A Bucket List for Ella

Chapter 16

"I know," was all I could say.

I scooted closer to Nico until I was pressed right up against him.

"I brought you hot chocolate, by the way."

"It's like 30 degrees outside."

"Yeah...but my mom told me something interesting. She said that hot liquids cool you down on hot days. I don't even know if that's been scientifically proven, but it seems to work for me."

"Can you pass me the glass?" I asked.

"Here," Nico said. Instead of handing he mug to me, he fumbled around in the dark until he found my mouth. He proceeded to place a straw in it, and he rubbed my back slowly as I drank. My breathing finally settled back to normal, and I took the straw from my mouth.

"Thanks," I said softly.

"You're welcome."

And that's when I realized; maybe my life wasn't so shitty after all.

***

I approached Aunt Jodi's door with Melanie a few days later. I opened the door and we walked right in; Aunt Jodi never bothered locking the doors during daylight, because her whole property was fenced in.

When Aunt Jodi saw me, she frowned and hugged me.

"Oh Ella baby, your hair's fallen out again," she exclaimed sadly.

"Yeah, I know," I replied. "By the way, this is my friend Melanie. We live in the same apartment building."

"Oh! I'm so glad Ella's made friends here!" Aunt Jodi said. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," Melanie responded.

"Call me Jodi, by the way."

"Alright," Mel replied. "Thanks!"

"We're going to use the TV room, if that's okay," I told Aunt Jodi, smiling.

"Of course, anytime. Let me know if you need anything! And help yourselves to anything in the fridge. But Ella..."

"Yes I know, no alcohol," I said. Melanie grinned.

Melanie followed me downstairs wordlessly. She didn't stay quiet for long.

"So, spill. What's it like having Nico stay with you?"

"Fine," I said slowly. "Why, is it weird or something?"

"Well yeah, because he's not your boyfriend! How does Liam feel about this?"

"I think he probably doesn't like it, but he's dealing with it for me."

"God, I know if I ever had a boy staying with me, Austin wouldn't be very happy about it." Austin was Melanie's boyfriend of awhile.

Melanie walked over to the fridge and looked in.

"When she says no alcohol..."

"She means for me. Go ahead and get wasted for all she cares."

"Sweet," Mel said, grabbing a Mike's from the fridge.

"So," she said after taking a sip. "What's the deal with uni? Did you drop out or what?"

"I talked to my profs, and they agreed to let me catch up, given the circumstances."

"Understandable. So do you think you're going to..."

Mel's voice seemed to grow quieter as the sound of rain filled the room, drowning her out.

"Well then," Mel yelled over the sounds of the rain.

Suddenly, I had an idea.

"Melanie."

"What?"

I just stared at her.

"What? Don't look at me like that!"

I remembered that she didn't know about the bucket list.

"Sorry. Don't think I'm crazy, but...do you want to go for a walk?"

"You are crazy woman," Mel said, shaking her head. "But it could be fun...and you probably have some strange reason I'm not fully aware of. So sure."

Quickly, I led her to the sliding door. We ran outside into the rain and suddenly I started laughing. Who cared that I would probably get hypothermia or something crazy like that? Who cared that I would be soaked? This event was one for the bucket list.

Mel and I exited through the back gate of Aunt Jodi's house and walked towards the beach. We walked in the sand, our feet squishing as we went. We sat on the swings as the waves angrily crashed against the shore.

A clap of thunder and the strike of lightning was all it took for us to be brought to our senses. We raced back to the house just as the thunder and lightning grew louder and closer together.

In through the back gate and up to the back door. I slid the door open and turned to usher Mel inside. She went in and stopped, causing me to almost walk into her.

Because there, sitting on the couch like he owned the place, was Nico. The look on his face said he wasn't happy. Not. At. All.

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