Author's Note: Everyone hates me I know. My computer is completely gone(as in crashed) and now I'm using someone else'. This fic is not dead. I present you Chapter 10!
"Is it just me or does Liberty look a little more…plump…and yes, I did use the word plump." Ellie said, nibbling on a frie at the lunch table she shared with Marco. Liberty had walked by and nodded towards them before taking a seat next to Manny at another table.
The comment was just a simple observation from Ellie; she hadn't really expected a conversation to spawn from it.
"I don't know, I haven't really noticed." Marco was looking through a university brochure Paige lent to him before they came to lunch; it was likely he hadn't even noticed Liberty walked by. "She is Junior Class Pres, I remember when I had the job; I was so stressed I scarfed down two of those deluxe burgers from the Dot; gained like 3 pounds."
"Hmm, maybe…it was just an observation, nothing major." Ellie shrugged. "So, how was practice, minus the drummer?"
"Oh, I meant to talk to you about that." Marco looked up from the brochure for the first time.
"What? You're gonna give me hell for not showing up too?"
"Huh?"
"Craig was pretty pissed at me this morning for not showing, he threw this little fit. I don't know, he was disappointed I guess."
"Poor guy," Marco muttered to himself more than Ellie.
"Poor guy?" Ellie questioned. "I had to work, the fact that he even-"
"Elle, there was no band practice." Marco interrupted.
"What do you mean?" Ellie frowned.
"Uh," Marco hesitated before explaining. He closed the brochure and set it down on the table. "He's probably gonna kill me for this but…Craig actually wanted to…hangout with you last night. The Band practice thing was just a hoax; he just needed a reason for you to come over."
"Really?" Ellie blushed, as if embarrassed.
"Yeah," Marco nodded, a little smile arose on his face when he noticed his friend's expression. "So, to answer your burning question, Craig does have-"
Just then, Craig approached the lunch table, holding a tray of some sort of stroganoff. He sat down across from Marco and Ellie.
"Hey," he said, looking to Ellie more than Marco.
"Hi," Ellie nodded, trying to contain the smile that lingered on her face a moment before.
"Uh…Marco." Craig turned to his friend.
"Yeah?" Marco found himself trying to hold back a smile as well.
"Can I talk to Ellie alone for a minute?"
"Oh, sure, of course." Marco didn't waste any time grabbing his things. He scurried off, leaving the two to talk.
"Okay," Craig started.
"I assume you're gonna apologize." Ellie said, folding arms, acting as if she was still mad at him.
"Yeah I am. Look," Craig sheepishly pushed aside his tray of stroganoff. "You didn't deserve that this morning. I was being an ass, I should've been more considerate and understanding."
"Did it take you long to come up with that?"
"About 20 minutes…my point is, I'm sorry. You're going through something huge and you're just trying to make things easier for your mom."
"Yeah, I am."
"So,"
"So?"
"Are we cool?"
Ellie pretended to think of an answer, though she already made her decision once he sat down a minute ago.
"We're cool," Ellie gave him a reassuring smile.
"Okay, good." Craig smiled, releasing the breath he held while he waited for Ellie's response. "We just came back from a fight and I didn't want to go there again."
"Yeah, same here. Besides, I'm your only friend; who else would you talk to?" Ellie joked.
"Exactly. Who would?" Craig agreed.
The two sat there, smiling and giggling at each other.
Ellie was beginning to regret the time she spent with Spinner the night before.