The Beautiful Monster

"Good. I'm great at history," Elias replied with a grin.

"Me too," Alyssa quipped. She flashed him a smile as they stood next to her. She liked history. It wasn't her best subject, but it was easy for her to study and remember. She retained it really well.

Elias cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Maybe we should have a little competition," he commented.

Alyssa was intrigued as she turned toward him. She crossed her arms over her chest with a spatula in one hand.

"Really?" she asked.

Elias nodded, looking confident.

"Let's see who can finish the course with the highest grade," he replied.

This was Alyssa's type of competition. She already tried to get the highest grade she possibly could by default, but the thrill of competition would only make her try even harder. She smiled coyly.

"I like the sound of that. Are you a worthy competitor?" Alyssa teased him. He had gotten good grades this semester too.

She flipped their eggs in the pan before looking back at him. It was hard acting tough when they were standing there making breakfast.

"This is nothing like psychology," Elias said pointedly as he leaned close to her face. "I'm going to blow you out of the water."

Alyssa liked that he was confident. That would make him try all that much harder, and she wanted to compete.

It would be good for them anyway. They would hold each other accountable since they were in competition.

"Is there a prize?" she asked. Competitions usually had prizes. Though, she'd be fine just knowing she won and got a good grade in the class.

Elias' eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, right. We should probably have one of those," he murmured before sinking into thought. He then brightened up. "Loser has to treat the other to a date."

Alyssa smiled and nodded. She liked the sound of that. Plus, she was glad that he didn't pick something that would break her bank.

She only had so much extra money, but she'd gladly spend some of that on a nice date if she happened to lose. She wouldn't, though.

"Deal," she said as she stuck her hand out to him.

Elias reached forward and shook her hand.

"Deal," he replied before checking on the bacon under the paper towels he stuck them under. "And we're done here."

"Me too," Alyssa said as she started distributing the eggs to their respective plates. She checked the time and grimaced. "We'll have to be a little fast eating."

Elias nodded and distributed the bacon before they headed to the island to eat.

Alyssa wished they could take their time, but she didn't want him to be getting back late and making his parents upset. They exchanged smiles as they ate, saving the conversation for the car ride back to the dorm.

She didn't like having to say goodbye all again, but she was so happy that she got to see him for a little bit. It would help tide her over until January when the new semester started.

Once they finished and cleaned up, they grabbed their things and headed out to his car. They were on the road in under a minute, no matter how much Alyssa wished time would slow down for a moment. She squeezed his hand.

"Again, please drive safe," she told him. She knew that the roads wouldn't be busy early this morning, but she still wanted him to be aware.

The thought of something bad happening to him made her stomach twist. She didn't think that was a pain that she could stand to bear.

"I won't do anything that'll keep me from seeing you again," Elias promised her. "I really enjoyed our time together."

Alyssa smiled, warmth filling her at the thought of this morning and last night. They fit into each other's lives so easily.

Being with him caused no sort of strain or stress. He filled her with a life that she didn't even know she had.

"Me too, and we're going to make next semester even better than this one," she said. She not only wanted to improve herself next year, but she also wanted to develop what they had. It was time to grow.

Elias pulled into the dorm parking lot and parked before reaching over to pull her into a tight hug.

"I'll text you tonight," he said.

"Do you want to FaceTime sometime this break?" Alyssa asked him. She figured they could have a short FaceTime session and actually see and hear each other instead of texting.

Elias seemed to stiffen in her hold. He pulled away from her with a sheepish look.

"I'd love to, but the reception at my parents' house is awful. Our call would keep dropping," he explained to her.

Alyssa could imagine some huge mansion out in the middle of nowhere. She wondered about where his parents lived, how nice of a place they had. She wasn't going to be nosy, though, so she just smiled and nodded.

"That's fine. We can just text," she replied. She didn't want him to worry about it. He couldn't control the reception, and they wouldn't have been able to call or FaceTime for long anyway. There wasn't much of a point to doing it then.

Elias brushed his fingers through her hair, looking relieved.

"Have a good Christmas, Alyssa," he told her gently.

"You too," Alyssa said. She felt like she already had a good Christmas, though. Even if she only spent a portion of it with him, it still made up for the rest of the day.

She pressed a gentle kiss to his lips before forcing herself to get out. She wanted to linger, but she couldn't.

She waved goodbye to him before carrying her backpack to the dorm and shutting herself inside her room. If she was honest, she didn't know what to do now. No one was around on campus. Nothing was open.

She decided to just spend today inside, watching movies and eating whatever she had in her dorm room. More of the same, but at least she had a small smile on her face this time.