Chapter 18: The Hard Way
Ashley's POV
Mondays. I hate them. But who likes them in the first place? The
first thing on my list to do was to publicize mine and Craig's interest in
being on homecoming court. Hopefully everyone would nominate us! Then, I
had to find Ellie and talk to her. We had not talked at all during the
break, except for the brief moment I saw her at Sean's party. What was
going on with her? It wasn't like her to act like this. I guess sometimes
you truly don't know a person. But I was hoping to maybe see what was going
on with her.
"Hey Terri!" I called down the hall towards my friend. She was
looking so much better since the accident with Rick. "Will you do me a
favor?"
Terri nodded, "Sure, Ash. What is it?"
"Tell everyone to nominate me and Craig for homecoming?"
"Oh, no problem! Have you heard who else is going for it?"
We started walking towards our lockers, which were located pretty
close to each other's. "No. Who?"
"Well, there's Paige and Spin and Jimmy and Hazel, of course. Also
Heather Sinclaire, Ken Fetch, Walter Hymen, Becky Smith, and Cindy Dennis
are all nominated. But get this..."
I braced myself for what could either be a huge surprise or a huge
letdown. Terri was known for getting excited over the stupidest things.
Terri let out a sharp breath and giggled, "Okay... there are two other people
nominated so far. They're a couple..."
"Terri, who is it?" I asked quickly. With all these people being
nominated, it was really hurting my chance. I couldn't believe I was
getting this worked up over a dance title, but for some reason it was
really important to me. I knew how well I was liked by everyone, but now I
wanted everyone to know. I think I still resented how I had been snubbed
last year and had been in the background ever since.
"Sean and Ellie! Can you believe it? Those two seem like the least
likely to even be at the dance..."
"Who nominated them?"
"Oh, a bunch of people. I think it's a joke. Jay and his group, or
should I say 'thugs', did. Marco, Dylan and his friends, some of the really
artsy people, the alternative crowd- you know... the 'freaks'..." She whispered
the last part as we passed a group of the aforementioned crowd.
I let out an annoyed sigh and turned to Terri. "People can vote for
nominees more than once, right?"
"Oh yeah, of course."
"Okay, Terri. Work the crowd," I gave her a big smile and then set
off to find Ellie. There had to be some explanation for this.
I found her in the art room working on some sort of metal jewelry.
She looked up when she heard me cough, but turned her attention back to the
bracelet she was hammering when she saw it was me. Play nice, play nice,
play nice was all I was thinking. "Hey Ellie," I said.
"Hey," she replied back in her soft voice.
"I like that bracelet," I touched a nearby necklace she had made.
"This too."
"Thanks," She smiled.
"Listen, I'm sorry about the other night. I was pretty rude. I was a
little on edge."
She met my eye, "It's okay. I've been on edge too."
I ran a hand through my short hair and pulled a chair over to where
she was sitting. She turned her chair around so she was facing me and
crossed her tube-sock covered legs. Lime green and yellow stripes. "Do you
know you're wearing miss-matched socks?"
She looked down confused. "No they're both yell- Oh. Well, now I do."
She shrugged and played with the pleats in her brown plaid skirt.
"Cute shirt," I pointed towards her bright green rugby jersey.
She tugged at her yellow suspenders, "Thanks. My cousin plays- this
is his from like the sixth grade. He's twenty now."
"Oh. How vintage. So, a bunch of people nominated you for homecoming.
And Sean."
She laughed slightly, "Yeah, crazy. Oh well. Give me the people what
they want, right?"
"Right," I said through gritted teeth. Why was she being so
frustrating? Why wouldn't she just say she was planning on dropping out?
"So are you really going to go through with it? I mean, Sean doesn't even
want to go to the dance, let alone be nominated for something as stupid as
sophomore homecoming king."
Ellie narrowed her eyes and leaned closer, "If it's so stupid, then
why are you telling everyone to nominate you and Craig?"
I didn't know what to say. She had caught me. "It's just... this isn't
you. You're not the type of person who wants to win something that's
totally based on popularity."
"I didn't think you were either."
"Listen, Ellie. Before I befriended you, I was the most popular girl
in the school, okay?"
Ellie grabbed the hammer she had been working with and started to hit
the metal bracelet again, "before you befriended me? Honey, you were the
one ditched by all your friends. Don't act as if I was some charity case. I
was fine."
"Oh yeah. Because you had so many friends yourself," I stood up.
"Listen, I'm going before we both say things we don't mean. I'm not trying
to be cruel, Ellie. I'm just really surprised with your recent behavior.
Maybe Sean isn't as good for you as you thought." With that, I turned on my
heel and walked out of the art room.
On my way out, I ran into a few girls from Ellie's art class. I
didn't even know their names but I gave this a huge smile. "Vote for me and
Craig!" I chirped. All of a sudden, this was more than just showing
everyone who was well liked around this school, who had been through a year
of hell and still managed to be nice to everyone, who deserved it the most.
I just wanted to beat Ellie. That sounds so horrible. I sound like some
jealous freak. Maybe I was. Who knows. God... It really sucks when you're
best friend is your competition.
Ellie's POV
I dropped my head into my arms. When had Ashley become so psycho?
This whole thing was so frustrating. I really needed a hug right now. I
picked my head back up and grabbed the hammer on the table. My metal
bracelet had fallen into my skirt and I swung at it with the hammer. I
missed it completely and hit my thigh. It hurt, but in a good way. I looked
at the girls in the back to see what they were doing. They were busy. I
swung at the bracelet again- "accidentally" missing it. I did it a few more
times before I became scared that maybe I was going to break my bone. Then
I stopped. I didn't want to go that far. Then again, maybe I wouldn't have
to come to school and hang around with people who just pretend to be your
friends.
Marco's POV
I stopped, out of breath, outside the art room. I knew Ellie came in
here sometimes to work on art before school started. I just had to tell her
my big news. I noticed Ashley leaving the art room from the other door,
looking pretty pissed before smiling and stopping to talk to a few girls. I
didn't bother saying hi.
I peeked inside the room and saw Ellie hanging out at a table. She
looked pretty upset herself. Her head was in her hands. I was about to call
out to her the expression on her face stopped me. She angrily grabbed her
hammer and started hitting at whatever she had just placed carefully on her
lap. What the hell was she doing?
"Ellie?" I asked confused when she had finally set the hammer down.
She looked up with a guilty look on her face, "yeah, Marco?"
"What are you doing? Did you hurt yourself?"
She stood up and grabbed what looked like a bracelet and necklace.
"Yeah, I was working on this stupid bracelet and it fell in my lap. I
thought I'd be able to hit it, but I hit my leg instead. I must not have
been thinking," She started to walk towards me, limping slightly. She
walked past me and put her things in her art cubby.
Her bracelet hadn't "dropped" in her lap. I had watched her as she
picked it up and put it there. I pretended to shrug it off, but I couldn't
get the picture of my head... that and the scars on her arms that one night
she had showed me. She told me she had stopped when I had asked her about
it. What if she hadn't?
"So, is there anything new going on?" She brought me out of my
thoughts.
Suddenly, I remembered me news. "Ellie, you are not going to believe
this! It's great, really cool, you'll freak-"
She grabbed my arm with both hands and squeezed, "Just tell me before
I die of anticipation!" her eyes were wide and her mouth was held open
expectantly. She looked even more excited than I did.
"My dad asked me this morning if I wanted to invite over Dylan for
dinner. He actually asked me to invite Dylan over! To meet him! As in my
dad meeting my boyfriend! Can you believe it?"
"Ohmigod! Marco! That's great! You must be so happy," we linked arms
and walked down the hallway towards first period.
"Extremely. This means so much," I spontaneously gave her a huge hug,
lifting her off of the ground before letting go of her and going back to
linked arms. It felt really good to have a best friend like her that I
could tell everything to.
"Well, I hope your dinner goes better than mine did with my dad.
Exactly, how much did that suck?"
"Well..." I began. "A lot. That sucked the big one. Did your dad call
you, though?"
She twirled a strand of hair from her ponytail, "Yeah. He was in the
middle of wining and dining with Peter and Damien in Montreal. But that's
just how it is. Always has been, probably always will be."
She didn't look too upset about it, but I knew better than that.
"Well, anytime you feel lonely, you always have me. You know you're the
most important thing to me, right?"
She looked at me skeptically, "Even more than Dylan?" She was
challenging me. I could tell. I'd meet her challenge.
I playfully hit the back of her head, "Stupid. Of course. Even more
than Dylan."
She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek quickly. "Thanks
buddy. And thanks for nominating Sean and I! How ironic, huh?"
"Not really. You deserve it. I like seeing you this way, Ellie.
Smiling. Happy."
We walked into class and Ellie froze in her tracks. She looked at
Ashley and then up at me, "I think I'm going to sit with you today."
I gave her a weird look but followed her to an empty table anyway. I
wondered what had happened between her and Ashley. Whatever it was, I'm
sure it was small. Girls could be so touchy. I'm so glad I'm gay.
Ellie's POV
There was no way I was going to next to Ashley this morning. We
needed some space between us before we killed each other. I took a seat
between Marco and Spinner. Hmmm. Maybe I would rather sit next to Ashley.
"Oh God. Go back to your coffin," Spinner whispered to me as Ms. Kwan
started writing notes on the board.
"Screw you."
"Bite me."
"You sure you want to ask the 'vampire' that?" I asked him.
He rolled his eyes and started copying the notes. I did the same.
What a jerk. Marco passed me a note. I opened it and almost laughed out
loud. I tipped my chair back slightly to look on the other side of the room
and looked at Heather Sinclaire. Two guys in the back had been throwing
bits of spitballs into her hair and she hadn't even noticed. Her head was
almost completely covered. I put my hand over my mouth and laughed silently
with Marco.
-Should I tell her? I wrote.
Marco passed the note back to me. –Nah.
I nodded in agreement and went back to doodling in my notebook. I
drew a picture of Mr.Armstrong with spit flying out of his mouth. Like it
always did. I really did not like him. Ever since he gave me that bad
grade. I had issues with getting over stuff.
Spinner nudged me with his elbow and slid a note over to me. Why the
hell was he passing a note to me? Intrigued, I grabbed it and opened it.
Stealthily, I might add.
Ellie- you're a girl. Kind of. What should I get Paige for our
anniversery?
I shook my head. The things I had to do to help out the human race...
Spinner- yes, I am a girl. I hope I don't have to prove it to you. Do
you think I know what Paige wants? By the way, it's anniversary. Try
a dictionary.
He threw me a glare and started writing on the piece of paper again.
Was he still asking me this?
Dracula- please?
Wow. Spinner was so... endearing. I snickered at the patheticness of
this situation.
Boner- oops. Was I supposed to mention that? Meet me after class.
We'll talk.
Spinner blushed and then gave me a thumbs up. Looked like I got him
there. I'd never let him live that one down.
After class, Spinner pretended he was asking me about an assignment
from history as Paige and her posse (including Ashley, I might add) walked
by. Paige gave him a weird look but didn't stop since she's in the regular
class and we're in AP history. Spinner pulled me to the side of the
stairway, "Okay. Let's talk."
"Are you sure you don't want to ask me for my number again?" I asked
referring to the time last year when him and Jimmy had fought over me.
Spinner's face grew beet red, "Shut up, Nash. That was so last year."
I put on a stern look, "Yes sir. Let's get down to business. What is
this for again?"
"Our anniversary. Last time, I blew it. That whole stupid locker
thing did not work out and she hated it. Do you have any ideas?"
"Why don't you ask Hazel or Terri or somebody who's actually her
friend?"
"Because they'll give me some lame idea like a necklace or earrings-
the same things I always do. I have to show my honeybee that she's really
important."
It was all so sickenly sweet, I wanted to throw up. Still, I was in a
nice mood today. "Well, do you want to spend a lot of money or not?"
"Uh, I don't really have any money to spend. I can spare a little,
but that's why I'm asking you. I need an idea that's not expensive."
I racked my brain for any ideas I could possibly give him. Then I
remembered what Sean had done for me awhile back. "How about you plan a
romantic evening for her. Make her dinner- all her favorite foods- and
dessert. Pick wildflowers for her. You know- like a picnic. Even Paige
would like that."
Spinner mulled the idea over in his head and broke out into a huge
grin. "You know, I think she really would like that. It would surprise her,
that's for sure. Thanks, Elle."
"So now I'm Elle? I was getting used to Dracula," I smirked. We
started towards history.
Spinner sneered, "Well... don't get used to it."
He then pulled on my ponytail causing me to yelp in pain before
running down the hall to catch up with Jimmy. Marco came up to me. "What
was that about?" He asked as we entered our next class.
"Oh, just Spinner asking me for dating advice. Funny, huh?"
Marco nodded his head, "Oh yeah..."
Sean's POV
"I still don't understand why you're doing this to me. It's going to
be painful," I moaned as Ellie pulled me towards a tuxedo rental shop.
"Hurry up, Sean! It's about to close!" She whined.
I froze outside of the shop and took a deep breath before following
her in. Tuxes and formal dances were just not kind of thing. I had to
remember though that I was doing this for Ellie. Why she even wanted to go
was a mystery to me.
She surveyed the different tuxes and pointed towards a traditional
black jacket and pant. "How about this?"
I shook my head, "Too dressy. If you're wearing a big, puffy prom
gown, fine. Otherwise, no."
She gave me a look, "Why are you so difficult? Fine. Even though
Marco is wearing this sexy tux..."
"Don't even compare me to Marco."
"You should be so lucky..."
"Shut up."
"No, you shut up."
"Can I help you?" A salesman grabbed the pants leg from Ellie's grasp
and folded the pair of pants back up. Ellie's cheeks flushed and she
clasped her hands behind her back.
"Actually, we're looking for something for him to wearing to our
school's homecoming dance."
The salesman took a look at me and nodded. "I think we can come up
with something."
He beckoned up to follow him and we did. "How about this?" He grabbed
a pair of black dress pants and a light grey vest. "If you add a white
dress shirt, it should be formal enough for a homecoming dance. Our dress
shirts are right over here."
Ellie picked up a white dress shirt and held it up next to the pants
and vest. "Yep. I can see it. You'll look so good. Try it on."
I grudgingly went into the dressing room and threw the outfit on. If
Jay and Towerz saw me in this, they would never let me live it down. I
wanted to die. But I stepped out of the room anyway after Ellie's
persistent knocking. Her mouth dropped open and she brushed imaginary lint
off of the vest and my shoulders.
"Sharp. Very sharp."
She made me turn around for her and I heard her whisper under her
breath, "nice ass."
I turned my head around and smiled at her. She gave me an innocent
look back, but I saw the mischievous glint in her eye. The salesman came
back and whistled. "Yes. That looks great."
Ellie looked at him, "We're going to take it. Thanks."
She watched him head over to the cash register and smacked my ass
quickly. "You're going to get laid wearing that."
I raised my eyebrows. "I can't wait for the dance."
"Is your mom ever coming home?" I asked Ellie that night as she made
me spaghetti.
"She called while you were in the dressing room. She just complained
and whined about how much work she had to do. All this 'poor me, poor me'
bullshit. Who knows when she'll be finished."
I watched the back of her as she poured the spaghetti in and stirred
it around a bit. She set the utensil down and wiped her hands on a
dishtowel before coming over to the table. "How's the homework coming
along?"
I hit my forehead against my open biology book, "It's not. This
chapter isn't as easy as the last one."
She rubbed my hand sympathetically and took a look at the questions I
had to answer. Then she went on explaining the answers, making it seem as
if it were so easy. I don't know how she did that. I struggled through the
rest of the questions with her help and finally finished all my work for
the night. My stomach growled and Ellie jumped up from her chair.
"Oh no! The spaghetti!" She rushed over to the stove and turned the
burner off. I walked over there too in case I could help, but the pasta was
already a huge, gooey mess. Ellie frowned and tried to salvage it.
"Forget it. We can order something."
"I know but I wanted to make you this pasta dish. Nothing I do ever
turns out right. I can't even boil pasta," She groaned.
I wrapped my arms around her and she sighed against my chest. I guess
she was a little unraveled today. "So... Chinese?" She asked me.
I nodded. "Chinese."
Ellie's POV
"Sean!" I shrieked as he started to tickle me. We were right in the
middle of watching Jeopardy... yes, I tape jeopardy... and eating our Chinese
food.
"What? I'm just goofing around."
I playfully shoved him away from me and picked up some fried rice
with my chopsticks. "How do you do that?" He asked me.
"Do what?" I stopped with chopstick in mid-air.
"Pick up stuff with those stupid things," He was still trying to
figure out how to hold the chopsticks.
"Lord, come here... Like this. Now just click them together... yeah... like
that," I basically had to do it for him. Finally, he got the hang of it
enough that he could pretty much feed himself.
"Whamedosay?" He mumbled something incoherent through a mouthful of
rice.
I cocked my ear, "Pardon?"
He swallowed. "Do you want me to stay? Over?"
I pretended to think about it for awhile. "Nah. I don't really feel
like it."
"Please?" Sean asked sweetly.
I giggled, "Okay. But you're sleeping down here."
He gave me an "are you serious" look and muttered, "That's what you
think..." before going back to eating.
I picked at my rice a bit more and then set it aside. I curled my
legs up underneath me and turned towards Sean. "Did I tell you what Marco
told me today?"
"No."
"His dad asked him to bring Dylan over for dinner tonight! Isn't that
great?"
Sean gave me a weird look. "Sure, if you're a fag."
"Sean! You know... I am so sick of how you treat Marco. He's my best
friend."
"Shouldn't I be your best friend?"
I looked at him surprised. Was Sean jealous? "Excuse me? Am I your
best friend or is Jay?"
"Well... I don' t know... You guys are completely different. You I talk
about stuff with and with Jay I talk about... well... different stuff. It's
less serious with him."
"Oh, so I'm all serious? I like to have fun just as much as Jay does.
All we do is have fun. We never do anything serious."
"Yeah... we have lots of fun," Sean scoffed.
I crossed my arms and leaned away from him. He was such a jerk
sometimes. He tried to move closer to me, but I pushed him away. "Don't.
I'm not in the mood."
"Ooh... She's not in the mood. Okay. Be that way."
"Fine."
"Fine."
We sat in silence for the rest of jeopardy, except when I answered
every question. Sean kept trying to beat me to them, but whatever, he
didn't know a single thing. After the show was over and I turned the tape
off, Sean and I both apologized at the same time. "I'm sorry." We stared at
each other for a moment before laughing.
"We are such dorks," I said.
"Maybe you are," Sean murmured.
I let out an indignant noise and flicked him in the shoulder. Seconds
later, we were on the floor in a huge wrestling match. After a half hour,
Sean won, but I held my own there for a while. But come on, he used to be a
star wrestler. There wasn't much I could do. I guess that's how it was when
I started to fall for him. There just wasn't enough I could do to keep
myself away from him.
Ashley's POV
Mondays. I hate them. But who likes them in the first place? The
first thing on my list to do was to publicize mine and Craig's interest in
being on homecoming court. Hopefully everyone would nominate us! Then, I
had to find Ellie and talk to her. We had not talked at all during the
break, except for the brief moment I saw her at Sean's party. What was
going on with her? It wasn't like her to act like this. I guess sometimes
you truly don't know a person. But I was hoping to maybe see what was going
on with her.
"Hey Terri!" I called down the hall towards my friend. She was
looking so much better since the accident with Rick. "Will you do me a
favor?"
Terri nodded, "Sure, Ash. What is it?"
"Tell everyone to nominate me and Craig for homecoming?"
"Oh, no problem! Have you heard who else is going for it?"
We started walking towards our lockers, which were located pretty
close to each other's. "No. Who?"
"Well, there's Paige and Spin and Jimmy and Hazel, of course. Also
Heather Sinclaire, Ken Fetch, Walter Hymen, Becky Smith, and Cindy Dennis
are all nominated. But get this..."
I braced myself for what could either be a huge surprise or a huge
letdown. Terri was known for getting excited over the stupidest things.
Terri let out a sharp breath and giggled, "Okay... there are two other people
nominated so far. They're a couple..."
"Terri, who is it?" I asked quickly. With all these people being
nominated, it was really hurting my chance. I couldn't believe I was
getting this worked up over a dance title, but for some reason it was
really important to me. I knew how well I was liked by everyone, but now I
wanted everyone to know. I think I still resented how I had been snubbed
last year and had been in the background ever since.
"Sean and Ellie! Can you believe it? Those two seem like the least
likely to even be at the dance..."
"Who nominated them?"
"Oh, a bunch of people. I think it's a joke. Jay and his group, or
should I say 'thugs', did. Marco, Dylan and his friends, some of the really
artsy people, the alternative crowd- you know... the 'freaks'..." She whispered
the last part as we passed a group of the aforementioned crowd.
I let out an annoyed sigh and turned to Terri. "People can vote for
nominees more than once, right?"
"Oh yeah, of course."
"Okay, Terri. Work the crowd," I gave her a big smile and then set
off to find Ellie. There had to be some explanation for this.
I found her in the art room working on some sort of metal jewelry.
She looked up when she heard me cough, but turned her attention back to the
bracelet she was hammering when she saw it was me. Play nice, play nice,
play nice was all I was thinking. "Hey Ellie," I said.
"Hey," she replied back in her soft voice.
"I like that bracelet," I touched a nearby necklace she had made.
"This too."
"Thanks," She smiled.
"Listen, I'm sorry about the other night. I was pretty rude. I was a
little on edge."
She met my eye, "It's okay. I've been on edge too."
I ran a hand through my short hair and pulled a chair over to where
she was sitting. She turned her chair around so she was facing me and
crossed her tube-sock covered legs. Lime green and yellow stripes. "Do you
know you're wearing miss-matched socks?"
She looked down confused. "No they're both yell- Oh. Well, now I do."
She shrugged and played with the pleats in her brown plaid skirt.
"Cute shirt," I pointed towards her bright green rugby jersey.
She tugged at her yellow suspenders, "Thanks. My cousin plays- this
is his from like the sixth grade. He's twenty now."
"Oh. How vintage. So, a bunch of people nominated you for homecoming.
And Sean."
She laughed slightly, "Yeah, crazy. Oh well. Give me the people what
they want, right?"
"Right," I said through gritted teeth. Why was she being so
frustrating? Why wouldn't she just say she was planning on dropping out?
"So are you really going to go through with it? I mean, Sean doesn't even
want to go to the dance, let alone be nominated for something as stupid as
sophomore homecoming king."
Ellie narrowed her eyes and leaned closer, "If it's so stupid, then
why are you telling everyone to nominate you and Craig?"
I didn't know what to say. She had caught me. "It's just... this isn't
you. You're not the type of person who wants to win something that's
totally based on popularity."
"I didn't think you were either."
"Listen, Ellie. Before I befriended you, I was the most popular girl
in the school, okay?"
Ellie grabbed the hammer she had been working with and started to hit
the metal bracelet again, "before you befriended me? Honey, you were the
one ditched by all your friends. Don't act as if I was some charity case. I
was fine."
"Oh yeah. Because you had so many friends yourself," I stood up.
"Listen, I'm going before we both say things we don't mean. I'm not trying
to be cruel, Ellie. I'm just really surprised with your recent behavior.
Maybe Sean isn't as good for you as you thought." With that, I turned on my
heel and walked out of the art room.
On my way out, I ran into a few girls from Ellie's art class. I
didn't even know their names but I gave this a huge smile. "Vote for me and
Craig!" I chirped. All of a sudden, this was more than just showing
everyone who was well liked around this school, who had been through a year
of hell and still managed to be nice to everyone, who deserved it the most.
I just wanted to beat Ellie. That sounds so horrible. I sound like some
jealous freak. Maybe I was. Who knows. God... It really sucks when you're
best friend is your competition.
Ellie's POV
I dropped my head into my arms. When had Ashley become so psycho?
This whole thing was so frustrating. I really needed a hug right now. I
picked my head back up and grabbed the hammer on the table. My metal
bracelet had fallen into my skirt and I swung at it with the hammer. I
missed it completely and hit my thigh. It hurt, but in a good way. I looked
at the girls in the back to see what they were doing. They were busy. I
swung at the bracelet again- "accidentally" missing it. I did it a few more
times before I became scared that maybe I was going to break my bone. Then
I stopped. I didn't want to go that far. Then again, maybe I wouldn't have
to come to school and hang around with people who just pretend to be your
friends.
Marco's POV
I stopped, out of breath, outside the art room. I knew Ellie came in
here sometimes to work on art before school started. I just had to tell her
my big news. I noticed Ashley leaving the art room from the other door,
looking pretty pissed before smiling and stopping to talk to a few girls. I
didn't bother saying hi.
I peeked inside the room and saw Ellie hanging out at a table. She
looked pretty upset herself. Her head was in her hands. I was about to call
out to her the expression on her face stopped me. She angrily grabbed her
hammer and started hitting at whatever she had just placed carefully on her
lap. What the hell was she doing?
"Ellie?" I asked confused when she had finally set the hammer down.
She looked up with a guilty look on her face, "yeah, Marco?"
"What are you doing? Did you hurt yourself?"
She stood up and grabbed what looked like a bracelet and necklace.
"Yeah, I was working on this stupid bracelet and it fell in my lap. I
thought I'd be able to hit it, but I hit my leg instead. I must not have
been thinking," She started to walk towards me, limping slightly. She
walked past me and put her things in her art cubby.
Her bracelet hadn't "dropped" in her lap. I had watched her as she
picked it up and put it there. I pretended to shrug it off, but I couldn't
get the picture of my head... that and the scars on her arms that one night
she had showed me. She told me she had stopped when I had asked her about
it. What if she hadn't?
"So, is there anything new going on?" She brought me out of my
thoughts.
Suddenly, I remembered me news. "Ellie, you are not going to believe
this! It's great, really cool, you'll freak-"
She grabbed my arm with both hands and squeezed, "Just tell me before
I die of anticipation!" her eyes were wide and her mouth was held open
expectantly. She looked even more excited than I did.
"My dad asked me this morning if I wanted to invite over Dylan for
dinner. He actually asked me to invite Dylan over! To meet him! As in my
dad meeting my boyfriend! Can you believe it?"
"Ohmigod! Marco! That's great! You must be so happy," we linked arms
and walked down the hallway towards first period.
"Extremely. This means so much," I spontaneously gave her a huge hug,
lifting her off of the ground before letting go of her and going back to
linked arms. It felt really good to have a best friend like her that I
could tell everything to.
"Well, I hope your dinner goes better than mine did with my dad.
Exactly, how much did that suck?"
"Well..." I began. "A lot. That sucked the big one. Did your dad call
you, though?"
She twirled a strand of hair from her ponytail, "Yeah. He was in the
middle of wining and dining with Peter and Damien in Montreal. But that's
just how it is. Always has been, probably always will be."
She didn't look too upset about it, but I knew better than that.
"Well, anytime you feel lonely, you always have me. You know you're the
most important thing to me, right?"
She looked at me skeptically, "Even more than Dylan?" She was
challenging me. I could tell. I'd meet her challenge.
I playfully hit the back of her head, "Stupid. Of course. Even more
than Dylan."
She stood up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek quickly. "Thanks
buddy. And thanks for nominating Sean and I! How ironic, huh?"
"Not really. You deserve it. I like seeing you this way, Ellie.
Smiling. Happy."
We walked into class and Ellie froze in her tracks. She looked at
Ashley and then up at me, "I think I'm going to sit with you today."
I gave her a weird look but followed her to an empty table anyway. I
wondered what had happened between her and Ashley. Whatever it was, I'm
sure it was small. Girls could be so touchy. I'm so glad I'm gay.
Ellie's POV
There was no way I was going to next to Ashley this morning. We
needed some space between us before we killed each other. I took a seat
between Marco and Spinner. Hmmm. Maybe I would rather sit next to Ashley.
"Oh God. Go back to your coffin," Spinner whispered to me as Ms. Kwan
started writing notes on the board.
"Screw you."
"Bite me."
"You sure you want to ask the 'vampire' that?" I asked him.
He rolled his eyes and started copying the notes. I did the same.
What a jerk. Marco passed me a note. I opened it and almost laughed out
loud. I tipped my chair back slightly to look on the other side of the room
and looked at Heather Sinclaire. Two guys in the back had been throwing
bits of spitballs into her hair and she hadn't even noticed. Her head was
almost completely covered. I put my hand over my mouth and laughed silently
with Marco.
-Should I tell her? I wrote.
Marco passed the note back to me. –Nah.
I nodded in agreement and went back to doodling in my notebook. I
drew a picture of Mr.Armstrong with spit flying out of his mouth. Like it
always did. I really did not like him. Ever since he gave me that bad
grade. I had issues with getting over stuff.
Spinner nudged me with his elbow and slid a note over to me. Why the
hell was he passing a note to me? Intrigued, I grabbed it and opened it.
Stealthily, I might add.
Ellie- you're a girl. Kind of. What should I get Paige for our
anniversery?
I shook my head. The things I had to do to help out the human race...
Spinner- yes, I am a girl. I hope I don't have to prove it to you. Do
you think I know what Paige wants? By the way, it's anniversary. Try
a dictionary.
He threw me a glare and started writing on the piece of paper again.
Was he still asking me this?
Dracula- please?
Wow. Spinner was so... endearing. I snickered at the patheticness of
this situation.
Boner- oops. Was I supposed to mention that? Meet me after class.
We'll talk.
Spinner blushed and then gave me a thumbs up. Looked like I got him
there. I'd never let him live that one down.
After class, Spinner pretended he was asking me about an assignment
from history as Paige and her posse (including Ashley, I might add) walked
by. Paige gave him a weird look but didn't stop since she's in the regular
class and we're in AP history. Spinner pulled me to the side of the
stairway, "Okay. Let's talk."
"Are you sure you don't want to ask me for my number again?" I asked
referring to the time last year when him and Jimmy had fought over me.
Spinner's face grew beet red, "Shut up, Nash. That was so last year."
I put on a stern look, "Yes sir. Let's get down to business. What is
this for again?"
"Our anniversary. Last time, I blew it. That whole stupid locker
thing did not work out and she hated it. Do you have any ideas?"
"Why don't you ask Hazel or Terri or somebody who's actually her
friend?"
"Because they'll give me some lame idea like a necklace or earrings-
the same things I always do. I have to show my honeybee that she's really
important."
It was all so sickenly sweet, I wanted to throw up. Still, I was in a
nice mood today. "Well, do you want to spend a lot of money or not?"
"Uh, I don't really have any money to spend. I can spare a little,
but that's why I'm asking you. I need an idea that's not expensive."
I racked my brain for any ideas I could possibly give him. Then I
remembered what Sean had done for me awhile back. "How about you plan a
romantic evening for her. Make her dinner- all her favorite foods- and
dessert. Pick wildflowers for her. You know- like a picnic. Even Paige
would like that."
Spinner mulled the idea over in his head and broke out into a huge
grin. "You know, I think she really would like that. It would surprise her,
that's for sure. Thanks, Elle."
"So now I'm Elle? I was getting used to Dracula," I smirked. We
started towards history.
Spinner sneered, "Well... don't get used to it."
He then pulled on my ponytail causing me to yelp in pain before
running down the hall to catch up with Jimmy. Marco came up to me. "What
was that about?" He asked as we entered our next class.
"Oh, just Spinner asking me for dating advice. Funny, huh?"
Marco nodded his head, "Oh yeah..."
Sean's POV
"I still don't understand why you're doing this to me. It's going to
be painful," I moaned as Ellie pulled me towards a tuxedo rental shop.
"Hurry up, Sean! It's about to close!" She whined.
I froze outside of the shop and took a deep breath before following
her in. Tuxes and formal dances were just not kind of thing. I had to
remember though that I was doing this for Ellie. Why she even wanted to go
was a mystery to me.
She surveyed the different tuxes and pointed towards a traditional
black jacket and pant. "How about this?"
I shook my head, "Too dressy. If you're wearing a big, puffy prom
gown, fine. Otherwise, no."
She gave me a look, "Why are you so difficult? Fine. Even though
Marco is wearing this sexy tux..."
"Don't even compare me to Marco."
"You should be so lucky..."
"Shut up."
"No, you shut up."
"Can I help you?" A salesman grabbed the pants leg from Ellie's grasp
and folded the pair of pants back up. Ellie's cheeks flushed and she
clasped her hands behind her back.
"Actually, we're looking for something for him to wearing to our
school's homecoming dance."
The salesman took a look at me and nodded. "I think we can come up
with something."
He beckoned up to follow him and we did. "How about this?" He grabbed
a pair of black dress pants and a light grey vest. "If you add a white
dress shirt, it should be formal enough for a homecoming dance. Our dress
shirts are right over here."
Ellie picked up a white dress shirt and held it up next to the pants
and vest. "Yep. I can see it. You'll look so good. Try it on."
I grudgingly went into the dressing room and threw the outfit on. If
Jay and Towerz saw me in this, they would never let me live it down. I
wanted to die. But I stepped out of the room anyway after Ellie's
persistent knocking. Her mouth dropped open and she brushed imaginary lint
off of the vest and my shoulders.
"Sharp. Very sharp."
She made me turn around for her and I heard her whisper under her
breath, "nice ass."
I turned my head around and smiled at her. She gave me an innocent
look back, but I saw the mischievous glint in her eye. The salesman came
back and whistled. "Yes. That looks great."
Ellie looked at him, "We're going to take it. Thanks."
She watched him head over to the cash register and smacked my ass
quickly. "You're going to get laid wearing that."
I raised my eyebrows. "I can't wait for the dance."
"Is your mom ever coming home?" I asked Ellie that night as she made
me spaghetti.
"She called while you were in the dressing room. She just complained
and whined about how much work she had to do. All this 'poor me, poor me'
bullshit. Who knows when she'll be finished."
I watched the back of her as she poured the spaghetti in and stirred
it around a bit. She set the utensil down and wiped her hands on a
dishtowel before coming over to the table. "How's the homework coming
along?"
I hit my forehead against my open biology book, "It's not. This
chapter isn't as easy as the last one."
She rubbed my hand sympathetically and took a look at the questions I
had to answer. Then she went on explaining the answers, making it seem as
if it were so easy. I don't know how she did that. I struggled through the
rest of the questions with her help and finally finished all my work for
the night. My stomach growled and Ellie jumped up from her chair.
"Oh no! The spaghetti!" She rushed over to the stove and turned the
burner off. I walked over there too in case I could help, but the pasta was
already a huge, gooey mess. Ellie frowned and tried to salvage it.
"Forget it. We can order something."
"I know but I wanted to make you this pasta dish. Nothing I do ever
turns out right. I can't even boil pasta," She groaned.
I wrapped my arms around her and she sighed against my chest. I guess
she was a little unraveled today. "So... Chinese?" She asked me.
I nodded. "Chinese."
Ellie's POV
"Sean!" I shrieked as he started to tickle me. We were right in the
middle of watching Jeopardy... yes, I tape jeopardy... and eating our Chinese
food.
"What? I'm just goofing around."
I playfully shoved him away from me and picked up some fried rice
with my chopsticks. "How do you do that?" He asked me.
"Do what?" I stopped with chopstick in mid-air.
"Pick up stuff with those stupid things," He was still trying to
figure out how to hold the chopsticks.
"Lord, come here... Like this. Now just click them together... yeah... like
that," I basically had to do it for him. Finally, he got the hang of it
enough that he could pretty much feed himself.
"Whamedosay?" He mumbled something incoherent through a mouthful of
rice.
I cocked my ear, "Pardon?"
He swallowed. "Do you want me to stay? Over?"
I pretended to think about it for awhile. "Nah. I don't really feel
like it."
"Please?" Sean asked sweetly.
I giggled, "Okay. But you're sleeping down here."
He gave me an "are you serious" look and muttered, "That's what you
think..." before going back to eating.
I picked at my rice a bit more and then set it aside. I curled my
legs up underneath me and turned towards Sean. "Did I tell you what Marco
told me today?"
"No."
"His dad asked him to bring Dylan over for dinner tonight! Isn't that
great?"
Sean gave me a weird look. "Sure, if you're a fag."
"Sean! You know... I am so sick of how you treat Marco. He's my best
friend."
"Shouldn't I be your best friend?"
I looked at him surprised. Was Sean jealous? "Excuse me? Am I your
best friend or is Jay?"
"Well... I don' t know... You guys are completely different. You I talk
about stuff with and with Jay I talk about... well... different stuff. It's
less serious with him."
"Oh, so I'm all serious? I like to have fun just as much as Jay does.
All we do is have fun. We never do anything serious."
"Yeah... we have lots of fun," Sean scoffed.
I crossed my arms and leaned away from him. He was such a jerk
sometimes. He tried to move closer to me, but I pushed him away. "Don't.
I'm not in the mood."
"Ooh... She's not in the mood. Okay. Be that way."
"Fine."
"Fine."
We sat in silence for the rest of jeopardy, except when I answered
every question. Sean kept trying to beat me to them, but whatever, he
didn't know a single thing. After the show was over and I turned the tape
off, Sean and I both apologized at the same time. "I'm sorry." We stared at
each other for a moment before laughing.
"We are such dorks," I said.
"Maybe you are," Sean murmured.
I let out an indignant noise and flicked him in the shoulder. Seconds
later, we were on the floor in a huge wrestling match. After a half hour,
Sean won, but I held my own there for a while. But come on, he used to be a
star wrestler. There wasn't much I could do. I guess that's how it was when
I started to fall for him. There just wasn't enough I could do to keep
myself away from him.