the goddamn front seat again.

So, he was forced to sit in the back, listening to music he didn't care for, forced to smell Elianna's sweet-scented perfume as the air conditioning blew it back in his face, a constant reminder of her presence even when she wasn't obnoxiously singing along.

Not to mention she forwent literally every single safety procedure that they had set in place. When a tornado touched down and they drove after it, she unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned out the window to film it on her phone.

"My friends are gonna think this is killer!" she shouted when Scott told her to get inside.

"You have friends?" he asked bitterly. "Shocking."

That earned an elbow in the gut from Javi.

Then, when they reached the spot where they were going to set down the PAR, she wouldn't wear the safety goggles.

"You look stupid, Scott," Eli had said when Scott offered her a pair. Then she'd jumped out without a care in the world about the safety of her eyes, helping Javi get the PAR set up.

Clearly though, the storm had put Eli in a perky mood, which worsened Scott's because that meant she teased him more and more. She called him names like Clark Kent and Hayden Christensen to make fun of his looks and called him a nerd any time he mentioned the data — as if she wasn't also a nerd that understood every word he said.

That's what he disliked most about her, he was certain.

Because Elianna was so fucking smart, so why did she act like that? Why was she always laughing and joking around and teasing him? Why couldn't she take anything seriously?

Why wouldn't she take him seriously?

But then Scott quickly reminded himself that he didn't care what Eli thought of him.

Just like now. He didn't care as he hung out with Javi in the parking lot of the motel they were staying at. He didn't care that she wasn't with them. He didn't care that she was fifty feet away, right in his line of sight, lying out on a lounge chair and soaking up the mid-day sun since there were no storms. He didn't care about the way her red swimsuit hugged the curve of her chest and showed off her short legs.

And Elianna had no clue he was staring behind his sunglasses. She was too busy calling her dad, wanting to tell someone about the cool tornado they'd run into earlier that day.

But she was sent to his answering machine right away.

"Hey, Dad," she greeted, forcing a tight smile that no one could see. "Saw this totally killer tornado today. I sent you a video of it. The wind was so strong — could've flipped the truck and everything. And Javi and Scott — I told you more about them in my last message — were such sissies. Yelled at me about not wearing a seatbelt and stuff."

Eli hesitated, not really sure what else she could tell him. What else he might want to know even though deep down, she knew he didn't want to know at all.

"I'm having lots of fun," she told him while bringing her knees up to her chest as she sat up. "This traveling thing is cool, and it's gonna look great on my résumé, you know? So, thank god Marshall told you that tax stuff during that round of golf."

"And, um, am I still good to have the house for my birthday party next week?" she asked even though there wouldn't be an answer. He'd probably text her in a day or two after taking the time to listen to the message. "It's gonna be killer. Everyone from school is super excited. The big twenty-one, you know?"

Then Eli sighed, really and truly running out of things to say. But as she looked up, she saw two familiar people walking toward her, so she could end the call.

"Anyway, Javi and Scott are here," she told her dad as if he was there and listening. "They're so cool even if they kinda hate me. Maybe you'll meet them one day. But, uh, gotta run. Bye. Love you!"

Just as she was finishing up, Javi and Scott reached her. Javi smiled and sat on the chair next to her while Scott just remained standing, towering over them, his imposing height blocking her from the rays of the sun that she was trying to soak up.

"Hey, guys," she greeted with a smile. "Decided to join pool day?"

"Just seeing how you're enjoying the weather," Javi told her. "Who were you on the phone with?"

"My dad," she told them. "He's, uh, he's really glad I'm enjoying the job. And we were making plans for my birthday party in a few days."

"It's your birthday?" Javi asked, grinning. "Hey, that's exciting. Can finally stop using that fake ID."

Eli snickered and nodded. "It's gonna be a huge thing. You and Scott can come after we're off work if you want," she offered, trying not to sound too eager.

Because maybe Javi and Scott didn't adore her company, but she was so very desperate for them to like her. Just so happened she didn't have a filter, so her mouth actively worked against that agenda, getting on their nerves more than she meant to.

"I'm not getting you a present," Scott said flatly.

Eli looked at him and beamed, the smile making him frown. "Does that mean you're coming?"

"Last time I was at your house, you set me on fire," he said, clenching his jaw.

"You're fine, you big handsome baby," she said, rolling her eyes. Scott huffed as she made fun of him by calling him handsome. "No scars or anything."

"Well, if Scott promises to be plenty of entertaining and does no math, he should come out fire-free," Javi joked. "And I love birthdays, so we'll be there."

"Great," she said, lying back down on the lounge chair. "Just no work clothes. It's a college party. Seriously, you'll embarrass me. Dress cool — Javi, show Scott how to dress cool."

Scott rolled his eyes as Javi chuckled.

"Will do. Won't let him even look like a hint of a nerd."

"Well, that's probably not possible because look at him, but I'll appreciate the effort."

☁︎

Scott was in the parking lot of a gas station as they waited for a nearby storm to develop more. And Eli was watching him silently from the window inside of the gas station.

She was chewing intently on a cherry-flavored SweetTart Rope as she did so, taking in his strong forearms shown off by his rolled up sleeves and the way he held a screwdriver between his lips as he leaned down to do something to the wiring of a PAR. His ball cap was sitting to the side so that he could run his hands through his hair in frustration at times.

God, he looked good. She couldn't help but stare at him from a distance.

And her staring evidently wasn't subtle as Javi came up next to her, sipping on a soda that he bought.

"You're staring," he noted.

"Just look at him, Javi," she mumbled. "I wanna get him pregnant."

Javi choked on his soda, still not used to her lack of filter and bold claims that made little sense to him. Because what the fuck did she even mean by that? He wasn't sure that he wanted to know.

"That's an interesting way of saying you have a crush on him," he noted, wiping a bit of soda off his chin.

"Oh, not a crush," she denied. "Just think he's so hot that I start ovulating when he's around."

Javi sighed heavily and put his head in his hands. "Jesus Christ, Eli."

"What'd I say?" she asked innocently.

He simply shook his head. "Just keep that information to yourself once you two get together."

"Like that's happening," she laughed. "He can't stand me."

"Because you make him not stand you. You do all the picking and shit on purpose, right?" Javi asked her knowingly. "Being annoying?"

Elianna reminded him of a middle school boy at times, who was clearly flirting with Scott by teasing him about his looks and anything else she could think of. And Scott was too short-tempered to realize that was what she was doing.

"I mean, I'm also just annoying," she shrugged, avoiding his question.

"Well, can I offer some advice?"

She eyed him, raising an eyebrow. "Sounds like you're gonna give it anyway."

"Maybe try having a civil conversation just once without making him want to kill you."

Eli pulled a face, not sure how she felt about that. "That doesn't sound like any fun. He's so cute when he gets that annoyed expression on his face. Like an angry little capybara."

Javi opened his mouth but closed it, not entirely sure how to respond to that at first. Eli had an odd way of complimenting people. Javi didn't think that the age gap between them was large enough to make him feel a million, but she was constantly proving him wrong.

"You confuse me," he finally admitted. "Like, a lot."

"I take that as a compliment," she said with a smile.

"It is, trust me," he told her. "Back in the day, me and my friends would've loved hanging out with someone like you."

"You mean the ones from the Tornado Tamer project?" she asked without really thinking.

Javi tensed up, clearly uncomfortable. "...How'd you know about that?"

"I've lived in Oklahoma all my life and like meteorology," she shrugged. "I mean, I was just fifteen, but I remember reading about it. And I'm sorry you lost those friends."

"Thanks," he said, his head hanging low. "And I'm moving on, you know?"

"Well, if it's any consolation, I think StormPAR is a pretty cool successor to that project. Maybe once Marshall is out of the way, you can actually make a difference with all this," she told him. "You and Scott are doing amazing things here even if I don't say it a lot."

"Well, you're helping do those things," he said, bumping her shoulder. Then he nodded out the window. "Now, since you so kindly offered to wingwoman me at the bar that night, let me wingman you. Go ask Scott about his work."

Eli just rolled her eyes. "He's gonna tell me I wouldn't understand and send me packing."

"Nah, he won't," he said, shaking his head. "He knows how smart you are, Eli. Just because you tick him off a little isn't gonna change that fact. And you wanna know a secret?"

She peered at him, clearly tempted. Eli loved a secret — but she was horrible at keeping them. "What kinda secret?"

"Scott said you were hot."

That was all the information Eli needed to smugly waltz out of the gas station and toward Scott, who didn't even notice she'd come up.

But as she slid up on the tailgate, it drew his attention to her exposed thighs, as she was wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts hiked way up. She'd already taken her StormPAR shirt off, leaving her in a black tank top.

"Can I help you?" Scott asked, chewing his gum a bit more intensely to reign in his frustration at her interrupting him.

"Yeah," she said, swinging her feet. "What's all this engineering stuff? What are you working on?"

Scott rolled his eyes. "You wouldn't care."

Eli pouted at that — but at least he hadn't said she wouldn't understand. "I do," she said softly. "I mean, what's the point of this internship if I don't learn things? I already know basically everything about meteorology — textbook-wise anyway. But StormPAR isn't just the weather side of things. So, I wanna learn about the engineering side too."

Scott studied her for a moment with a guarded expression, waiting to see if she was going to crack a joke about his job or make fun of him in some other way. But she had a genuine expression on her face.

"Well, I'm currently calibrating the sensors on the PAR to see if the time between sample data collection can be shortened. Even just milliseconds can make a difference in how the rendering will turn out," he told her.

"And how does one calibrate a sensor?"

Again, he paused. But then Scott nodded his head to the PAR, beckoning her closer. She smiled and slid off the tailgate, getting close to him as she crouched over the PAR, seeing the wires he was messing with.

"Okay, see this right here?" he asked, pointing in a general direction.

She scrunched her face up in confusion and pointed to a black bundle of wires. Scott shook his head and wrapped a hand around her wrist, moving her pointed finger to the left. Now, she was pointing at what she was pretty sure was some kind of complex motherboard. Or at least it looked like the thing inside computers.

"That thingy?"

"Yeah, that thingy," he chuckled at her tone and lack of scientific vocabulary.

Instantly, Eli cut her eyes to his face, her eyes wide as she saw a barely-there, dimpled smile on his face that was gone in seconds.

And as someone that thrived off making people smile and laugh to make herself feel worthy, seeing him do that was like a drug, her wanting to do everything to draw the sound from him again and again.

But for now, she had to settle for just the one as he began teaching her about how the PAR worked. And Eli wouldn't forget. No, she'd store the image of his beautiful smile in the back of her mind with all the other engineering information he was bestowing on her, remembering it every time she looked at the handsome man.

Okay, maybe Javi was right.

It was so a crush.