Chapter 6: Drama and Some Pizza

Ellie Nash slowly opened her eyes as the sunlight smiled upon the living room. She looked to her right and noticed that Craig wasn't there. She sighed and pulled the blanket off of her before standing up to begin to search for Craig.

"Craig?"

No answer.

Maybe he had gone outside or maybe he had to pick up Angie. Suddenly, a grim thought appeared in Ellie's mind. Maybe he had gone to see Manny. Suddenly, she heard a crash in the basement. Her heart skipped a beat, hoping that it wasn't some stranger in the basement, clumsily trying to get out or in of the house.

"Craig!"

She looked around, searching for her weapon of choice. About ten seconds later, her eyes caught a steel baseball bat. After she picked it up, she slowly walked towards the basement door.

Please don't let it be a stranger. Please, please...

Her hands lingered on the gold doorknob that lead into the old basement.

Come on, Nash. Don't be chicken. You're armed. You're scared. You're adrenaline is pumping...that creep won't have a chance.

She quickly opened the door and ran down the stairs until she heard a yell of a familiar male voice. Ellie stopped hitting the man with the bat and then felt herself shrink when she saw Craig Manning.

"Jesus, Craig. You fricken scared me!"

"Who the hell did you think I was?" Craig laughed and shook his head.

"Sorry..."

There was an uncomfortable silence before Ellie heard him speak again. She turned her attention to him before setting the bat down against the wall.

"You know, Ellie. I've been thinking," Craig started. "I think that we should...we should call child protection services on her. If this has been going on as long as I think it has, then...we should do something about it now."

Ellie felt a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach. She felt like one big welfare case that he had to fix. She looked down at the cold floor, doing everything in her power to avoid eye contact with him. She knew that if she forced herself to look into those big beautiful eyes, she might start crying.

"Craig, my mom's not like how your father was. Besides her drunkenness, she's not that bad. I love her, and I can't call child services to take her away. If it wasn't the first time that she has hit me, then I might understand. I made her mad, anyway. It was my fault..." Ellie trailed off, thinking about all the girls that have ever said that to save the ones they loved.

Craig Manning walked over to her and looked into her eyes. Ellie knew that he was about to say something serious. She took in his scent again as he placed his hands on her shoulders.

"El, you can't say that it was your fault. I've been where you have, and I used to believe that my father beat me and that it was my fault too. I always thought that I was the reason he beat me, and...and I used to think, why me? Don't blame yourself. Your mother's an alcoholic, and –"

"And she's getting help! She's going to meetings and she's back at work! Craig, I know you're trying to help but do me a favor and don't!"

Ellie grabbed her backpack and then stormed out of the house, furious with both herself and him. He had no right telling her that it was her mother's fault for why things were the way they were. She cut because of herself. Her mother drank because of Ellie. At least, that's what her mindset was. This belief was so strong that not even Craig Manning could break her out of it.

She heard the front door open again as she walked down the sidewalk angrily.

"Ellie, wait! Please, El!"

She didn't stop; she didn't even look back once she had turned the corner. The young girl continued to walk down the sidewalk but stopped, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck tickle.

Ellie turned around sharply, getting a sneaky suspicion that someone was following her but let it go.

Stop it. It's probably just Craig messing with you. Dipshit. Let him screw with your head. Maybe it'll make him feel bad.

Ellie turned back around and walked again, not stopping until she reached her house. She scolded herself, mad for even leaving her house the previous night. Her mother was probably worried out of her mind. Then again, maybe she was drunk, again. She shrugged it off as she entered the house. She looked around for any sign of her mom but was unsuccessful. Ellie walked into the kitchen and stopped when she saw a note:

Ellie,

Went to AA. I left money so you could buy yourself a pizza. Be home around eleven.

Love you lots!

Mom

She read the note over and over again, making sure that she had read it right. Inside, she felt so proud that she had stuck up for her mother when Craig put her down. Part of Ellie Nash felt so tempted to run over to Craig's and shove the note in his face, just to prove how wrong he was and that he had no right saying what he did. Then she thought about something. That would be something that Manny would do; prove him wrong and brag about it. Ellie calmed herself down and decided to forget about Craig for now. It wasn't the time to be too cocky. She was proud of her mother. Deep inside, Ellie was never sure if she was really going to the meetings or not. At least now, there was proof. Then again, she knew to never take anyone's word. Her mother could have said that she was going to a meeting but really went to a bar instead.

She shook off the idea and embraced the note, reading it one more time. She eyed the words at the end: Love you!

Ellie had doubts that her mother had that in mind when she had hit her daughter, but decided to shake that idea off. After all, ignorance was bliss and this was a moment she didn't want to forget.

Six o' clock.

Ellie heard the sound of her stomach rumbling. She suddenly felt bad for Craig. He was also home alone and she knew as well as he did that there was no way in hell he could cook without burning the house down.

She sighed as she gave in to temptation, reaching for the cordless phone.

"Craig, do you want to come over for dinner? I'm sorry about earlier, I was acting like a bitch. Forgive me?"

"Well Miss. Ellie Nash, I don't know. Those were some pretty cruel things you said to me earlier..." Craig joked, chuckling at his words.

"Stop being a dick and come on over. I'm ordering pizza..."

Ellie heard his sound of enthusiasm before she hung up. She called LaPolama's and ordered them to deliver it.

"Great, now I wait."

Ellie turned on the TV and brought out the DVDs. If she knew Craig as well as she thought she did, he would want to watch a movie when he ate. Once she had got everything ready, she heard the sound of the doorbell.

She jogged over to the door and opened it, greeting Craig.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier..."

He waved it off with his hand. "Don't worry about it, Nash. I understand."

Ellie stepped aside so he could walk inside the small house.

"Where's the pizza?"

Ellie walked into the kitchen to grab some paper towels and napkins.

"Not here yet. So...how are you and Manny?"

Craig looked down, rubbed the back of his neck, and then looked at her. In a moment, Ellie could tell that everything wasn't perfect in paradise.

"That bad?"

Craig plopped himself down on the couch, Ellie not far behind.

"Well, Manny's giving me the cold shoulder right now. She asked where I was going, and I told her that I was coming to see you. You can imagine what happened after that. She started yelling about how I don't care about her and then told me to go come see you because she couldn't even look at me, so here I am."

Ellie shared a laugh with him, imagining the drama unfolding. It seemed like a Manny thing to do.

The chiming sound of the doorbell made her jump, forgetting about the pizza. She walked over to the door, grabbed the pizza and handed him the money her mom had left for her. Ellie walked back to where Craig was picking out a movie to watch, and set the pepperoni and mushroom pizza on the coffee table.

"Dawn of the Dead? We've seen it like, ten times. You honestly want to watch it while we're eating?"

Craig ignored her and put the DVD into the player, simultaneously grabbing a piece of pizza.

"You are...amazing." Ellie chuckled, watching him stuff it into his mouth.

"Thank you, Miss Nash. So are you..."

Ellie got up to dim the lights and then retreated back to her seat on the couch next to Craig. While the movie played, Ellie could sense that someone was watching her...