BloominDaisy: I don't think that there even exists a love triangle with Stevie-Holly-Sean! I mean…Stevie may have a little crush on Holly…and Sean may fear for his and Holly's relationship because of this Stevie guy who he hardly knows! But…yeah. Other than that…I could possibly add a love triangle! That would be fun! In other news…Oh yeah…Ella doesn't normally lie! (And I would personally not do this, but she didn't want to hurt Anna's feelings any more than they were hurt! Don't worry though, it may come back to bite her in the but!)
Ella was sitting in homeroom listening to the morning announcements. After they had gone off, Billy stepped in front of the class and raised his arm to silence everyone. "Listen up! Those of you who take Mr. Leonard's Civics class, he was in a bad accident. I will be taking over until he is well enough to come back."
Ella sighed. Oh well. A couple of weeks with Billy as a teacher wouldn't be that bad….a couple of months top, and he would be gone.
Ella's next to last class was Civics. When she walked in, she walked past Billy, not saying a word. "Ok class, I'm Mr. Klein for those of you who don't know me. I notice that half of you are in my home room…and I see a couple of my soccer players. But I also see some new faces. I guess you all have heard about Mr. Leonard. I will be taking his place until he is well enough. I normally teach American History, but this class is another area of interest for me. SO let's get started!" Ella sat in her seat listening to Billy drone on about the upcoming election for Mayor. 'Blah, blah, blah.' Before she knew it, the bell rang. "Thank you!" She got up to leave but Billy caught her arm. "Ella, don't expect me to favor you." "OK Billy! Did I say anything about you favoring me over the other students? I didn't. SO…I need to go now. I'm going to be late for Art class." She jerked away from Billy, rolling her eyes as she left. "Give it up Billy! You k now you still love her!" Billy waved to the students who were passing by. "I do not!" This game of bantering back and forth was becoming normal between the two. "Don't forget that report that's due on Monday!" "Oh yeah! I finished that a week ago. See you tomorrow Mr. Klein." Ella let the door shut behind her.
"AUGH!" Ella stormed into the living room and sat down on the couch beside her mom. "What's wrong Ella?" Bridget took another bite of her sandwich. "Mom…how many of those have you had today?" "Only two…well this makes three. You know I had the craving for turkey sandwiches when I was pregnant with you. Now get back to what you were mad about." "Billy is my new Civics teacher. Mr. Leonard was in an accident. And that's not what bothers me…it's that he actually thought that I thought that I should be favored above the other students!" "The nerve!" Bridget joked. "Lighten up! Lucas just called. He's coming to get you around eight. And then…oh yeah. Holly called…and then Anna called again. Is she ok? She sounded kind of depressed on the phone." "Yeah Mom. Anna's fine. I'll go call her."
Ella didn't really feel like talking on the phone, so she turned on her computer, in order to email all of the girls. There was an email from Holly.
Hey Ella. I haven't heard from you in forever. Guess who came down for a visit? My mom got back last Sunday and said we had guests coming over. They were guests alright. Kostos and Stephen were in the area for a conference for Kostos' job. Mom saw them while in D.C. and invited them over for dinner. My father wasn't there…of course. Could you imagine how awkward that would be! OMG! Call me sometime…don't be such a stranger! Love ya lots! Oh, and happy birthday Ells…HOLLS!
Lucas and James had rented out the V.I.P room in the club, for Ella's birthday. Jon had had to work that night, but he had promised Ella he would try to get someone to cover for him. It turned out that one of the other bartenders owed him a favor, so she reluctantly said she would cover his shift. "Thanks Lila! I won't forget it!" "You know you won't baby!" Lila yelled back in her heavy northern accent.
"You're one more year closer to being legal!" Jon pushed back the curtains and sat down next to Ella on the wrap around lounge seat. "That hasn't stopped you!" She let him place his arm around her shoulders, and sat up in the seat to kiss him. "Thanks for everything guys. I don't know what I would have done without you!" Lucas raised his glass to toast, everyone else followed his lead. "To Ella!" He shouted. "Happy Birthday Ells!"
"I'll be right back…" Jon got up and ran out of the room. "Where's he going to in such a hurry?" James looked around the room and waved to his friend. "I hope you don't mind that I invited a few of my friends, Ella. A party isn't a party without guests!" "No problem…I just wish my friends could be here. They'd love this!"
Ella was still talking to James, when Jon tapped her on the shoulder and pulled her outside the back door and into the alleyway. "What's up?" She asked, trying to contain her curiosity. "I've got to go…I'll explain it to you later." Jon jammed the door and crossed his arms. "Why? Are you sure you can't stay? I mean…you've only been here for like twenty minutes…" "Listen Ella, I'll call you tomorrow morning, ok? Leave your cell phone on." With that, he kissed her softly on her cheek, and opened the door back up to let her in. "Ok. Bye…"
The next morning, the day of her seventeenth birthday, Ella woke up and went running with Eric. When she got back she noticed that Jon still hadn't called. As she was about to jump in the shower, there was a knock at the front door. Seeing as how her mom was still asleep, and Eric was in his shower, Ella ran down the hallway to answer it. "Yeah…" The doorman handed Ella the slip of paper and then walked away. "Thanks…" She opened it up.
Ella, meet me at the club today at noon.
Jon
"Well I guess it's the same thing as a phone call." Ella said to herself.
Ella waited for her mom to wake up before she left the apartment. "Happy birthday Ells! How was the party last night?" "Oh it was awesome. I'll have to show you what I got from James and Lucas…if you don't mind…I'm going to go over to see Jon now. Is that ok?" Ella asked. "Yeah, it's fine. Call me later. We'll go shopping." "Ok, thanks mom." Ella kissed her mother on the cheek and then walked by Eric's office to say bye. "Oh hey." He waved her in and handed her a large box, with a big red bow on top. "What's this?" She asked, untying the ribbon. "I thought you might need something to help further your art career…something like that!" He stood up and took the lid as she handed it to him. "Oh my gosh Eric! Something like that!" Ella lifted the case of prismacolor markers out of the box. "Eric! This is like…the whole entire set…" She placed the case on the floor and hugged Eric. "Thank you! I've wanted these for years!" He hugged her back. "Well I'm glad you like it. I guess I'll be seeing you at dinner tonight?" "Yeah, I'll be home before then. Thank you! Thank you so much!" Ella skipped out of the room and left the apartment. "I told you she would love them!" Bridget yelled from inside the kitchen.
Holly, Anna, and Esperanza had just finished their first week of school. So far, it was a bore compared to their summer. "But it's your senior year Holly!" Anna was braiding Esperanza's hair and giving Holly the reasons why she should be happy about her last year of high school. "SO, have you found any more colleges that you want to apply to? I know you said something about one in California." "Oh, FIDM? Yeah…I got an application in the mail yesterday. But then there's mom's Alma Mater, Rhode Island School of Design…and she and Dad are more than happy to pay for it. I don't know! There are way too many to choose from. I could just go to a regular university. But then they would have to have an awesome art department." "Ok…so I take that as a yes!" Anna finished braiding the last braid and then tied it. "I'm sure you'll find the right one. Don't worry."
Ella looked at her watch. It was ten minutes until noon. She looked across the street at the club, and searched for any sign of Jon. But there were none. Ella decided to go inside the Starbucks that she was standing in front of.
"Hey, yeah I'll take a tall mint mocha chip frappuccino…and just one of those blueberry scones. Could you warm that up for me?" The guy handed her the scone and she stood back to wait for her drink. She looked down at her watch. It was five till.
"Thanks." She grabbed the cup and hurried out the door. She could now see that Jon had parked in front of the building. He was just getting out of his car when she caught his attention. "Hey Jon! I'm over here!" He turned around and gave a slight wave. "Hey!" He shouted back.
When she reached the other side of the street he took the frappuccino out of her hands. He took a sip of it and handed it back to her. "I need to ask you a favor…" He hesistated. Ella made a gesture as to say, 'Well then, go on…' "I wanted to know if you could go with me to see my mom…" Jon finished. "But I thought she was in California." Ella stepped onto the sidewalk to avoid the passing traffic. Jon leaned back against his car. "She was. She's here in the city right now on a business trip, and she wanted to see me…that's who called last night." "Of course I'll go with you." "Good…let's go."
They got in the car, but before he started it he leaned over and kissed Ella on the cheek. "Thank you." "It'll be ok."
Jon rapped on the hotel room door. His mother had given him the room number where she was staying in the Ritz Carlton. He and Ella waited for someone to answer it. A man in a gray pinstripe suit opened the door and stepped outside. "Can I help you?" "Yeah, I'm Jon. I'm here to see Mona." Jon tried to look over the man's shoulder, but with no avail. "Mona's in meetings all day…who are you?" "I'm her son…Jon. Who are you?" Jon was bewildered as to why Mona would invite him over, but not show up. "I'm Chris. I'm her fiancée…wait…Mona has a son?" This was making Jon angry. "Where is she? I need to see her?"
"Honey? Who is that at the door?" A middle aged woman stepped out from behind the door, wearing a robe. Her hair was pulled up inside of a towel on top of her head. "Jon?" "Hey…I can see now that this was a bad idea." Jon turned to go, but Mona caught his arm and turned him back around. He flinched under the touch of her hand. The last time she had touched him was when she had kissed him good night…the night she left. "Jon…why don't you and your friend go downstairs and wait for me in the dining hall. I'll treat you to lunch. Just let me get dressed first." Jon didn't respond. He kept his gaze on the floor. "Sure, we'd love to." Ella answered for him. "We'll be down there in a minute then…" Mona tried to smile for her son.
"We? He's not coming to, is he?" Jon pointed his finger at Chris. "Of course I am." Chris answered. "I don't think that's best…"Mona changed her mind. "Plus you have a meeting in twenty minutes. I'll see you at dinner." She kissed Chris on the cheek and watched him leave to get on the elevator. "Ok…so why don't you two go ahead down. I'll try to hurry." Mona quietly shut the door. Jon turned around to face Ella. He stared at her. "What Jon? You wanted to see her…and we are going to see her." She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the elevator.
Twenty minutes later, and in a nice pant suit, Mona came down. Her auburn hair had been pulled back into a tight bun and her make up was subtle and natural. She found her way to the table and sat down. "Sorry it took so long. So who's your friend?" She asked Jon. "This is Ella. She's my girlfriend." Jon stated. "Oh my!" Mona exclaimed. "Well I make a lovely first impression don't I?"
"Why doesn't Chris know who I am?" Jon harshly asked his mother. "Honey…" Mona started. "Don't call me Honey…you don't have the right." "Jon…I gave birth to you. I think it is my right as your mother to call you whatever I please." Mona took a sip of her water, and placed her napkin across her lap. Jon let out a laugh. "Mona…if you are my mother, as you say, then you would have stayed. You wouldn't have left in the middle of the night, only to call me when ever you feel like it! Writing me off like I was just some point in your life that you were ashamed of! You didn't even tell Chris who I was! And since he doesn't know who I am, I'm guess he doesn't know who Kim is either! I don't understand how you can do this!"
Mona could see the tears that were starting to come from his eyes. "Actually Jon…I think it's time you know something."
Hohahahaha! It's a small cliff hanger…but it's a cliff hanger none the less. SO maybe it's not a good cliffy! Leannyhoodle…Hope ya'll like it! (I'm working a lot lately…I hate it! but I'll definitely try to update!) RACHEL!