Maybe Coming Home Isn't So Easy After All
Chapter 2
A Half Expected Stench of VodkaEllie flipped over onto her back and stared at the living room ceiling. The sofa Jerry had set up for her was fairly comfortable, considering that it was a sleeper sofa. She just couldn't sleep. She rolled over and looked at the clock on the VCR. It was flashing 12:00. Go figure. She kept having dreams about Sean. She couldn't stop thinking about him, ever since she got into town. She hadn't seen or spoken to him in six years. A few times she'd begun to call him, but hung up before she finished dialing. Ellie let her mind wander not something she did often anymore. She thought about the dates that they went on, the good times they had. She thought about the day they went up on the school roof, she showed him the scars and he didn't freak. She remembered the way his finger tips would slide across them as they would lay on his couch together, one of the few places she felt safe pushing her sleeves up, taking her arm socks off. He always seemed to understand. She remembered how it started, and how it ended. Ellie rolled back her sleeves, and looked at her faded scars in the moonlight. Depending on how the light hit them, she could barely see them or they reflected the light like water. She hadn't cut in almost two years, but some of the scars still stood out prominently. She pulled her sleeve back down, and closed her eyes. Her mind's eye seemed to be permanently focused on Sean lately. When Ellie finally fell asleep, the sun was already beginning to streak the sky in pinks and yellows.
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Sean Cameron sat on the end of his bed, the moonlight seeping through the curtains, casting a single square of light on the dirty carpet. He stared at it as he thought. It had been a long day at the garage he owned and worked at. Ryne, one of the kids he'd hired needed most of the next week off because his cousin was in from Chicago and his aunt had died. This kid would talk your ear off about his cousin that he hadn't seen since he was little. She would write to him and his mother regularly, but refused to come back to visit until now. Sean had let him have the parts of the week off he needed, partially because the kid was a good worker and partially because what he'd heard about his cousin reminded him of someone very special to him. Someone who had been so close to him for a while and broke his heart. She had shattered his heart into a million little pieces that, six years later, still hadn't fully healed. It had been different when Emma had hurt him. Emma would hurt him slowly, in expected ways. But her, she had surprised him when she hurt him. Then she left suddenly. For a while he had held onto the hope that she'd soon return. But year after year slipped past without her. Sean tried to forget. He tried a few times to even drink her away. But after the hangover would pass, she'd still be there. And when Ryne would start about his cousin she sounded so much like her that Sean actually began to hope it was. A small piece of him hoped hat she'd come back again. But a bigger part of him still figured that she'd never come back, like so many other people in his life. He turned around and reached for the single picture that stood on his nightstand. It had been taken the summer after his junior year, the year he graduated. He stared at the smiling girl in the photo, running his hand over the glass.
"No way," he said out loud, trying to dislodge the notion that Ellie Nash was Ryne Martin's cousin.
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Maggie was cooking lunch by the time Ellie woke up the next morning.
"Hey there, sleepy head." Maggie said turning to see Ellie as she walked into the kitchen.
"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" Ellie pulled a carton of orange juice from the fridge and poured herself a glass. "I thought you said you wanted to go over to the house today?"
"Yeah, but I thought we'd let you sleep in. We can go in a bit if you want," Maggie took the pot of noodles off the stove and walked over to the sink.
"Okay with me," Ellie sat down at the table. "What are you making?"
"Macaroni and cheese," Maggie dumped the noodles into a colander and ran cold water over it.
"Awesome," Ellie loved mac and cheese, ever since she was little. "Where's Ryne and Jerry?"
"Ryne had to cover for someone at the garage for a bit, and Jerry is out back doing god knows what. I think he's finishing another ramp for Ryne, but I'm not entirely sure," Maggie said, dumping the noodles into the pot again. "He's really getting into that whole skateboarding thing. And Jerry, he's just happy to do anything with him anymore."
"Is he any good?"
"Well, he doesn't land on his face as much anymore thank god. Some of the stuff he does out there makes me a wreck. All the jumping and spinning," Maggie stirred the cheese and milk into the noodles. "Ryne's home," she said when the front door slammed shut.
"Hey ma. El, your finally awake," Ryne said, setting his skateboard on the counter and grabbing a cookie.
"Get that thing OFF my counter!" Maggie laughed and tossed a towel at his head. "We've been over this how many times?"
"Sorry," Ryne mumbled through the cookie in his mouth and grabbed for his board, ducking the towel.
"He comes home for food. That's it. We barely see him during the summer," Maggie scooped some mac and cheese into two bowls and set them on the table. "Help yourself," she said and went outside.
"Your mom said you're into the whole skating thing. Ya any good?" Ellie asked and started eating her lunch.
"Pretty good I guess. It's more of something to do though, I'm not into the whole competing part of it," Ryne sat down and started pulling his kneepads off. "And considering how small this town is, it saves shitloads on gas."
"'Shitloads'?" Ellie cocked an eyebrow. At both his language and the percilular smell coming from him.
"Sorry. Mom's been gettin on m bout it too," he said and started eating. "Dijya hear where I'm workin now?"
"Maggie said you were workin at a garage, but she didn't saw who's."
"Sean Cameron's. He's got a nice set up on the edge of town. Didn't you two go to school together?"
"Yeah. But he, he probably wouldn't remember me," Ellie said nervously and carried her empty bowl over to the sink. "That was years ago."
"Ya never know." Ryne looked at his cousin as she hurried across the kitchen. Something in the way she said it and the way Sean would listen intently about her made him doubt that he forgot.
"Well, I'll be sure to stop by before I leave. Me and your mom were gonna head over to the house in a bit, wanna come?" Ellie offered.
"Nah, I'm headin back out as soon as I'm done," he said, and held up his half empty bowl.
"Okay then. See ya later," Ellie said and walked out into the backyard.
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Ellie found Maggie sitting on an old lawn chair watching some birds fight over a pile of seeds.
"Hey sweetie. Ya ready to head out now?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah. I kinda wanna get it over with," Ellie admitted.
"I understand. Just lemme get this chair put away then we can leave," Maggie said as she got up.
"Okay, I'll meet you out front."
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Ellie fidgeted nervously in the passenger seat of Maggie's old Bug.
"Ellie, is something bothering you? You've seemed a little stressed since you got up," Maggie glanced at Ellie.
"I'm fine, I guess it's just, I haven't seen anyone in six years. And I'm worried that I'll run into someone-"
"Sean?"
"Yeah. It was just so awkward and rushed when I left, and I'm still not sure why I left in the first place. But I'm probably worrying over nothing," Ellie sighed.
"Probably. Here we are," she said as they pulled into the drive. "Still wanna go inside?"
"Yeah," Ellie got out of the car and headed for the door. She stopped when she got to the porch. She ran her hand along the railing and over the back of the old porch swing her and Sean had spent countless nights just sitting on when things got rougher than usual. She took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly. The door swung open, and Ellie half expected the stench of vodka, vomit, and piss to knock her back as it had so many years before. Instead, the smell of a dusty old house greeted her nose. "You cleaned everything?" Ellie was surprised, but at the same time not. How else could Maggie have known how Janice was all the time if she hadn't been over to help out?
"Yup. Before Janice ended up in the hospital, she couldn't do everything. She got tired easy, and lonely."
"But I thought you said you two didn't get along very good?" Ellie was slightly confused as they walked into the house.
"We didn't. She was cranky a lot. But I felt bad just leaving her here alone all day. And after she was admitted the last time, I came over and scrubbed the crap out of everything. The couch still stinks though," Maggie said, laughing a bit as she closed the door behind them. "Well, you can feel free to wander about a bit, I've still got a bunch to do as far cleaning to do but if you need anything, come get me. Okay?"
"Sure," Ellie said, as she looked at the stairs. The dark carpet and dark wood seemed to hold memories long forgotten. She climbed the stairs slowly, feeling the cool wood slide past under her fingers. The hallway upstairs was carpeted a lighter color, and a few stubborn stains remained. Ellie looked at her old bedroom door. The caution tape and 'keep out' poster had begun to fade and sag. The door creaked a little as she nudged it open. Her room looked as it had the day she left. Her bed was still unmade, the purple-y black comforter wadded up at the foot of her bed. She sat down and ran her hand over the worn fabric, remembering all the times her and Sean had spent playing cards on it and cuddling up in it in front of the television. She looked at the dark fabric. Ellie smiled in spite of herself. She turned to face her mirror, still plastered with pictures of Marco, Ash, Sean, Ryne, and herself. They were getting old and fading, but you could still see them pretty good. She pulled one of the pictures of her and Sean down and held it. Her hair was long, pulled back into braids. They had their arms wrapped around each other. She wiped away a tear, and tried not to think about what she could have had if she hadn't left. If she hadn't bailed when Janice had gotten unbearable with her drinking. Ellie stuck the picture back on the mirror and started to go through random junk on her dresser. She opened a small black book with a silver faerie on it. It was her old address book. She flipped it open, and looked at the entries. Ashley Kerwin, Marco Del Rossi, Sean Cameron, Spinner Mason. Ellie and Spinner had become friends after he broke up with Paige. Ellie grabbed the book and went downstairs.
"Maggie?" she called out as she entered the living room.
"Yeah?" Maggie was sitting on the floor, trying to get a dark stain out of the carpet.
"Do the phones still work?" Ellie said, lightly slapping the book against her leg.
"Yeah. There's a phone upstairs in the hall," Maggie said, pushing her hair from her face. "The number got changed, though. After I had the phones turned back on."
"Okay. Thanks," she said and went back to her room.
Ellie picked up the purple and green phone and slowly dialed Sean's phone number. Ellie let it ring twice before she lost her composure and hung up. She stared at it for a while, trying to calm down. Her stomach was in knots. After six years so much could have changed. Who knew, maybe Sean met someone and is living a wonderful life. Ellie let out the big breath she'd been holding in. she picked up the phone and dialed his number again.
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Sean woke up to hear the phone ringing. He sat up and rubbed his head as he looked at the clock. Damn. I slept through most of the day already, he thought to himself. Oh well, its Sunday, not much else to do. He stood up and walked over to the phone. The little screen flashed '1 new call'. He pushed a button, and a number he didn't recognize came up. He reached for a piece of paper and jotted it down. He figured if whoever it was wanted to talk to him, they'd call back later. He closed his eyes for a moment, and tried to shake Ellie from his head. He opened his eyes and glared at the ringing phone until he realized it was the same number as before. He grabbed the phone and pushed the 'talk' button.
"Hello?" he said uncertainly. "Who is this?"
"Hey, Sean. It... it's Ellie," she said nervously.
Sean just stood there with the phone in his hand like time had stopped.
