Meet Me In The Woods

by UnlockingTheUniverse

She was a mystery. He was a monster. She wished for nothing more than to be normal. He did too. He was Remus, and she was Ellianna. Neither of the two knew about the other, till one day, through to a series of unfortunate events, their paths crossed. Ellianna had never believed in destined love. Remus did, but thought himself to be undeserving of it. Both were proven wrong.

3. Parties and Tragedies

Chapter 1- "Parties and Tragedies"

Or

"Keep Yourself Alive"

20:29 P.M 29-08-1975

"How did I end up in this car again?" Ellianna Keller questioned aloud. She was sitting in the passenger's seat of her sister's gray Jeep. Kinsley Keller turned her head to the side to look at her sister. "Because we're going to a party and parties are fun." The girl reasoned while trying to give her sister a convincing smile. Ellianna however, remained unconvinced.

Kinsley knew that Ellianna wasn't the most out-going person. In fact, she wasn't one at all. So, she thought it was a great idea to bring her to one of their school mate's parties. Why she thought that? Ellianna didn't know.

"That still doesn't explain why I'm here." Ellianna told her sister, crossing her arms over her chest. Kinsley turned her head back to look at the road laid out in front of her. "Look El, I know it's out of your usual comfort zone, but loosen up. It'll be fun." The curly-haired girl tried to reason with the blonde.

In response Ellianna let out a groan and slumped in her seat "Yeah, you said that last time." The girl pointed out.

At this Kinsley smiled, she couldn't stop herself. Ellianna noticed and she straightened up from her seat. "Hey! Why are you smiling? Stop that!" She tried to keep her own smile off her face, but it was nearly impossible. Kinsley glanced shortly to her twin sister, noticing the repressed smile on her lips. "I'm sorry, but it was positively hilarious." Her sister apologized meekly, while she restrained to laugh.

Ellianna covered her mouth with her hand turning away from the smiling idiot next to her to look out the window. "I'll admit... it was the tiniest bit amusing." She concurred, sort of at least. Kinsley nodded eagerly at the memory of her sister, smiling broadly. Completely having given up on refraining to laugh or show any other sort of amusement to respect her sister's past actions.

"The tiniest bit?" Kinsley scoffed "It's in my top 3 What has Ellianna done now? stories." She flicked on the blinker of the car and took a left turn. Kinsley peacefully drove, entering the more sophisticated suburbs of Los Angeles, being completely oblivious to Ellianna's look of utterly betrayal.

"You tell people those stories?" She gaped, looking at her sister in disbelief. Kinsley gave her sister a confused look "Of course I do," Said Kinsley cluelessly "Why shouldn't I?"

"Because... b-because... It's– and you..." Ellianna's mind filled with reasons why she didn't appreciate her sister speaking of her, but for some reason the act of articulation suddenly gave up on her. So it was that she –with as much confidence as she could muster– said,

"Just because."

"Star of the Debate Team, you are." Said Kinsley even-toned, unimpressed by her sister's reason. Ellianna shot a silencing glare in her direction. Kinsley just smiled her characteristically beautiful smile in response.

"We're getting off topic here." She interjected, waving one hand in the air. "We really aren't." Ellianna retorted desperately, an embarrassed blush covering her cheeks. But Kinsley ignored her and kept on smiling.

"My favourite part is where you pushed him in the pool–" The older twin sister went on.

"We really don't have to relive one of my lesser moments." Ellianna interrupted, sinking even lower into her seat. Kinsley paid her no heed.

"And shouted Hands off you hideous Hoser!" She chuckled at the memory, but Ellianna's cheeks only flushed a brighter scarlet.

"Oh God..." The wary blonde groaned, covering her face with both hands.

"The look on his face when he emerged from the water..." Kinsley shook her head in amusement.

"Do you take pleasure from torturing me?"

"It was priceless, I'd sell my left kidney to see that again."

"I'll murder you in your sleep."

"Oh hush." Kinsley smiled, bemused by her sister's obvious embarrassment on the matter. She glanced at the passenger's seat, noticing Ellianna was completely flushed red and slumped in her seat, her frizzy blond hair pressed flat against the black leather. She felt a sudden surge of sisterly sympathy.

"No really El, it was totally badass..." Kinsley amended in attempts to console "I for one, would have never had the guts to push someone in a pool in front of basically our whole year."

Ellianna sat up straighter and huffed out a short breath through her nose "Thanks Kins," Said Ellianna, leaning her head against the glass window pensively when a thought struck her.

In reality...

She had never pushed him...

Ellianna smiled at the correct recollection of that night and decided to inform Kinsley on it "And for the record, I hadn't pushed him in... I punched him." She spoke aloud with a twinge of pride.

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Kinsley laughed as she remembered the vivid image of him falling backwards into the pool right after Ellianna had struck his jaw with her fist.

"And when you relate this story you shouldn't forget to add that he felt me up and tried to kiss me," She instructed Kinsley "without consent no less." Ellianna added scrunching her nose in disdain.

Kinsley smirked knowingly "I thought you didn't like me telling this story?"

"I don't," Ellianna turned up her nose "it's just for the sake of copyright pending, that's all."

"Mhm..." She gave Ellianna a look, but the girl on the receiving end dismissed it and Kinsley laughed her perfect laugh. "Gee... I completely forgot he had tried to kiss you." She continued. Ellianna thought back to the party that had transpired a couple months ago.

The boy whom she had only met that night had been following her around for over an hour. Trying to talk to her and dance with her. He was also very adamant in trying to get her to separate from the crowd and go somewhere with him alone, which obviously resulted in Ellianna doing the exact opposite. She tried to stay as engulfed in the crowd as she could, and while it hadn't been a pool party (for it was the middle of February) it had been outside. The pool just happened to be very close to the middle of the crowd, coincidentally where Ellianna desired to be.

So, when he once again approached her while she was sipping her drink in peaceful bliss, she was already a great deal annoyed with him for ruining her moment in solitude. She behaved cordial enough, not wanting to cause any trouble. She had even forced herself to laugh at all his dull jokes. He had seemed nice enough... boring, but nice. Though Ellianna's first impression of him couldn't have been more wrong, for when not even 10 minutes had passed when she felt his cold touch on her back.

Her breath had caught in her throat, and she tried to avoid making eye contact with him, but when his hand was sliding dangerously low and he moved forward to press his thin pale lips against hers, she experienced a wave of bravery and whirled herself away from him. Now Ellianna wasn't a temperamental person by nature, but she had made an exception just this once, for this occasion. He stumbled about, turning around to face Ellianna, but before he had the chance to fully turn, she had already punched him square in the jaw, sending him straight into the rectangle shaped swimming pool with a loud splash. The memory of it all made her cringe internally.

"I wish I would forget," Ellianna frowned "Though I did get the opportunity to punch someone, so all's well, ends well." She added good-naturedly.

"Sometimes I wonder if you realize how belligerent you really are."

"Says you, Ms. Pugnacious."

Kinsley made a face at Ellianna, which she reciprocated. "Still– you could have pushed him instead of punching... What is it they say about violence again... Nothing good ever comes out of violence."

Ellianna snorted "And what exactly about pushing him isn't violent?" The blonde queried, arching an eyebrow. "And besides, something good did come out of it," Ellianna began, Kinsley awaited with an expectant look on her pretty face "I got to punch a sexual offender in the face." She smiled confidently. Kinsley sniggered at that.

Ellianna sighed, averting her gaze to look outside through the car window and noticed they were driving through a luxurious neighbourhood. They drove past enormous mansions, all of which had its own garden with a different variety of flowers. Each beautiful in its own way. The extravagant houses were a heads up for the blonde to let her know they were almost at Justin Moore's house.

Ellianna heard her sister sigh, she chose to ignore it but then she heard a loud breath coming from Kinsley again. The blonde chose to ignore it for the second time.

"Huaaaghh" the girl heard once again. Ellianna snapped "What?" She snapped loudly "What is it?" She asked in a much softer tone, regaining her composure. Having Kinsley as a sister it was something she had to do a lot. "Why would you think that there is something?" Kinsley asked in that customary sickly-sweet tone of hers and that manipulative, innocent smile.

You had to look out for that smile. It could bring the world's strongest leaders to their knees (that is what Ellianna made of it at least). Now, it was directed at her, and that could only mean one of two things.

One: she needed something from her.

Two: she did something she wasn't supposed to.

Both of those things rarely ended well for Ellianna.

Now it was her time to sigh. "Oh, I don't know? Maybe the constant sighing into my ear?" The girl was beginning to lose her patience. "Just say what you so desperately want to say, and we can get past it." she looked to her sister behind the wheel, Kinsley meeting her eyes with a pleading look in them. "Just... promise me you'll talk to people..." Kinsley hesitated before she decided to add "and try to act normal."

Her sister and her Godforsaken need for everyone to like her.

Ellianna faked a gasp of hurt and ignorance as she put her right hand on top of her heart "Normal? What are you saying, that I'm unnormal?" Of course, she meant it as a joke, but Ellianna liked to see herself as ordinary, she didn't want to be different from other people. Different usually meant noticeable, and the blonde wished for nothing more than to go unnoticed by the world and go her own way. She didn't like it when people put their interest in her or when they talked about her. So that is why she mostly kept to herself. She didn't really mind though. She found the solitude consoling.

This was also coincidentally, why she didn't like that Kinsley told stories about her.

"Unnormal isn't a word." Kinsley suddenly stated.

"Yes it is,"

"No it's not,"

"It really is."

"It really isn't."

"Kinsley dear, it's an adjective."

"Whatever." Kinsley said rolling her eyes in boredom.

And that is how Ellianna knew she had won. The victorious Ellianna looked sideways to Kinsley and in return Kinsley stuck her tongue out to her.

"So... you think I'm unnormal then?" The blonde wondered casually, resurrecting their previous conversation.

Kinsley hesitated, not knowing how to respond "No...no of course not! You're perfectly..."

Silence

"Normal."

An unconvincing smile displayed on her face. Ellianna looked at her sister with an are-you-joking look on her face.

"Then do tell me, dearest sister... Why did you pause?" Ellianna said mirroring the smile. Her sister's face contorted into one of deep thought "I didn't pause, what are you talking about?" Kinsley said trying to act dumb to get herself out of trouble.

"Mhm, yeah, there was one right between perfectly and normal." Ellianna said while pointing with her index finger from left to right.

Her sister's mouth fell into a perfect O-shape. "Oh, you meant that pause. There was no reason for that pause... Perfectly normal, just like you and like me and like the party we're going to... Perfectly normal." Kinsley rambled on.

Ellianna had stopped listening to her rant. Her head was leaning against the cold glass as she was looking at the sky. There were large soft clouds floating in the air, covering about half of the blue sky. The clouds reflected the light of the sun, making them unusually bright so she had to squint her eyes to look at them. The sun was starting to dim, Ellianna looked at her dad's old watch that hang around her wrist, which she had inherited about two years ago and saw that it was 20:35. Only an hour left before the sunset.

The blonde tried to watch the sunset as often as possible. For twenty minutes of just staring at the sky Ellianna would feel at complete ease with herself and everything going on in her life. Those few minutes were the only time when she wouldn't be thinking about anything and simply enjoy the mere beauty of the sky. She loved the way the different colours of the sky would blend with each other. The various shades of orange, yellow, pink, blue and some nights even purple.

The clouds were the best part in Ellianna's opinion. All different shapes and sizes, often coloured pink or orange by the light of the setting sun. Sometimes a cloud would cover the sun and sunrays would cover the sky in pillars of light.

She adored the short time where the sun would slowly set and fall behind the horizon, taking the light and colours with it. Everything would be perfect for those few minutes. And she cherished those minutes with an undying love.

"Just no talk about space or those weird comic books you read." Kinsley interrupted Ellianna's train of thought determined. Ellianna looked at her sister with a bored expression on her face "I shall choose to ignore the comment about you calling my comic books weird... And you don't have to worry Kins, I'll just talk about how amazing you are and how lucky I am to have you as my sister!" The blonde said with a fake overexcited tone in her voice. They turned around the corner "Or better yet... not talk at all." This she said as dryly as she could.

"Great!" Kinsley replied. This certainly befuddled Ellianna a bit. Hadn't she just ordered her to socialize and talk to people?

"Really? Just like that? If I had known all it took was to compliment you about your sibling expertise, I would have done that when you forced me to go to this party."

"Cool." said Kinsley with a far-away sounding voice.

"Cool? Kinsley what are you-" Ellianna began, but when her sister began to slow down, and the car came slowly to a halt, she realized that Kinsley hadn't been listening and instead had focused on the house... Justin's house. Ellianna resisted the urge to shudder.

"Ah," Ellianna commented, inspecting her sister's face.

"Look... we're here." Remarked Kinsley.

"Perceptive." Ellianna reflected.

Kinsley quickly shut Ellianna up with the threatening look she gave her. It was obvious to Ellianna that her sister was anxious to be here tonight.

Ellianna looked through the window as the car came to a complete stop. The sight was surely an impressive one. The house was a modern Block House. A grand two-storey architectural creation. It was mostly white with black and wooden details. It had windows all around the sides. Ellianna briefly wondered how long it took to clean them all. The windows reached all the way from the floor to the ceiling giving Ellianna a look at the people inside the house dancing, talking and drinking.

How she despised parties, she much rather be at home with her family or with her best friend. She wondered what he'd be doing on this loveable evening.

"You know... there are only going to be seniors in there." Ellianna stated with a hint of fear in her voice, she was really bad, if not horrendous, at talking to new people. When she would be with someone new alone, she could talk with them easily. But as soon as they would outnumber her, she much rather run away and never come back. So, a party full of people a year older than her that she had never talked to before, didn't do much good for her social anxiety.

"Don't worry El, just blend in and dance." Kinsley reassured her sister. The blonde gave her sister an astonished look "Kins, are you serious? Me... Dance?" Ellianna asked her sister. Kinsley thought back to her sister's dance moves, a small chuckle escaped her lips as she thought about how ridiculous her sister looks when she dances.

"Maybe you better not." Kinsley advised her sister before she added "But they got pizza!" The curly-haired girl remarked enthusiastically, knowing that Ellianna liked pizza a lot. She liked pasta a lot better, but pizza would do.

It looked as if Ellianna pondered about it, before she spoke up "Alright, I'm in." The girl said as if it was a mission she was signing up for.

She hadn't eaten dinner yet since her sister was completely freaking out about what she was going to wear. And when they had finally chosen Kinsley's outfit, the girl started stressing about what Ellianna was going to wear. After a lot of convincing Ellianna had managed to talk Kinsley around in letting her wear her own outfit. Of course, it was a party, so she wasn't about to turn up in jeans and a hoodie.

Ellianna was wearing a loose-fitting black dress that she had belted with a black leather belt with silver nots on it along the waist causing it to slightly flow outward. It cut off a couple inches above her knees. Ellianna wasn't used to wearing short dresses, or skirts for that matter. She had a feeling she would be pulling her dress down all night.

The dress had no sleeves, but thin strips that pressed softly into her skin. On her wrists silver bracelets hang that she had collected over the years (mostly stole from her mom). Same went for the multiple necklaces. Underneath her dress she was wearing high black boots, her white ruffled socks coming above the shoe. It wasn't anything special, but at least she was comfortable.

As soon as Kinsley parked the car, she hopped out excitedly and walked to the passenger's side where her sister was currently contemplating whether to run away and hide or go inside and eat the pizza. Kinsley knew about her sister's anxiety for meeting and talking to new people, but she also knew that when Kinsley was around Ellianna she would loosen up. Not a lot, but still the girl was happy to help her sister relax, even if it was only for a little bit.

Ellianna was trying to talk some courage into herself. "Come on Ellianna, you are badass. There's nothing you can't do... Except maybe roller skate... Shit, what if they're going to roller skate?" She muttered while panicking.

She was shaken out of her conversation with herself when the car door opened and revealed a smiling Kinsley. "Are you coming or are you staying in the car all night?" Ellianna thought about it for a second. She looked to the party, then to her sister, then back to the party. "Yes, definitely staying in the car." The blonde said as she nervously shook the hair out of her eyes.

Kinsley rolled her eyes and grabbed her sister's wrist. She pulled her out of the car and into the direction of the front door. "Come on El, I'm sure everything will be fine." Ellianna simply looked down to where her sister's hand was wrapped around her wrist and stayed quiet.

"Why are you even taking me here? We all know Justin Moore has a thing for you, not me. I would have been fine staying home and reading one of my 'weird' comic books." Ellianna said, quoting the words her sister had used earlier. Even though the comic books she read were probably one of the most popular at the moment. So really, Kinsley was the weird one for not reading them.

It seemed that Kinsley had only heard a small part of the sentence Ellianna had just uttered "Pfft... he does not have a thing for me." The curly-haired girl exclaimed. It didn't sound very convincing.

Ellianna rolled her eyes at her sister "Please, you can't even convince yourself that he doesn't like you, let alone anyone else."

They approached the front door and Kinsley rang the bell suddenly looking very anxious again. Probably because of the Great Justin Moore.

You guessed it right: Justin was popular.

Ellianna didn't think very highly of him. Sure, he was popular, had a lot of friends and was the star player of the high school football team. Everybody liked him and everybody knew him. Once the word got out he would throw a party, people would become obsessed and only talk about that for weeks on end. To the outside world he seemed perfect...

Ellianna didn't trust him.

There wasn't really a reason for her suspicion of him. She just didn't trust the guy, and whenever she saw him walking around the halls at school, she got this dubious feeling. A tingly sensation in her chest, arms and fingers. It felt like he was dangerous... which was completely ridiculous and atrocious of course, because he hadn't done anything wrong. But still... she couldn't shake the feeling something about him was off.

Ellianna leaned her right shoulder against the brick wall, she crossed her arms and dropped her head to look at her shoes. She could practically feel the stress gushing from her sister next to her.

"Kins." No response.

"Kinsley!" Ellianna was met with her sister's soft blue gaze. "Listen to your own advice: everything will be fine. Just– just take a deep breath and try to relax, okay?" The blonde instructed. Kinsley did as her sister said. She did it a couple of times and seemed to relax more and more with each given breath.

"See, helps right?" Ellianna said, she herself had had to deal with quite some stressful situations and the aftermath of those in her life, so she knew how much a deep breath could help.

"Thanks." smiled Kinsley. Ellianna returned the smile.

"No problem..." She pushed her sister's shoulder lightly. "Oh, and don't forget to act normal." Ellianna suddenly added, throwing Kinsley's words from earlier back at her.

Ellianna raised her eyebrows in a playful manner. Saying that her sister was glaring daggers at her, was putting it lightly.

The silence between the two girls grew as they were listening to the lively sounds of the party behind the door. Ellianna averted her eyes to her shoes once again. Trying not to think too much about the party, as it made her sick to her stomach. She really needed to work on her social anxiety problem.

She heard a click and then "Kinsley, you made it!" A deep male voice spoke joyfully.

'Yay, I'm so happy we're here!' The blonde thought sarcastically as she rolled her eyes. Luckily, Kinsley couldn't see and scold her for it, since she was looking at the ground.

She didn't want to look up yet. To be completely honest, she would always pretend that she didn't enjoy parties, but she actually quite liked going to them. It wasn't necessarily the parties she liked going to, it was the time she got to spend with her sister that she really adored.

Ellianna herself never got asked to parties (Thank God for that), but her sister did, quite a lot. And she would sometimes ask Ellianna to go with her. Why? That she didn't know, but it didn't matter to her. The times she went with her, they would always have a great time together.

Of course, she could never tell Kinsley this. She wouldn't be able to hear the end of it. How she was right about parties being fun and Ellianna was wrong. Infuriating, really.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Kinsley smiled. 'Was that too much? It definitely was. He's gonna think you're crazy. Get it together Kinsley.' She thought to herself, panicking. She glanced worriedly at Ellianna only to see her giving Kinsley a thumbs up in a sarcastic manner.

It was as if this was the first time Justin had ever laid his eyes on Ellianna, which... let's face it, it probably was.

"You brought someone, who's this?" He asked as he nodded his head in Ellianna's direction.

Ellianna looked up to his dark brown eyes. As he took her in, a devious smirk grew on his face, Ellianna did not like that smirk. She looked to her left where her sister stood with a dreamy look in her eyes. Completely oblivious that the boy who she fancied was checking Ellianna out.

Terrific, that.

Kinsley's words from before went through her head:

Just promise me you'll talk to people and try to act normal.

A smirk of her own grew on her face as an idea popped in her head.

In a matter of a second Ellianna replied "My name is Kathy Price, I'm Kinsley's cousin, but she probably hasn't mentioned me before..." Ellianna put her hand next to her mouth as she leaned towards Justin and lowered her voice "I just came out of juvey... you see... I almost killed a guy, so she's a little bit embarrassed of me." With that she smiled at Justin and straightened her back again as she brushed past him into his house.

Her sister, still stood rooted at the same place, wasn't even slightly surprised her sister had said that.

I should have known better.

Kinsley thought as she rolled her eyes at her sister's antiques. She looked over to Justin to see his eyes were the size of a cantaloupe. "D-did she just say... she almost mur-murdered a guy?" He stuttered out the English language.

Kinsley had no other option but to play along with her sister's act. Well, she had other options, but what was the fun in that.

"Yeah, but don't worry... the guy got in and out of the hospital in three days." The curly-haired girl said, smiling brightly at Justin and patting his chest, before she walked past him as well.

21:08 P.M 29-08-1975

As soon as Ellianna entered the house she was met with loud noises, loads of seniors and the distinct scent of cheap beer. It was quite disgusting, but she was way too distracted to care.

The blonde had a big smile on her face. Ellianna couldn't believe what she had just done. Never ever had she done something like that. Normally, she didn't dare to speak to popular kids, especially one like Justin Moore. But the way his eyes had looked at her body didn't sit right with her and at least now she wouldn't be bothered by him. She had done a pretty great job at scaring him away if she did say so herself.

As she approached the living room, where the most people were, she immediately started looking for the table with snacks. Her stomach still rumbling from not having eaten dinner. Her eyes roamed around the room, it was quite difficult to spot the table with all the dancing bodies in her line of sight. The blonde narrowed her eyes, trying to focus and spot the snacks.

After a good thirty seconds she spotted the table, she almost yelled out in happiness. Ellianna could be a bit dramatic sometimes, but she was really hungry and the fact that she had a salad for lunch only made her cravings for pizza or any other food that was not in a rabbit's diet bigger.

"To the snack table we go." Ellianna said starting to move. She made sure not to speak too loud in fear of someone hearing her. She definitely wasn't ready to talk to anyone yet. Especially when she still didn't have any pizza in her system.

Ellianna marched towards the table, pushing past the dancing bodies. When she got there, she was quite a bit out of breath. One thing you need to know about Ellianna: she was smart but had absolutely no stamina.

Put her in front of a math equation, no problem. She will solve it in a jiffy. Put her in front of stairs, she would rather die –no– she would probably murder you in a very painful manner and hope you would end up in Hell where there would only be stairs that you had to walk day in and day out.

She leaned her palms on the smooth wooden surface of the table, catching her breath.

"Man, do you need to work out." a familiar voice came from beside her. It caught her off guard and she almost fell to the ground, luckily, she caught herself before that could happen.

Ellianna slowly turned around to see her best friend; Anthony Hutchins. He was casually leaning against the table, a red cup in his hand and a knowing smirk on his face. His brown hair was already fairly tousled. Her surprised expression was quickly replaced with a playful one.

"Why would I do that when I could do something useful?"

Anthony snorted "Like what? Lay on your bed and stare at the ceiling?"

"It's called thinking Anthony. You should try it sometime." Ellianna retorted. Anthony laughed heartily at her reply.

"That doesn't change the fact that you should still really, and I mean really work out."

A thought crossed her mind "You know what? You're right." Ellianna admitted with an agreeing smile.

Anthony looked sceptical, for his best friend never admitted he was right "I am?"

"Yes. In fact... I'm up for some running right now. Let's go." She reached out to Anthony's elbow and was just about to pull him with her when he spoke.

"Maybe some other time sweetheart, but I have a date tonight." He replied nonchalantly, like this wasn't the best thing to happen to him in a long time. And let's face it, it was. This comment made Ellianna perk up and she released her grip on his arm.

"Date you say..." She teased as she wiggled her eyebrows at him.

Anthony shoved her shoulder as she let out a small laugh. She seemed to remember something as her smile got wiped off her face and her expression turned serious. "Wait wait wait... which one are you here with..." Ellianna held her hand up as she tried to remember the names of her friend's numerous crushes "With Lloyd or Lara?"

A slight pink colour stained his cheeks as he answered quietly "I'm here with Lloyd." at this the girl's face broke out in a grin. "Atta boy! I liked him way better than her in the first place." She said as she slapped his shoulder in a approving manner.

Anthony had a quizzical look on his face, it was then that Ellianna realized how it may have sounded. "No offense to Lara." she quickly added, not wanting to talk bad about someone without really knowing them.

It wasn't that she despised gossiping, she was certainly no saint there. It was more that she didn't like to talk bad about a person. Especially somebody she didn't really know. Only when people gave her a reason to talk bad about them would she complain about it to Anthony.

The two of them could be really judgemental when they wanted to. But most of the time they were nice enough... well Anthony was. There was a reason that Ellianna didn't have as many friends as most people had.

"But it's just that after that one time when she stood you up for that other guy, she hasn't been my favourite from your selection of admirers," She began with a scowl "While Lloyd... well Lloyd is Lloyd... Plus he's super-hot." Ellianna defended her earlier statement. Even though Lloyd was gay, Ellianna wasn't blind, she knew it when someone was attractive.

"Well I can't argue with that." Anthony chuckled as he took a sip from his drink.

The two best friends were stood next to each other as they watched the people in front of them. A comfortable silence settled among the two before Ellianna decided to break it.

"It's crazy when you think about it. You were asked here by not one... but two seniors. It truly baffles me..." she stopped, clearing her throat.

"Why?" Asked Anthony looking down at the contents of his cup.

"Why? You mean... why does it baffle me?"

"Yes, why does it baffle you."

Without missing a beat, she answered, "Because between the two of us, I'm clearly the better more fun option." Ellianna joked; she didn't mean a word of it. But there was something else she was worried about. And if he found out, he would surely want to talk with her about it. So, the only way to make sure that wouldn't happen was by joking her way through it. Anthony looked up from his cup, amused.

"Why?" He reiterated. Ellianna rolled her eyes, before complying to his question.

"You want to know why I'm the better option?"

"Yes, why?"

"Why it's me?"

"Yes,"

"You really want to know why?"

"Yes!"

Ellianna considered it. "I'll let you figure that out for yourself." She said grinning enigmatically. Anthony shook his head in bewilderment and took a swig from his drink. He turned towards her with a curious stare. Giving her that look as if he saw right through her facade.

Had he somehow known what she was worried about?

"Alright, what's up?" He questioned.

For Heaven's sake, how'd he known?

"Nothing is up." She replied, keeping her voice composed so he wouldn't notice.

"Lee, what's wrong?" Ellianna cursed in her head. She hated that he knew her so well.

"It's nothing really... well it's something, but it's stupid..." Ellianna began not surely knowing how to further this explanation without sounding like a needy, obsessive friend. She gave it a try none the less.

"It's just that I- I mean you... you have been talking with people... and you've– you've been making loads of new friends... and it just feels like– like..." Ellianna sighed in defeat "I don't know to be honest."

Anthony meanwhile listened to her. He thought he understood her.

He didn't.

"You're scared I'm going to abandon you for these new friends and forget about you." He finished for her.

Ellianna's eyes widened "No! No, not like that. Jeez Anthony... I'm just scared, I guess. I fear our friendship might change." She sighed unsurely of herself, looking to the ground. She awaited his reply.

To her great surprise Anthony bursted out laughing. Ellianna snapped her head up. She looked at her friend who was doubled over in laughter in astonishment. He hadn't meant to laugh, but really, he couldn't help himself.

"What?"

"I'm sorry... I'm truly sorry for this" Anthony wheezed through his laughter "But Ellianna, you can't truly think I would let our friendship go to the dogs for people- people like Laura Lambert or Danyon Sage?" He could barely speak the last name before he bursted into another fit of laughter.

"Not to the dogs per se, but I had anticipated some alteration." Ellianna reacted, still not fully grasping the weird behaviour of her friend.

Anthony picked up on his friend confused tone and finally seemed to calm down a bit. He set his cup down on the table and put both his hands on her shoulders.

"Ellianna," he began sincerely, looking her intently in the eye "if there's one thing I have learned from hanging out with more people at school, is that I cannot stand being with them for more than ten seconds. You're one of the only –if not the only one– at school that I can tolerate. So, believe me when I say, there is no way on earth that our friendship will change because of my talking to them." He spoke with such certainty that Ellianna couldn't bring it in herself to not believe him.

But still...

"And you're completely sure of that?"

Anthony looked at her funnily "Have you met the people that go to our school?"

Alright, he had her there.

She still didn't look very convinced however, there was only one more thing Anthony could do to make her think otherwise. So, he dropped his hands from her shoulder and exhaled.

"I'll pinkie promise you on it." He said, holding out his pinkie for Ellianna. She glanced towards his pinkie then diverted her gaze to look up at him.

At this Ellianna smiled. It was a cliché really. The first day they had met, she remembered it like it was yesterday. It was the first day of fifth grade. Her and her family had just moved to Los Angeles. Everything in the city was so big, so crowded, so new. Not at all what Ellianna was used to. She had lived her entire life in a small town in Northern Canada.

She remembered how she walked into a class filled with people she didn't know. No one was her friend there, everyone had been her friend back at home. She remembered how angry she was with her parents for moving. She hadn't talked to them for an entire day. Which for a ten-year-old was one of the cruellest things she could think of doing to hurt her parents. She had been angry at her parents for moving, for putting Kinsley and Ellianna in two different schools. Her father claimed it would be good for their "personal development". She was angry at her sisters for being completely fine with moving, at Los Angeles for simply existing and when she walked into the classroom with her new classmates, she decided she was angry with them too.

Seeing as she was new, she had had to stand in front of the class. She was forced to tell her classmates what her name was and what her interests were. She didn't want them to know her name, she wanted to go home. When she was done, she took a seat near the front, seeing as all the other kids were already seated, that was the only vacant one.

Most of the eyes were still on her when she had sat down. That was until a certain young boy with long shaggy brown hair and a small button nose bursted through the door and stood still for a moment to catch his breath. The teacher instructed the boy to take a seat. She hadn't even scolded him for being tardy.

It must happen a lot. Ellianna had thought in dismay. Then the boy had straightened to his full height, he still stood in the doorway.

"Yes ma'am!" He had spoken loudly, saluting to the teacher. The other kids had laughed at that and even the teacher laughed good naturedly at the boy's behaviour. Ellianna seemed to be the only one not laughing.

He grinned broadly before he had walked further inside. She remembered how she had hoped he wouldn't sit down next to her, she remembered how she had been focusing on scribbling in her notebook to make sure they wouldn't make eye contact and he would interpret that as an invitation.

But shortly after she had heard him plopping down into the seat next to hers and dropping his bag to the ground with a thud. Ellianna had squeezed her eyes shut and had now agreed with herself that she was angry with this kid too. He had tried to make conversation with her, but she ignored him. Not even sparing a glance towards his direction.

The teacher began to start her lesson, something about adjectives and adverbs. Ellianna had tried to focus on the lesson, writing down notes with her favourite pen. (The one that had a pink fluffy ball at the top of it). However, the boy next to her was making it extraordinarily hard for her to concentrate. He kept fidgeting and moving and occasionally exchange whispers with the boy at the other side of the aisle.

She remembered how she had finally snapped.

《》《》《》

(Approximately six years earlier)

"Can you shut up?" The young Ellianna Keller whispered harshly. Her lips pursed and her eyebrows drawn together in annoyance. The boy turned away from his conversation with the aisle kid and faced Ellianna.

"She speaks!" The boy quipped, clearly finding his amusement in annoying Ellianna.

She rolled her eyes. "A real observant one, you are." Ellianna said sardonically.

"And feisty too." He noted loudly.

"Keep your voice down." She warned, looking with slight alarm at the teacher, wondering if she had heard their conversation.

"I will, if you keep your mean-spirited levels down to a minimum." The boy reasoned. Ellianna looked at him amazed. Her? Mean? No one had ever called her mean before.

An exception for when she had accidentally broke Kinsley's barbie doll. That was not a good day for the twins.

She didn't know what to say or how to react. So instead, she returned her attention to the lesson and her notes.

"You know... I thought Canadians were supposed to be nice." He didn't mean it as an insult, Ellianna heard that. It was more of an announcement to himself. She didn't look at him instead she continued further with her notes.

Most adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective

A thought occurred to Ellianna.

There are, however, many common adverbs that do end in -ly...

He had arrived late too class, and therefore missed her introduction.

Such as again, also, just, never, often, soon, today, too, very...

How had he known she was Canadian?

and well.

"How do you know I'm Canadian?" She asked, looking up from her notebook. The boy was once again caught up in a conversation with the kid next to him. But when he heard her voice, he turned around with an infuriating grin Ellianna would like to wipe from his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know..." The boy teased. She really did everything in her power to not punch him right there and then. However, her curiosity was greater than her aggression at the moment. And she wanted to know how he knew.

"You weren't here when I introduced myself, so how did you know?"

He paused, pressing his lips in a straight line "I'm a mind reader." The boy spoke mysteriously, wiggling his fingers in front of Ellianna's eyes.

"Sure, then I must be the president of Canada." Ellianna retorted in a monotone voice, beginning to lose patience with the boy next to her.

"Canada doesn't have a president." He sounded so sure of himself as well.

"Yes, we do."

"No, I'm almost 100% sure they do not."

"What are you talking about? Canada has a president. I should know."

At this the boy put his fingers on his temples and squinted his eyes. Staring intensely in Ellianna's direction. Was he pretending to read her mind? He kept quiet and then:

"You, in fact... do not know." He finally concluded. Ellianna looked at him, not sure what to think, so once again she turned away from the boy.

He however did not return to the aisle kid, but instead leaned slightly towards her. "You want to know how I know?" He whispered.

"Not particularly, no." Ellianna responded. Her vexation was growing worse with the second and if this kid wasn't going to shut up soon, she was sure she was going to yell at him.

He ignored her and continued

"Because I read your mind."

"You did not read my mind." She responded with a condescending tone.

"I did read your mind." Said the boy with the imitating Ellianna's tone.

"No you did not." She picked up her pen and started twirling it around in her fingers.

Did he not realize how much he was getting on her nerves?

"Yes I did,"

Could he just stop talking –or even better– existing.

"You did not."

Please for the love of God let this kid stop talking.

"I did too."

And that was the last straw for her. Ellianna let her pen clatter to the surface of her table and once more... she snapped, only not as quietly as before.

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

The teacher stopped mid-sentence and everyone in the classroom paused to look towards the pair in the front. To look at her.

Oh no–

no, no no no.

She was the centre of attention... Everyone was looking at her... Everyone was thinking about her... Everyone was judging her.

"Miss Keller," snapped Miss Deslauriers "I understand that you are new here. But I do not tolerate children disrupting my lessons. Please, do explain yourself." The teacher demanded sternly.

The panic rose in her chest, and she froze on the spot. She lost her ability to focus on everything and couldn't think straight. She couldn't think at all. How were you supposed to talk again?

"I–" The girl began, before being loudly interrupted.

"It wasn't her fault ma'am. I distracted her and she got annoyed with me for keeping her from class." The boy stated, talking with such ease, even though the both of them had just been caught for talking.

Ellianna was pretty sure she hadn't ever felt as much anxiety as she had now. Defying a teacher was a very scary thing to do, especially for a ten-year-old.

"Well Miss Keller... Is that true?" The teacher questioned, returning her attention on the new girl. She was still frozen and from the corner of her eye she could see him giving her an urgent look. He had just taken the blame for someone he had only known an hour. And she had only been mean, blunt and curt with him. If she had been nice, she was sure this whole state of affair could have been avoided. It wasn't only his fault, Ellianna decided.

When she didn't respond he kicked her underneath the table.

She immediately breathed in and shook her head. "No! I mean... I challenged him and that was wrong of me. I shouldn't have done that and I'm sorry." She confessed. The boy looked at her with a wide-eyed gaze.

"My sincerest apologies as well Miss Deslauriers." He added quickly, bowing his head down dramatically.

The teacher eyed the both of them with a suspicious look. "Very well. I would like to have a word with the both of you after class." She gave the two kids no further attention and resumed her lesson.

Ellianna felt her heart drop. She had never angered a teacher before in her life. And she definitely didn't feel good about it now that it had happened. She spared a glance towards the boy. He was doodling in the margins of his notebook. She stared at his unfazed demeanour and wondered how he wasn't completely freaking out now. She wondered if it had been the right thing to take part of the blame. She wondered why-oh-why he had taken all the blame?

He suddenly looked up from his drawing at Ellianna and caught her staring at him. She quickly took her pen and diverted her gaze towards the talking teacher. For the rest of the class, she didn't dare look at him again, and he didn't dare speaking up again. But she kept wondering. What she didn't know however, was that he wondered the same things as her.

When the bell rang the other students collected their things, stood up and marched out of the classroom. Both her and her companion remained seated.

She, feeling as if she might throw up any second.

He, imagining what his mother would cook for dinner tonight.

"So..." Miss Deslauriers began. "I understand the both of you have gotten off on a rough start." She looked at them patiently. Ellianna realized she was waiting for some kind of confirmation. The boy realized this at the same time.

They nodded in chorus. "And I understand that you–" she nodded at the boy "annoyed Ellianna. And you–" she nodded at Ellianna "Challenged Anthony."

Anthony... so that was his name.

"You got that right Ma'am." Anthony confirmed fidgeting with the corner of his notebook. Folding the paper, straightening it out and repeating the process.

Miss Deslauriers then looked at Ellianna. It occurred to her that Miss Deslauriers wasn't a teacher one should mess with. She had a pretty face, but it had been altered by age. Her eyes were a dark brown colour, that looked straight through student's lies. And a stern stare that would have anyone confessing their deepest and darkest secrets to her.

Deep lines ran along her forehead that became even more visible when she raised her eyebrows at Ellianna awaiting for her to speak. "I promise Miss Deslauriers... that's what happened."

"Scout's honours." Anthony added with one hand on his heart and the other in the air. Ellianna giggled, but quickly covered it up by coughing and clearing her throat loudly.

He grinned at her, and she made a deal of it not to grin back. The corner of her lips however, turned upwards, just a little bit. But enough for Anthony to see she was smiling at him.

The teacher looked between the two of them. "Alright then. I believe you. However, you must understand that I do not allow this behaviour... not under any circumstances..." she gave Ellianna a pointed look "that is why this afternoon... you two shall serve a detention."

Anthony gasped loudly and Ellianna her eyes widened a considerable amount. "A detention?! For talking in class?!" Anthony spoke loudly. Not quite agreeing with his teacher.

"But Ma'am–" the teacher interrupted him.

"I won't hear any of it Mr. Hutchins. I know that in the previous years you have done so as you pleased. But we are at the start of a new year and I must set an example for the rest of the class. They –and you– must understand that you can simply not get away with everything." She had said it witch such finality Ellianna was scared to speak up.

"But–"

Before Anthony could speak more, Ellianna pitched in.

"We understand Miss Deslauriers." She agreed with the teacher. Simply to make sure she could get out of this classroom as fast as possible and have her lunch.

She looked towards Anthony and gave him a pleading look to stop protesting and just comply. His mouth that was still hanging open, snapped shut. He said it with great difficulty but finally managed to speak. "Yes... we understand."

Miss Deslauriers smiled a polite teacher-like smile. "Off you go then, only fifteen more minutes of lunch." She waved her hands, gesturing for them to go.

Ellianna and Anthony grabbed their things as fast as possible and hurried out of the classroom. Ellianna going left and Anthony going right. She really ought to have followed him, seeing as he had been going to this school far longer than she, and he most likely knew the direction towards the cafeteria.

However, she couldn't find it in herself to be near him for any longer. She also didn't want to go to the cafeteria. Everyone would be there, and she didn't feel much like talking to new people. She moved along the corridor until she found a bathroom and went inside. She sat in one of the stalls, grabbing her lunch box out of her dark denim purple bag. On her bag were pins from different places she had visited in her life.

Her lunch box was bright green with all kinds of stickers on it, the only place where there were no stickers littered was where she had written her name with sharpie in small block letters. And as she opened her lunch box and grabbed one of her sandwiches, she felt the anger bubbling inside of her again.

Her grip on her sandwich tightened and her fingers would surely be leaving indents in the soft bread. She hated this feeling, she hated how she was angry all the time. It had been a couple of weeks now since they had moved.

Ellianna had thought the anger would fade away over time, but she was wrong. She was so very wrong. She didn't understand why all she felt was anger. She thought she would be sad, or disappointed, she surely thought she would be feeling homesick. But there was none of that, just anger. She ate her sandwich, silently fuming.

She couldn't help it, she really didn't want to be angry with him. But she truly just couldn't help it. She huffed as the thought struck her.

She hated Anthony Hutchins.

Of course, she was just a ten-year-old-girl. So, feelings like these often were over-exaggerated and rarely lasted long.

When she was done, she left the stall, rinsed her hands in the faucet and made her way back to the classroom. It was just two more hours till the end of the school day. After that she would have to stay with Anthony for a detention. She hadn't ever had a detention before.

She thought about what one did in a detention. School work? But how could they do schoolwork when it was only the first day of school? Maybe cleaning up the classroom, or the teacher taking them through the course of the lesson again. Or maybe they would just sit and suffer in silence while waiting for the clock to strike 16:00.

She shook her head, and this time made her way towards the table directly in front of the teacher's desk. She took her notebook and pencil case with her favourite cartoon on it out of her bag. She displayed them neatly on top of her table and opened her notebook to the first free page.

She waited for the bell to ring so the lesson would start, and this awful day would just come to an end already.

She luckily didn't have to wait long. A few minutes passed with Ellianna staring at the green chalk board. There were still words scribbled upon it from the previous lessons. Underneath the words there were white smudges of chalk from years of use. Ellianna had just begun to think of what her old friends would be doing right now when the ball rang.

She was shaken out of her thoughts when other kids came pouring in. She looked at the entry way and when a certain troublesome boy came walking in –laughing about presumably something stupid and childish– and made eye contact with the blonde girl she couldn't help it but feel angry with him.

He stopped laughing and grinned at her. She didn't reciprocate the same friendliness and instead chose to look away and glare daggers to the cartoon posing on her pencil case.

Luckily this time no one sat down next to her, and she had the peace and quiet she had hoped for. She felt a burning gaze on the back of her head and turned to look over her shoulder. Multiple children were looking at her, whispering amongst themselves.

Ellianna rolled her eyes in annoyance and blocked their voices from her mind. She didn't care... she truly didn't care.

But still, a small part of her wondered:

What were they saying?

Without turning around, she listened to two girls speaking a few rows behind her.

"I heard her father is a mad scientist and lost his job because he went crazy. That's why they had to move." One girl whispered loudly.

"That explains her strange behaviour." The other giggled meanly.

"Right, she's so weird." The first girl agreed giggling too.

And there it was...

Ellianna had been waiting for weeks for this to happen. She had anticipated it, she had looked forward to it. But now that it had happened, she rather wished she had never wanted for it to happen. She preferred anger. She preferred anger over this. Because for the first time in weeks Ellianna felt something else than anger...

Loneliness,

She quickly shut the irritating voices out again and focused on the cartoon. The voices of the students hushed at once when Miss Deslauriers entered.

She began her lesson where she had left off and Ellianna tried her best to pay attention.

But she hadn't noticed...

She hadn't noticed how her eyes had glazed over. She hadn't noticed how utterly lonely she felt. She hadn't noticed how tears had started to fill her eyes, blurring her vision of her writing. And when she blinked, she barely noticed the single tear that fell from her eye. Ellianna wiped at the liquid in her notebook and with it, smudged a small part of the ink writing.

The rest of the class went by in a blur and Ellianna had not heard a single word uttered by her teacher. Her notebook still on the same page, no more lines added by the intelligent young girl.

At last, the last bell rang, and the day was done... For the rest of the class at least. Once again, the other students tidied up their workspace and rose to leave. The girls from before walked by Ellianna's table and laughed loudly at a comment one of them had made about her unruly blonde hair. Miss Deslauriers walked with the class, making sure that everyone would get safely of the premises.

She unconsciously smoothed down her hair, trying to control the frizz and curls.

"Don't listen to Patti and Valerie." A familiar boy's voice spoke "I think your hair is awesome, it has character." He commented, now standing directly next to her desk.

Ellianna momentarily forgot her hatred she was supposed to feel towards him.

"Character? How can hair have character?" Asked the befuddled Ellianna.

The boy smiled, hiking up the strap of his bag further along his shoulder. "Like this–" he grabbed a hold of a strand of blond curly hair, he started to move it and spoke in a deep voice (well as deep as a ten-year-old boy's voice could go).

"Brethren... Today we must fight... today we must achieve victory. Brethren! Today is not the day for loosing! Today is the day for victory! Alala!" The boy cried out in a theatrical manner.

He released her hair grinning broadly. Ellianna had tried her best not to laugh, but she couldn't help herself. Just like when she had sat in the restroom stall during lunch holding her sandwich, when she claimed she hated the boy.

She really should have a talk with her emotions and their increase of doing as they pleased one of these days.

"Alala?" The girl queried, still giggling as she put the piece of hair he had previously hold behind her ear. The grin vanished from his face, a passionate look overtaking his features.

"It was the personification of the war-cry in–"

"Greek Mythology" Ellianna finished his explanation for him with a knowing nod. She saw a glint of interest in his eyes. He smiled enthusiastically and let his bag drop to the floor. He put his palms flat on the table next to her and propped himself up on it.

"You know your Greek Mythology than?" He asked intrigued, curiosity laced in his voice. Ellianna nodded cheerfully.

"Oh yes, I had a phase." She joked.

He beamed down at her. He folded his arms, and this was the first time Ellianna really took the time to look at him. He had long brown shaggy hair that reached till his jaw. His eyes were a light brown shade, like wood in the sunlight. He had red cheeks and a round face from youth. She analysed his posture. That was what her mother always told her.

"Ellianna, you can learn a thousand things about somebody from the way they are sitting." Her mother's voice echoed in her brain.

His posture told her that he was arrogant and full of himself. He had a big ego and he thought even bigger of himself. She saw it about the way he held his head high and the petulant grin that always seemed to be present on his face. She saw it about how he sat with his shoulders slightly slumped but with his back almost completely straight.

"Care to tell me who your favourite god is?" Anthony wanted to know. Before the blonde could answer, Miss Deslauriers footsteps were heard crossing the hallway.

Anthony quickly slid of the table and snatched his bag from the floor. He wandered over towards a different table where he put his bag on the table and sat down right before the teacher entered the classroom.

She sat down at her desk and began to inform the two of them what they would be doing today in detention.

"Okay... So, the two of you will tidy up this classroom, clean the board-" she pointed towards the art nook at the back "Sort the pencils and sharpen them. And lastly put the tables into groups of four." Miss Deslauriers listed of the tasks they would have to endure.

Ellianna looked at the tables. Three rows of tables were divided into groups of two and went along the length of the classroom. She glanced to the pair of tables she had sat at with Anthony. Thoughts of their first conversation filling her mind.

Then Miss Deslauriers stood up "Now I have other business I must attend to. I will be back in an hour, you kids best be ready by then." The woman started towards the door and swiftly vanished into the corridor.

As soon as she left Anthony spoke up

"Mine's Hypnos."

Ellianna looked at him unsurprised and snorted. Because of course his favourite god would be the god of sleep.

《》《》《》

"No way..."

"Yes way,"

"No way!"

Ellianna exhaled dreamily in slight disbelief.

"I know right." agreed Ellianna before seizing another pencil from the wooden box to sharpen it. She picked up the pencil and exanimated it. It was a soft pink colour and the point had gone completely flat. She stuck the blunt pencil in the sharpener and twisted it around. Watching thin slices of wood with a pink edge fall down on the paint-splattered surface of the art nook.

"That's so awesome..." Anthony gushed. Allowing himself to be completely amazed for a few seconds, before also continuing with the sharpening of his blue pencil.

The two of them had been talking about Greek Mythology for a while now. They had discussed their favourite god, demi-god and Titan. It was quite the challenge to keep on topic as Anthony's mind went from one place to another, causing the two ten-year-olds to discuss a variety of other subject matters as well. They soon found out that they had a lot in common and Ellianna realized she really rather liked his input he had of the world.

When they had been talking about what they thought was the most legendary battle in Greek Mythology, Ellianna mentioned the library they had in their new home with a whole section on Greek Mythology. Anthony absolutely freaked out upon hearing this news and wouldn't stop asking questions about all the books the Keller family had in their possession.

"You're lucky, you know that?" He said, envious, pulling out the pencil and dropping it back in the box.

"I guess there's an upside to having a mad scientist for a father." Ellianna repeated the cruel words the two girls had said earlier with a sinister smile on her face.

"Darn right there is!" Exclaimed the eager Anthony. Then it seemed realization had dawned upon him, he momentarily stopped turning the pencil and looked at Ellianna. The look he gave her was a mix of compassion and question.

"You're not talking about what they said before, are you?" He asked putting down his sharpener with the pencil still inside of it.

Ellianna didn't look up to him and focused intently on the task beforehand. Twisting and twisting and twisting...

She didn't like talking about her feelings. If something bothered her, she simply chose to ignore it. She briefly considered if her way of dealing with her emotions had something to do with her being angry for weeks now. She quickly discarded the thought, finding it ridiculous. That surely couldn't be it.

"You really shouldn't pay them any of your attention. I mean, have you even talked to them? They don't know a thing about Greek Mythology... or anything else for that matter. You're way cooler than them." Anthony assured her. It was genuine as well, he had never met a girl quite as awesome as Ellianna.

"I am?" The girl questioned uncertainly.

"Yeah, you're like– like the coolest friend I've ever had."

Friend.

That caught Ellianna of guard.

"I'm your... your friend?"

Anthony laughed, somewhere along the conversation he had started sharpening again "Of course you are Lee, and not just a friend... my coolest friend." He said making a rainbow gesture with his hands in the air as if announcing her to the world. That Elliana Keller and Anthony Hutchins were friends.

"Are you sure?" She still had to look up at him. Not quite ready to look at him she resumed her task.

He put his pencil down and set to look at her with a disapproving stare. Why couldn't she believe that she was awesome and funny and intelligent and that he wanted to be her friend.

"I'll tell you what..." he snatched Ellianna's pencil from her sharpener, causing her to halt. "I'll pinkie swear you on it."

Ellianna saw his pinkie coming into vision and she finally decided to look up at him. He didn't grin, he looked completely and utterly serious about the pinkie promise. Like it was the most holy thing to ever exist and if one would break it, it would be the highest form of betrayal known to mankind.

She hesitated shortly before holding up her pinkie. Unlike Ellianna he had no hesitation and intertwined their pinkies.

"I –Anthony Hutchins– pinkie promise to be Ellianna Keller her best friend till the end of time and never leave her side until then." He spoke in a business-like tone.

As soon as he finished Ellianna's own loud exclamation followed:

"I –Ellianna Keller– pinkie promise to be Anthony Hutchins his best friend till the end of time and never leave his side until then." She repeated.

And from that moment on Ellianna and Anthony were friends. From then on it wouldn't just be Ellianna anymore. It would be Ellianna and Anthony.

Maybe she wasn't so lonely after all...

《》《》《》

(Approximately six years later)

I'll pinkie promise you on it." He said, holding out his little finger for Ellianna. She glanced towards his pinkie then diverted her gaze to look up at him.

And then she smiled.

She held up her own little finger and locked it with his. Anthony took a deep breath, as if readying himself for a big speech.

"I –Anthony Hutchins– pinkie promise that my friendship with the infamous Ellianna Keller will not change, because of my increase of awesomeness and popularity."

Ellianna gave him a look.

"Real sincere, that." She deadpanned.

"Go on then" He urged.

She sighed "I –Ellianna Keller– pinkie promise that my friendship with the most humble Anthony Hutchins will stay the same, even though he is an annoying prat that doesn't deserve my kindness." She finished grinning petulantly.

"Get lost you dweeb." Anthony insulted Ellianna, releasing his little finger from her grip. It was another sweet nickname he had for her, besides Lee. She didn't really know when he had started calling her a dweeb, but she was sure if she thought hard enough, she would find out.

"I'd be happy to!" She exclaimed jovially, before erasing all emotion "Seriously, I want to leave. Never let me go to a party again." Her tone got more threatening as she went on.

Anthony lifted his cup from the table and brought it up to his lips. "Too bad, I'm throwing a tea party this Sunday and you're the only one I invited... So, you have to come." He then proceeded to down his cup, before setting it down on the table forcefully. The cup span around, falling over and rolling to the ground.

"Charming," Ellianna remarked on his drinking, before moving on and getting back on their former subject "Will there be cakes?"

Anthony looked appalled by her question. "Of course there will be cakes." He scoffed.

She grinned but made the grave mistake of inhaling through her nose. She hadn't quite gotten used to the smell hanging in the air yet. She scrunched her freckled nose up in disgust.

"Seriously, what is that stench?" She questioned aloud.

"Teenagers." Anthony shrugged, not bothered by it in the least.

Elliana shrugged as well before moving on. "So why didn't you tell me you were going to this party anyway?" Anthony gave her a look, a look that said you-know-exactly-why-I-didn't-tell-you.

"Because if I had told you... you wouldn't care, not even a little bit, and just ignore me and go on with what you were doing." He stated. Ellianna exhaled loudly and paused for a second "You don't know that! Maybe I would have been like "Oh Anthony that is so awesome, I care about this so much, and I wish you the best of times there!" She said with faux excitement.

Anthony once again gave her the same look. "Because that is exactly what you would say in these specific affairs." He agreed sarcastically.

"Exactly!" Ellianna exclaimed, pressing her lips together. She toyed with her necklace. "So why didn't you tell me?" She pressed.

"I hadn't thought about it really... and besides, it's not like you go to parties every other day, I didn't expect to see you here. In fact... you were the last person I expected to see here." Anthony explained, mid-explanation he had started for the end of the table where the drinks were.

He took a hold of a new cup and poured himself some alcoholic drink. He hesitated, then downed it in one go, before adding the same amount as before, but now adding soda to the mix. He poured the soda until the plastic cup was almost overflowing. He offered the drink to Ellianna. She put her hand up in rejection.

"No thanks, I'm driving." She excused herself.

"Is that your excuse, so you won't have to drink?"

"Maybe..." she let go of her necklace she had been fiddling with, her hand finding the surface of the ebony table and tapping her fingernails on it. Parties really weren't her scene. She hoped Anthony didn't notice her anxiety. He knew about it of course, but Ellianna wasn't particularly keen on being known as the sixteen-year-old girl who could barely be ten minutes at a party before freaking out.

Naturally, he noticed.

He lowered his voice and bowed his head, leaning close to Ellianna's face "How are we doing with that." He whispered lowly while looking at her fingers that were swiftly tapping. She knew that he meant her anxiety.

Ellianna immediately seized the tapping and folded her hands behind her back. Worried that if she didn't, they might act out of own accord.

"Why are we whispering?" She whispered.

"We are whispering because we are discussing a touchy subject."

"You're a touchy subject."

Anthony's face contorted into one of confusion. "Lee, that makes zero sense."

"You make zero sense."

"Seriously... stop it." Anthony insisted, straightening up again.

Ellianna smiled at him, she stood on her tip toes and ruffled his brown locks. Years ago, when they had met, his hair had been long and cut choppily. It had reached all the way to his chin. Now it was a mob of messy hair on top of his head.

She turned towards the table, immediately spotting her favourite candy: M&M's. Since she was young, she had always loved the candy. Her parents would buy her some almost every week. Almost all of the time she would carry some of the candy on her. For some weird, unexplainable reason, eating them would calm her down whenever she felt uncomfortable or panicked. So, wherever she went, she would have some M&M's with her, sharing it with people.

It helped her with her social anxiety as well. She wouldn't have to engage a conversation with people. All she would have to do was offer some M&M's and eat the candy together in silence.

Ellianna grabbed a handful of the colourful candy "I just love annoying you, you know. Your face– it makes this funny expression whenever I do... I really do take a special kind of pleasure from your pain. And I want to thank you for that Anthony." The girl said earnestly, turning to her best friend handing him some of the candy.

"You're welcome." The brunet said as he gratefully took the candy and stuffed it into his mouth. Smiling from the delicious taste that were M&M's.

"I really am grateful that you're here though. At least now I won't be alone all night." Ellianna said sincerely.

Anthony raised his eyebrows "Or you know, you could just talk to people." He deadpanned. She laughed at his words, putting her hand on his bicep "Yeah, that's a good one Anthony!"

He wasn't laughing with her though. Ellianna noticed and saw his expression. He was being serious about her talking to new people. And to think she thought that he knew her.

Ellianna looked at him incredulously. "I would rather pull out all of my fingernails, use them to stab my eyes and then eat them. You get it Anthony... eat my fingernails with my bloody eye juice. Do you understand how disgusting that is, or do you want me to draw you a picture?" She said, flailing her arms around for dramatic effect.

Anthony wasn't sure if he entirely followed what his best friend just said, but he had a smile on his face either way. "Don't draw me a picture, you created one there lively enough for me." He said putting his hands on her shoulders to stop her dramatic arm movements. "And besides, you can always try, what's the worst that can happen. Just go out there and talk to some people." Anthony added.

Ellianna narrowed her eyes at him "You know, you sound like my sister. Did she put you up to this?" She asked before she loudly gasped "Did your mind get taken over by her? Is she now controlling you from a distance? She is, isn't she? I know for certain that she is conniving enough to make sure things go the way she wants them to go."

Meanwhile Anthony just looked at her, taking a sip from his drink. "Anthony are you still in there? Blink twice if you need my help." She started knocking with her fist on his head "Kinsley if you can hear me... leave Anthony alone! He has nothing to do with this!"

Suddenly Anthony harshly grabbed Ellianna's wrist, the one that she had been using to knock on Anthony's head with. He stared into the distance "It is I... Kinsley Keller. And if you... Ellianna Keller, don't talk to one new person tonight. You will never get your amazing, handsome, intelligent..."

Ellianna gave him a look, but it didn't stop him "Hilarious, kind, humble..." Anthony went on. "Humble, really?" She interjected, crossing her arms and looking at him with an arched eyebrow. He put a hand in front of her mouth as he continued "and the best, best friend somebody could ever ask for, back." Anthony finished.

He looked almost proud of himself, while Ellianna was still waiting for him to take his hand of her mouth.

"U kn 'ake your 'and f my mouf nw"

Ellianna murmured; her sentence muffled by Anthony's hand.

Anthony's eyebrows were drawn together, his mouth slightly apart "What?" He asked confused. Ellianna looked down to his hand, the motion of her eyes not going unnoticed by him. His eyes flickered to his hand before realization hit him. "Right, my hand" Ellianna nodded, he quickly took it off her mouth before she had the chance to bite him. A tendency she would have sometimes, it actually happened more than one would expect.

Ellianna licked her lips frantically when he took his hand of her mouth. "I'm still happy you're here. Otherwise, it would just be me on my own, and now we can be on our own together!" The girl exclaimed excitedly as she put her arm around his shoulder.

Anthony however, wasn't paying attention to his friend as he saw his date for the night approaching from behind Ellianna. The girl got no reaction out of her friend. She looked about, trying to locate what had gotten Anthony's attention.

"Hey, I thought you were going to get us some drinks?" Lloyd Anderson said as he kissed Anthony on the lips. Ellianna was surprised by this, and that's putting it lightly. One thing Ellianna knew about her best friend was that he wasn't a very affectionate boyfriend. He had had a fair share of girlfriends over the years and Ellianna had been questioned by them all.

Questions about why he wouldn't hold her hand, why he wouldn't hug her, why he refused to kiss her in public. When she thought about it, it was quite strange really, seeing as Anthony was a very physical friend. He always touched her (Oh not in a creepy way you pervert) just a friendly arm around the shoulder, or the occasional hug when one of them was in dire need of it.

Ellianna had this theory that Anthony wasn't ready to have a go at a relationship yet. And that is why he didn't like showing romantic affection of any sort. She thought that by holding your girlfriend's hand and kissing her in public would make it feel too real for Anthony. Something he couldn't back out of.

She had tried bringing it up with him once, but he had quickly shut that down and steered the conversation to safer waters.

So, when she saw him kissing a boy at a place that couldn't be any more public... Ellianna felt really proud. She quirked an eyebrow as she gave Anthony an approving look and popped another M&M in her mouth.

As Lloyd pulled away Ellianna's eyes weren't nearly as wide as her friend's. He looked like a deer caught in headlights, if the deer just got kissed by a senior at a party full of seniors. But Ellianna was pretty sure that wasn't what deers did in their free time.

"You taste like chocolate." Lloyd commented, brushing his fingers lightly against his plum lips. God, is this man attractive. You're a lucky one Anthony, I'll tell you that.

She looked at Lloyd while chewing on her M&M's thoughtfully. He had a slim muscular build, with narrow shoulders. Unlike Anthony who was broad and large. His hair was platinum blond, and his eyes were a beautiful almond shape. He had dark full lashes that accentuated the icy blue colour of his eyes perfectly.

Ellianna could see why her best friend was interested in him.

"Uh, well. Yeah... Chocolate?" Anthony stammered out, he wasn't sure if the last part was directed as a question or not, but he just went with it. Ellianna mentally facepalmed, she wondered what his gameplan was here. Because of right now... he looked like a toddler who lost his mother in the supermarket. There was a panicked look on his face as he looked from Lloyd to Ellianna for help.

She quickly noticed his pleading looks he shot her way. Ellianna had to think fast to stop her friend from furtherly embarrassing himself. The blonde extended her hands with the M&M's as she spoke up "Hey Lloyd, can I interest you in some M&M's?"

Lloyd turned around surprised that he hadn't spotted Ellianna earlier. "Ellianna! I hadn't seen you." He moved forward to hug her. She wanted desperately to take a step back, but this was something she had to do for Anthony.

Oh, how life would be easier spend in solitude without friends. She thought bitterly.

As Lloyd engulfed Ellianna in a hug, Anthony was scared for what his friend would do. He loved her dearly, but he had no clue what she would do now. Same as him, she didn't like affection in public, but a difference was that she didn't like affection at all, not only in public, but everywhere. He hoped that she would just go with it and let herself get hugged for him just this once.

Luckily his prayers were answered. Ellianna stood stiffly with her arms at her side, her hands curled up into fists, her face covered in a look of complete horror. She met Anthony's pleading gaze. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared at him and mouthed 'you owe me'. A big smile appeared on his face, thankful for his friend.

Lloyd quickly let go, luckily for the girl it wasn't a very long hug. "No wonder you taste like chocolate." the boy let out a laugh, Anthony laughing with him. But Ellianna wasn't laughing, she was still shocked from the sudden display of affection.

She didn't really know why she was so bothered by it, it seemed that she just really didn't like people touching her. She was fine when it was Kinsley, her parents or Anthony. She had known them her entire life. But even they didn't touch her a lot, knowing she wasn't comfortable with another person's touch. It probably had to do with The Night.Ever since The Night she had trouble opening up to people. Talking about how she felt or showing affection to the people she loved. It just became too hard for her to do so. So, she learned to distance herself.

And yes, it had been such a traumatizing experience for Ellianna that she had named it "The Night" for future reference. That way she would never have to speak about what happened.

She suddenly snapped out of it and laughed with them, not really knowing why, but she didn't want to give the other thing anymore thought. "Don't hate on my M&M's Anderson, you'll know what'll happen." Ellianna threatingly pointed a finger his way, narrowing her eyes. Lloyd held his hands up in surrender.

"Trust me, I know."

"Good," she hummed, nodding her head to Lloyd. He turned to Anthony which made him almost step back in surprise. "You wanna dance?" The platinum blond boy asked the brunet eagerly. Ellianna's eyebrows shot up, Anthony was the worst dancer ever and they both knew that. But if he didn't say yes, then Ellianna would be gravely disappointed in him and would personally murder the boy. "Er– Yeah... Yeah sure." Anthony replied, really wanting to dance with Lloyd.

Ellianna decided she was going to tease Anthony a bit first "Sure... leave. See if I care." The girl frowned. Lloyd responded before Anthony had the chance. "Don't worry honey, you can dance with me later." He winked at her and then strutted away; it was probably one of the best winks she had ever witnessed. It definitely made her top three.

Ellianna was honestly impressed; he was one of the smoothest guys she had ever met. She made eye contact with Anthony "Sorry bud, looks like you're on your own after all." He patted her shoulder. Before he quickly followed after Lloyd.

"You suck!" She yelled after him, even though she had a smile on her face, happy for her friend. At least one of the two had some success in the relationship department. Anthony turned around shrugging his shoulders, a big smile plastered on his face, before he disappeared into the crowd.

"That git owes me a tea party." Ellianna murmured to herself. It was at this moment she remembered the sunset. She looked around the room in search for a clock, successfully finding one hanging above the sofa. 21:28. She'd better hurry up, before she was too late, and the sun would have already gone down.

She quickly stuffed the remaining M&M's in her mouth. Grabbing two slices of pizza and a bottle of water, Ellianna made her way to the garden at the back of the house. Hoping it would be more peaceful there than here in the living room.

Ellianna walked to the back of the house to see that the glass sliding doors were already opened. Standing in the doorway she had a great view of the back garden. It was very spacious. Right in front of her was a big turquoise pool with beige tiles laid around it. She noticed that there was a build in jacuzzi at the end of the pool. Ellianna definitely wouldn't mind having one of those.

A couple of chaise lounges were sat in front of the pool. Where the tiles ended, came a huge patch of bright green grass. Flowers scattered at every side of the lawn. There was no gate, which Ellianna thought was quite dangerous.

Since the house was built on a hill, she had an excellent view of the city laying in front of her. How she loved Los Angeles. The various heights of skyscrapers stood tall at the horizon. She heard the faint sounds of the city below her. Even though this view was spectacular, it wasn't as great as she had from her spot close to her home.

She stepped outside on the grey tiles as she took a deep breath. The scents of chlorine, freshly mown grass and saltwater hit her nose. It wasn't a bad combination if you would ask Ellianna. She actually quite liked it. There were almost no people in the garden, a handful or so, and the sounds of the party were muffled from here. Compared to where Ellianna was stood a minute ago, this was very peaceful.

She looked straight ahead to the city, the colours in the sky already starting to change from bright blue to a soft orange. The sun was just above the skyscrapers and there were few big puffy clouds. She made her way over to one of the chaise lounges next to the pool. Her eyes were so focused on the view in front of her that she didn't notice the person sat on the other lounge.

Ellianna was completely mesmerized by the view. It always surprised her how beautiful the sky could be. Different shades of orange, yellow and blue were mixed together. The sun was a deep orange colour, illuminating the clouds in the same colour, but lighter. Because of a small cloud that covered the lower half of the sun, rays of sunlight were dispersed into the sky.

"Has no one ever told you it's bad for your eyes to look at the sun?" The question came out of nowhere and Ellianna dropped her pizza and water bottle on the floor. She internally groaned.

Of course I have this luck tonight

She turned her head to the side; a skinny dark-skinned boy was sat in the chaise lounge right next to hers. He had a buzz cut and the features on his face showed nothing but kindness. He had a round nose and plump lips. Long limbs with a thin torso. And eyes as dark as the night.

She must have missed him when she sat down.

"They have, I just chose to ignore their warnings." She responded quickly not in the mood to talk. She looked back to the sunset to admire the view. He didn't seem to get her message as he said, "You know, you could get blind." Ellianna was pretty sure this wasn't true. "I'm willing to take my chances." She heard him chuckle, but he didn't say anything else after that.

After a few minutes of watching the sunset, the boy spoke up again. "My name is Jacob Lennon by the way." Ellianna sighed silently, the boy seemed nice and all but at this time of day she just really didn't feel like talking. Not that she felt like talking at any other time of day either. She turned to him, she had to say her name now as well, otherwise an awkward situation would be created. "I'm Ellianna... Keller" She told the boy as she extended her hand waiting for him to take it.

He hesitantly took it, he found it unusual that she shook hands, especially for people their age. Not many teenagers in Los Angeles did anything other than a slight nod of the head in acknowledgement.

She released his hand and looked at him for a long time, he started to fidget underneath her scrutinizing stare wondering why she was staring. Finally, she announced, "You don't look like a Jacob." The boy was surprised by her comment, he didn't know what he was expecting what she was going to say, but it definitely wasn't that. Jacob laughed "Then what do you request my name should be?" He asked the girl with the wild blonde hair.

Ellianna gave it some thought. She laid down on the chair staring up at the pink sky "You look like a Francis to me." She told him. Jacob let out a loud scoff "You think I look like a Francis?" He asked exasperated his eyebrows shot upwards. Ellianna turned her head to the side "I don't know what to tell you, you just do." The girl shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to take it as a compliment." He said.

"As you should, Francis is a very fancy name." She told him apathetically, she had yet to show any emotion. The boy laughed at the girl's responses, she was quite entertaining in his opinion.

"So..." He thought of something to say, but the only thing he could think of was too cliché. He did it anyway. "Who are you?" Jacob asked her. Ellianna scrunched her eyebrows, sat up from her lying position and gave the boy next to her a questioning look. "I just told you, I'm Ellianna."

"No, I mean who are you as a person. A name is merely a tool to help pick you from a crowd, it doesn't define you as who you are."

Ellianna had a faint idea of what he meant and resisted the urge to make fun of him. She did it anyway.

"You should become a poet." She suggested sarcastically. Jacob picked up on her tone.

"Just tell me something about yourself." He persisted, snapping a bit. It seemed Ellianna had already got to him.

In attempts not to annoy him any further she decided to go with the Ellianna-in-a-nutshell introduction.

"Well, I'm Ellianna Keller" She began a bit perplexed by his odd question "I'm starting junior year of high school next week. I like science, mostly physics. I love music and play multiple instruments myself... What else, what else..." Ellianna thought about her family and Kinsley "Oh! I have a twin sister, her name's Kinsley Ke–" She got cut off as the boy suddenly gasped loudly and turned his full body towards her "Wait, Kinsley Keller as in Kinsley-Keller-popular-girl-and-Justin Moore's-girlfriend Kinsley Keller is your sister?" Jacob asked, practically yelled at her. He had said it all in one breath.

"Congratulations, I don't think I've ever heard someone speak as fast as you did just now." The blonde noticed, unfazed by the boy's specific – and might she add disturbing– knowledge he had about her sister.

"And for your information they aren't official yet –her words not mine." She informed the boy across from her. Jacob rolled his eyes and scoffed "Oh please, she can't fool anyone, practically the whole school already knows about them." He stated, and all Ellianna heard was a repetition of her own words. She was right again.

She smirked slightly to herself "That's what I told her, but she wouldn't listen to me." The two teenagers looked at each other and smiled.

A short silence fell upon them as Jacob wondered about some things. "How is it that I have never heard of you... I mean your sister is practically royalty at our school... you would think that people would know you exist?" Jacob questioned.

Ellianna smirked and said, "If you don't know who I am, then that means I have succeeded." And that was the only answer she gave him. Even though her answer was vague Jacob had a faint idea of what she meant "So I take it you're not really a people person?"

Ellianna laughed and nodded her head in slight agreement "You could say that." She laid back once again and let out a deep breath "I just keep to myself mostly– it's not that I don't like talking to people... well sometimes I don't–" She gave him a significant look to and raised her eyebrows, he raised his eyebrows in return, before she continued,

"You know, take Kinsley for an example... She has always loved being in the spotlight. She loves it when people in the hall stop to greet her or compliment her about her hair or outfit or whatever. She loves it when people know her name and talk about her during luncheon and class... She loves all of that and I– I'm just not like that. I like being just there..." Ellianna trailed on, she really ought to stop displaying one of her deepest and earnest feelings, but for some reason or another... she didn't.

"No one truly notices me. I suppose that is what I like." She stopped for a moment to blink and take a small breath "When you're invisible you can have all of the amusement that you want, without any of the expectations popularity brings. It... frees you in some sort of way." Ellianna explained without taking her eyes from the sky above her.

Jacob looked at the girl before he laid down on his chair as well. He thought about what she said, "It must be nice not hearing your name being muttered by every single fourteen-year-old at school." He agreed.

Ellianna looked at him in befuddlement "Your name has been whispered by all the fourteen-year-olds?"

Jacob laughed heartedly "Oh, yeah... Do you remember that tabasco fiasco last December in the cafeteria?" He asked.

Ellianna thought back to December, and when she remembered her jaw fell open in shock "That was you?" She gaped.

Jacob nodded "To be fair, it was an accident." He justified himself.

"I can't believe I'm in the presence of a Belmont legend." Ellianna spoke with faux awe.

"I wouldn't say legend..." He went on in a modest fashion, scratching the side of his nose with his middle and index-finger.

"Are you kidding me, I bet you get more oh-my-god-that's-Jacob-Lennon-tabasco-fiasco-from-last-december, than my sister gets oh-my-god-that's-Kinsley-Keller-popular-girl-and-Justin-Moore's-girlfriend." Ellianna sucked in her breath sharply due to the loss of oxygen from speaking so quickly.

"Nah... just from the fifteen-year-olds." Joked Jacob.

Ellianna laughed at that, maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. He cracked a smile at her laugh and watched her side profile in reverence.

"What were you doing out here alone in the first place?" Ellianna spoke suddenly, changing the subject. Jacob closed his eyes and let out a large and long-lasting breath. Once he was done, he spoke:

"Teenagers,"

"Tell me about it." Ellianna said, crossing her legs at her ankles and putting one hand beneath her head. She waited for an explanation, when there didn't come any, she decided to question him on it. "Care to elaborate?"

Throughout the conversation, the both of them didn't look at each other. She heard movement beside her, but she decided against looking at him just yet. When he spoke, she turned her head ever so slightly, so she had a good sight of him through her peripheral vision.

"I was standing inside, and people were pushing against me, literally squeezing the life out of me, so after half an hour of just that... I looked around and thought "What the hell am I doing here? I don't even like half the people here." So, I made my way outside and that's how I got here." Jacob told, patting the chaise lounge affectionately.

"Plus... it smelled in there," he said, making a face of disgust. Ellianna threw her hands up, a dramatic way of agreeing with him.

"Right! What even was that?"

The both of them sighed, giving it a short thought.

"Teenagers" They chorused.

She hadn't really anything more to say to him, so she continued gazing at the sky in silence. A few minutes passed in the same nature. Not speaking up until she had a sudden thought about Jacob:

Who is Jacob Lennon?

Before she asked the question, she turned her head to look at the boy beside her, who to Ellianna's surprise was already looking at her.

"So, Jacob, who are you? And by Who are you– I mean... who are you?" Ellianna asked– trying to be as sincere as she could be– mocking him a little bit from earlier. Jacob gave her an unamused look as he playfully glared at her.

"You dare use my own words against me?"

"I dare and I shall." She challenged him.

They made faces at each other.

"Very well, my name is Jacob Lennon, as of this year I am a senior and I am president of the robotics team." He introduced himself.

Wait...

Did she hear him right?

Did he just say robotics?

"Our school has a Robotics team?" She asked carefully.

"Yeah...the last time I checked, we have." He said it as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

"You're joking?!"

"No, it has been there for a while now."

Ellianna gasped loudly, leaning over the gap between their two lounges and agressively putting her hand on the back of his lounge "You're telling me that I could have spent the last two years of my life building machines that kill on command instead of going to Debate and making up arguments on whether white chocolate should have the right to be called chocolate or not because it doesn't contain any real cacao?"

Jacob was a little bit astonished that this was the first thing she thought of upon hearing the word 'Robotics'... maybe a little bit worried too. "Well, that's a new way to describe Robotics, but yes I am telling you that– in fact you could have built five killer robots by now." He joked.

Ellianna retracted her hand, squinting her eyes as she glared at him. "Are you trying to hurt me, cause now you've done it." She slouched in her chair, sighing dramatically.

"To be fair, discussing the rights of chocolate is very important too." He chuckled at his own joke while Ellianna's glare deepened.

"Alright, alright... if it makes you feel any better, our Robotics team sucks... we haven't won a competition in years." Jacob admitted in the hopes of cheering the girl up, even though they both knew she wasn't really hurt by his previous comment.

She completely missed the part where he said they never won and only focused on the word competition.

"There are competitions?" Ellianna said a little bit louder than she meant too. She didn't know whether to feel happy about the fact that there were actual competitions between robots or sad that she had missed out on it.

He arched an eyebrow "Yeah, but did you just miss out on the part where I told you that we suck? Hopefully that will change this year, now that I'm captain." He said sounding defeated.

Ellianna looked at him with an inquiring stare. Analysing him just like her mother had told her how to do all those years ago.

It sounded like he really cared about the Robotics team, almost as if it affected his future if he did well in these competitions or not. It probably did, a thing as 'Captain of the winning Robotics team' could look like a pretty good asset on your applications for university. Jacob looked like a guy that cared a lot about his education and his future. Ellianna understood that all too well.

"I'm sure it will." She gave him a reassuring smile and pat on the shoulder. He smiled back as she retracted her hand.

However, Ellianna still couldn't believe it, so she decided to ask one more time just to be sure "Are there really competitions between robots, and it's not just you messing with me right now? Cause if you are, I'm getting the teenagers." She threatened with a pointed finger waving in the air.

Jacob let out a small laugh as he shook his head and put his hands up in the air, as if he was surrendering to Ellianna "Why not come and see for yourself some time?"

Ellianna hadn't expected him to ask her that. This was the first time she had talked to a stranger at a party without her sister or Anthony there. And it had gone surprisingly well... so well even, that he had invited her to one of his Robotics competitions.

Ellianna had a big smile on her face nodding fervently "I would very much like that." The girl told him. Jacob and Ellianna smiled at each other and just like that she had made a new friend. If only her sister could see her now, she would be so proud of Ellianna.

It would also be a great opportunity for Ellianna to rub it in Kinsley's face and show off Jacob who she had befriended all on her own. Without her sister's help. You see? Ellianna wasn't completely hopeless... most of the time that was.

There was a silence for a few seconds before she spoke up, locking eyes with Jacob "So these competitions you were talking about, is there by any chance pizza involved?" The blonde asked a mischievous smirk growing on her face.

《》《》《》

"Do you even have ears?"

"Yes, I have... two of them actually."

"Well then... maybe you should try using them."

"I am using them and that's why I know I'm right."

"Ha, please!"

"Ellianna, everybody knows that Led Zeppelin is better than Queen."

"No, I don't think so. In fact... I think that about no one knows that." Ellianna replied to Jacobs relatively 'dumb' comment.

Jacob and Ellianna had been talking to each other for hours now, they had talked about all kinds of different things, like their least favourite teacher, their favourite comic books, or what method they would use to kill their least favourite teacher.

You know... stuff like that.

And for the last couple of minutes the two had been discussing the matter off which band is superior: Led Zeppelin or Queen. The conversation had started to become quite heated as both parties believed they were right and the other was exceptionally wrong.

In Ellianna's opinion Queen is better. Does she even need to explain why?

"Explain why," Apparently yes.

There was a certain confidence in his tone, as if he expected for Ellianna not to have decent arguments. If only he knew how wrong he was. It took all her power not to chuckle maliciously in front of him.

If only he knew both her parents were scientists. And as the daughter of two scientists, she would pick up on certain things. When Kinsley and Ellianna were young, their parents were very encouraging of science and research. She remembered how over the years, the busted shed in the backyard of her old home in Canada had slowly turned into a Science Shed.

Her and Kinsley loved that shed with all their heart and when they were about five years old, they practically lived there. Being there all day long, almost every day. Over the years Kinsley seemed to have lost her interest in science. While Ellianna's had only grown bigger. She would pester her parents for weeks on end, to take her with them to their job. She wanted to know –to experience– what it was like to be a scientist. Every Christmas she would ask for the newest science kit there was. She remembered how when her father had a day off, he would keep Ellianna home from school and together, they would tinker in the Science Shed and her father would tell her all about science. They would spend their entire day in that shed, only leaving for some snacks.

Subconsciously, that's when her addiction to M&M's had begun.

They were some of the fondest memories Ellianna possessed. Coincidentally, also the time with the most cavities. Another positive note on having scientists for parents was that she knew how to support her theory. Or in this case, her statement about Queen being the better band.

"Just know that you asked for this." Ellianna warned beforehand, already knowing that she was going to rant about Queen for a while. But he had brought this upon himself for asking her, so the blame wasn't to be put with her.

"Firstly-" She got cut off immediately by Jacob.

"Firstly? You mean there are going to be multiple reasons? That's unlikely." He snorted, his lips pulled up in a cocky smirk. Ellianna wanted nothing more than to smack that smirk off his face with her Queen II vinyl.

She acted like she hadn't heard him, continuing with her explanation he had so nicely asked for.

"Firstly, Freddie Mercury. I don't have to say much about him, he's just very talented and has a great voice. He can sing off key and somehow still make it sound amazing. Furthermore, he was one of the first people to use natural distortion effect while singing..."

In the corner of her eye, Ellianna could see Jacob opening his mouth, ready to interrupt her again. She quickly spoke again before he had the chance, putting her index finger up. Signalling for him to be quiet. "Secondly, he was the one to think of huge changes in the way of recording songs. For example: letting the microphone swing by while singing. Only one thing I got to say about that; Genius."

She had to take a deep breath since she had been talking way too fast and hadn't taken the time to breathe yet. "Also, their progressive ways in making and producing songs. Lately they've been working on their new album... Now they haven't revealed much about this, which I understand, I too would keep everything hush-hush... it makes for great marketing, you know?" She was getting of topic and needed to re-direct her focus on the matter at hand, which was the superiority of Queen.

"Like I said, they haven't told us much. But what they did say is that they're going to release one song that is on the album a couple weeks earlier. And last week, when– when I heard them on the radio channel, they said they combined five different genres into that one song. Do you understand the gravity of this situation?" She asked, not expecting an answer "Five genres... Five!" Ellianna exclaimed in an overly excited tone and her hand in the air to count five fingers.

Jacob eyed her hand with an amused smile on his face. He decided he liked hearing Ellianna talk about something she was passionate about. And she was obviously very passionate about Queen. He remained quiet, so that she could continue, knowing that the possibility she had more to say was very much present.

"They also spilled it's going to be at least five minutes long, which is unheard of. The record label actually told them they were not going to produce it. Keep in mind they were at the same record label as Elton John and David Bowie." She clarified, adjusting her left leg to go underneath her "And do you know what they did then?" He shook his head in reply "They went to a radio station and let them play their demos. Naturally, people loved it. The response to their demo was insane, everybody was hyped about their new song. The record label had no other choice now but to produce it... This is only one of many examples." She finished, before continuing.

"And now you might think: Yeah Ellianna, this is cool and all, but it doesn't really make them the most legendary band known in history–" She spoke, impersonating Jacob's deeper voice "Well dear Jacob, you might be right...but there is one thing however, that sets them apart from other musicians." Ellianna said, pausing for effect. Jacob stayed quiet, curious for the next thing she was going to mention.

Ellianna took his silence as a que for her to continue. "Their performances. They are just... unforgettable." She cooed in awe "And Freddy– he's the best performer I've ever seen... when he's on the stage, it's– it's like he's playing with the audience itself. There could be two million people standing there and he could make every single person feel included." She was gesticulating wildly, not able to keep her passion at bay. She realized she had lost track of her reasons, she probably got too caught up in her explanation... Again

Jacob remained silent. Ellianna hadn't expected him too. She had thought he would be yelling in protests by now and naming numerous reasons as to why Led Zeppelin was better.

Instead, all that came out was a sigh and a quiet Damn.

Ellianna stared at him, he hadn't realized she was until a few seconds later. His face become one of question as he asked "What?"

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

Now that she had listed and told him all her reasons, she was curious to find out about his reasons and actually quite eager to hear about them as well. "Well, why do you think Led Zeppelin is better?"

He looked taken aback. To be honest Jacob wasn't as prepared for this question as Ellianna was. So, knowing that he wasn't going to win this argument, he answered as simple as possible. It was also the truth.

"They make good music." He kept his voice monotone.

'Is that all?' Ellianna thought. She smiled proudly and raised her eyebrows at him, a way of telling him that she had won this argument and that she knew it. They both knew it.

"Is there going to be more or...?" She asked tauntingly, knowing there weren't going to be any more reasons. She tried to hold in her laughter.

"Okay I'll admit it, Queen is better! But in my defence, I hadn't expected for you to come up with such great arguments..." Jacob paused for a second, before he added "Or so many".

Ellianna shrugged "I don't know what to tell you, after several times of having this discussion, you just keep coming up with more and more reasons. But I'm glad I was able to help you acknowledge the so-obvious-truth".

Jacob's hand shot up in the air as he looked her straight in the eye "Hold up... back up there for a second... You've had this discussion several times?!"

Ellianna was a big fan of Queen, so she would often talk about them. Of course, there were always people who would say that they were overrated, in her opinion those people were ignorant idiots who had no knowledge of Queen. And being the loyal fan she is, she would defend them and say why they are so great. Often people would argue with her, but she would always have a counter argument ready and in the end, they would agree with her. Except for the complete dumb nuts who were too stubborn to admit it.

Her dad being an example of those people. He thought The Beatles was the best band to ever exist. He –like Ellianna– was very passionate about music. In fact, he was the one who got her into music and taught her to really appreciate it.

The only thing he couldn't appreciate enough was Queen, however. And that caused him and Ellianna to have lots of disagreements. She didn't really mind these discussions though, they were mostly just them teasing each other about their 'horrendous' music taste, at least that's what they said about each other's taste.

A proud grin made it to her face "Yeah and guess how many of 'em I've won." Taking in the expression on her face, Jacob could only guess what the answer would be.

"Hmm, let me think..." He rubbed his hand on his chin, pretending to be deep in thought, until he looked up and said, "all of 'em?"

"All of 'em!" Ellianna exclaimed right after, the proud grin never leaving her face. Jacob feigned surprise "What? That's absurd!" He said quite sarcastically.

Ellianna merely looked at him, giving him a pointed look "Alright, just because you lost, doesn't necessarily mean you have to be an asshole."

"But it's so much more fun than being nice." Jacob pouted.

"Okay, that's it. I'm getting the teenagers." Ellianna sat up and slapped her hands on her knees. Ready to stand up, before she could however, they heard a loud squeal and after that a splash. Ellianna looked away from Jacob, glancing at the pool.

A girl had been thrown into the water screaming loudly.

"Tyler you idiot!"

The girl couldn't say much more as he removed his shirt and jumped into the pool himself. The girl didn't hesitate for a second, as soon as the boy resurfaced, she started splashing water on to him and trying to wrestle him underwater. The two were laughing loudly, splashing each other, getting water all over the tiles, some of it hit Ellianna and Jacob. But she didn't mind very much, she stayed put on her spot, looking at the two in the water with a monochromic expression.

She looked over to see Jacob smiling at the scene.

What a wimp. She thought, rolling her eyes.

It was as if he heard her thoughts, he glanced at her, and they both raised their eyebrows at each other. Momentarily they did nothing but look at each other. Then the sounds of splashing water and laughter had suddenly stopped, this caught Ellianna's attention.

She looked over to the pool, the boy and girl who were just messing with each other, were now in the middle of a heated make out session, both unaware of the two teenagers sitting in the chaise lounges just a couple of feet away from them.

Ellianna and Jacob whipped their heads around to look at each other, both teens trying to hold in their laughter. Rather unsuccessfully if she may add. He nodded his head to the door, Ellianna picked up on his intentions of giving them some privacy, she definitely didn't mind leaving as it seemed the teenagers were getting more and more passionate with the second.

They scrambled of their chairs leaving her poor pizza behind to witness the whole scene in the pool. They ran over the tiles together trying not to slip with big smiles on their faces.

The cool night air hit her face, colouring her cheeks. The laughter bubbling inside her stomach became harder to contain with the seconds. The sounds of the party and the city below her were almost completely unheard by her ears. The smell of chlorine stung in her nose. And there was a smile on her face that wouldn't leave... no matter how hard she tried. She glanced at Jacob running beside her. Her smile grew momentarily bigger, happy to be here in this moment with her new friend.

They soon reached the glass sliding doors, that were now closed, preventing the cool night air to come inside. Jacob slid them open, and they quickly got inside. Ellianna leaned against the wall catching her breath, to her disappointment she hadn't gained a better stamina in the last couple of hours.

Uncanny

She slowly lifted her gaze from the ground to him, he did the same. They looked at each other for a moment in complete and utter silence. Before they bursted out laughing. That definitely didn't help with Ellianna already being out of breath. Maybe Anthony was right... she should really, really work out.

Their laughter subsided after a while, now only the sounds of the party happening in the room next to them filling the empty hall.

Ellianna leaned her head against the wall closing her eyes for a second, breathing hard. She slightly opened them when her gaze landed on a clock hanging above a mahogany cabinet.

Shit

Her eyes widened increasingly as she pushed herself of the wall.

Shit shit shit.

The sudden motion of the blonde beside him, made Jacob look up to her. He caught the panicked expression on her face, she looked genuinely distraught. He wondered what had changed her mood all of a sudden.

"What's wrong?" He asked, tilting his head sideways.

"Time-... Parents-...Curfew...Shit!" She stumbled over her words. Why couldn't she comprehend a sentence? She found it very inconvenient, especially now that she was in a rush. She felt the panic rise in her throat, her heart suddenly pounding like a hammer in her chest.

It was only one curfew she would miss right? No reason to stress so much about it?

But there was a reason.

It probably also had to do with her never being late, sure she had been to parties before, but she would always make sure to get Kinsley out on time, so they would make it home before curfew. And then Ellianna realized something else.

Kinsley

She had had such a great time with Jacob she had completely forgotten about her sister being at the party as well.

Jacob looked confused, like a child whose dad is explaining his math homework. If Ellianna hadn't been in such a rush, she would have pointed that out.

Instead, she just pointed at the clock, making her way to the door that leads to the adjacent living room. "I got to go... I promised my parents we'd be back by One." she informed him.

Realization hit him. Now he understood why she was so bothered all of a sudden. He didn't know why it panicked her so much, it was just a curfew, then again, he didn't know anything about her parents. So, he couldn't make any judgements about it.

Ellianna, however, did know why she couldn't miss curfew. Remember that night she had mentioned earlier. That night had affected her the most, but it had not only affected her. It had left a dark mark on her parents. She didn't want them to worry, she didn't want them to think something had happened to their daughters. She didn't want them to feel that kind of stress and pain ever again.

Her hand rested on the doorknob, she glanced over her shoulder, looking at where Jacob was stood. A grin made its way on her face "Say hi from me to your killer robots, will you?"

She saw a small smile forming on his face "Sure, I'll let them know who their next target is..." He nodded, meaning her as the target.

She shook her head bemused, but at the same time disappointed the evening had ended. With that, she turned around, twisting the knob and leaving Jacob behind. He watched her retreating figure. Already looking forward to the next time he would see her.

What she didn't know however, was that the evening had gone, but the night had only just begun.