Dare You To Move

Chapter 10 - 5 words

The apartment is dead silent, the time reaching quarter after nine. Elli's sat with her elbow on the kitchen table, head in her hand as she sleeps. Her laptop is open in sleep mode, keeping everything in Lightroom saved. As she sleeps, she's completely unaware of the stranger tip-toeing from the hallway and to the door behind her.

The stranger picks up her heels and goes to unlock the door. Luckily, or unlucky, for Elli, the clicking of the deadbolt wakes her. She jerks awake, head nearly falling onto the keyboard of her laptop. The stranger freezes, watching Elli and a tint coming to her cheeks. Elli turns and meets a girl with pretty light brown hair, streaks of red and yellow that remind her of a phoenix. She's dressed in a slick back sequin dress, likely from the night before and her black mascara and eyeliner is smudged under her eyes with shades of red shadow fading over her eyes.

"I'm so sorry." She says. "I was just trying to leave." She says, her voice just above a whisper.

Elli nods, eyelids still drooping with sleep. "It's fine." Elli turns her head to her computer, swiping across the trackpad to wake it up and see the time on the screen. "He'll be up in about fifteen if you needed to use the bathroom, call for an Uber, or whatever before you actually leave."

She lets out a breath and pushes her hair over her shoulder, giving Elli a thankful smile. "Thanks." She says before looking to her phone and quickly and quietly calling herself an Uber.

"Yep." Elli says, returning the smile, hers a bit more tired.

"Are you his roommate's girlfriend?" She asks once she's off the phone and Elli just raises her brows. She was in a hurry to leave and now she wants a conversation?

Elli shakes her head. "I am his roommate."

The girl's face turns red as she starts to apologize. "Sorry, I just...assumed--"

"It's okay." Elli cuts her off. "It's not a big deal. I assume you're a one-night stand?" Elli asks but she makes her tone joking as to not offend the girl in the doorway.

"Yeah," She chuckles. "Any guy who takes a girl home and is already covered in hickies, he's the one-night stand."

Elli laughs a little, a weird sense of pride in her chest knowing she's the one who's put those small bruises over his chest. Elli puts her arm on the back of the chair to better face her. "Yeah, that's fair enough."

"What's it like? I mean," She pauses for a few beats. "To have him bring home girls all the time? Does it bother you?"

Elli shrugs, knowing full and well that he doesn't do it as often as it appears. "Nah, it's his life, ya know?" One-night stands don't linger to talk to a roommate, or anyone, unless there's a reason and the girl's face is telling Elli there might be a little more to her still standing in the apartment.

She looks to her feet, nodding. "Yeah, you're right."

Elli's eyes narrow slightly. "Do you not want to be a one-night stand? Because you're loitering and asking me about him."

She shakes her head softly. "He's good, and cute, a musician, smart, funny, a good time--"

"But?" Elli inquires.

"We talked." She shrugs a shoulder. "There's someone or something and I'm not gonna be some guy's second choice or a rebound. He seems great but he's not that into me."

"What do you mean you talked?" Elli asks, brows furrowing as she knows Parker's habit of not exactly being a conversationalist with people he doesn't know even when he's drunk.

"We just talked for maybe two hours before deciding to come here and we were here awhile before..." She bites her lip before continuing. "Ya know, like we heard you come home while we were talking. He's good conversation."