Ashley woke up smiling the next morning. *Things are going to get better. * Ashley convinced herself that being friends with Craig was the best thing to do.
She looked over the edge of her bed to see if Ellie was still sleeping. To Ashley's surprise, she wasn't even there. Ashley looked at er alarm clock to see what time it was. 12:30. *Wow, I slept late!* She figured it was because of all the sleepless nights she had since she found out about Craig and . . .. Suddenly, she felt as if all the happiness in her had been drained out, and replaced with anger. She took a deep breath, before looking for Ellie.
She knocked on the bathroom door, "Ellie? Are you in there?"
"Did your best friend run away from you?"was the response from the other side of the door.
"Shut up, Toby! Have you seen Ellie?" She asked, trying to sound nice after her first rude comment.
"She left. I don't blame her. Now, would you please stop bothering me?"Toby shouted through the door.
Ashley slowly drifted downstairs, and began to wonder where Ellie had went. She replayed yesterdays events in her head, trying to remember if Ellie had mentioned needing to be somewhere in the morning. *I invited to come over and stay the night. Craig called. We went to The Dot. Craig apologized.* She was lost in thought, for the cheerfulness quickly returned to her when she thought about him. She shook her head, and started recollecting again. *She came inside. I told her about Craig-she was wearing Sean's sweatshirt! Didn't I ask her about that? She managed to weasel herself about of it!* Ashley smiled to herself. *Guess I'm not the only one who things worked out for.*
Ellie walked down the sidewalk, trying to find where Sean lived. *This was a bad idea. I should of waited for Ash to wake up.*
She saw somebody sitting out on a porch, with a bundle of blankets in their arms. As she got closer, she realized is was Emma. Ellie turned off the sidewalk, and approached Emma on the porch. *Somewhere in that bundle of blankets must be her baby brother.*
"Hi Ellie," Emma greeted her, "What're you doing here?"
"I was just walking around," Ellie didn't think now would be the best time to ask directions to Sean's house, "Shouldn't Jack be inside? It's really cold out here." Ellie tried to change the subject.
"My mom had to take Snake to chemotherapy, and I was tired of staying inside. Besides, he's wrapped up really well."Emma said as she looked down at her brother, "You're not cold are you Ellie? Cause we could go inside."
Ellie didn't understand why Emma was being nice to her, they didn't really even know each other. *Maybe it's because of the whole Craig thing. I knew her and Manny were fighting, but I didn't think she'd take the enemies side.* Ellie gestured to her sweatshirt, "No, I'm fine," soon as the words escaped her mouth, she knew she had screwed up.
Emma looked up as Ellie spoke to her, and of course, recognized the sweatshirt, "That. . .that's Sean's sweatshirt," Emma stammered as she pointed at Ellie, "What's going between you two?" her voice evened out.
"Oh, I was cold last night, so Sean let me wear it. Actually, that's kind of why I'm here," *Well, she's gonna be angry anyway. I might as well find out where Sean lives.*
"What were you doing last night?"Emma asked with interest, trying to sound like it didn't really matter.
"Just hanging out with a few people," Ellie was going to say that she was with Craig, Ashley, and Sean, but that sounded too much like a double date.
"Oh . . ."Emma stood up, while carefully making sure that Jack wasn't uncovered, "Well, uh, Sean lives over there. Um, his house is kinda. . .easy to miss, I guess. . ." she gave a short description how to get there, and Ellie thanked her, and started toward the way Emma had pointed.
Emma walked inside, and closed the door behind her. She leaned against, and slowly slid down it. She started to cry as she held her baby brother close to her.
Ellie saw the building Emma had described, and walked up to the door and knocked. Nobody answered. She knocked again, and there was no answer. So she turned around, and almost jumped out of her skin, when she was face to face with Sean.
He had this wicked scowl on his face, "What're you doing here Ellie?"
Ellie was surprised by his tone, "Well, I just wanted to return your sweatshirt. I listened to the song," she tried to smile, but by the expression on his face, her confidence disappeared.
"You could've called," he said as he looked away from her.
"I didn't have your phone number," Ellie tried to explain.
"You didn't have my address either. That didn't stop you," Sean was being so cruel.
*Is this the same person who seemed so concerned about me just last night? * Ellie bit down on her bottom lip, she took a deep breath, "Are you okay Sean?"
That was apparently the wrong thing to say, for he looked very offended, "Why would you care?" Sean held back what he really wanted to say, because of how scared she looked.
"Well, you. . .you tried to help me when you thought there was something wrong, and even though there isn't, you were there for me."
"Is this supposed to be some touchy-feely moment?"Sean asked bitterly.
Ellie was looking in his eyes, trying to figure out what he was feeling. They were blank. She could see dark circles in his eyes, and realized that he must've not slept well. Ellie wasn't sure how he wanted her to respond to his last question, but he had made her angry, so the walls went back up, "Listen, I just wanted to return your stupid sweatshirt! So here!" She set the C.D. player on the ground, and pulled the sweatshirt off. She threw it at him, and noticed how wide his eyes had gotten.
"Ellie, I'm sorry, I just . . ." Ellie never got to hear the rest of his sentence, because at that moment, the door was flung open, and Sean's brother stood in his pajamas, looking very angry.
"Sean!" Tracker bellowed, "Where the hell were you all night?!"
Suddenly, the Sean that was starting to open up to Ellie was gone. Sean slowly turned is head to look at his brother, "Does it matter?"
"Don't start that monotone crap with me Sean!"Tracker yelled at his little brother. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "Could you not get to a phone?"
"Tracker, if I saw a phone, don't you think I would've used it?" Ellie fought back a smirk.
Tracker smiled and rolled his eyes, "No, I don't think so," he was starting to lighten up, "Sean, I just don't want you to be taken away from me. Could you please try to call me before you make plans?"
"Yeah, sure Tracker . . ."Sean shrugged it off.
"One last thing Sean. Where were you last night?" Tracker interrogated him.
"With Jay," Sean answered. Ellie was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"I thought I told you to stay away from him and his crew," Sean's brother looked worried, "They're not doing anything for you, except making you look like a troublemaker."
*Uh-oh. Things were just about to be okay, too. Tracker is just trying to look out for him, but I don't think Sean sees it that way.* He obviously didn't, for at that moment Sean shouted, "I'm tired of taking this crap from you Tracker! This is who I am! Why can't you just accept that? Why can't you realize that I'm not the model citizen like you? I'm never gonna be like you Tracker! And I'm not sure if that's necessarily a bad thing . . ."
Sean just kept ranting. Ellie wanted to leave, but she felt as if she were watching a car drive off a cliff, and Sean was in it. She didn't want to leave him alone.
Finally, Sean stopped, and just stood there, breathing heavily. He was waiting for his brother to say something to him. *Tracker needs to stop believing I'm something I'm not. I'm tired of pretending. That's all I ever did when I was going out with . . .*
"I'm gonna go get dressed, and go look for a job," Tracker said as he turned to go inside, "It was nice to meet you, uh . . ."
"Ellie," Sean grunted. Ellie smiled at Tracker.
"Yeah, it was nice to meet you Ellie. You're welcome to stay as long as you like," Then, he turned and went inside. *Is he just going to pretend nothing happened? * Ellie wondered about the strange relationship between Sean and his brother.
"Ellie, I'm just gonna go to sleep," Sean mumbled, "I'll see you at school."
*Whatever. I should go and see if Ash is awake yet.* Ellie slowly walked back the way she came. This time, however, she was cold, shocked, and believed that nobody in the world cared about her.
She looked over the edge of her bed to see if Ellie was still sleeping. To Ashley's surprise, she wasn't even there. Ashley looked at er alarm clock to see what time it was. 12:30. *Wow, I slept late!* She figured it was because of all the sleepless nights she had since she found out about Craig and . . .. Suddenly, she felt as if all the happiness in her had been drained out, and replaced with anger. She took a deep breath, before looking for Ellie.
She knocked on the bathroom door, "Ellie? Are you in there?"
"Did your best friend run away from you?"was the response from the other side of the door.
"Shut up, Toby! Have you seen Ellie?" She asked, trying to sound nice after her first rude comment.
"She left. I don't blame her. Now, would you please stop bothering me?"Toby shouted through the door.
Ashley slowly drifted downstairs, and began to wonder where Ellie had went. She replayed yesterdays events in her head, trying to remember if Ellie had mentioned needing to be somewhere in the morning. *I invited to come over and stay the night. Craig called. We went to The Dot. Craig apologized.* She was lost in thought, for the cheerfulness quickly returned to her when she thought about him. She shook her head, and started recollecting again. *She came inside. I told her about Craig-she was wearing Sean's sweatshirt! Didn't I ask her about that? She managed to weasel herself about of it!* Ashley smiled to herself. *Guess I'm not the only one who things worked out for.*
Ellie walked down the sidewalk, trying to find where Sean lived. *This was a bad idea. I should of waited for Ash to wake up.*
She saw somebody sitting out on a porch, with a bundle of blankets in their arms. As she got closer, she realized is was Emma. Ellie turned off the sidewalk, and approached Emma on the porch. *Somewhere in that bundle of blankets must be her baby brother.*
"Hi Ellie," Emma greeted her, "What're you doing here?"
"I was just walking around," Ellie didn't think now would be the best time to ask directions to Sean's house, "Shouldn't Jack be inside? It's really cold out here." Ellie tried to change the subject.
"My mom had to take Snake to chemotherapy, and I was tired of staying inside. Besides, he's wrapped up really well."Emma said as she looked down at her brother, "You're not cold are you Ellie? Cause we could go inside."
Ellie didn't understand why Emma was being nice to her, they didn't really even know each other. *Maybe it's because of the whole Craig thing. I knew her and Manny were fighting, but I didn't think she'd take the enemies side.* Ellie gestured to her sweatshirt, "No, I'm fine," soon as the words escaped her mouth, she knew she had screwed up.
Emma looked up as Ellie spoke to her, and of course, recognized the sweatshirt, "That. . .that's Sean's sweatshirt," Emma stammered as she pointed at Ellie, "What's going between you two?" her voice evened out.
"Oh, I was cold last night, so Sean let me wear it. Actually, that's kind of why I'm here," *Well, she's gonna be angry anyway. I might as well find out where Sean lives.*
"What were you doing last night?"Emma asked with interest, trying to sound like it didn't really matter.
"Just hanging out with a few people," Ellie was going to say that she was with Craig, Ashley, and Sean, but that sounded too much like a double date.
"Oh . . ."Emma stood up, while carefully making sure that Jack wasn't uncovered, "Well, uh, Sean lives over there. Um, his house is kinda. . .easy to miss, I guess. . ." she gave a short description how to get there, and Ellie thanked her, and started toward the way Emma had pointed.
Emma walked inside, and closed the door behind her. She leaned against, and slowly slid down it. She started to cry as she held her baby brother close to her.
Ellie saw the building Emma had described, and walked up to the door and knocked. Nobody answered. She knocked again, and there was no answer. So she turned around, and almost jumped out of her skin, when she was face to face with Sean.
He had this wicked scowl on his face, "What're you doing here Ellie?"
Ellie was surprised by his tone, "Well, I just wanted to return your sweatshirt. I listened to the song," she tried to smile, but by the expression on his face, her confidence disappeared.
"You could've called," he said as he looked away from her.
"I didn't have your phone number," Ellie tried to explain.
"You didn't have my address either. That didn't stop you," Sean was being so cruel.
*Is this the same person who seemed so concerned about me just last night? * Ellie bit down on her bottom lip, she took a deep breath, "Are you okay Sean?"
That was apparently the wrong thing to say, for he looked very offended, "Why would you care?" Sean held back what he really wanted to say, because of how scared she looked.
"Well, you. . .you tried to help me when you thought there was something wrong, and even though there isn't, you were there for me."
"Is this supposed to be some touchy-feely moment?"Sean asked bitterly.
Ellie was looking in his eyes, trying to figure out what he was feeling. They were blank. She could see dark circles in his eyes, and realized that he must've not slept well. Ellie wasn't sure how he wanted her to respond to his last question, but he had made her angry, so the walls went back up, "Listen, I just wanted to return your stupid sweatshirt! So here!" She set the C.D. player on the ground, and pulled the sweatshirt off. She threw it at him, and noticed how wide his eyes had gotten.
"Ellie, I'm sorry, I just . . ." Ellie never got to hear the rest of his sentence, because at that moment, the door was flung open, and Sean's brother stood in his pajamas, looking very angry.
"Sean!" Tracker bellowed, "Where the hell were you all night?!"
Suddenly, the Sean that was starting to open up to Ellie was gone. Sean slowly turned is head to look at his brother, "Does it matter?"
"Don't start that monotone crap with me Sean!"Tracker yelled at his little brother. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, "Could you not get to a phone?"
"Tracker, if I saw a phone, don't you think I would've used it?" Ellie fought back a smirk.
Tracker smiled and rolled his eyes, "No, I don't think so," he was starting to lighten up, "Sean, I just don't want you to be taken away from me. Could you please try to call me before you make plans?"
"Yeah, sure Tracker . . ."Sean shrugged it off.
"One last thing Sean. Where were you last night?" Tracker interrogated him.
"With Jay," Sean answered. Ellie was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"I thought I told you to stay away from him and his crew," Sean's brother looked worried, "They're not doing anything for you, except making you look like a troublemaker."
*Uh-oh. Things were just about to be okay, too. Tracker is just trying to look out for him, but I don't think Sean sees it that way.* He obviously didn't, for at that moment Sean shouted, "I'm tired of taking this crap from you Tracker! This is who I am! Why can't you just accept that? Why can't you realize that I'm not the model citizen like you? I'm never gonna be like you Tracker! And I'm not sure if that's necessarily a bad thing . . ."
Sean just kept ranting. Ellie wanted to leave, but she felt as if she were watching a car drive off a cliff, and Sean was in it. She didn't want to leave him alone.
Finally, Sean stopped, and just stood there, breathing heavily. He was waiting for his brother to say something to him. *Tracker needs to stop believing I'm something I'm not. I'm tired of pretending. That's all I ever did when I was going out with . . .*
"I'm gonna go get dressed, and go look for a job," Tracker said as he turned to go inside, "It was nice to meet you, uh . . ."
"Ellie," Sean grunted. Ellie smiled at Tracker.
"Yeah, it was nice to meet you Ellie. You're welcome to stay as long as you like," Then, he turned and went inside. *Is he just going to pretend nothing happened? * Ellie wondered about the strange relationship between Sean and his brother.
"Ellie, I'm just gonna go to sleep," Sean mumbled, "I'll see you at school."
*Whatever. I should go and see if Ash is awake yet.* Ellie slowly walked back the way she came. This time, however, she was cold, shocked, and believed that nobody in the world cared about her.