Rebels.

Chapter fifteen.

ellington awoke the following morning, wiping the sleep from his eyes and stretching. he felt like he had slept so good and he almost felt ready for his finals. he glanced over at his clock, wondering if he had time to shower.

8:53

school started at 9:00

he did NOT have time to shower.

"FUCK!" ellington yelled after coming to the realisation that he had seven minutes to get to school in time for his first final that began at 9:00. he leapt out of bed, grabbing a T-shirt and some jeans and hopping around as he got himself dressed. he scrambled to grab his bag, shoving anything he may need in it. he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to tame it as he ran towards and out of the door.

he sprinted towards the main school building, coming to the realisation he didn't have shoes on when he actually arrived. he ran to the gym where his exam was going to be, only just making it in.

the people supervising the exam were very unimpressed with his lack of timing, rolling their eyes as he blushed with embarrassment and uttered apologies, making his way over to his previously assigned desk.

he sat down, got out his things and got his mind into gear. seconds later, his exam began and he just wrote and wrote as much as he could. some areas of it were easy and others not so much he realised as he began to regret not studying more.

halfway through the exam he looked up, grey smoke catching his eye. outside, in the distance he could see smoke coming from a house. the house was in the exact direction that rydel's was. a lump formed in his throat and in pure panic, he looked around the room.

rydel wasn't there.

"is there a problem mr. ratliff?" one of the college tutors asked him, looking him right in the eyes with a stern look on his face.

"no sir." ellington mumbled, directing his attention back to his paper.

he wanted to run and check on her but he couldn't. he knew that if he left, he'd get a fail and he couldn't afford to fail. failing was just something he refused to do. he stared at his paper, his mind now blank. he attempted to continue writing but he simply couldn't.

his mind was blank.

after what felt like centuries, the exam had ended and ellington left the exam room just like he had entered it. running in a state of panic. he ran through the hallway, his bare feet sliding on the floor, he yanked open the door with all his might and ran out.

rydel, rocky, ross and ryland sat in the grass together. ross sat in Rydel's lap, his head buried in her shoulder as he cried, ryland sat with rocky in his wheelchair as they both coughed. they were covered in soot, rydel worse than the boys.

they all looked up at him, rydel smiling weakly as he ran over and fell to his knees by her side. "oh my god, what happened?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

she rested her head on his shoulder, breaking down in tears. "there was a fire... it got out of hand... everything's gone..." she sobbed into his shoulder, holding him tightly and feeling so safe in his arms.

ryland and rocky observed the situation before climbing down and joining in the hug with them.

"guys, it's not so bad. you can stay in my dorm room until you find a new place. it will be a squeeze but we'll make it work." ellington reassured them, kissing rydels head.

"we can't. we have to go into care. rydel isn't old enough to be our legal guardian. we're all going to be seperated and shipped off to different children's care homes." rocky explained, sighing. "and no one ever wants the crippled kids."

rydel cried harder, hitting her fist against his chest lightly. "this is all my fault! i was supposed to keep us together!"

ellington looked at them all, tearing up himself. he was going to lose his new family, his world.

"how long do you have left?" he whispered, tears pricking in his eyes.

"we leave in two days, your birthday i believe." rocky told ellington.

ellington inhaled deeply. "guys we just have to make those two days the best two days of your whole lives."

sorry this story is shit lmao, one more chapter. happy ending or nah?