Thorn [Farkle Minkus]

[06] Back to December

A few weeks passed and with the amount of work Ellie has been getting and rehearsals has been getting her mind off of her parents and their divorce. It's getting her mind off of her home life and keeping her busy.

She would much rather be busy all day long and out of the house instead of being at home.

"Are you okay?" Justin asked his little sister.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she said when she got home from the library.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You look..."

"Look like what?"

"I don't know," he said. "You really should take a break from working on homework and everything."

"I know, but... I'm going to go up to my room," she said.

"Don't you want to eat dinner?" Justin asked.

"I'm not hungry," she said.

She went up to her room and set her backpack next to her desk and laid on her bed, using her phone. She plugged in her phone into the charger as she used to.

Ellie pressed onto the Instagram app on her phone and scrolled through the pictures she had posted and began to reminisce on the times where she had a family, a normal, happy family.

All Ellie wanted was to go back to December. To a time where she had her family. To a time where her parents were together. She hated the arguments between them, but she missed her parents.

The woman that came home whenever she had some time off from work wasn't the same woman Ellie knew before the divorce has been finalized.

She ended up falling asleep with her phone in hand.

Anna came into the room to see Ellie had fallen asleep with phone still in hand. The lights were still open. Anna looked at the teenager, sadly. She walked over to Ellie and unplugged her phone from the charger and set the phone on the bedside table.

Anna walked back to the door and closed the door. She glanced back at Ellie as she closed the lights and stepped out of the room. She closed the door behind her and walked to check on the boys to make sure that they're okay and to go to bed.

***

Ellie woke up, quite tired. Her alarm went off, causing Ellie to wake with a start. She took a deep breath from shock of the alarm noise.

She looked over at the alarm to see it was 6:30 in the alarm. She turned off the alarm and got out of bed to get ready for school. She scratched her head as she walked over to the closet to pick something to wear.

When she did, she went into her bathroom and got ready for school. She put on making up and walked out of her room when she was fully ready. She picked up her backpack as she headed out and went to the kitchen.

Justin and Tyler were already there in the kitchen when Ellie entered.

"How are you feeling?" Anna asked Ellie.

"Tired," she said.

"Do you want me to make you coffee?" Anna asked.

"Oh, no, it's fine," she said. "Can - can we go to Starbucks on the way?" she asked as she sat down across the table from Tyler.

"Uh, yeah, sure," she said. "Eat."

Ellie nodded.

She put on some eggs and a few pieces of bacon on her plate and ate.

When the kids were done eating breakfast, Anna rushed them out of the house. They stopped at Starbucks on the way to school to get some coffee from there.

Ellie met up with Aaron and Anthony outside of their history class.

"Hey," Ellie greeted her friends.

"Hey, Ellie."

"Hi."

"Are you okay?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, you look terrible," Anthony added.

"I'm okay," she said. "Just tired."

"Did you get to sleep last night?" Anthony asked.

Ellie nodded. "I did, but I guess I just slept more or less than I needed to."

"Homework and rehearsal really have taken a toll on you, hasn't it?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah, but I would do anything not to be at home," Ellie asked as she entered the classroom and Aaron and Anthony followed her.

"Why?"

"I don't know," she lied, "I just don't want to be home."

Aaron and Anthony glanced at each other.

"El -"

"I'm fine," Ellie cut Aaron off. "I'm fine, I swear."

"But -" Anthony started.

"Guys, I'm fine," she said. "Don't worry."

Aaron bit his lip and Anthony hesitated on whether or not to speak his mind.

"Guys, I promise, I'm fine," she lied.

Ellie took her seat. Aaron and Anthony stood there for a moment before taking their seats behind and next to Ellie.

***

Ellie sat at her desk, wishing to be anywhere but at her apartment. The apartment was a constant reminder. A reminder of a life she once had.

She bit her lip, tears threatening to fall. It was getting closer and closer to the one year mark since it happened. One year since her parents announced that they are separated.

She would do anything to skip over that day. She would do anything to erase that memory from her head but she had can't.

That memory will never leave her. It will be embedded in her head for the rest of her life. It will always been a memory that will affect her and her life for the rest of her life.

It's like a thorn.