poisener / ɪɴᴛ. ᴇʟʟᴇ ᴛᴏᴍᴋɪɴs.
TINY SMILE BLOOMED ON PALE FEATURES . oliver’s casual mannerisms caused the tinge of pink on the ballerina’s cheeks to subside , the nervous energy she felt returning to a dull ache rather than a full force ringing. always one to doubt someone’s genuine interest in her , elle figured oliver’s persistence was just his natural flirations < the thrill of the chase , right? > & elle was the poster girl for THE UNATTAINABLE ( SOMETIMES FRIGID BUT ALWAYS THE ELUSIVE / THE ONE PEOPLE LOVED TO TRY & GET BUT NEVER KEEP ) ❝ i was really impressed. I’m not one for sports but even i could tell what a masterful play that was ; luke totally wasn’t expecting it & the crowd went wild. now i can see why some people get so crazy over sports. it is exhilarating. ❞ elle admitted with a diminutive smile before her head is glancing around to catch the figure of campbell watching. no , he wasn’t here , he’s not going to show up. clear painted nails ran through her blonde tresses , pushing the hairs back behind her ear as she cleared her throat & gazed up at oliver. what new ham taught her was to live in the now for there might not be a tomorrow , they could sooner return to their home unscathed by the memories of an attempted civilization here or this was some cruel government experiment and they were all to be used as pawns , social guinea pigs sent to the slaughter unknowingly.
i decided to come because i wanted to see you. I wanted to watch you play & i wanted a chance to get to talk to you again. the last time we talked well , it’s been awhile , hasn’t it? I just [ …. ] i missed talking to you , i guess. no i , i know. i ‘ve missed talking to you , oliver & i know i’ve been a shitty friend [ ….. ] maybe i’ve wanted to know if you missed hanging out with me too? that’s probably a selfish thought or thing to ask but [ …. ] considering you have so many other friends & people you can hang out with & i haven’t been the most inviting or interesting of company. ❞ before all this , she had enjoyed oliver’s company . though the two didn’t hang out consistently , they would always show up for each other in one way or the other : elle either attending one of oliver’s sporting events or begrudgingly showing up at one of harry bingham’s parties she wouldn’t have known anything about if it wasn’t for him. she missed their talks & the occasional flush of her cheeks when he would tell her something that veered into the flirtatious category ( she wasn’t used to such language being directed at her ) . ❝ do you want to go for a walk or ??? head somewhere inside? ❞ she asked hesitantly , glancing around to the group of people still lingering on the field , others returning home or piling into the church to help set up for next week’s thanksgiving dinner. arms wrapped around her middle , the vest she had worn not nearly warm enough but she didn’t want to venture back home & be trapped inside as a result.
he couldn’t recall a time where elle was too keen to partake in anything surrounding sports. she came to maybe observe every now & again with a certain reluctance that she masked well but the way he saw her RADIATE on the sidelines tonight was enough proof that she was in her own way trying to induce said efforts. it’s not like she had much of a choice, nobody did. you either partook or you got left behind, not to say that football was a necessity to have in one’s self made resume. it just helped to meet social expectations that in return scored some much needed actions. based on his own assumptions, he just presumed that her interest was wavering then, that in spite of his efforts to pursue her she was just not ideally the one to mix with his kind of crowd. where ellie was actually placed regarding their high school’s social stigmas, remained unclear to this day. he couldn’t picture a moment where she seemed interested in anything, she just did her thing without being self aware of her surroundings. ❛ you should be our referee next time. helena was trying to insist we were in the midst of some foul play. made hollers every now & again to detract our stances, ❜ he comments with enthusiasm, it’s an intended joke but something actually so enticing as an idea. as far as helena was concerned, oliver actually welcomed the familiar HIGH SCHOOL hostility. it felt in a strange way, healthy. a welcomed feeling of FRIENDLY COMPETITION that paid off as an untimely distraction in the midst of everything that had happened so far. maybe the journey to reaching stability was not far off. one thing that wasn’t so astray from his observations was that she was tense. the way she kept looking all around as if she was WAITING for something or someone, she was always a little on edge every time they had engaged in some sort of conversation so maybe it was just natural to her & she was really just PROJECTING her feelings. the progress they were making right now was the closet to actually being on an actual personal level with her. he shakes his head, shrugging off her apologies like they ceased to exist, ❛ you always had things to do, ❜ he voice insists, following through with a low laugh, feeling somehow inclined to make excuses for her. ❛ i actually remember you always being pretty busy with your --- dancing classes, was it? ❜
he was pretty sure it was dancing or drama class. the basic premise he was going for was that he could remember some extra circular activities on the side because there was always a certain flair for the dramatics whenever it came to her. something that probably benefited elle for the better but also made her IMPOSSIBLE to pursue because she always was so focused on what she was doing. maybe he shouldn’t let have let her take all the credit, he after all understood that pressure to follow through with something. high school for him had been all about winning, making his parents proud & ensuring that he met social expectations on & off the field. it guaranteed his own livelihood, college applications, relationships, friends. things that looking back now meant so little to him. being stuck in what was essentially a TIME LOOP did that to a person, & that was the one thing that made him breathe a little easier. to know that STRESSING so little about something like that wasn’t set in motion anymore. that he didn’t have to worry about who he was going to be or what kind of plan he saw for himself ten years from now, ❛ i would love to take a walk with you, ❜ there’s a chill in the air, with the coming seasons of change they’d all have to start to prepare for lots of cold nights & unexpected surprises. he starts to remove his letterman jacket, his instincts kicking in to do something thoughtful. ❛ you cold? here. ❜ he doesn’t wait for an answer, draping the bulky jacket around her form. given the circumstances of their current situation, it was apparently his UNIFORM but tonight it only served as something to remind her of the fondness he always had for her.