The Beautiful Monster

Alyssa wished that she could take his advice, but it was easier said than done.

She had way too much anxiety to not panic over everything, and it was hard to avoid Scott when he found her everywhere and cornered her.

She would try to take his advice as much as she possibly could, though. She didn't want to be frazzled when graduation arrived.

"Okay," she merely said, trying to lock her thoughts up for now. She was sure that Elias was done talking about what happened too.

Maybe it would come up at another time, but she was sure that Elias would try to bury what happened like all the other incidents.

She was quiet on the drive back to his place, while Elias tried to fill the silence by talking about things happening in his business leaders club.

She listened to what he said, but she couldn't help but think that he was just trying to distract her.. She wished that distractions actually worked.

"I'm tired," Elias sighed as they walked into his apartment.

He stripped his shirt off, gingerly touching the flat plane of his abdomen. He turned to her and motioned for her to follow him to the bedroom.

Alyssa nodded and followed after kicking off her shoes at the front door. She walked into the bedroom, reaching out to take his hand when he extended it to her.

She fell onto the bed with him, letting him pull her into his arms. She held him tightly, closing her eyes and focusing on the feeling of his body against hers.

This was the best way to try to shut everything else out. She imagined that it was just her and Elias in the world. No one else.

"I hope everything will be okay," she murmured. Her words faded away in the dimness of the room. She wasn't sure how much power her hope held.

She liked to think that her hope was powerful and actually nudged her in the right direction, but at times, it felt like it meant nothing. It was merely empty words.

Elias gave her a squeeze.

"Me too," he said before falling back into silence.

His response worried her. Instead of assuring her that it would be, he hoped that everything would be okay too.

Maybe she was overthinking things, but it worried her that he was worrying too.

That meant there was something to worry about. She internally shook her head at herself, trying to clear the thoughts from her mind. She was driving herself insane.

"Do you just want to go to sleep?" Alyssa asked, her voice nearly coming out in a whisper.

Maybe if she fell asleep, she could finally relax. She couldn't worry if she wasn't conscious. She didn't like having to sleep to calm down, though. She needed to be awake, to face the world.

"Let's just lay here for a little while," Elias replied.

Alyssa nodded before letting her eyes fall shut. Darkness swept over her in an instant, and it felt like she wasn't even in the room anymore.

Her mind buzzed with noise, but as the time went on, the silence in the room bled into her mind, hushing her thoughts.

The feeling of Elias' arms around her faded away. Sleepiness gradually took over her, and she was asleep before she could even process her exhaustion.

*********

"This one or this one?" Alyssa asked as she held up two different white dresses. She stood in front of the dressing room in one of the clothing stores in the mall.

Elias looked between them before narrowing his eyes.

"There's not much of a difference between them," he pointed out as he sat on a bench outside of the dressing room.

Alyssa gave him a pointed look and stepped closer to him so that he could see.

"Yes, there is. This one has a higher neckline, and this one has a ruffled bottom piece," she replied. "Focus."

Elias smirked at her before pointing to the one with the higher neckline.

"I liked that one on you the best. It showed your hips," he commented as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

Alyssa laughed and shook her head at him. She playfully swatted at his arm before turning and handing the other dress to the dressing room attendant.

She then walked back over to Elias, tucking the winning dress over her arm. This would be the dress that she would wear under her graduation gown.

"Alright. Do you need a suit or anything? New shoes?" Alyssa asked him. She dragged him to the mall to do some graduation shopping.

They had to look their best, especially when it came time to go to Zoe and Cole's party. She was excited for that day to come.

She pretty much forgot all about the fight and Scott, who she hadn't seen in a minute. She thought that she saw him on the way to the library, but no one ever approached her.

She believed that she had imagined it. Lately, things felt normal again. No shadows. No drama. Elias was super sweet. She hoped that things stayed this way.

Elias shook his head as he stood from the bench.

"I don't need anything," he replied.

Alyssa frowned a little.

"Are you sure? It's graduation. It's a big deal," she asked him. It wasn't like he didn't have the money to shop or anything.

They made plans to shop together, so she just thought that he would also buy something. She felt bad for dragging him out to just shop for her.

Elias nodded with a small smile.

"Don't you need new heels?" he asked as he nodded to the shoe section of the store.

"Yeah," Alyssa replied before walking in that direction. She was a little sad that he didn't want to shop for himself.

She wanted to help him pick out what to wear, but that wasn't going to happen today. At least he was a good shopping companion and gave his opinion when she asked. Zoe was too busy to shop.

She looked at all of the white heels, trying on four different kinds. She nearly stumbled as she tried to walk in one pair.

She wasn't used to wearing heels, and she hoped that she didn't stumble and fall when walking to get her diploma.

The last thing that she needed was to embarrass herself in front of her graduating class.