summary:Â Elena Cordova always thought she had her life figured out. The plan was this - marry her high school sweetheart, work her dream job as an art teacher, two kids, and live in a beautiful home sized just right for her family. Although the high school sweetheart doesn't work out, maybe her tutor, Grayson Dolan, does.
A/N: hi this is my first fic 𼺠im new đđ˝đđ˝+ creds to owner for the gif
Elena Cordova always thought she had her life figured out. The plan was this - marry her high school sweetheart, work her dream job as an art teacher, two kids, and live in a beautiful home sized just right for her family. But at the moment, it didnât seem like the high school sweetheart part of the plan was working out so well.
It was the second to last week of high school and a ceremony for scholarship recipients was being hosted in the auditorium of the school. One of her familyâs proudest moments was seeing Elena go onstage and win three scholarships for merits and her art. The night felt almost perfect, the one fault being Adam, her boyfriend, being a no show.
Trying not to let it bother her too much, she ran offstage to her family once the ceremony was over, being met with an abundance of flowers and balloons from her parents alone.
âI am so proud of you!â Gabriela, her mother, told her as she hugged her tight and kissed her temple. She accepted the love openly before moving on to her dad, Eduardo, who shoved more flowers her way, making her laugh.
âCongratulations sweetheart, you are officially smart enough for this family,â he teased, smiling brightly and looking like the epitome of a proud dad.
âOh, ha, ha, youâre absolutely hilarious!â She rolled her eyes and accepted the bouquet. âAnd thank you for these, I hope they didnât cost too much.â
âCan this one even go one night without spending basically hundreds on her kids?â he asked, not-so-subtly pointing to Gabriela. She playfully shoved his shoulder and he laughed, but Elena nodded in agreement anyway.
Elena found herself being basically tackled as a familiar voice told her, âCongratulations, youâre rich!â When that person let her go, she looked to find that it was her best friend, Madeline, smiling at her like a goon.
âI almost died from that, if I die, I canât be rich so be gentle with me,â she joked, and Maddy rolled her eyes before going in for a proper hug.
âShut up, I love you,â Maddy told her before letting her go and looking at her. âNo one is out here doing it like you, youâre such a baddie.â
In that moment, she felt a hand at the small of her back, which startled her at first until she looked to see it was none other than Adam. In an instant, the whole vibe changed, and her smile fell to a stony look rather than feeling happy to see him.
âShe really is a baddie, huh?â he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice before pressing a kiss to her cheek. âMy baddie.â
âItâs ugly when you say it, Adam,â Maddy deadpanned. âI hope you choke.â
âWoah, I just got here, what is with the hostility?â
âBecause I hate you.â
âAw, I love you too, Mads.â
Elenaâs brother, Brandon, and her sister, Lyla, approached them then, most likely to check on whatâs happening.
âAdam, dude, surprised you actually made it tonight, didnât think weâd see you,â Brandon says to him.
âYeah, you kinda missed the whole thing,â Lyla adds, nodding in agreement.
âI had work, Iâm sorry guys,â he told them with a shrug, and Elena looked at him again, confused.
âI thought you took off for me tonightâŚâ
âI meant to. I did, I just...I get busy, El, I mustâve forgot.â
Elena hums in acknowledgement before looking at her siblings and Maddy and grabbing Adamâs hand. âI need a minute with Adam,â she told them before dragging him along outside the building.
âWhat were you really doing?â she questions once theyâre alone. She crosses her arms and looks at him expectantly.
âI told you, I was working!â
âEven after I asked you this morning if you were coming and you said yes?â
âI was busy this morning, I donât even remember you asking me. I mightâve just glanced and said yes without actually thinking about it, baby, Iâm sorry.â
âAdam! You fucking knew how important this was to me! For once I asked you to put me first and what do you do? You just fucking go to work and forget about me! I get put on the backburner like usual!â
âElena, I donât know what you want from me!â
âI want you to give me what I give you! When you have your stupid fucking games or anything else that you feel like is important, I always show up for you! But when itâs for me, it always just seems to slip your mind or something else always has to come up! Why is that, Adam, why?â
âIâm trying, Elena! But I have a life and things that matter more to me than a stupid scholarship ceremony!â
Elena huffed a breath, a little taken aback at him saying it was stupid. He seemed to know how that came out, because he sighed and started to say something.
âNo, I think you did.â
âWell, itâs not exactly the way I wanna spend my fucking night, Elena! Seeing that everyoneâs futures are kind of being handed to them, including my own fucking girlfriend, when I canât even get a single fucking break in life!â
âYou want a break in life, Adam?â
âYou know what? Yeah, I do. And I would like a break from your constant nagging about me not fitting in that dumb ass dream of yours. Itâs a fucking dream for a reason, El.â
âWell, hereâs your break, sweetheart. Weâre done,â she scoffs, starting to walk away from him.
âYeah, right. Get back here.â He tried to reach for her, but she doesnât let him even touch her before turning to look at him.
âYeah right? Adam, I am seriously done with this! I cannot and I will not continue to put time and energy into this relationship when you canât even show up to a âstupid ceremonyâ for a few hours when it comes to me! You think a future is being handed to people here? No, people worked hard, and want more for themselves, unlike you. You could be so successful, Adam, even maybe more than you think I am, but you donât want to do anything! So I am not going to give you my all when you donât want anything but to sit around and be a victim to everything, even me.â
And on that note, she walked away from him for real, not even giving him a chance to respond.
When she met with her family after so they could head home, she was quieter than usual. Her family talked around her about things like what they wanted for dinner or joking about what some people were wearing to the ceremony. Once they were home, Gabriela pulled Elena aside to ask her what was wrong, knowing that her silence was very odd. Elena just started crying in lieu of an actual response at first, and her mom hugged her tightly to comfort her.
âI just broke up with Adam,â she told her, pulling away just a little to talk, âand he didnât even really care. But I love him, and I wish he cared and appreciated me so much more.â She went back to hugging her mom and Gabriela pet her hair as Eddy watched from a short distance.
He hasnât seen her like this for so long, not since she was a child, so seeing her this upset was very out of the ordinary. He tried to usher everyone inside, but Brandon and Lyla just wanted to comfort her too, joining in on the hug. Eddy just joined them as well, deciding she needed this more than a moment to cry.
âThis was supposed to be a happy night with good memories,â she says, sniffling, âI canât believe that asshole ruined it.â
âHey, mija, calm down, itâs alright. Plus, youâre gonna give yourself wrinkles with all this upset.â
âOkay, okay, but can we at least go inside to talk?â Eddy asks, and this time everyone agrees and heads inside to their living room. There, Elena explains everything that happened with Adam outside with her parents sitting beside her and her siblings listening attentively.
âEl, my love,â her dad started telling her, âI know you thought you had a perfect life all planned out, but you know what? Life sometimes just doesnât work out. And that has to be okay when it doesnât. Youâre brilliant, you have such good things in life, and you will one day find someone who is ready to give you what you want and more.â
âI wanted that with Adam, dad.â
âFuck Adam,â Brandon scoffed, and Gabriela gave him a look.
âBrandon,â she said, her voice letting everyone know it was his one and final warning.
âNo, heâs right though,â Lyla spoke up, âliterally fuck Adam. Right now, the focus isnât boys and dating anyway, you need to worry about yourself first and live for you first.â
âEasy to say when the first person you guys found was the one for you, mom, and dad,â she countered, frustration evident in her tone.
âHey, at least you got me in your same boat,â Brandon reassures. Lyla scoffed, making him look at her with a furrowed brow. âWhat?â
âNo offense, Brandon, you know I love you, but you also need to-â
âMmh mmh,â he started, âthis is just not about me, letâs keep the focus on Elena.â
âYou know what, maybe youâre right Lyla,â Elena decided. âIâm gonna be going into my first year of college and pursue the one thing I love more than anything. That really should be my focus. A nice, fresh start.â
âThatâs the spirit,â Gabriela said, clapping and standing up, starting to make her way to the kitchen. âLetâs celebrate with dinner! And a movie, someone pick something!â
Lyla got up and followed her mom to the kitchen to grab utensils to set up the dinner table while Brandon and Eddy both started to fight for the remote.
In the time following this, her fresh start really did begin, starting with spending a good month of her summer in Puerto Rico with her family and Maddy following graduation. There, they visited beaches, went to nightclubs, and visited a lot of her family. Following that, they got back home to New Jersey, and Elena went right back out to Maddyâs beach house, spending lots of time taking pictures and visiting the boardwalk.
As fun as her summer was, she shifted gears when the time came down to it, and it was truly a rough start when making the transition from high school to college. She had a lot on her mind and lots of stuff to juggle, plus she still found herself thinking of Adam and their downfall. Breaking up with him was something she definitely needed to do, but it didnât make it any easier to just forget about him. On top of that, she had a job in the library that she really needed, and found useful since she was able to do some coursework on shift if it was slow enough. It was a rough start, indeed, but once she really got the hang of it and made some friends, she was able to finish off strong and make for a decent freshman year.
Her first semester of sophomore year is the one that she was in for a treat with. It was Monday morning and she was a couple minutes early to her 10:50 Calculus class in order to get a good seat. The professor promptly started at 10:50, even though a few people were still piling in. One guy came in later than the rest by about eight minutes. As if that wasnât enough for him to have Elenaâs attention, he had lengthy hair that fell just past his ears and he was wearing grey sweats paired with a plain blue tee. Elena had to shake it off though, reminding herself that her focus was her career and not boys.
The professor ended class a little early, which Elena appreciated since she had a shift at noon and this class was cutting close to that. In her rush to leave, she didnât notice that she was going to run into someone, and that someone knocked the book out of her hands.
âOh fuck, Iâm really sorry about that,â he said, picking up the book and handing it to Elena. He held onto it just a second too long while looking at her, distracted by the fact that she was actually very pretty.
âItâs fine,â she rushed out, brushing hair behind her ear and taking the book back. âThanks for picking it up.â
He didnât even get to say anything in response before she was rushing out of the classroom and making her way to the library. On her way there, she texted Maddy and Brandon in their group chat.
elena: omg i just bumped into the hottest guy in the whole entire world ???
brandon: omfg el not this, please
maddy: be honest - scale of one to ten, how hot???
brandon: no !!! no, do not get ANYTHING you donât need this rn
elena: but brandon heâs literally an ELEVEN if not a twelve
brandon: i am so over this gc ! when are we ever gonna talk about intellectual things??
elena: never bc you also come to us to talk about cute boys soooo
brandon: excuse you i would never
elena: ANYWAY he is the loml
maddy: YES !! FUCK ADAM FR SIS MOVE ON GET THE ELEVEN-TWELVE GUY !!!
Elena just laughed and put her phone away to clock in for what she already knows will be a very uneventful shift. Itâs the first day back and she didnât even have much to do class wise, since Calc was her first and only class for today. She decided to just sit and look over her syllabus all the way through while watching out for anyone who might come in and check out textbooks and other stuff for first class homework.
While Elena was working, Plain Blue was still in the classroom, trying to remember what he was trying to do before the collision. His brain was caught in that moment, though, wondering where she was off to so quickly.
The sound of their professor shuffling papers suddenly pulled him from his thoughts and reminded him he needed the syllabus.
âHi,â he greeted, and the professor looked up at him.
âAh, yes. Youâre the late one.â
âActually, Iâm Grayson, but late one works too. I actually need a copy of the syllabus, being that I was late.â
âAnd what was more important than being on time for my class?â the professor asked. He wasnât actually upset, but Grayson didnât catch onto that, since he was a bit stressed by the situation.
âI was in a different class, I kinda messed up my schedule and this one conflicted with a gen ed I need too, so I was trying to fix it before school started, but the freakinâ registrarââ
The professor stopped him with a simple raise of his hand before pulling out a syllabus and handing it to Grayson. He sighed and took it, relieved that this professor wasnât some kind of asshole.
âIt was a joke, kid, I get it. Life happens. Sorry about your rough start today.â
âThank you,â Grayson said, glancing at the time. âFuck, Iâm sorry sir, I have another class that Iâm now running late to.â Before the professor could even say anything else, he was rushing out of the room, shooting a text to his twin brother, Ethan, about his horrible day.
grayson: bro im having the worst ducking day in my entire ducking life
grayson: i was late to my second class and now i am late to my third why did i make my schedule back to back
He hit send on that text and entered the library, taking a quick glance at the front desk and seeing the girl he bumped into earlier. He then typed out another message to his brother while making his way towards her.
grayson: now i am about to be more late :)
About halfway through her shift, a familiar face approached the front desk and smiled at her before he started talking.
âHey, I saw you in math class this morning,â he informed, leaning against the counter. She sat up and eyed him curiously.
âYeah, and youâre the klutz who knocked the book out of my hands.â
âI said sorry, no?â Elena shrugged and he just continued talking. âThat very same book is why Iâm here actually. I was wondering if I could cop pictures of your textbook for the homeworks.â
âOh, so I donât even know you by name or anything, and Iâm just supposed to let you take pictures of my book because you...asked nicely?â
âI-Iâm Grayson, if that helps with the name part,â he told her, standing up straight and holding his hand out for her to shake. Her eyes flickered between his hand and his face for a bit before she decided to just shake his hand anyway.
âElena,â she said simply. âLetâs say I do let you take pictures of my textbook, Grayson. What do I get out of it?â she asked him, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
âA very good friend,â he says with a smile, also resting his chin in the palm of his hand. In her mind, it was so very endearing and she wanted to smile very badly, but externally she made sure to remain unimpressed.
âAre you good at math?â she asked, and he nodded once.
âIn exchange for the textbook pictures, how about you help me figure all this stuff out so I can pass.â
Grayson smiles more and pulls out his phone, unlocking it before holding it out for her to take. âHow about you give me your number and we can try to work something out?â
Internally, she was really shook up by the fact that this really hot guy wanted her number. Externally, she remained calm and took his phone, putting her number in it.
germansingergirl
andulkaphoto
amandla
titsay
snowghoul
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
