Sean moved towards Ellie with a sense of grace that she had never seen before. "I love you," he whispered, lacing his fingers with hers.
"I love you, too," Ellie whispered back, as if to not ruin the moment.
The couple landed on Ellie's bed, exchanging sweet kisses and ever-lasting phrases.
She smiled, nuzzled under Sean's chin. "I still love you," Ellie told him quietly, as he kissed her temples. Their two bodies were intertwined as they lay there.
He nodded.
But that was a long time ago, Ellie thought, snapping out of old memories. She sucked on her lollipop and joined Marco as he walked up the front stairs to Degrassi Community School.
Marco looked at Ellie, trying to analyze her. "What are you thinking about?" he asked her, wrappping his arm around the fragile girl's shoulders.
"Sean."
He nodded. "I've gotta go, Elle. See you later."
She nodded, veering into the bathroom. Ellie steadied herself against the porcelain sink in the girls' washroom, tears threatening to drip from her eyes. "It's been a month and a half, Elle, pull yourself together," she said quietly, looking up at her reflection. Green eyes, pale face, red hair; she hated what she saw. "Why do you like me, Sean?" Ellie asked, walking into her stall, where she sat down, pulled her newly found love from her small bag, and swiped it quickly across her arm. Blood bubbled up, and by the time Ellie had finished her job, the crimson liquid had dripped on the floor. She stripped off her armwarmers the rest of the way and dropped them in her bag, along with her blade.
Manny Santos walked into the bathroom to re-apply some make-up that would eventually make her face fall off. Just as the young girl had set her bag on the counter, Ellie Nash stumbled out of the stall. Manny nodded a hello to the wounded girl, then continued putting on her lipgloss and mascara. Ellie put her hands out in front of her so she would be steady when she looked at her reflection. Manny reached for another tube of gloppy brown stuff, then stopped and looked at Ellie's, scarred, bleeding, swollen arms. "The rumors are true then, Ellie?" Manny asked.
She rolled her eyes, standing up straight. "Which ones?" she asked in a sarcastic manner.
"How many are there?" Manny shot back. "I'm talking about you cutting. It's true?"
"Yes."
"Oh."
Ellie nodded.
"Why?"
"Because the boy I love isn't here anymore. He'll never come back."
"Who?"
"Sean."
"Oh." Manny nodded. "Where is he?"
"He went back to Wasaga Beach. No calls, no texts, no E-mails. Not a word from him in a month and a half," she replied quietly, dabbing at her new strawberry gashes with a wet paper towel.
"Ellie?" Manny asked, keeping the quietness quiet.
"Hm?" Ellie asked, opening her bag and letting the remnants of it spill onto the counter. She pulled her armwarmers over her stinging flesh, then smiled and started to clean her new treasure, her razor blade.
"You..." She hesitated. "Nevermind."
Ellie threw her things down on her bed. It had officially been two months, sixty days, since she heard Sean's voice. It had officially been sixty days since her mother died of alcohol poisoning. It had officially been sixty days since her father came home. "Ella-bell?" John Nash called up the stairs.
"What?" she yelled.
"A boy's here for you."
"Marco?" she asked.
"No."
Ellie's heart started fluttering against her ribs. She pulled her armwarmers up, stashed her "Sharp Objects" box, and headed down the stairs.
"I'll give you two some privacy," John told her, passing her on the stairs.
Wait, Ellie thought, grey hoodie, curly hair-- "SEAN!" Ellie cried, running towards him.
He turned around, tears of joy in his eyes. He opened his arms for her as she bounded towards him. Sean laughed into her hair as she kissed him on the neck. "I'm back, Ellie, I'm back," he whispered.
Ellie was sobbing now, sobbing into what felt like a puddle. But Sean would always catch her while she fell. "I thought we were over," she whispered as she composed herself.
"No, never," Sean replied, taking her hand and leading her to the couch.
They fell down together on the couch as one big mess, and suddenly Ellie felt like herself again. The two were kissing innocently and exchanging "Iloveyou's" but other than that, it felt like nothing had ever change. "Ellie, you are stupid for thinking we were over. Stupid Ellie," Sean told her.
"Yeah, stupid Ellie."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."