Eleanor <3s Elizabeth 3

My heart skips a beat as the sharp din of our doorbell rings throughout the house. Shoot, shoot, shoot, I still need to get ready. I hop to the bathroom with pants half-on and my hair a mess, still scolding myself for procrastinating.

From downstairs I can hear my father opening the door. Oh god, I need to hurry. I can't leave him alone with Eleanor and her mother. I do one last quick check in the mirror before bounding down the staircase.

Eleanor's head whips towards me, surprised by my sudden landing. "Hey Liz, I was just saying hi to your dad."

"Finally got some pants on?" Dad says with a grin.

"Dad!" He knows how much I hate it when he does that.

He waves his hand dismissively. "I'm just kidding. Hey, come on in you two."

"Thank you, Mr. DeWitt." Ms. Lamb replies politely, readjusting her horn-rimmed glasses.

"Thanks Mr DeWitt." Eleanor adds as she paced past dad and right to my side. Her hands briefly meeting with mine before parting. I notice that she smells of lavender. It suits her purple skirt and white tank top.

Dad clears his throat and showed her into the living room. "Please, call me Booker." Oh my god, dad. You are not hitting on Eleanor's mom. Eleanor smiled and nudged me as she followed my dad and Ms Lamb. Well, at least she thought it was funny.

Sophia extends her hand and greets me in a cordial tone. "It's nice to meet you Elizabeth."

"It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Lamb." I respond, taking her hand.

The four of us seat ourselves. Dad takes his recliner while me and Eleanor plop down together on the couch. Sophia opts for that old green armchair we kept in the corner of the room. I guess it was a good thing we never got rid of it, after all.

Booker leans forward in his recliner. "Elizabeth has been mentioning you a lot lately. I'm glad she's gone out and found herself a friend." Jeez, way to make me sound like a loser.

"What can I say? She has good taste." Eleanor boasts, puffing out her chest.

Ms. Lamb holds a hand to her mouth and contains a smile. "Eleanor, you never did mention how the two of you met."

"We have the same English class with Ms. Englert."

"I basically had to force her to be my friend. It was terrible" I added.

Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Don't even, I was the one who suggested hanging out after class."

Booker coughs, shifting the conversation and interrupting our laughter. "So, Elizabeth told me you're a vegetarian."

"She's been going on 12 years now." Sophia says in a matter of fact tone, readjusting her glasses.

"Huh, that's dedication."

Eleanor simply leans back on the couch. "What can I say? I don't like the taste of dead animal." What's she doing? I don't want her to kick up a debate with Dad.

Instead he simply laughs. "Guess I can't fault ya for that."

"Speaking of, I heard you made tonight's dinner all by yourself."

"Well, I had a bit of help." I respond, giving my dad a smile.

He simply shrugs. "She had my wallet. The work was all her."

While I make some last-minute preparations everyone else sits themselves around our small wooden dining table. Food in hand, I return to the dining room and present my meal. Traces of smoke still rise from my freshly baked quiche as I set it down on the table. The hearty bread of the next dish I present, french tartines, gives of a distinctive smell. I stand back and admire my meal. Pretty than what you'd see on TV, if I do say so.

"I made Ricotta quiche and tartines with mushrooms and asparagus." I nudge my dad as I make my way to the table. "Oh, and bacon for dad."

"Appreciate it." He replies, mussing my hair.

Eleanor stares at the food with a look of wonderment. "I can't believe you remembered."

"You said you liked quiche, right?" I reply, cutting her a slice.

"Of course. I just...wow. This is pretty fancy."

Taking a seat next to Eleanor we begin our meal. The egg crust of the quiche is divine, warm and soft without a hint of sogginess. I had worried about making too much, but now I realized that I had probably made too little and we'd have nothing left over after we were done. But I'm consoled by Eleanor's grin in between bites. This meal was for her, after all.

"This is really good." Dads says between mouthfuls.

"Thank you, it's nothing really."

"No, really. This is great." He emphasizes, pointing to the food with his fork.

He's right, you really are a good cook." Eleanor adds, rubbing her foot against my calf. I flush slightly and return the gesture.

"So." Sophia begins, shifting slightly towards dad. "What is it that you do for a living?"

"I do welding."

Sophia eyes my dads arms. "That must be hard work." This is starting to get gross.

"Ah, it's not too bad." He pauses for a minute, unsure of how to continue. "So what do you do, exactly?"

"I'm a psychologist."

"Talk about hard work." He began, finishing up the last bite of his tartine. "I can't imagine a job where I have to listen to other peoples problems all day long."

Ms. Lamb smiles wryly. "Well...let's just say I enjoy a good mystery." Eleanor makes an exaggerated gagging gesture in my direction. I can't say I blame her.

"So Eleanor." "Do you happen to know any guys that might be interested in Elizabeth?" Kill me. I must die this instant.

A hush fell over the two of us, each unsure of what to say. I was the one to break the silence. "Dad, I think I can handle myself."

"Just tryin' to help. it's haven't seen with with a boy in a while and you're starting to worry your old man." While he laughs Eleanor and I exchange sympathetic glances.

The rest of the evening continued uneventfully. Booker dropped the subject and his banter with Ms. Lamb was kept strictly platonic, thankfully. I was so happy when it was finally over, I can't recall a more awkward dinner that didn't involve Grandma.

---------------


My monitor is the sole source of illumination as I sit alone in my room draped in a blanket. In the darkness I type furiously at my keyboard. An idle mind and a decent internet connection rarely mix well. Thankfully a notification pops up on screen, Eleanor is online.

"Your mom seems nice." I type. "I mean, aside from her totally being all over my dad."

"Oh god, don't remind me. How embarrassing." Her follow-up comes quickly. "Did you tell your dad about us?"

My hands fly across the keys. "No, but you didn't tell your mother either did you? She didn't say anything about it. Plus I don't think she'd be hitting on my dad so hardcore if she did." I wonder if she's upset with me?

"Not exactly..." Her chat screen indicating that she typed and retyped the message several times before sending it my way. "We're both pretty bad at this, aren't we?" She adds.

I reply, relived at the revelation. "At least I wasn't the only one."

"That's true." She responds, adding a kiss emoticon. "Oh, so are you still on for movie night?"

"Of course. :)"

Movie night, just the thought made me excited. Her mother would be out of town, meaning it would just be the two of us there. My mind races as I consider all of the possibilities. Would she try and make a move? Should I? Either way, first thing is first.

Shaking my head I get up from my desk and head downstairs. Dad is sitting in his recliner watching TV. It looks like a documentary of some sort. From the narration it sounds like something about Wounded Knee. He's really into that kind of stuff.

Hearing my footsteps he mutes the TV and greets me with a smile. "Hey, what's up?" If you only knew.

I pause and inhale deeply. "Dad, we need to talk."