"You" - Chapter 3 - "Stumped"
The following day at school, Mr. Simpson was absent, leaving Mr. Raditch to cover first period Media Immersion until a sub could arrive. Raditch gave the kids a free period, which was surprising, since he appeared to be in no great mood. He even made Paige and Ashley switch seats so that Ashley and Ellie would stop talking. When Ashley messaged Ellie via computer and told her that she was working on some new music, Ellie decided to do some writing of her own. She had never really given it a try until Ashley encouraged her, and she was surprised at how much of a creative release it truly was.
She had observed the gifted poetic license that Ashley and other student poets possessed, and didn't even try to match them. She simply wrote what she felt, and as her eyes fell upon Ashley across the room, she was suddenly hit with inspiration:
When we're together, I feel perfect
When I'm far away from you, I fall apart
All you say is sacred to me
Your eyes are so blue, I can't look away
As we lay in stillness
You'll whisper to me
Baby, be with me
Promise you'll stay with me
Oh, you won't have to ask me
You know you're all that I live for
You know I'd die just to hold you
Stay with you
Somehow I'll show you
That you are my night sky...
And then she was stumped. She tapped her fingernails lightly on the keypad and waited for more words to come. On her left, Paige, who had now been upgraded to mutual friend of hers, rested her head on Ellie's shoulder.
"Is this class ever going to end?" Paige began to drone on, until Ellie's word document caught her eye, "What's this?" Paige leaned closer to Ellie's monitor and grabbed the mouse.
Ellie exhaled, half exasperated, half knowing what to expect since it was Paige. "Paige, must you invade my privacy?"
"What are friends for, Hun?" Paige said, raising an eyebrow and smiling Ellie's way.
Ellie shook her head and decided not to even bother stopping Paige from reading her poem. It might cause a bigger scene that way. But just then, her train of thought was interrupted by a question from Paige.
"Still hung up over Mr. Cameron, are we?"
"What makes you think it's about Sean?" Ellie asked, rather defensively, "Or even a guy at all?"
"Hun, if it's not about Sean, it's about some guy! There's no way anyone could read this and say it's not completely a love poem. So, who is he?"
"Paige, shut up," Ellie said casually rather than with conviction. Paige simply rolled her eyes and went back to playing her computer game.
While Ellie didn't often give too much emotional regard to Paige's remarks, to her it was more than ironic for someone to finally comment on what she had been throwing back and forth in her head for months now. Ellie knew she was straight, but she was wondering if her feelings for Ashley were growing to a point beyond friendship, and if that was even possible.
Just then, another Instant Message from Ashley appeared on her screen. It read, "Don't think so hard that you'll hurt yourself over there, Dummy ;)." When Ashley laughed and stuck her tongue out at Ellie from across the room, causing her to laugh, too, it was all more of a confirmation to Ellie that Ashley was winning her heart.