Chapter Seven

Ella's POV

I dragged myself up to my room I had spent the afternoon at the beach with the guys. Jay had walked-well, skated me home afterwards. We said goodbye in what had become our usual way: making out for about half an hour.

I threw myself on my bed and picked at a loose thread in my blanket. I didn't feel like there was a…spark between me and Jay anymore. Our dates were mostly drinking and fooling around. Wait, did I say mostly I meant that's completely what they were unless we decided to do something illegal, like vandalism or something stupid like that. It was fun, it just wasn't what I thought was a healthy relationship. Jay was a great guy, really considerate and everything, but I felt like maybe I needed something more than booze and lust.

I've liked Jay for awhile now, but I felt like there wasn't enough happening in our relationship.

There was a knock at my door.

"Enter!" I called.

The door opened and Sid walked in, shutting the door behind him again.

"Hey Elle, what's up?" he asked coming in and plopping down on the floor.

"Hey Sid," I muttered, not really looking at him.

"Aw, what's wrong with my Ellie?" Sid asked in a baby voice.

"Nothing."

"Aw, is lil' Ellie gwumpy today?"

"Shut up Sid"

"Aw, poor Ellie. You wanna go for pie? Will make you feel better?"

"Shut up Sid!"

"Aw, you wanna wowipop?

WHACK! I hit him over the head with a pillow. He fell over helpless with laughter.

When he was able to breath again he said, "Alright, I'm sorry. Now, seriously what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Sid. I'm fine," I said.

"Liar," he replied.

"Well, it's just…what do you think of me and Jay?" I asked.

"Well, I think you guys go well together. You're both completely wild, which works. You love so many of the same things, so I know that you guys never have trouble finding conversation," Sid said.

"Yeah…too bad Jay's not too big on the talking," I replied. "He's a really great guy, and we have fun together and all but…" my voice trailed off. 'But what?'

"But what?" Sid asked.

"I don't even know, Sid" I shook my head.

"Do you want to end it with him?"

"Do you think I should?"

"Elle, this isn't about what I think. It's about what you think."

"But I don't know what I think."

"Do you like him?"

"Yes."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes…no…we've only been dating for a little while, am I supposed to love him already?"

"Is there a time in a relationship when you're supposed to love someone automatically?"

"Sid, do you realize that you're no help?"

"Hey, I'm trying here! Okay, how about this: are you comfortable with your relationship?"

"Yeah, I mean we totally have a blast together…I guess I just wish there was a little more communication. It seems like all we do is drink and fool around. Shouldn't there be something more to a relationship than booze and sex?"

"Well what do you think?"

"Sid, we've freakin' been over this! I have absolutely no clue what I think!"

"Well, maybe you need to figure that out. Is it really fair to Jay to be dating him if you don't know how you feel?"

"You know Sid, you're right. It's not fair to him."

"So you're going to break things off with him?"

"I think so…it sucks that this is my conclusion, but it's nice to have an idea of what I think now."

"I'm glad that's sorted out…or at least partially sorted out…whatever. Pie now, yes?"

"Man, what is with you and pie lately?"

"Ellie, who doesn't like a nice piece of pie?"

"Alright, true…damn it! Now I want pie! Let's go!"

Stacy's POV

I was sitting on the floor of my room playing with a pen spring when Tony walked in without knocking.

"Dude, party at my place tonight! Dad's out of town and it's just me and Kathy! Get your car keys, we've got to pick up some beer!" Tony announced.

"And you need me to come with you to get beer because…?" I waited for him to answer as he stared at me as if the answer was completely obvious.

"Because your car can hold so much more beer than I can carry! Come on man, what's a party without beer?" Tony said.

I sighed and stood up. I grabbed my car keys off my nightstand and followed Tony. I was just about to step out the front door when the phone rang and mom shouted that it was Ella calling for me.

"Hey Ellie, what's up?" I said into the phone.

"Hey Stace…listen, would you mind if I caught a ride with you to Tony's party tonight?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure that's cool. I'll pick you up around 9," I said.

"Sweet, sounds cool. Thanks man, I'll talk to you later," Ella said.

I said goodbye and hung up. I went out to my car where Tony was honking the horn and whining, "Let's go! Come on, Stacy! Beer! Stacy! Beeeeeer!"

I smiled and got into the car. We bought a couple of cases of beer and headed back to Tony's where I helped move anything fragile.

I went home and took a quick shower. I changed clothes and ran out to my car. I sped all the way to Ella's, nearly hitting two kids and an old lady.

When I finally reached her house I jumped out of the car and ran to her front door, knocking enthusiastically.

Gloria answered the door looking bemused. "Mr. Peralta, all that banging on our door in unnecessary."

"Sorry Gloria…is Ella ready?" I asked trying to look innocent.

"Hey Stace!" Ella greeted hopping down the stairs. Gloria gave her a look before disappearing into the dining room. "Wow, you came to the door!"

"What, Jay doesn't do that?" I asked.

"No, he stands in my driveway and shouts my name until I come down. I'm just glad he doesn't have a car, or he'd be out there blasting the horn. You ready to go?" she asked.

I opened the door for her and followed her out. I even opened the car door for her and she laughed. Not in a mocking, "You're such a dork" kind of way but in a friendly, "Wow, that's really sweet" kind of way.

Ella's POV

"Thanks again for the ride, Stace," I said as we walked into the party.

"Any time, Elle," Stacy smiled.

I went off in search of Jay; I knew what I had to do. I looked for about twenty minutes and couldn't find him.

"Hey Tony, is Jay here yet?" I asked a very drunk Tony. How do I know Tony was drunk? Tony gets giggly when he's drunk (and he was holding a half-full beer bottle). When he tries to talk when he's drunk his words are interrupted by high-pitched giggles.

"Yeah I know I giggle saw him giggle talking to Kathy giggle earlier. giggle Hey, have you tried the giggle beer yet? It's freakin' amazing!" Tony shouted the last part.

"Tony, no more beer for you!" I said taking the bottle out of his hand. He gave me the puppy dog face and I walked away. I knew he'd just go and get another beer, but I'd been at the party for almost half an hour and I wasn't even buzzed yet. Taking Tony's beer seemed like the reasonable thing to do.

I kept searching the party for any sign of Jay. Tony said that he had seen him, so I knew he had to be here somewhere. I ended up finding Sid instead.

"Hey Ellie, Jay seems to have taken the breakup well," Sid said.

"What are you talking about? I haven't done it yet," I said.

"What? But I saw him go to Kathy Alva's room a little while ago," Sid said.

"So?"

"Ellie, he went to Kathy Alva's room…and Kathy Alva was with him! I think we both know that Jay Adams does not go to a girl's room with said girl just to look at the pretty wallpaper."

"But we aren't even broken up! Sid, are you sure that's what you saw?"

"Positive."

"Oh, if we weren't breaking up before, we certainly are now!"

I stormed my way to the room Tony and Kathy shared. I threw the door open to find Jay in his boxers on top of Kathy who was only wearing a bra and skirt.

"Jay Adams, what the hell?" I screamed.

Jay jumped off Kathy. "Coop!"

"Jay, what the hell is going on?" I hissed. When I was really pissed I usually only screamed to demand attention. After that I would get really quiet when I was mad. The other sign that I was mad came through as well: when he didn't respond to my question I began speaking French. Gloria had taught me Spanish when I was little and my dad taught me French, and I never really used either language. For some reason though, when I got really mad it would just come out. The guys knew that if I was quietly speaking in a different language, I was pissed beyond belief.

"Coop, I can explain, I swear! It is not what you think!" Jay started making excuses as he pulled on his jeans.

I said, "Oh, parce que c'est des autres raisons pour trouver ton petit ami sur une slut!" (Oh, because there's other reasons for finding your boyfriend on top of some slut!)

A/N: yeah, I'm only semi-fluent in the language…there may be small flaws, I'm sorry. I did my best though.

I knew by the look on Jay's (and Kathy's) face that the only word understood was 'slut'. Jay took my hand and led me through the crowd to the front lawn.

"Coop, I know that you're really pissed off, but for this conversation to go well I'm gonna need you to speak English," Jay said as soon as we were outside.

"Do you really think that this conversation can go well in any language?" I snapped.

"Look, Coop, I am so sorry. I've been drunk since noon, Kathy's drunk, things got heated and just went out of control. One minute I'm chugging beers with the Alvas and the next you're storming into Kathy's room speaking Spanish and I'm in my boxers," Jay said. "Coop, I never wanted to hurt you."

"First off, that was French. Secondly, do you really think that telling me that you didn't want to hurt me is going to make up for the fact that you did?" I asked.

"Coop…Ellie…you know that I care about you. You know I want this relationship to work. Come on, Ellie, don't be mad," Jay did his innocent pouty look and touched my face.

I slapped his hand away and retorted, "Jay, if you were to walk in on me on a bed in my bra with a buy in boxers on, would you just go 'Hey, if you didn't mean to hurt me, it's okay. I'm not mad'?"

"Okay…good point. But Coop, please, you know drinking impairs judgment. Ellie, come on, don't be like that. You know you're the only girl I want," Jay said.

"Jay, how can I not be mad at you?"

"Well, you have every right to be mad. But I'm asking you to just give me one more chance to prove to you that you're the only girl for me."

"And why should I do that?"

"Because Coop, I love you."

I went cold. 'I love you.' The world around me just seemed to freeze. 'I love you.' What was I supposed to say here? How did I feel? Mad? Of course. Confused? For sure. In love? Didn't I establish with Sid earlier that I didn't know?

Wait, wasn't I here tonight to break things off with Jay? But this just confuses me more. 'I love you.' The million dollar question: did I love Jay back? Could I forgive him for this and work out all the other problems in our relationship?

I became aware of the sad puppy dog look Jay was giving me.

"Oh Jay, I love you too."