Chapter 6:
The songs and the words own the beating of our hearts...
"Who the hell throws a pool party in February?" Ellie groaned as she followed the rest of the Debbies into the giant, top floor condo. A girl named Fiona Coyne was throwing a random pool party, impatient with the Canadian weather. She lived at the very top of a tall, sky high building. Her condo alone made up the top 3 floors. Included in this condo was a huge, heated pool with the name Coyne written out in loopy cursive on the bottom.
The party was just starting to pick up when the Debbies got there. Ellie found a chair and planted herself there, putting her bag down. She unzipped her hoodie and pulled it off, revealing her bikini top. The rest of the girls followed her move. After about 10 minutes, Paige left and quickly returned with a bottle and cups for her friends. She handed Ellie a cup and smiled at her.
"So you already know i'm going to bug you about the other night." Paige stated. Ellie gave her a look. Alex smirked at her as she poked her side. "Yeah. When did you and Craig get so...mushy." She scrunched her face at this while Paige laughed. Ellie rolled her eyes.
"He was just helping me bug Jesse. That's it!" Ellie replied. She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. Alex waved her off. "Oh please El. Just admit it out loud. You'll feel much better, I promise." She smiled at her. Ellie retaliated by smacking her arm. Marco threw a chip at her. "Seriously El." He stated.
Ellie threw her arms up and sighed. "Fine. What do you want me to say? I like him. I have genuine feelings for him. I'm absolutely falling for him. Is that what you wanna hear?" She then got up, grabbed her cigarettes, and stormed away. On her way to leave her friends, Ellie accidentally bumped into the last person she wanted to see: Jesse.
"Where's the fire, El?" Jesse smiled. He reached for Ellie's waist but she smacked his hand away. "You're disgusting." Ellie commented. She then walked off, deciding to hide in the towel room slash closet. Ellie sat on a chair and cracked the one small window, lighting her cigarette with ease.
The Rockies were at the beer pong table, dominating. Craig and Jimmy were 3-0. After wining their 4th game, the guys decided to take a break and get some more drinks. Spinner scanned the room, nodding his head in approval at all the girls. His gaze landed on Paige and he started off towards her. Nathan laughed and looked at Craig.
"So Craig. Where's your lady?" He smirked. Craig looked at him, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Who?" Craig asked. Jimmy rolled his eyes and gave him a duh look. "Ellie genius. Don't act like you guys don't have something going on. Especially after the other night." Jimmy gave him another look. Patrick nudged him as well. Craig sighed.
"Okay. So maybe I like her... a lot. Let's not get into it." Craig said shyly. He wasn't used to telling people about his feelings, at least when it came to a certain red-head. "Dude, just ask her out and claim what you want!" Nathan added. Jimmy nodded and Patrick handed him a beer. "Just take a chance. Get her before she's no longer available." Patrick offered. Craig sighed and shrugged his shoulders, walking away.
Not a second later, Manny appeared in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. "Hey Craig. How have you been?" She smiled sweetly at him, putting a hand on his arm. She also stepped closer as she did this."Would you want to go talk privately somewhere?" She asked seductively. Manny was being more than forward with her tone and body language. Craig felt a bit uncomfortable an annoyed. He pushed Manny's hand off his arm.
"Umm. I'll talk to you later Manny. Not right now." Craig mumbled and quickly walked away. Making sure she didn't follow him, Craig slid into what he thought was a room. It turned out to be a small towel room. He was happily surprised when he saw Ellie turn and look at him, blowing out a cloud of smoke through the small window. She smiled at him and Craigs heart began to speed up. His heart also began to speed up at Ellie's clothing, or lack thereof.
Ellie wore a black bikini top, ripped jeans, and her signature combat boots. It was simple but Craig found it sexy as hell. "What are you doing in here?" Craig asked. He sat in the other chair next to her and pulled out his pipe and weed. She put out her cigarette just as Craig loaded a bowl. He hit it twice then passed it to her. She smiled at him before hitting it herself and handing it back.
"Just needed to get away for a moment. You?" She looked over at him. He blew out his hit and handed it back to her. "Same." He replied. They sat in a comfortable silence, finishing the bowl. Both were nervous and excited at the same time. The music of the party was muffled with the door closed but the bass could still be felt. Once they were done, Craig cleared his throat and Ellie looked at him quizzically. She then smiled at him, giving him a go ahead look.
"So El. Are you busy Friday night?" Craig asked nervously. He was fumbling with the ties on his swim trunks, not looking at Ellie just yet. She twisted her ring a few times before answering him.
"Um. I don't have any plans. Why?" She asked back just as nervously. Craig let out a breath and looked at her. "I was wondering if you'd maybe like to grab dinner with me that night." He gave her a small smile. She just looked at him and didn't reply right away. Craig began to panic and started to back track. "O-only if you want to. You totally don't have to. You probably have better things to do or other people to han-" Ellie put a hand on his and smiled.
"I'd love to." She smiled even bigger at him to reassure him. Craig sat there stunned for a moment but smiled back just as big. "Yeah. Okay. Cool." They both held their stare for a moment as everything around them disappeared. They only saw each other, lost in the moment. A loud splash from the party broke them of their gaze. Ellie looked away and blushed as Craig stood up. He held his hand out for her to take.
Ellie grabbed his hand and stood with him. "Guess we gotta go back at some point, huh?" Ellie said. Craig smirked and walked out of the tiny room with her, hands still laced together. The party was still going strong. Bodies were everywhere, in and out of the pool. Across the pool, Ellie could see Jesse staring at her coming out of the room. She could also see Manny watching them too.
Chugging her drink, she threw the red cup down and pulled Craig back to her. When he turned to look at her, she grabbed his waist. Standing on her toes, she pulled Craig closer to her and their lips connected. Craigs hands snaked around her waist and pulled her closer. Ellie's hand moved up to his hair and ran her fingers through it. They stayed like that for a few moments, fiery kisses exchanged.
Once thy pulled apart for air, Craig looked at her with a raised eyebrow. Ellie leaned back down and shyly smiled at him. "We had an audience." She stated quietly. Craig turned and looked across the pool to see Jesse glaring at them and Manny huffing away to the bar. He turned back to Ellie with playful eyes. She smirked at him as she let his hand go, walking away from him. A smile slowly crept on to Craigs face as he shook his head, walking back over to the beer pong table with a slight strut in his step.
