golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter twenty-one

monday, march 16
     "do not let me go!" eliana held his hands in a death grip as she rolled down the street on his skateboard.
"you're on flat ground, sweetheart. i don't think you're gonna go anywhere."
"ben, i'm warning-"
"i'm letting goooo!" ben pulled his hands away from hers and she rolled down the pathway in the park. he jogged after her, laughing at her little screams. the path started to slope downhill, and eliana's eyes went wide. "ben, ben! you haven't taught me how to stop yet!" she yelled. he ran towards her as the board started to go faster, and stopped it with his foot. eliana went flying off of the board, taking ben with her. she landed on top of him in the grass, giggling. ben grimaced. "this would be cute if i weren't right on top of a rock."
eliana laughed and pushed her hair away from her face. "you should kiss me anyway."
"happy to do so, sweetheart." he pulled her face down to his.
they were interrupted by a wolf whistle from the pathway. "yeah, benji!" sky clapped. they both turned to see him, dan, josh, and demarius walking along the path. dan raised his eyebrows. "you guys realize this is a public park, right?"
eliana huffed and lifted herself off of her boyfriend, who sat up and threw the stick at dan. "whatcha guys up to?" he asked as they stood up.
"well," demarius started, "we were gonna ask if you guys wanted to come to the trampoline park with us, but it looks like you are...otherwise occupied."
eliana felt heat rise to her cheeks as ben sighed. "get your minds out of the gutter, guys."
"anyway, moving on!" josh said, a little too loud. "you guys wanna come?"
"i'm down." eliana turned to ben. "you?"
he nodded.
     before long, what started as just  jumping around turned into an all-out tumbling contest. josh was by far the best  out of all the boys, but eliana took the cake. dan wasn't much of a dancer, but he did his best, and could do a flip or two. soon, it was the ultimate showdown between eliana and josh. he did a pretty complicated pass, and they all clapped. eliana cracked her neck and did her signature pass. demarius's jaw dropped. "oh my god, abs, girl!" he stared at her stomach before she quickly pulled her shirt back down. ben shot him a look, reminding him of what they had talked about days before.
     ben and eliana walked out of the park hand in hand, and eliana tried to ignore how dizzy she felt. ben noticed her shallow breathing and waited for the rest of the group to pass them before pulling her aside.
"ellie, are you okay?"
"i'm just really tired."
he thought about bringing up what she said on thursday, then decided against it.
"you'd tell me if something was wrong?"
she blinked and looked down at her feet. "of-of course."
he didn't quite believe her, but didn't want to push her any further.