Black and White

Chapter Nineteen.

[[Black and White]]

Chapter Nineteen.

‘Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.’

[Rhett Butler—Gone With the Wind]

[Ellie’s POV]

                I felt my heart sink a little as I met James’ longing gaze.  My body moved of its own accord, and I started to stand.  He turned away, and my stupid heart slipped and plummeted.  I felt Xander’s hand on my arm tugging me back down.  Geo and Hannah were still laughing at some joke he’d made, and hadn’t noticed my spastic moment.  Xander gave me a sad smile, and I shook my head, definitely not wanting to bring up the subject of James in front of Hannah and Geo.

                “So, you’re coming tonight, right?”  Hannah was staring intently at me, and I blinked at her.

                “What?”

                “To my party.” She laughed.  “We’ve been talking about it this whole time.  Where have you been?”

                I gave her a half hearted smile.  “My mind’s a little lost today, sorry.  So, it’s tonight then?”

                “Yeah,” Geo answered, grinning.  “It’s the biggest party of the year.  Legendary.  Even Brooklyn’ll show, and she definitely does not like Hannah.”

                Hannah shook her head, and I glanced away at Brooklyn’s table.  She tossed her shimmering blonde hair, smiling at the girl sitting next to her.  A small part—okay, maybe a large one—of me envied her.  She was normal.  Granted, she was a total witch, but still….I wanted that.  I wanted to only worry about my looks, my boyfriend, my grades.  It looked so much easier.

                I turned back to Hannah. “Why doesn’t she like you?”

                “Well,”  Hannah gave us an impish grin, “That’s possibly because I dated her brother, and ‘broke his heart.’”

                I gaped. “You didn’t.”

                “I did.”

                I felt a new respect for my petite blonde friend.  All those playful grins hid a surprising amount of deviousness.   I lowered my voice slightly, grinning back, James all but forgotten. “On purpose?”

                “Oh, God no.” She waved a hand dismissively.  “I liked John, sure, but neither of us thought we were in love.  No.  Brooklyn, delusional psychopath that she is, had already planned out our wedding, as well as names for our 2.5 children.  It was too much for me, and when I told John that he agreed.  It was a clean break.”

                I sat back, slightly disappointed.  “Really?”

                “Yep.”  Hannah nodded sagely. 

                “And she goes to your party anyway?”

                “Oh, sure.”

                I frowned.  “So there’s a chance for some major drama?”

                “Definitely.”  She grinned evilly.  “Last year, I invited John to the party as a friend, and she flipped out.  It was hilarious.”

                “I guess I’ll be there, then.”  I smiled back at her.  “If it’s going to be so entertaining.”  There was a light cough, and I turned to Xander, who had a slightly constipated look on his face.  “What?”