Chapter Text
Eli was sitting alone in the library, his hair a bit messy from the bullies messing with him earlier, he's used to have lunch there so the bullies wouldn't make fun of his cleft lip scar, ignoring his friends’s insistences saying that nothing would happen in cafeteria. He noticed you approaching him and his body immediately tensed up in response to your presence. You stopped right in front of him.
"W-what do you want?"
He murmured looking down at his feet, avoiding your gaze at all costs. He always thought you were beautiful, but he couldn’t see why a popular girl would come to him besides to pick on him.
He was not looking at you, he was fidgeting his fingers nervously looking down his feet. You wonder if he was thinking you were just gonna make fun of him too, because you were hanging out with Yasmine, Sam and Moon, the popular girls in school. But you would never do that. You saw Kyler made fun of him earlier, and the way his hair was a mess you could guess that the bullying was not just verbal. You didn’t know why you were here actually. Yasmine made you and the girls come here to find some “nerds” to make them do her homework. But when you saw Eli i got separated from them, you just wanted to talk to him. You smiled gently, even tho he wasn’t looking at you.
“Are you okay?”
Eli's heart sank when he heard you talk. Your voice was so soft and beautiful, it was a bit hard for him to keep avoiding your gaze. He swallowed hard, his hands slightly clenching his pants. He was afraid that this was some kind of prank.
"Yeah..."
He mumbled. He tried to get himself to raise his gaze and look at you. But couldn't make himself do that. Looking at girls like you made him feel so small and worthless.
You knew what he was thinking, he thought maybe this was a some kind of prank, or you were just gonna ask for him to do your homework or something. But you genuinely cared, you didn’t know why. You were just sick of Kyler and other bullies.
“Is this seat taken?”
You asked pointing the chair next to him. He seemed even more confused. Eli could only stare dumbfounded at the chair you were pointing at. He could barely believe that a pretty and popular girl as yourself actually wanted to sit with him..it had to be some kind of prank. Or he had to be dreaming or something.
"N-no.."
He murmured, he could feel himself starting to sweat from the nervosity. Why were you doing this? Why were you willingly sat down here with him?
You sat and put your books on the table, from his nervousness i could guess he was definitely thinking this was prank. It wasn’t, but you couldn’t think of anything to prove it to him. You guessed a friendly approach would work.
“I’m Camille.” You said after a brief silence. He probably already knew your name but you didn’t want to assume. You also knew his name but you wanted to officially meet him. When you were putting my books you could feel his eyes on you but the moment you spoke he glanced away.
Eli felt like he couldn't breathe when you sat next to him..a pretty girl in his personal space...he felt like fainting. He tried his best to calm down, he didn't want you to know how you were affecting him. As you started talking to him he finally raised his gaze to look at you.
He had to admit, you were prettier up close. You were like a goddess sent to earth. He felt breathless, butterflies in his stomach when he heard your voice. He tried to force himself to answer you.
"I know.."
You smiled, you knew him too. And he was so nervous he looked like he might have forgot his own name.
“And i know who you are”
The moment you said that he got tensed, as if you were gonna bully him, prank him or something like that. His gaze shifted to his books in front of him. Maybe he thought you were gonna call him “Lip” like all the bullies do, or something even worse. He hated that nickname, you could see that. “You’re Eli.”
Eli's body tensed even more when he heard you say his name. You said it so softly, it felt like a sweet melody when you talked. Everything just felt so unreal. A popular girl like you actually knew his name, but he was sure you were going to make fun of him because of his lip.
He raised his eyes at you for a couple seconds. He still found it so unreal, yet he felt himself starting to relax a little in your presence. He liked how you talked to him...
"Yeah..."
You could see he was surprised that you knew his name. Everyone called him “Lip”, even tho it was brutal. They thought hurting someone was funny, you hated them for that. But you were still hanging out with them, that was something you didn’t know why. Just like this moment, you didn’t know you were sitting next to Eli. Maybe you just felt bad, or maybe for some reason he always had your attention.
“So um.. where are your friends?”
You asked, you knew he had friends. Demetri and Miguel were always with him, they usually sit together at lunch. But he was alone in the library, and it was lunch break. You looked at him and saw that his eyes were still red a little, and his hair was messy unlike usual. You figured maybe after bullies messed with him, he wanted to stay alone. Even away from his own friends. Maybe you should also go, you thought, but you didn’t want to.
Eli knew that everyone just called him "lip" or "cleft lip". It hurt, every time that name left someone's mouth, it hurt. He was used to it by now but it still hurt nonetheless. When you asked where his friends were, he looked down at his hands for a couple of seconds. He took a breathe before answering.
When you looked closer at him you could see a few red marks on his arms and neck. "They're eating..I d-don't feel.. like eating.."
Eli felt himself stammer more than usual because he was so nervous.
You sighed, you hated Kyler and those other bullies. Then you hated yourself for still hanging out with them here or there. Eli didn’t do anything for deserve that treatment, that was so unfair.
“You know.. maybe this doesn’t mean anything but.. I’m really sorry about them. They are assholes.”
When you said you were sorry about the bullies, Eli looked up at you for a moment. He wasn't expecting that. You were not only the first person to actually talk to him like this, but you were also the first person to apologize about the bullying.
He just stared at you for a moment, trying to see if you were mocking him or just lying. After a couple of seconds he saw that you were genuine, so he looked down at his hands, his eyes averting from your soft gaze.
"I-it's....fine.."
He stared at you as if he was trying to see if you were mocking him or not. You felt like part of him was still thinking this was a prank or something. Hell.. You didn’t even know why you were apologizing, it just felt like the right thing to do.
“No, it’s not fine. They are being jerks for no reason at all. I dont even know why i tolerate them.. Sam and i are childhood friends and she became friends with Jasmine and Kyler and i just sticked around I guess”
He was looking at you, maybe he felt more comfortable now or just got confused about why you were telling him all of that. And you realized you were rambling and got embarrassed quickly. You just wanted him to know that you were not a bully and won’t ever be.
“Sorry.. i was rambling” You didn’t even know why your cheeks were getting red, you have never had a problem with talking to guys before. But maybe this was different.
Eli was a bit dumbfounded. You were… apologizing for the bullies? No one ever apologized to him about that, they thought bullying him was funny. He never thought that one of the popular girls would..say that. He honestly didn't know how to react.
As you started rambling, Eli was just staring at you in silence with wide eyes. He wasn't used to someone talking to him that way. He felt himself getting a little bit red too. He didn’t say anything, maybe he was surprised. Or he just didn’t believe you, or thought that you were weird, you thought. Or maybe still a prank.. You didn’t know. His eyes were little wide, he was probably wasn’t expecting any of this. You felt a little awkward, he was staring and You just noticed that his eyes were blue. And also.. beautiful. Wow his eyes were really beautiful. You broke the silence again.
“So, um.. You know Sam’s dad, maybe you heard about him, Mr. Larusso is forming a new karate dojo. Maybe you’d like to join?”
He blinked a couple of times. His face became a bit more expressionless at the mention of karate.
"Why do you think I would want to....join that?"
He asked with a nervous voice, he was so overwhelmed by your presence he didn’t know what to say or do.
“Well.. Sam said Mr. Larusso’s dojo was about self defense and they are looking for new students. Also i would love to see you kicking those jerks asses” You said jokingly, with an intention to make him smile a bit. You didn’t know why but you wanted to see him smile, you had a feeling smiling would suit him better.
Eli couldn't help but let out a small, shy smile when you said you would like to see him kick the bullies's ass. No one ever said that to him before. It felt like another weight was lifted off his shoulders. Not only because you seemed to actually care about him getting bullied, but also because you thought he could defend himself.
He tried to think of a reply, but he felt his mouth go dry when he looked at you. He was definitely not used to talking with cute girls.
You smiled when you saw him smiling a little. Yes, you were right, smiling suited him so much better
“Well just think about it, okay?” He nodded and when he opened his mouth to say something You heard Yasmine’s voice calling you. “Camille! Where are you!?”
Even though you were in a library she was shouting your name. You sighed and closed your eyes for a moment
“Shit, I completely forgot about her” You said to Eli, and you saw him getting tensed again. You didn’t like seeing him like this, just the moment he was getting comfortable too.. He was probably thinking that you would feel embarrassed to be seen near him. You were not, though.
Eli's heart started to beat faster at the sound of Jasmine's voice. It got even faster when you let out a quite swear. He just knew it, you weren’t gonna be caught with a loser and a nerd like him. You were popular and beautiful, and he was a nobody. The only time people saw him was to tease and make fun of him. He knew that. When you said you forgot about her, Eli swallowed a bit and just sat there in silence. He tried to make himself small and unnoticed.
You noticed that Eli was going into his shell again, and you didn’t like it. But you needed to go. “Sorry.. i need to go, but think about what i said, alright?” He just nodded, not even looking at you. It made your heart clenched a bit, you didn’t know why. As you were leaving Yasmine found you, her expression was annoyed. “Oh finally i found you! What are you doing here with.. him?” She said with scoffing, like it was an insult or something. You rolled your eyes to her.
“Let’s just go Jasmine” You said and you started walking with her, just before you turned the corner you turned your head to glance at Eli just one last time. He was looking right at you but glanced away the second your eyes met. You felt that clenching feeling in your heart again.
As you left, Eli felt the weight come down on him like a ton of bricks. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, he tried to think if it was all a prank or not. But it didn’t feel like it. The way you talked to him.. he actually felt seen and heard.
Eli sat there, thinking about everything that just happened, until the bell rang, signaling that lunch had ended. He let out a small sigh and got up, getting ready to head to his next class.