Chasing Isla ✔

Chapter 11

"Remember, tomorrow you all have a test" Mrs Martin informs while Tommy and I walk out of Modern History.

"I'm so mad at Elijah," Tommy announces over dramatically.

"How come?" I question.

"I don't want to talk about it" he shakes his head.

"Okay" I nod just as Ely comes up from behind us, wearing denim jeans and a closed letterman jacket.

"Hello-" Ely greets making Tommy scrunch up his face and storm off. "Tommy" he calls before chuckling.

"What was that about?" I question with a smirk.

"I told him that Freaks and Geeks aren't as good as he thinks it is" Ely admits. "So what's going on with you?"

I laugh. I haven't seen Freaks and Geeks, but wasn't it cancelled after a season or something?

"My bio assignment is killing me," I tell him "along with calculus"

Why I chose hard subjects in my senior year is beyond me. Mistakes were made.

"I would offer you some assistance if I wasn't struggling myself" Ely admits. "But you know who is good at pretty much everything?"

"Laura?" I assume.

She is an A straight student or something, after all.

"Kyle" he corrects with a small smile.

"Really?" My eyes widen.

"Don't sound so surprise" Ely teases.

"He doesn't strike me as..." I start.

How do I put this without being insulting?

"Bright? Intelligent? Capable of doing simple math equations?" Ely finishes.

"Someone who cares about his education" I finally find the words.

"Oh no, he doesn't," Ely assures, "he has always been intelligent but chooses not to put in the time...but I can guarantee that he cares a lot more than he used to"

"So what changed?" I ask curiously.

"His dad" Ely informs me, "the guy is never around...Kyle see's him a few times a year...a couple of years ago, Kyle decided that he was sick of waiting so he got his grades up so he is able to go to college"

That's a nice sentiment.

"Where's he applied to?" I ask.

"I don't know the exact colleges but I know that they're all in New York" Ely informs.

"God I love New York," I tell him.

New York was my hometown before all this went down. That's where my brother and daughter live. God what I'd give to get back there.

"What about you? Where would you like to be attending?" Ely raises a brow at me.

"Well I wanted to go to Oxford but my dad says it too far away and so he won't allow it" I look down at my shoes "So I guess I'm applying local"

I'm not allowed to leave the state as long as I'm in the witness protection program. I would give so much to go back to New York to see my family, or even go to Oxford.

"There are some good local colleges" Ely tries to make me feel better.

"Such as?" I raise a brow in disbelief.

"Such as...." He thinks for a moment "uh the University of San Francisco"

"Uh yes" I nod as chuckling "what about everybody else? What is their dream college?"