treacherous || clarethecapulet
Eli had spent the better part of the afternoon clearing up his dorm room. His roommate was out for the night, after only mild persuasion to be elsewhere for a while, leaving him to his own devices in making the place presentable. It wasn’t that he had to impress Clare, or was even expected to. Eli was sure that she was expecting to walk into some kind of pigsty. But that didn’t make him any less eager to somehow impress the girl. With the exception of a topic or two that they differed on, he felt immense chemistry with her. To him, it was the ultimate irony that he wasn’t in the dating arena for now, since meeting her was the catalyst that could possibly change his mind. He wouldn’t allow himself to even entertain the idea, knowing himself better than that. It was more than likely that he would botch it, if even the opportunity.
Once the vast majority of his belongings were off the floor and stuffed haphazardly into his dresser drawers, Eli took a peek at his clock, realizing Clare would be arriving soon. He’d already ordered their take out, keeping it boxed up on his (crappy) coffee table in the center of the room. With any luck, it would be an evening of more getting to know each other, and maybe a movie or two if they could both find something they wanted to watch. Hanging out with Clare could be simple. It was something he kept telling himself to fend off the onslaught of nerves he felt anytime he pictured her. Eli was nauseated by his own crush on her, layering himself in denial to try and combat it.
Hearing a knock at the door, Eli straightened out the front of his shirt and stepped to the door, opening it up with a wide smile on his face. “Good timing, I just got our food and everything.” he said, moving aside and letting her pass through. His efforts to be nonchalant about his feelings for her were all but forgotten as he gave her a discreet once over, reveling in how she always dressed in clothes that flattered her figure. Eli couldn’t help getting mad at himself every time he slipped up. “So...” he spoke somewhat abruptly, breaking his own train of thought. “I hope this,” he gestured around the room, “is presentable enough. I couldn’t do much about my roommates side; he’s always going to be a slovenly pig. But I’m hoping mine is alright.”
