Re: David and Eli
“Mom and dad were so pissed that you threw my phone in the toilet, too.” If David recalled correctly, the punishment had been one of Anderson and Nadia Zimmerman's famous 'you choose' punishments. Elliot had been told to relinquish his own phone regardless, but he'd been offered the choice between groundation for a month, or double chores until he worked off the cost of a new phone for an additional punishment. Anderson Zimmerman had been a very frugal man; he thought of everything in numbers and figures and he'd given Elliot a wage of 'five dollars an hour in chores.'
Suddenly, David's sadness was a little less about Allie and a little more about their parents. He shook that thought off, though, because dwelling on what had been lost was a quick and easy way to drive yourself into depression, and gave Elliot a grin. “It was totally an instant classic, though,” he maintained, making the decision to tell Rae the story someday, whether Elliot approved or not. “Should've never made that bet about the Phillies game, though. I may not be good at predicting who'll win or lose but I can always tell you when someone's going to have a good game.”
David frowned. Elliot was voicing concerns that David had been thinking ever since he'd walked away from Allie, and even though he knew it was true, that didn't make it any easier to hear. “Maybe,” he muttered as he brushed a hand through his hair and shrugged one shoulder. “Just once, I wish I could be the type that those girls liked...” he said selfishly. But he was a little too tall to be as skinny as he was, and a little too weird to be as friendly as he was. So he lost the battle before it ever even started.
It also occurred to him how stupid this conversation was, in light of the way the world was. Women should have been the farthest thing from his mind. Survival should've come first. And if Elliot could hear his thoughts, he'd probably lecture him, especially after the lecture David had given when they'd climed Lady Liberty.
Shrugging, David looked down at the table, before taking another drink. “Look at her,” he pointed out. “A girl like that is going to have a boyfriend. She's great.” He glanced up again, but his attention rapidly turned back down to the table when he saw that Brandon was still glowering. He really wasn't into being murdered that night. “I just hope he's good to her...”
A small smirk. “I know you do.” Moments like this were exactly what he'd missed most about Elliot for the past four years. For all the problems they had growing up, Elliot never let anyone else pick on David too much. “Like who?” he added with a bitter laugh. “Hottest chick on Liberty other than your girlfriend is Melody and I don't think she likes any of us too much.”