The Beautiful Monster

"Nice car," she told him once he got into the driver's seat. She hoped that he would maybe tell her about how he came to got it.

Maybe he had a rich grandmother or something. Maybe he won it from one of those mall sweepstakes. It had to be something along those lines.

"Thanks," Elias said as he flashed her a smile. Even through the dark, she could make out how white his teeth were. He started the engine, letting it rumble to life.

"Ready for breakfast?"

"At three in the morning? Sure," Alyssa laughed. He could've been taking her to the DMV and she would've been happy to go along for the ride.

With each passing moment that they spent with each other, a thought started to become clearer and clearer to her.

She liked him. A lot. And she had no idea how on Earth she was going to contain this raging crush.

Annie's Diner was the passion project of a town local. It started out as a struggling food joint that barely got any business and then turned into a college town hotspot.

It was one of the few places that actually stayed open all night for the college students to grab a late night or very early morning bite.

Even at three in the morning, there were a few college students trying to get over their buzz.

They laughed and chatted in the slightly torn red leather booths along the diner's wall.

White and black tile covered the floor, and a light or two flickered from time-to-time. It showed its age, but it had some great food.

Alyssa and Elias sat across from each other in a booth toward the back corner. An old jukebox rumbled quietly from behind them.

A forgotten song from the seventies fell deaf on their ears as they talked to one another about the menu.

"What do you recommend?" Alyssa asked him. She wasn't that much of a picky eater. She couldn't be with how she grew up.

Whatever her parents scrounged up for dinner or whatever she managed to make herself from the small amount of items in the pantry or fridge, she learned to eat, no matter how it tasted.

"Do you like mushrooms?" Elias asked her as he gazed down at the large menu in his hands.

Alyssa shrugged. They were okay, but she never went out of her way to eat them.

"Not the biggest fan," she replied. She let herself be a little picky now that she had the opportunity to eat good cooking. It was a nice change of pace.

"Onion rings?" Elias asked as his eyes shifted down the menu.

"Love them," Alyssa said. She couldn't remember the last time that she had them, but she could put away a whole box of them easily.

"The Blooming Burger is your best bet then. It has onion rings on it," Elias said before shutting his menu.

"Pair that with a malt and you're good to go."

It wasn't a traditional breakfast, but Alyssa didn't mind. A burger full of onion rings sounded amazing.

"Then, I know what I want," Alyssa replied as she closed her menu too. "What are you getting?"

"I'm feeling kind of breakfast-y. I like getting this burger with hashbrowns and a fried egg on top,"

Elias said as he rested back against the booth cushion with a satisfied smile.

Alyssa couldn't help but laugh behind her hand. She didn't know why she suspected something different. He just kept surprising her.

"What?" Elias asked as he gave her a curious look.

Alyssa shrugged.

"You're just one of the most interesting people I've ever met," she admitted.

She felt herself blush admitting that, but it was true. No one else had ever captured her interest like he did.

He kept her on her toes, slowly revealing bits and pieces of himself to her.

Elias looked down in an almost bashful manner. It was the first time she had ever seen him look like that.

"That's nice of you to say," he said. "I think I'm pretty boring."

"If you're boring, I'm a complete snore," Alyssa smirked. She was surprised he thought so less of himself.

Elias reached out to gently take her hand.

"Stop. You're not boring," he gently chided her. "Trust me. I've met some boring people in my life."

Alyssa felt heat flush through her as she stared at their joined hands. She couldn't believe he was actually holding her hand right now.

He could've just been being nice to her, but he was touching her. She didn't even know how to process that.

"I was surprised you even noticed me that day in the library. I kind of just float around. Unseen,"

she said as she finally lifted her eyes to his. That came out a little deeper than she meant it to.

Something about him coaxed her to open up way faster and easier than usual.

"Why? You should speak up more. I like hearing what you have to say," Elias asked her.

Alyssa wondered why he was being so sweet. A brief wonder if he was flirting with her crossed her mind, but she immediately shook it away.

That wasn't likely. This was Elias she was talking about, and she was just… herself. That didn't mix.

Before she could reply, an older waitress approached their table and took their orders. She ordered a chocolate malt along with her burger.

As much as she was looking forward to her meal, her mind wasn't on food at the moment. It was far from that.

"I guess I'm just used to not being listened to. Why talk if people aren't going to listen?" she said.

She was talked over a lot, and it made her feel like what she said wasn't important. It stemmed from her parents, but she experienced it in school too.

"Only you and Zoe listen."

"There's a lot of shallow people out there. I've met people who were so narcissistic that it would make your skin crawl. They're miserable people not worthy of your time," Elias told her as he gave her hand a squeeze

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