"Hey, Ellie!" Ellie rolled her eyes as she heard Paige's voice calling after her. She slowly turned around to face her.
"Hi Paige," she mumbled.
"So . . ." Paige tried to pry information out of Ellie.
"So . . . what?" Ellie played dumb.
Paige furrowed her brow, "Hun, didn't you get my email?"
Ellie's eyes narrowed, "Oh, you mean the one that said you broke up with Spinner? The one that explained how Spinner found out about . . ." she lowered her voice, "My secrets."
Paige's eyes widened in horror, "What did he say?"
"It doesn't matter what he said Paige. It matters that you told him," Ellie started to walk away, but stopped herself, and turned to face Paige as she said cooly, "I don't give a crap what you think of Sean. You obviously have very poor taste. I mean, you went out with Spinner."
Ellie continued walking nonchalantly down the hall. She knew that she looked fine on the outside, that was her intention as always. But she always hated feeling that way. She hated pretending. Just like every other time something went wrong, she began to look for something to make her feel better. The only difference, was that instead of finding the nearest sharp object, she was looking for Sean.
Sean sat in the back seat of the car. *Back to square one.* Usually, when Jay was driving, Sean rode shotgun. This time, Towerz was up front with Jay. *It's not like it matters.* But he knew it did. Jay wasn't going to care so much if one of the guys tried to beat him up. Before, if Jay found out somebody was messing with Sean, they'd get in trouble. Now, Sean would have to watch his back wherever he went.
As Towerz lit a cigarette, Sean shook his head. *What the hell am I doing here?* He used to not care if somebody smoked. He'd even done it. Hell, he'd done a lot worse. But for some reason, he felt that he was . . . above that? Sean shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. *I'm not better than they are. I'm lucky they let me back in.*
"Towerz," Jay demanded, "I got a way to get that cash we need."
They slowed to a halt in front of a big green house. *Crap. We've never done a house before.* Sean was wondering what was going on. They'd shoplifted from stores, and took a couple things from school, but never anything from somebody's house.
"Anybody home?" Towerz asked Jay as he stared at the house.
"Shouldn't be," Jay shrugged, "She should be at work. Sean will look ou in case she comes home for lunch."
Sean sighed as he got out of the car with Towerz. He hadn't been a lookout, since, well, never. Mr. Simpson's laptop was his first job, and he had been the one to steal it.
Sean watched as Jay slowly drove down around the block. *I shouldn't have come.*
Towerz pointed to the corner of the house, "Get over there," he snarled.
Sean rolled his eyes as he put up his hood, and walked over to the drain pipe. He watched as Towerz carefully broke into the house.
He waited for an alarm, figuring a house that big had to have an alarm. Nothing went off. He shrugged his shoulders, and watched the houses across the street, making sure the noisy neighbors kept their curtains shut.
Sean heard a short honk, and looked around the corner to where Jay was parked. He jerked his head down the street, and Sean saw a black Mercedes slowly coming toward the house. Sean quickly went in the way Towerz had, and scrambled to find him.
"Towerz!" Sean called urgently. *Keep calm.* He kept telling himself over and over to stay calm.
He ran up the stairs, and as he did so, he heard the car pull into the driveway. *Crap!* He hurried into what he figured was the master bedroom.
"Towerz?" He whispered. *Where is he?!* He heard somebody climbing the stairs, and coming toward him.
Sean sighed as he jumped under the bed. *When I find you Towerz, I'm gonna kill you!*
He watched as a pair of black high heeled shoes walked into the room. Sean couldn't help but check out her legs as she walked by. *Those legs look familiar . . .* Sean was trying to figure out who it was, when all of a sudden, it him. *Ms. Hatzilakos!* Sean tried to control his breathing as she rummaged through her jewelry box looking for something. She couldn't seem to find what she was looking for, so she hurried out of the room.
*Did Jay know we were at her house?* Sean felt a surge of anger run through his veins. He waited for the sound of her car to start, before climbing out from under the bed.
"Towerz!" He yelled, "Where the hell are you?!"
He ran down stairs, and carefully went outside, hoping that Towerz had snuck outside. As he went around the corner, and saw Jay's car. Jay and Towerz was standing outside, and Jay was yelling at Towerz.
"You left him in there? Do you even know who's house this is?" Towerz was cowering in front of Jay, and Sean couldn't help but smirk.
*Jay had to have known it was Ms. Hatzilakos' house. Was this some sort of test?*
Jay noticed Sean's presence, "Sean, get in the car."
Towerz looked at Sean, "Are you okay?"
As Sean opened his mouth, Jay answered for him, "Yeah, he's fine. And Towerz, you're lucky you have someone like him looking out for you. Personally, I would've left your sorry ass there, had I not known who's house this was. And after the way you just ditched Sean, I'm sorry he didn't."
"Who's house is this?" Towerz asked.
Jay shook his head, "It doesn't matter. Get in the car."
Towerz started to get into the front seat, but Jay stopped him, "Sean rides shotgun."
Sean glared at Towerz as he hopped into the passenger's seat.
Towerz glowered as he climbed into the backseat.
They started to drive, and Jay looked into the rearview mirror, "Towerz, pass up the booze."
Towerz sighed as he pulled a flask out of his jacket. He handed it up to Jay, who took a swig out of it, and passed it to Sean. Sean hesitated for a moment, considering the consequences. *It's not like it matters. Jay stood up for me. This is who I am.* He held the flask up to his lips, and took a long gulp.
As they arrived back at school, Sean started to feel himself loosen up, "Hey, Towerz, man, did you get anything from the house?"
Towerz smirked, "Ya, I got some jewelry crap," Sean thought about seeing Ms. Hatzilakos going through her jewelry box. *So he was in the master bedroom.*
"Towerz, give him his share," Jay ordered.
Towerz glared at Jay in the rearview mirror, as he pulled a charm bracelet out of his jacket. He reluctantly threw it up to Sean.
Sean inspected the bracelet. It was silver, and had many different kinds of charms on it. Many looked like a teenager would buy, but he figured Ms. Hatzilakos was pretty young. One charm said "Rock" and was in the shape of a guitar. Another was a star with a blue stone that said "I wish". Sean thought it was pretty cool, and wondered who he could sell it to. Then he realized he didn't have to sell it. *Ellie. Ellie might like it.* Soon as he thought of her name, he knew he had screwed up.
*I can't go back to school like this. If she sees me, she'll know I'm a little . . . tipsy.* Sean sighed. *This is just like me. I always screw up!*
His thoughts were interrupted as Jay blasted the stereo as "Headstrong" by Trapt came on.
Sean stopped thinking, and began to listen to the music. He felt much relaxed as the song got over, and they climbed out of the car.
"See ya later, Sean," Jay waved goodbye as they parted ways in the hall.
*Okay. Where do I gotta go?* Sean wondered to himself as he strolled down the hallway. The bell rang, and people started to file out classes.
Sean saw Spinner coming out of a class, and jogged to catch up with him, "Hey, Spin! Wait up man! What period is this?" Sean wasn't aware of his slight slurring.
Spinner raised one eyebrow. He was confused, but didn't dare question Sean, "Just got outta fifth."
"Thanks man!" Sean gave Spinner a high-five as he passed. He put his hands down deep in his pockets, and felt the charm bracelet. *I should find Ellie.*
He walked around, checking in each class as they started to fill up. He finally found Ellie at her locker, and slowly approached her with the intention of scaring her.
He slowly crept up behind her, and then quickly grabbed her sides, making her scream.
He turned her around to face him, "Sean? What the hell was that for?" Ellie said as she smacked him with a notebook.
"Owe! And to think, I was about to give you a present . . ." Sean smiled.
*What's up with him?* Ellie was confused by Sean's behavior. *He's so . . .so happy.*
Sean still hadn't released her sides as he stared into her eyes. He quickly leaned in and kissed her.
Ellie was taken aback, but she kissed him back. *Is that alcohol?* She tried not to gag as they kissed. Soon, it was too much to bear, and she pulled back. As he drew away, he grabbed something out of his pocket.
Ellie watched as a silver chain with many charms on it was hung in front of her, "Here, I got this for you."
Ellie smiled as he put the bracelet on her wrist, but she had many questions, and the tardy bell had already rang, "Thanks, Sean. Where have you been all morning? At lunch, I went to your house to look for you, but Tracker said you weren't there."
Sean let out a deep breath, "Tracker wasn't out looking for a job?"
"Sean, that's not the point. Where were you, and why do you smell like alcohol?"
*She's starting to act like Emma.* Sean tried to make it seem okay, "I was just having a little fun." He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head.
Sean glared at her, "Ellie, what's your problem? I thought you accepted me for who I am," Sean complained.
"I do. I do accept you for who you are Sean. But this isn't you. You're better than this. You're better than Jay and all those guys," Ellie felt that they had already had this conversation.
"No, I'm not. So, if you don't like them, then you don't like me," Sean said.
Ellie began, "I don't like them Sean . . . "
"Then you don't like me," Sean finished and walked off.
"Dammit Sean!" Ellie yelled as she slammed her locker shut.
"Ms. Nash?" Ellie turned and saw Ms. Hatzilakos standing at her door, "You're disrupting my class, which I also think you're supposed to be in right now. I think we need to have a little trip to Mr. Raditch's office."
*Could this day get any worse?* Ellie followed Ms. Hatzilakos down the hall.
Ellie sat across from Mr. Raditch in his office, with Ms. Hatzilakos standing next to her. Ms. Hatzilakos explained how Ellie had been skipping class, using profanity, and disrupting her class.
As Ellie put her hands up to defend herself, the charm bracelet she wore over her arm stocking jingled.
Ms. Hatzilakos had loved charm bracelets for as long as she could remember. She always wore her favorite one to school, as a good luck charm. When she realized she had forgotten it, she rushed home at lunch to get it. She couldn't find it, and had to hurry back to school.
She looked at Ellie's bracelet wondering what kind of charms she had. She recognized every single one.
"Ellie, where did you get that bracelet?" She asked.
Ellie thought about Sean. *Why did I even accept the stupid gift?!* She decided to lie, "At the mall."
Ms. Hatzilakos eyed her suspiciously, "Are you sure about that?"
"Hi Paige," she mumbled.
"So . . ." Paige tried to pry information out of Ellie.
"So . . . what?" Ellie played dumb.
Paige furrowed her brow, "Hun, didn't you get my email?"
Ellie's eyes narrowed, "Oh, you mean the one that said you broke up with Spinner? The one that explained how Spinner found out about . . ." she lowered her voice, "My secrets."
Paige's eyes widened in horror, "What did he say?"
"It doesn't matter what he said Paige. It matters that you told him," Ellie started to walk away, but stopped herself, and turned to face Paige as she said cooly, "I don't give a crap what you think of Sean. You obviously have very poor taste. I mean, you went out with Spinner."
Ellie continued walking nonchalantly down the hall. She knew that she looked fine on the outside, that was her intention as always. But she always hated feeling that way. She hated pretending. Just like every other time something went wrong, she began to look for something to make her feel better. The only difference, was that instead of finding the nearest sharp object, she was looking for Sean.
Sean sat in the back seat of the car. *Back to square one.* Usually, when Jay was driving, Sean rode shotgun. This time, Towerz was up front with Jay. *It's not like it matters.* But he knew it did. Jay wasn't going to care so much if one of the guys tried to beat him up. Before, if Jay found out somebody was messing with Sean, they'd get in trouble. Now, Sean would have to watch his back wherever he went.
As Towerz lit a cigarette, Sean shook his head. *What the hell am I doing here?* He used to not care if somebody smoked. He'd even done it. Hell, he'd done a lot worse. But for some reason, he felt that he was . . . above that? Sean shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. *I'm not better than they are. I'm lucky they let me back in.*
"Towerz," Jay demanded, "I got a way to get that cash we need."
They slowed to a halt in front of a big green house. *Crap. We've never done a house before.* Sean was wondering what was going on. They'd shoplifted from stores, and took a couple things from school, but never anything from somebody's house.
"Anybody home?" Towerz asked Jay as he stared at the house.
"Shouldn't be," Jay shrugged, "She should be at work. Sean will look ou in case she comes home for lunch."
Sean sighed as he got out of the car with Towerz. He hadn't been a lookout, since, well, never. Mr. Simpson's laptop was his first job, and he had been the one to steal it.
Sean watched as Jay slowly drove down around the block. *I shouldn't have come.*
Towerz pointed to the corner of the house, "Get over there," he snarled.
Sean rolled his eyes as he put up his hood, and walked over to the drain pipe. He watched as Towerz carefully broke into the house.
He waited for an alarm, figuring a house that big had to have an alarm. Nothing went off. He shrugged his shoulders, and watched the houses across the street, making sure the noisy neighbors kept their curtains shut.
Sean heard a short honk, and looked around the corner to where Jay was parked. He jerked his head down the street, and Sean saw a black Mercedes slowly coming toward the house. Sean quickly went in the way Towerz had, and scrambled to find him.
"Towerz!" Sean called urgently. *Keep calm.* He kept telling himself over and over to stay calm.
He ran up the stairs, and as he did so, he heard the car pull into the driveway. *Crap!* He hurried into what he figured was the master bedroom.
"Towerz?" He whispered. *Where is he?!* He heard somebody climbing the stairs, and coming toward him.
Sean sighed as he jumped under the bed. *When I find you Towerz, I'm gonna kill you!*
He watched as a pair of black high heeled shoes walked into the room. Sean couldn't help but check out her legs as she walked by. *Those legs look familiar . . .* Sean was trying to figure out who it was, when all of a sudden, it him. *Ms. Hatzilakos!* Sean tried to control his breathing as she rummaged through her jewelry box looking for something. She couldn't seem to find what she was looking for, so she hurried out of the room.
*Did Jay know we were at her house?* Sean felt a surge of anger run through his veins. He waited for the sound of her car to start, before climbing out from under the bed.
"Towerz!" He yelled, "Where the hell are you?!"
He ran down stairs, and carefully went outside, hoping that Towerz had snuck outside. As he went around the corner, and saw Jay's car. Jay and Towerz was standing outside, and Jay was yelling at Towerz.
"You left him in there? Do you even know who's house this is?" Towerz was cowering in front of Jay, and Sean couldn't help but smirk.
*Jay had to have known it was Ms. Hatzilakos' house. Was this some sort of test?*
Jay noticed Sean's presence, "Sean, get in the car."
Towerz looked at Sean, "Are you okay?"
As Sean opened his mouth, Jay answered for him, "Yeah, he's fine. And Towerz, you're lucky you have someone like him looking out for you. Personally, I would've left your sorry ass there, had I not known who's house this was. And after the way you just ditched Sean, I'm sorry he didn't."
"Who's house is this?" Towerz asked.
Jay shook his head, "It doesn't matter. Get in the car."
Towerz started to get into the front seat, but Jay stopped him, "Sean rides shotgun."
Sean glared at Towerz as he hopped into the passenger's seat.
Towerz glowered as he climbed into the backseat.
They started to drive, and Jay looked into the rearview mirror, "Towerz, pass up the booze."
Towerz sighed as he pulled a flask out of his jacket. He handed it up to Jay, who took a swig out of it, and passed it to Sean. Sean hesitated for a moment, considering the consequences. *It's not like it matters. Jay stood up for me. This is who I am.* He held the flask up to his lips, and took a long gulp.
As they arrived back at school, Sean started to feel himself loosen up, "Hey, Towerz, man, did you get anything from the house?"
Towerz smirked, "Ya, I got some jewelry crap," Sean thought about seeing Ms. Hatzilakos going through her jewelry box. *So he was in the master bedroom.*
"Towerz, give him his share," Jay ordered.
Towerz glared at Jay in the rearview mirror, as he pulled a charm bracelet out of his jacket. He reluctantly threw it up to Sean.
Sean inspected the bracelet. It was silver, and had many different kinds of charms on it. Many looked like a teenager would buy, but he figured Ms. Hatzilakos was pretty young. One charm said "Rock" and was in the shape of a guitar. Another was a star with a blue stone that said "I wish". Sean thought it was pretty cool, and wondered who he could sell it to. Then he realized he didn't have to sell it. *Ellie. Ellie might like it.* Soon as he thought of her name, he knew he had screwed up.
*I can't go back to school like this. If she sees me, she'll know I'm a little . . . tipsy.* Sean sighed. *This is just like me. I always screw up!*
His thoughts were interrupted as Jay blasted the stereo as "Headstrong" by Trapt came on.
Sean stopped thinking, and began to listen to the music. He felt much relaxed as the song got over, and they climbed out of the car.
"See ya later, Sean," Jay waved goodbye as they parted ways in the hall.
*Okay. Where do I gotta go?* Sean wondered to himself as he strolled down the hallway. The bell rang, and people started to file out classes.
Sean saw Spinner coming out of a class, and jogged to catch up with him, "Hey, Spin! Wait up man! What period is this?" Sean wasn't aware of his slight slurring.
Spinner raised one eyebrow. He was confused, but didn't dare question Sean, "Just got outta fifth."
"Thanks man!" Sean gave Spinner a high-five as he passed. He put his hands down deep in his pockets, and felt the charm bracelet. *I should find Ellie.*
He walked around, checking in each class as they started to fill up. He finally found Ellie at her locker, and slowly approached her with the intention of scaring her.
He slowly crept up behind her, and then quickly grabbed her sides, making her scream.
He turned her around to face him, "Sean? What the hell was that for?" Ellie said as she smacked him with a notebook.
"Owe! And to think, I was about to give you a present . . ." Sean smiled.
*What's up with him?* Ellie was confused by Sean's behavior. *He's so . . .so happy.*
Sean still hadn't released her sides as he stared into her eyes. He quickly leaned in and kissed her.
Ellie was taken aback, but she kissed him back. *Is that alcohol?* She tried not to gag as they kissed. Soon, it was too much to bear, and she pulled back. As he drew away, he grabbed something out of his pocket.
Ellie watched as a silver chain with many charms on it was hung in front of her, "Here, I got this for you."
Ellie smiled as he put the bracelet on her wrist, but she had many questions, and the tardy bell had already rang, "Thanks, Sean. Where have you been all morning? At lunch, I went to your house to look for you, but Tracker said you weren't there."
Sean let out a deep breath, "Tracker wasn't out looking for a job?"
"Sean, that's not the point. Where were you, and why do you smell like alcohol?"
*She's starting to act like Emma.* Sean tried to make it seem okay, "I was just having a little fun." He leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head.
Sean glared at her, "Ellie, what's your problem? I thought you accepted me for who I am," Sean complained.
"I do. I do accept you for who you are Sean. But this isn't you. You're better than this. You're better than Jay and all those guys," Ellie felt that they had already had this conversation.
"No, I'm not. So, if you don't like them, then you don't like me," Sean said.
Ellie began, "I don't like them Sean . . . "
"Then you don't like me," Sean finished and walked off.
"Dammit Sean!" Ellie yelled as she slammed her locker shut.
"Ms. Nash?" Ellie turned and saw Ms. Hatzilakos standing at her door, "You're disrupting my class, which I also think you're supposed to be in right now. I think we need to have a little trip to Mr. Raditch's office."
*Could this day get any worse?* Ellie followed Ms. Hatzilakos down the hall.
Ellie sat across from Mr. Raditch in his office, with Ms. Hatzilakos standing next to her. Ms. Hatzilakos explained how Ellie had been skipping class, using profanity, and disrupting her class.
As Ellie put her hands up to defend herself, the charm bracelet she wore over her arm stocking jingled.
Ms. Hatzilakos had loved charm bracelets for as long as she could remember. She always wore her favorite one to school, as a good luck charm. When she realized she had forgotten it, she rushed home at lunch to get it. She couldn't find it, and had to hurry back to school.
She looked at Ellie's bracelet wondering what kind of charms she had. She recognized every single one.
"Ellie, where did you get that bracelet?" She asked.
Ellie thought about Sean. *Why did I even accept the stupid gift?!* She decided to lie, "At the mall."
Ms. Hatzilakos eyed her suspiciously, "Are you sure about that?"