Magnetism
Tyrell had been sleeping in Elliot's hoodie for the past three nights, basking in his scent while he still could. Though Tyrell wasn't one for domesticity, all he could do was imagine him and Elliot in his room after a long day of school. They would be in his bed, relaxing and looking into each other's eye, exploring the beauty of each other with a mere gaze and saturated silence. There were so many things to say about Elliot's beauty that all the languages in the world wouldn't be able to describe what he saw in him. Gross, he thought, laughing to himself. He could see Joanna now, mocking him for becoming sappy and sentimental about a guy he had only known for a little under three weeks ago. It was evident that he had never felt like this about anyone else in his life, not even Joanna.
Having the pseudo-feeling of Elliot being there in his bed made him feel warm inside. Possessing something that Elliot owned replaced some of the strong desire he had of wanting him to be his lover. It was nothing like the real thing, or sex, but this was the best he could do for the time being. Of course he would have to return the hoodie, but there was never a time that Elliot wasn't in his room. Besides, he wasn't too ready to give it up just yet; plus, he had to take it to the laundromat for a deep clean. He had gotten most of the stains out, but hand-washing was nothing compared to a washing machine. Sighing, he threw the hoodie in his closet, making sure it was covered up.
He walked into the bathroom to look at his hair one last time before leaving his room. Much to his opposition, he had a date tonight which was, unfortunately, not with Elliot. It wasn't a real date, because he wouldn't waste his precious time getting to know a complete stranger when he had other ventures to explore. No, this was more of hookup -- a one night stand at best-- because he needed sexual attention. As much as he wanted to continue his long gazes at Elliot from his seat and imaginative masturbation, he needed to be physical with someone and he couldn't wait around anymore. He could've gone to Joanna but he felt like her tastes were...not something to do in a crowded college dorm room.
However, the idea of eventually bedding Elliot offered a small sense of comfort and hopefulness while he made this ridiculous trip to meet up with his "date" from Grindr. One day I won't have to go out of my way for this. I'll have Elliot. He smiled to himself as he walked out of the building.
-
Elliot took a long drag of the cig, letting the smoke fill up in his lungs before exhaling through his nose heavily. "Do you ever think that life is just one big ball of shit, you know, a mess of everyone's shit being fucked up?" he passed the blunt to Angela, looking at all the people below them walking by.
"What do you mean?" Angela asked, taking a hit.
He sighed. "I mean, everyone is living their shitty lives and trying their best to be something, then suddenly life throws a fucking curve ball at you, telling you to fucking deal with a problem that wasn't there originally. Life wants to fucking ruin all of your plans and dreams with some low brow shit expecting you to come out in the end with perfect results."
Angela look at him for a second with a questioning look, passing the blunt back to him. "What are you trying say?"
"I'm saying...life is shitty." he took another puff.
"Wait, is this about that guy that has a a crush on you?" she asked giggling a little bit.
Elliot scolded her, crushing the last bit of the blunt into the roof's gravel. "Don't laugh at me, Angela. This is serious."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Elliot. I didn't realize a guy who was just trying to talk to you was a threat, my bad." she continued her laughter as they moved off the roof, back into the building so they could leave.
"Don't trivialize it, he's a fucking psycho."
"C'mon, Elliot, I would kill for a guy to at least acknowledge me at my school. Maybe I should've applied there after all." she said, jumping down the last couple of stairs.
He rolled his eyes, ignoring that last comment. "Darlene was supposed to get me his records, but she fucked up and got the wrong one. We can't go for his records again or else the university will notice. I just have to get close enough to his computer, then I could get into his records without alarming anyone." As far as the plan went, it was only an idea. He didn't know exactly what he wanted to know about Tyrell, but it had to at least be good enough so he had leverage and so Tyrell would leave him the fuck alone.
"It sounds like to me, all you have to do is talk to him." she shrugged, pushing the front door open, exposing the cool breeze on their bodies once again. "It shouldn't be that hard just to talk to him and once you're close enough, get what you need then leave."
"You're right, plus it'll help me with this whole anxiety thing."
"Yeah, how's that been going?"
"It's getting better. The therapy is really helping." he lied. He hadn't been to his therapist, Christa, in weeks, ever since he had come to school. He didn't think giving up money for the subway or the cab fee was worth it. And he didn't want to concern Angela, his only friend, with things that didn't matter. He would deal with it eventually.
She touched him lightly on the arm, stopping him. "Seriously, Elliot. You're taking your meds, right?" She had concern written all over her face.
"Of course. Everything's great, Angela. There's nothing to worry about. I'm fine." he said, shying away from her touch so they could continue walking.
"Good." she smiled. "You know, I still haven't seen your dorm room. I showed you mine so I get to see yours."
"Elliot!" someone called from behind. Angela and Elliot both turned around to see a tall man walking towards. Almost immediately, Elliot's stomach dropped. It wasn't enough that he had to see him through the weekday, but now he had to see him on his off time too. There was no escaping him.
"Who's that?" Angela asked in confusion.
"It's him. That's the guy I was telling you about." he whispered as Tyrell came closer, "I don't know how--"
"Hey! Elliot! It's funny seeing you here." Tyrell said, finally approaching them after a light jog from a couple of yards away. "I could recognize that hoodie anywhere. What are you doing here?"
His instincts told him in this "flight or fight" situation that it would be best to runaway from this man, maybe even throw some curses his way, but he knew that his new plan wouldn't allow for it. He had to be the bare minimum of friendly. "I was just visiting my friend on campus." he said, gesturing towards Angela.
Tyrell smiled. A friend. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tyrell Wellick." he said putting his hand out so she could shake. "I'm in some of Elliot's classes. It's always nice to meet any of his friends."
"I'm Angela, nice to meet you too,"she said, shaking his hand, "I've heard so much about you from Elliot."
"Really ?" Tyrell raised his eyebrows, looking towards Elliot. That was a pleasant surprise that his potential lover had actively talked about him to his friend. Maybe this trip wasn't pointless after all.
Elliot was reading to scream at the top of his lungs. "I was just telling Angela about my experiences so far there and you might have come up once or twice in conversation. It was nice seeing you, though, but we have a thing to do." he said hurriedly, trying to hint to Angela that he had to get out of here as quick as possible.
"We weren't going to do anything special, I was just going to take you to the subway and go back inside." she said smiling at him. She's ruining everything, Elliot thought, shifting between his feet.
"Oh well, Angela, if you too weren't doing anything too special, I can take him off your hands for you. Besides, it's not always safe around here at night. I"d hate for something to happen to you that could've been prevented." Tyrell said smiling softly at her. The truth was, if he could get a few minutes alone with Elliot, anything could happen. His plan could set into motion and he could start wooing Elliot. Perfect.
"That's great. I actually have some work to catch up on. Do you mind, Elliot?" she asked with a smile. She couldn't help but beam at the sight of helping Elliot, even though she didn't realize the extent of Elliot's hate for Tyrell and Tyrell's obsession with Elliot; she was hindering more than assisting.
Elliot tightened his jaw. "It's fine. I'll see you late."
"Bye. I'll text you later." she said before walking back into the residential building. She hoped she had done the right thing by pushing them together.
"So," Tyrell said suddenly, looking at Elliot with a certain glisten in his eye, "do you like Italian?"
Elliot looked longingly at the residential building after Angela. This was about to be the worst night of his life. Not when he was having his withdrawals; not when he found about his dad's cancer. This single moment in time took the title. "Sure, I eat."
Tyrell bit his lower lip. "And eat you shall."