Chapter 5: Ellie's New Job As A Part-Time Teacher

Just as Mariko predicted, he did come back to fix the window; and he came prepared.

It was about a week before school started. Mum had to leave unexpectedly to talk to a new client (she's a lawyer), and so Ellie was taking care of us again.

When Ellie saw the captain, she laughed. "I thought superheroes are supposed to have better things to do than fix up windows," she said.

"Not today," the captain said. "Charly, right?"

"You remembered," Ellie said with a smile. "I didn't introduce these two last time," she said apologetically. "Mariko's upstairs, and the boy staring at you is Gabe."

I stopped staring and decided to make myself look busy instead by running upstairs. Only later did I realize that it made me look like an idiot instead of busy.

When Mariko and I crept back down the stairs, we were greeted by the strange sight of Captain America replacing a window while talking to Ellie.

"Your name's Steve Rogers, right?" she asked casually.

"That's right, ma'am," Steve said.

"Do you know much about Youtube?"

"Not really," Steve said apologetically with a blush. "I know you can watch videos on it, but I don't know much else—"

"It's all right," Ellie said right away. "I was just curious."

But I knew that on the inside, Ellie was smiling.

Back then, Ellie was really famous on Youtube. She called herself "Charly" (she liked to say it was short for chartreuse) on her channel; why she introduced herself as Charly to Steve instead of Ellie was beyond me, but Mariko seemed to think it was perfectly normal, so I never questioned it much.

Ellie was probably relieved that Steve had no preconception of what she would be like. That way she didn't have to live up to or ruin expectations, simply because there weren't any.

The TV was playing, and the man on the screen said something along the lines of: "We're not straight outta Compton, Billy, we're two white kids from the middle of nowhere!"

At Steve's confused expression, Ellie said, "It's a reference. 'Straight Outta Compton' is kind of a fad right now."

"Oh," Steve said. Then, he turned back to Ellie. "You know a lot about little things like that."

"I would hope so with my job," Ellie said with a smile. "What's up?"

Steve shifted uncomfortably. "Could you explain some of the things I've heard? I don't like being caught off guard."

"No, I'd imagine not," Ellie said with a smile. "It's cool, Steve. Just don't break the window every time you stop by and we'll be good."

Steve smiled. "Thank you ma—"

"Charly," Ellie said, eyebrow raised. "Your modern lessons start now. Your homework is to call people by their names unless they scare you or you hate them. If you want to be formal, just say their last names."

Steve smiled. "I'll see you when I can, Charly."

"See you later, Steve," Ellie said. "By the way, I'm only babysitting the kids for the day. I'm right across the street."

She scribbled something on a sticky note in pen and handed it over.

Steve left after putting his work gloves back in his toolbox. Mariko and I quickly hurried back upstairs to her room to discuss what we had heard.

That's when we first noticed something: Ellie was herself. She was herself on her channel to an extent, but she always exaggerated things, and she swore way more than she did in real life. Also, she never featured me in one of her videos because I was extremely shy, when in reality she and I were rarely separated if we were in the same place.

We noticed something else, too. Maybe it was just a nineteen-forties thing, but Steve seemed extremely eager to fix the window that he broke, and yet was mainly talking to Ellie the whole time.

Mariko, of course, over-thought the whole thing. "I'll bet they get married in two years, tops!"

"No, there's no way," I said firmly. After thinking about it for a minute, I said, "Make it five years tops, and there's a possibility."

At that thought, both of us smiled.

Ah, reviews. The things that keep me writing. Thanks!

Extra love to:

Guesswho: sorry for the late response, but I'm glad I've got you.

nightmarehunter676: thanks! I hope you continue to like it!

7doom: if you enjoy angst with a dash of sarcastic humor, you will like where this story's headed.

And of course extra love to followers of both me and this story!

As per usual, pointing out typos is much appreciated and PMs are always welcome (although I can't promise I'll get to them right away).

(Still) love you all,

carrie