Elle was tired. She doesn't deny that she always wanted this, the perfect family, the perfect life. But this wasn't her life, these weren't her people. They needed her, needed her powers, but they didn't want her. No one wanted her, not even her own father.
Looking around the table she wondered what it must be like to live like this, the smiling and the banter and the inside jokes. She knew she wanted this, but she wasn't naïve enough to think that she would ever have it. They think she didn't know that she was bizarre, they didn't know that she appreciated that her brain worked differently to theirs, but it wasn't her fault, she thought she had turned out pretty well considering her upbringing.
She had kept the promise she had made to Noah when she moved in, and she was being a good girl. As devastatingly boring as that was she had kept it up. Smiling when she was meant to and saying her niceties when they past the potatoes, but it didn't seem to be working, she still didn't fit here.
"Elle, did you hear me? Or are you off in another world?", Noah watched her over the top of his spectacles, studying her with a small smile playing across his lips. The fiery blond sitting directly across from Elle rolled her eyes and let out a sarcastic laugh, "I wish", Elle flinched slightly at the bitterness in her tone.
She really didn't know why the little cheer-bitch had it in for her. Granted she may have made a few teensy weensy mistakes in the past, but what's a shock or two between friends, and anyway she had apologized. It wasn't her fault Claire could hold an epic grudge.
"Claire", Sandra warned softly. This was a regular occurrence during these forced meals together. Elle really didn't understand why they felt that she had to be there with them. She would happily eat in her room, or in the lounge or not at all, to keep from the perky, perfect, prissy little shit.
A ball of blue sparks started forming in the palm of her hand and she had to calm herself down. The moody girl doesn't even feel pain these days, so the satisfaction wouldn't be there. Plus it's rather humiliating being sent to your room for electrocuting someone. There may have been an incident with the nosey neighbor. But, really, anyone snooping on someone else's property deserves a zap….or two. Elle had done Noah a favor.
Elle glanced over at Lyle and sighed. There was only one thing more annoying than a girl who hates you, and that's a boy that loves you. After all his protest and pathetically lame threats, he had done a complete turn around within the first month, and all it took was him and his sister catching Elle sun baking naked when they came home from their family shopping excursion early. Boys really were too easy, it was almost sad. So Lyle had been a stuttering blushing mess since, and Claire had been even more of a bitch. If that was even possible.
Elle looked up and realized that the conversation had come to a blithering halt since Claire's comment. Not adoring the awkward silence that was filling her ears she smiled politely, just like she had been told to do in situations like this, and pushed herself back from the table, "Thank you, dinner was…..good". Sandra smiled back at her, and she thought that she really did like Sandra.
She walked out of the room with her dish and piled it in the sink, as she walked back out past the kitchen she peeped in and what she saw made her die a little inside. They were all laughing, Noah had one hand over Claire's and he ruffled Lyle's hair. Like he was trying to show gratitude for something they had done…..like make it through a dinner with a psychopath.
Elle hugged her arms to her body as she suddenly felt cold, and there was a knot in her stomach. Cheer-bitch chose that exact moment to lock eyes with her, and Elle hated her for catching her looking vulnerable, like she cared that she was alone. And she was sure Claire was already planning to use it against her, to humiliate her for thinking that she would ever be anything more to this family than a necessary nuisance. The flash in the younger girls' eyes was unrecognizable, but Elle didn't try to decipher it, she had to get out of there.
Taking long strides she opened the front door and walked out, closing it behind her with a soft click. The fresh air suddenly making it a little easier to breathe. But the perfect little house on the perfect little street with the perfect little family suddenly made her feel nauseous. So she kept walking, but she wasn't putting enough distance between her and them, so she kicked off her heels and ran, stopping when she reached a park with a playground.
She made her way over to the swing set and sat down, resting her head against the cool metal chains and sighing, her breathing slowly returning to its normal rate. When she finally opened her eyes she grinned at where she was and begun to swing her legs back and forth slowly, and suddenly the need to get higher and higher was overwhelming.
As she gathered more momentum she leaned back in to it, enjoying the feeling, and the wind against her face. She really did wish her daddy had brought her to a place like this when she was younger.
# # # #
Claire absent-mindedly dried the dishes her father was handing her as she thought of Elle and the look on her face moments earlier. She hated that the flash of hurt had marred her delicate features, and that she had hugged herself like she always did when she was upset.
Claire wasn't even sure if she knew she did it….it was probably just a left over habit from her childhood, clinging to herself because no one else would. Claire shook her head, she couldn't care this much, it was weird. She didn't even understand when or why it had started, but she did know that her initial hatred had been chipped away at and then replaced completely.
It was hard to hate someone who was so obviously naïve, so obviously out of her depth. She was so confident when she was in the field, putting her life at risk, but hand her a platter and ask her to hand it out at a party and she will look at you like you have just asked her to pet the nice little wild lion, the fear in her eyes was unmistakable.
And Claire had to admit that small talk was not Elle's forte with several of her mothers book club members asking if English was her second language or if she was a bit special, or both. But Claire found it annoyingly endearing.
Then there was the incident. Before her and Lyle had found Elle sun baking out the back and looking like a goddess, she had known that she had started to care about Elle's feelings, and that was infuriating enough. But the heat she felt spread through her body when she found Elle lounging and covered in a layer of lotion making her skin shimmer and glow was devastating…and confusing.
She had always gone through the motions with the boys she had been with; moaning at appropriate intervals and making sure she faked a climax. But just seeing, Elle glistening in the sun made her body react in a way that it never had when she was in the throws of 'passion' with the boys in her life.
The sly smirk that crossed her lips and the sparkle in her eye as she winked at the two of them and shrugged before closing her eyes again, made her snap back to reality. And the reality was that Lyle was also staring open mouthed at the naked girl in front of them, and Claire was pissed. Pissed that she wanted Elle, and more pissed that Lyle did too.
Grabbing his arm and mumbling obscenities Claire dragged the slack jawed teen in the house, but he wriggled free and ran to his room, undoubtedly to get a better vantage point.
Shaking her head slightly, Claire brought herself back to reality as she realized she was done cleaning up the dinner dishes. She walked upstairs to Elle's empty room and her heart fluttered softly. Walking at a brisk pace she made her way out the door and looked around, "Elle?" she called out cautiously.
When there was no reply she sighed, but she spotted a glimmer up on the road to her left so she made her way over, and as she got closer she saw it was a shoe….Elle's shoe. Puzzled she picked it up and called the older girls name again, when silence greeted her she kept walking and sure enough she found another shoe further up. Following the clothing trail, whilst fighting an internal battle over whether or not she wanted to find more of Elle's clothing strewn on the floor movement on the swing set at the park across the road captured her attention.
As she got closer she finally saw that it was Elle. She had her eyes closed and a blissful smile on her face as she propelled herself up and down, swinging freely and looking like…a girl. Not a menace, just a carefree girl. Claire was unsure how to proceed, and wasn't sure if she wanted to intrude on this moment, but her feet seemed to have a mind of their own as the made their way closer to the older girl whose hair was flowing freely in the breeze.
Elle obviously saw the movement or heard her clumsy fumbling steps because she stopped her movements and clutched at the sand with her bare feet, willing the swing to stop. Claire halted softly, not knowing what to say and suddenly feeling foolish for following her out here.
Elle tilted her head to the side and stared at the girl through narrowed eyes, "What do you want?", Claire shuffled uncomfortably. 'I want you', her mind screamed but she shook away the thought with a violent start and Elle let a smile play across her lips, "You are so odd, little one".
Claire nodded in agreement and slowly moved to the second swing and let herself fall in to it softly. She took a moment to gather her thoughts, and her breathe and she finally looked at Elle, to find the blonde still staring at her, obviously having no idea about the normal eye contact etiquette because Claire pulled her gaze away, with a flush. "I actually came to…I wanted to….I thought that we should...". Elle sighed, "Look Claire if you are going to give me lip about not being welcome in your house so don't have to worry, I have already got the message. But I don't have anywhere else to go".
Claire bit her lip and sighed, "That's not what I wanted to say". Elle shrugged as she started to play with the sand at her feet, making circles softly and looking like a vision against the glittering night sky.
"I actually wanted to say that I'm done…", Elle's face flashed in hurt and embarrassment and Claire fought the urge to reach out to her, "No, I didn't mean done with you. I meant I'm done shutting you out and making your life harder than it has to be. You are a part of my life now and I am just going to have to get over the past, as hard as that may be." She met the older girls' eyes once again, and caught the brilliant smile forming on her lips, "You mean we're going to be friends?".
Claire held up her hands, "Whoa, I just said I am going to try not to hate you, I think you are jumping the gun a little bit here Elle." Elle shrugged, "Well you not hating me is good its less one sided then the rest of my friendships already!". Suddenly Elle grabbed her hand and took off towards the house, "Come on pom-pom we can paint each others nails and have pillow fights, that's what friends do right?". Claire was glad it was too dark for Elle to see the blush that covered her features.