Dear Claudia,

Okay. So obviously I had kind of hit a low point the last time I wrote to you. Sorry about that. I really shouldn't take my anger out on someone who's dead, after all. Pinky swear it won't happen again!

It was Pete who brought me around. I wasn't expecting that at all. I would have put money on Leena or Myka for a Glee-worthy pep-talk. But no, after what felt like a million hours of holding a pillow and staring at the wall, there was a tapping at my window. I looked over to see that Pete had climbed the tree outside the B&B and was holding a box of Oreos. Milk's Best Friend- how's a girl supposed to resist? So I went and opened the window and let him in.

"Smelly Ellie," he greeted me, and I knew he had finally warmed up to me. But I was still ready to punch something at that point so I just took the cookies and sat without a word. He plopped down next to me. "Look, I know I don't have a clue what sort of stuff you're dealing with now. But I want you to know that we all have skeletons in our closet, so we totally get it. And if you ever want to talk..."

"It's my mom," I blurted out. Stupid mouth. I've always been a chatterbox. "She wants me to come have dinner with her and my stepdad."

"That's bad?"

"Yeah, that's bad."

He peels apart two Oreos and moves the mystery-white-stuff from one cookie to the other, replacing the top cookie bit and giving it to me. "Double decker," he points out.

"My dad died when I was little," I tell him.

"Mine did too."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"Well, I barely remember him. But my mom got remarried when I was 11 years old. After a year, I was put into foster care after I told a social worker what her new husband was doing to me."

Pete just sort of looked at me.

"Mom refused to believe me. She was so angry, for so long, accusing me of looking for attention, of looking for petty revenge- she refused to hear anything bad about him. I had a pretty good foster family, but visits with my mom and him were just torture. I went to college when I was 16 and was able to break off most my communication with them. I was hoping that when I moved here, I would be done with the both of them, but she's apparently decided she can forgive me and wants me to come reconnect with them. I just hung up on her. Why she would possibly think that I would be..." I couldn't even find the words.

"That sucks," Pete said, and for some reason, that was all he needed to say to make me feel better.

"Yeah."

And then he gave me a hug and we were quiet for a little while, and then he suggested his angsty-place movie. So he got the movie and popcorn and extra butter and a jar of Nutella and HG and all three of us watched The Aristocats.

Forget my mom and forget Henry. The Warehouse is a better place to be than anywhere I've been in a while, and when you find a decent place and decent people to go along with it, you better hold onto them for all it's worth cause who knows if you'll get another chance.

Cheers,

Ellie


ALERT! ALERT! IMPORTANT STUFF! Well, important-ish, anyway. Is there anyone reading who's also an artist? I totally want a picture of Ellie, but I really can't draw... if you are and you'd be willing to draw one for no compensation but a sense of pride, send me a message! :)

Thanks to MiDushiNoSushi, mondler1998, CyanB (now you made me want to write that!), 1-Shadowkun (plot twist indeed, lol!), Fallon Monroe, Chinagirl18, and Parkitcharlie for reviewing! You guys are my favorites :D

Glee: If you don't know about this show, you must be living under a rock.

The Aristocats: A fantabulous Disney movie. I don't know why, I just totally see Pete would watching it when he was sad and singing along and bawling.