Mark's Dorm

[Elaine Escalona]

With her eyes closed, Elaine smiled brightly as if she were in kindergarten and her teacher just praised her artwork. She loved being silly, especially because of the happiness and laughter that it brought. "That's okay, because I know I'm cute," she said in response to Mark's teasing.

Something in the back of her mind tugged at her conscience, reminding her that things were different now. Mark had a girlfriend now and well, that meant some of the things they used to do were wrong. But they were just cuddling. It was harmless... right? 'Whatever,' Elaine mentally snapped at herself before clearing her mind of all thoughts. She was here because Mark had invited her over and she was going to enjoy their time together without morality's rude interruptions.

Elaine didn't realize she'd dozed off until she opened her eyes and noticed that her head was resting on Mark's head, resting on her shoulder. Glancing at the laptop screen, she recognized the scene to be around the first quarter of the movie, so it wasn't like she completly knocked out. Instead of straightening herself out, Elaine decided to stay as she was because she liked the warmth of having Mark so close to her.

[Mark Daniels]

The thoughts going on in Mark's head made it impossible for him to focus on the movie. He didn't know what to do. It was too late to go back now, it was obvious that Elaine would want nothing to do with him despite that his relationship with Chelsea was for her own benefits. He just felt lonely and she filled that loneliness but she couldn't fill a chamber in his heart. With all these things going on in his mind, he fell asleep.

A few minutes later, after having a terrible dream, Mark opened his eyes again. He felt his lids heavy as he focused on the low sound coming from the laptop's screen. Afterwards, he turned his head up to look at Elaine. Why he felt so lonely, it was easy to answer. He needed Elaine. Without her, he would just be a numb, lifeless body walking around Earth with no avail to find emotion.

"...So you heard, right?" Mark asked her after realizing she too was awake. He didn't want to let her go. He wished he could just stay there, cuddling up next to her as for much a time as possible. Mark couldn't explain what he was feeling inside.

[Elaine Escalona]

It was inevitable that the subject would come up sooner or later. Elaine wanted to shrug it off like it was no big deal and while a part of her was able to do so, the other part knew that it was a big deal. She wished she was void of all emotions because quite frankly, she didn't know which one to feel. Should we be angry or sad that Mark had a girlfriend and it wasn't her? Or would it be the right thing to do to be happy for her best friend?

Even though she didn't move a muscle when she awoke and could've easily pretended that she was still asleep, Elaine replied quietly, "I did." She was in quite the predicament and she had no idea what to do. If he wanted her, he would've chosen her, right? Elaine didn't know, and she didn't want to be controlling either. Their relationship was complicated from the start, but boyfriend and girlfriend wasn't on that list.

The thought of Mark doing the things that they used to do together with someone else made her nauseous and, without knowing it, cling a little tighter to him. At this point, Elaine just wanted to hide her face. She didn't want anyone to know what she was feeling, nor did she want to risk her facial expression betraying the mask that she was trying to hard to put on. Thus, she buried her face into the crook of Mark's warm neck.

[Mark Daniels]

They had broken up two weeks ago. It was Mark fault, it wasn't Elaine's. He was young and yes, he may have been one day wise but even Sophocles did some foolish things in his time. He just didn't think something so foolish from his part would hurt him so bad. Was this part of growing up? Would he learn from this when he gets older? Will Elaine be there?

"I'm sorry." Mark shut his eyes tightly and hugged her closer. Asking her to get back with him wasn't on his mind. Something told him that she had enough self-respect to take him back so quickly. Plus, it wouldn't make him feel better about himself. "You must hate me. I hate myself too, for moving on so quickly and not knowing how bad I'd feel afterwards..." he looked up to her.

"I need you." he continued, "It's something I can't explain. I don't know why... But Elaine, I need you." Mark sat up straight and looked her in the eyes. He was serious and it showed. "But I have to let you go." There were tears gathering around his eyes and a knot was forming in his throat.

[Elaine Escalona]

Elaine shook her head in his neck. "I don't hate you," she began, still in a rather hushed tone. "You shouldn't feel bad. They say things happen for a reason. Obviously you had your reasons, right?" she asked rhetorically. She didn't actually want to know the answer.

After several minutes of silence, Mark's words finally hit a nerve. "You have to, or you want to?" she asked with a little more venom in her words than she'd intended. In her defense, what kind of excuse was that? How do you tell a girl you need her and then follow it up with 'I have to let you go?' Why? Maybe it was just her, but Elaine would go to the ends of the earth and fight for something or someone that she really loved. Maybe... he was right to let her go.

She wanted to keep her emotions under control. She wanted to show Mark that she was a big girl and that she'd be okay, but now her feelings were just spiralling out of control, mainly her anger. It was true, the two of them were young and had so much more to learn and so much more in store for them, but Elaine knew that when she wanted something, nothing could stop her.

Her face was no longer buried in his neck. Instead, Elaine had moved it so that she could see eye-to-eye with Mark. They laid there in silence for a moment as she calmed herself down. She hated to act on impulse and unintentionally hurt others and she hated to make Mark feel bad even more. What's happened has happened and well, it was about time she moved on too.

[Mark Daniels]

Everything everyone was saying was true. Mark was too wise to get into things like this. His image was being torn apart and he wasn't doing anything. Even his president was disappointed and they were supposed to be partners. Leaders of this school. However, Mark didn't think that a wonderful girl like Elaine needed to take part in the shit he was doing. Just for now, maybe in a year or so, he would be able to be with her without feeling disgusted about himself. That is... If Elaine would have him.

"I don't want to, Elaine but for now, well, I'm not exactly saying that you'll be waiting for me. I'm sure any guy would be lucky to be your boyfriend... To marry you... I mean, you have so much affection to give and it's genuine. I just can't do this to you. I can't jump from girl to girl, that's not me." Mark wasn't even thinking of respecting his so called girlfriend but he had to keep respect for himself and Elaine. She wasn't taking part of this. In a way, he was protecting her from looking like a damn fool just like he was.

"Elaine?" Mark asked her, looking down to her when she just laid there quietly. Her silence scared him because it wasn't the comfortable silences they once shared, it was as if she was scowling him. He just needed time to get rid of all of this. His head was pounding at the moment and he could feel a mild burning inside of his stomach. "Please say something." he pleaded softly.

[Elaine Escalona]

Elaine was never the kind of person to judge somebody without first getting to know them, but from the rumors about his new girlfriend, she had a pretty good idea of the person Chelsea St. James was. 'I mean, if you're not gonna choose me, at least upgrade, right?' she thought to herself. Right as the thoughts came out, Elaine immediately regretted it. What was she doing? Was she actually jealous of that girl? No way in hell.

"You don't make any sense," she snapped at him. If Mark wanted her to speak, well then she was. "If you want something, then do it. If you don't want it enough to do it, then don't bother saying it in the first place. The problem is not how many guys I can get, it's which one I want," by now, Elaine's voice was just above a whisper. She didn't want to admit that Mark was that person, especially not since the feeling was obviously not mutual.

It felt like the world was caving in around her and her best friend; her rock; her support; her ride-or-die; and her partner in crime wasn't going to be there to sit next to her and say "Well shit, we're fucked, yo." Everything was so simple. If he knew Chelsea wasn't the one for him, then break it off. If he really needed Elaine as much as he said, then come to her. What was so hard about that? This was Mark Daniels, class president. He wasn't dumb.

Everything was just so confusing. She felt so mad, but she also felt extremely sad. Finally, Elaine made up her mind to let Mark as he pleased, whatever it may be. Even if he did end the relationship, it wasn't like she would take him back. Of course she had self respect for herself, but that wasn't the case. In reality, she was just too hurt to take on any kind of relationship. She would need time to heal and quite frankly, bandaging her broken heart would be at the end of her to-do list. She was going to focus on school and busy herself with hobbies.

[Mark Daniels]

Mark was going to break up with Chelsea. There was no doubt about that, he rose an eyebrow before scooting closer to her. He knitted his eyebrows together when she let her thoughts out. Despite that sometimes Mark did some really stupid things, he wasn't stupid. He wanted to drop the subject of the open relationship he was in and focus on them; he and Elaine. He put a hand to his forehead and pursed his lips together, "No Elaine, I- You're always my first option." he stated sincerely. When had he ever made her feel less than other people? Mark was too close to her to belittle her.

These past two weeks had just been a mistake. He shouldn't have ever agreed to the break-up. Mark knew in his heart that he couldn't be without her. Elaine was a necessity to his life. Like, breakfast was to the human body. It was always good and if you didn't have it, your metabolism would slow down and you would gain weight and you'd look like a mess. However, this wasn't time to think about health.

Mark slouched forward and crossed his arms over his chest. He sighed and then turned his head back to Elaine. He then raised his eyebrows when she had basically stated that he was the one she wanted. It brought hope to him. He didn't want to let her go. Mark was stubborn and if he couldn't have Elaine then he really didn't want anybody. This was either keep or let go. Mark's choice was obviously keep but he needed to prove that to Elaine. He could sense the frustration in her voice and it scared him a little. Maybe it was because when someone spoke to him that way it meant they were mad at him.

"I just want to start over again!" Mark didn't mean to raise his voice but he was just so angry with himself. He put his hands to his face and groaned loudly but it was muffled. "Even though it's just been two weeks I miss what we used to have..." he turned his head to look at her before saying, "I just miss you, okay? I'm not sure if it's love but if it is then it means that you're important to me and I just- I just can't... We just can't end." he stated rather stubbornly. He didn't like getting worked up but this was for a good cause.

[Elaine Escalona]

Elaine would be lying if she said she wasn't as equally frustrated as Mark, if not more. She just couldn't wrap her head around what made it so hard to just do the things he said he wanted to. Literally, there was nothing stopping him--no masked men with guns and especially no angry mom telling him what to do(which, let's be honest, is the worst case scenario). With a heavy sigh, she released not only the breath she'd been holding, but the stress, the mixed emotions, and more importantly: Mark.

"Let's do that then," she said quietly. Elaine was calm and her words had no spiteful tone to them, unlike earlier. "Let's start over then," she suggested. Well, it sounded like a suggestion, but she had already made up her mind. "We'll start from square one and see where it goes from there," she continued. Elaine hadn't moved from where she lay with her face just millimeters from Mark's and she looked him in the eyes as she spoke because she meant every word.

She didn't care about what happened with Chelsea--hell, she didn't even think the bimbo was important enough to occupy even half a second of her memory. Having made her own fair share of mistakes, Elaine knew that you can't change the past, but you can definitely change the future. She and Mark were in a complicated place in their relationship and it seemed to be best if they just wiped the slate clean and started over.

It may sound silly at first to force two people who obviously have strong feelings towards each other to act like just friends again, but in reality it was an excellent way to prove said feelings. After all, they say when you can't have something, you want it even more.

[Mark Daniels]

Mark's mouth opened slightly, did Elaine really mean what she had said? He stared into her eyes for a second. She was incredibly beautiful. She just had this - rare beauty and it attracted Mark like moth to the light. He could think of many things that he liked, no, loved about Elaine and he'd probably never finish. The only people he had ever confessed this to were Riley and Sam. Mainly because they were the only ones who he was extremely close to, aside from Elaine and that was helpful sometimes. They were probably really bummed when the whole Chelsea incident happened.

It wasn't as if he had cheated on her. As a matter of fact, if he had been with Elaine, he would have never gotten into this. He felt that he should know this and be certain of it. "Elaine, you do know that if I had been with you, this wouldn't have happened, right?" If there was one thing Mark was it was loyal. He didn't would never think of pushing a friend down on their face to save himself or to his advantage. He wasn't that kind of guy. "I don't play that." he shook his head slowly.

Mark then did something really bad, well, it wasn't bad. It was just too sudden but it was probably worth a smack. He leaned in to give her a quick peck on the lips.