"Ellie," Marco exclaimed walking into The Dot after school.
Ellie Nash looked up and saw him walking toward her table. Marco had the same angelic eyes and gorgeous smile he had last year. But he just had to be gay. Of course, something like that would have happened to Ellie. Never to Paige. Or Ashley. Or Hazel. No, but to Ellie.
"I didn't see you in school today," Marco said.
Ellie twirled her straw in her soft drink and then shrugged. "I had a doctor's appointment," she lied. Actually, she didn't feel like going to school that day, she and her dad had a major blowout at home and he gave Ellie a killer headache which was still pounding in her temple as Marco sat and talked to her.
"Oh," Marco said. He looked at her. "I'm not buying it."
Ellie looked up at him and smiled and then winced and grabbed her temple.
"What's wrong?" Marco asked.
Ellie shook her head. "Dad and I got into a fight," she said.
"Over what?" Marco asked.
"The usual, school, grades from last year, my tattoo ideas, all of the piercing," she said. She rubbed her headache again. She started to mock her dad. "All of those will get infected and when they do. Don't come crying to me."
Her headache actually felt better, since Marco had arrived and pulled the fight she and her dad had out of her.
Ellie looked up as Ashley came storming into The Dot and over to her table.
"Marco, you were in school today, right?" Ashley asked.
"Yeah," Marco said.
"Well, do you know Sammy?" she asked.
"Yeah, Craig's friend."
"Well, she's a little ho."
"Ashley! That's Craig's best friend you're talking about."
Ellie looked from one of her friends to the other. Man, now I wish I was in school today, she thought.
"I don't care," Ashley said. "She's still a ho. And she admits it on her page on the internet."
Marco looked at her. "What do you mean?" he asked. Apparently, he wasn't following the psycho-babble that was coming from Ashley's lips.
"I mean, she has a kid!"
"Does Craig know?"
"She said he does, but I'm not sure," Ashley said. She hadn't even checked out Craig's page, she was too excited to run and tell anyone that she came around that Samantha Michelle Thomas was a dirty, little ho.