So, Jaxon wasn’t bragging about getting to kiss me, then. That was out of character. Even if the kiss was just to keep us out of trouble for skipping, I thought it would have been the first thing he told Sabrina.
“Nothing,” I said to Sabrina. “I don’t even remember what I was thinking.”
“Jaxon is an idiot,” I said.
“Mh-hm,” Eli responded. I could tell he was barely listening to me but I couldn’t blame him. We were engaged in a very intense game of Mario Karts on DS and that was life or death for him. I was leaning against the headboard of my bed while he was leaning against the footboard and our feet were tangled in the middle with my blankets everywhere. Every time he got to an important turn or jump his foot would curl up against mine.
“I mean, he really asked me out while I was telling him about my awful day. And not even like a joke, he was completely serious.”
I complained about Jaxon to both Madison and Eli but the responses I got back from them were always very different. Like me, Madison wasn’t always the biggest fan of Jaxon, so she would usually hype me up and say that any of my anger towards him was justified. Eli, on the other hand, was one of Jaxon’s closest friends. People were frequently confused when they found out that he was friends with me and with Jaxon, since Jaxon and I were such different people. To be honest, I found it a little strange as well. But sometimes, it was nice to complain to Eli because he could give me some insights about why Jaxon acted so strangely. I could have asked Sabrina during our conversation in the library, but I didn’t feel like we were close enough for that.
“Do you know why Jaxon asks you out so much?” Eli asked semi-distractedly. His foot curled against mine again as he made a big jump in the game. I didn’t totally understand what hemeant by the question but I became too preoccupied with the game to answer right away. I was approaching the finish line with him hot on my tail and I could not lose my winning streak just because I was more focused on my conversation than on the game.
Within a few seconds, I had crossed the finish line and officially won the round. Eli sighed dramatically and dropped the DS on my bed. He couldn’t have been surprised; I could count on one hand how many times he had won against me. Despite that, he kept insisting that it was going to happen one day.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Hm?”
“Your question,” I said. “You asked if I knew why Jaxon asks me out so much. Is there some ulterior motive I don’t know about?”
He bit his lip and tilted his head back and forth a couple of times.
“I’m not sure I’d call it an ulterior motive,” he said.
“Then what would you call it?”
“Well, first, answer my question,” he said. He jutted his chin out in my direction. “Why do you think he asks you out so much?”
I shrugged. “It was a crush that started in grade nine. Back then, he didn’t understand boundaries, so he would just ask me out all the time. Eventually it became a joke and he carried it on because he thought it was funny.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s true to an extent,” Eli said. He looked out the window, lost in thought. I waited for him to continue but I couldn’t take it anymore after he stayed silent for a full minute.
“But?” I asked. He snapped out of his reverie.
“Oh,” he said. “Um… Well, it goes deeper than that. See, basically, there’s been this bet between Jaxon and Lewis for years?—”
“But Jaxon and Lewis hate each other,” I said. Why would they have a bet?
“Yeah, that’s exactly what caused this,” Eli said. “You know how Lewis has a crush on you?”
No. No, I absolutely did not know that. Since when was that a thing? There was no way that Lewis could have a crush on me — not in a million years. My stomach turned just at the thought of going on a date with Lewis. Even before our argument the other day, there was no world in which that would ever happen.
Eli went to keep speaking but cut himself off as he stared at me. I could only imagine what my face looked like right then.
“What are you talking about, Eli?” I asked.
“You… didn’t know that?” Eli asked
“No,” I said. I leaned forward. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
He shook his head slowly. “No… I’m sorry, I thought you knew. I mean, this is common knowledge in our grade — Lewis has been into you for years. We all just assumed that you had turned him down at some point but wanted to stay friends.”
“I had no idea,” I said. I curled my legs up toward my chest and rubbed my hands over my eyes. “I mean, I guess it makes sense.” He always wanted to be around me, he never went out with any other girls, and he would act weird if I hung out with any guys other than Eli. Heck, he was even a little weird around Eli until Eli and Sabrina started going out. But I always just thought was him not liking my new friends, not him having a crush on me.
I shook my head. This wasn’t the real matter at hand right now.
“What does this have to do with Jaxon?” I asked. Eli suddenly looked really uncomfortable and he avoided my gaze. Ipoked his leg with my toe. “Eli. What does this have to do with Jaxon?”
