Clouding My Judgement

68

Dragging her suitcase across the courtyard and into her block she let out a breath she didn't even realise she was holding. She practically speed walked from the train station and into the accommodation to avoid seeing Seb or anyone in fact. It was 11PM. She preferred night trains. She preferred not being seen. All she wanted right now is to get into bed and sleep.

But it was Naomi's life. Nothing ever went right. Naomi wanted to scream. She was so frustrated. About 'let things come to you, don't force anything', she thought, mocking Leilani's tone. She looked up at the lift in her block. It was broken. After repeatedly pressing the button, she realised it wasn't coming down to her level. She was stuck on the ground floor of her block.

Her body shuddered at the thought of when the lift was last broken. The hours she spent in there with the boy. The hours she spent bonding and getting to know him. And then her very explicit dream came to mind. The dream she wouldn't have minded being reality. Nope. Not happening. Yet, that night with the boy, was one of her best nights in uni. That same boy who was on her mind twenty four seven and she couldn't help it.

Nope. Not going to even utter his name she thought. She looked down at her suitcase and sighed. She ensured her handbag was secured on her shoulder and made her way to the stairs.

She used all her strength to carry the suitcase. As she ascended the stairs, she let it go in a huff when she felt out of breath.

She smiled to herself, she could do this, it wasn't going to be hard at all. Only a little bit longer. That's when she saw she wasn't no where near her floor. She hadn't even reached floor one, she was still half way up ground floor. She knew she was going to have to call someone to help her.

Just as she pulled her phone out to text the girls to come and help, she heard voices. Her heart began to race. She started panicking, not only did she not know who she was going to be face to face with in a few moments, she also felt embarrassed about what they might say about her. She felt like she looked terrible today and she hated people talking about her, she felt like everyone stared at her as if they knew all her secrets or something.

Just as she tried to look busy on her phone, the stranger approached her. How long was she panicking for, for them to already reach her she thought. She was pretty sure they were pretty high up, floor level wise and now they were right infront of her.

"Do you need some help?" They asked

Naomi knew she couldn't deny the help, it would also be a lot quicker than asking the girls to come all the way down to help her.

She nodded her head, and finally looked up at the stranger. It was Elijah, Tiana's boyfriend. She was just about to talk to him when she realised he was half way up the stairs with her suitcase. He was quick. She wasn't denying she was thankful it was him and not someone else.

"What floor?" He asked, as he realised he never questioned the girl what floor she intended to go to.

"Six" she replied out of breath at how fast he was walking. She was pretty sure he didn't realise who she was but she didn't really mind, he had no reason to. They had met once at the party after his football match and that's it. She was sure Tiana had most likely never mentioned her again.

Naomi was so in thought, she didn't realise that the two of them made it to floor six in no time.

"Thank you" Naomi smiled

"You're welcome" Elijah said, returning her smile.

He watched her walk away with her suitcase, ensuring she was okay to get into her flat and he turned around to make his way back down the stairs. As he began to descend down the stairs once again, he stopped in his tracks. Shit. Fuck, no no no.

He just realised who he helped. How could he be so dumb. Yes, when he had met her the first time he was high as fuck, but how could he not have clocked when she was all his friend would talk about. How could he not notice when she was one of his girlfriend's bestfriends. How could he not have said anything. He was literally only in the block because he was coming back from saying goodbye to Tiana. He didn't realise he was going to see Naomi. He didn't realise he was going to literally bump into the girl who his best mate was obsessing over.

Without a second thought, he instantly ran down the rest of the stairs to make his way to the car park. He needed to tell Theo. He needed to tell him before they left for Manchester.