~*~
El gripped her phone so tightly her knuckles were practically white
You could not have paid her enough money to turn her gaze to something else
Instead, she couldn't help but keep looking at their interactions in his bedroom.
What the fuck is she doing on his bed first of all.
He said he had a study group today. Is that just code for whatever the fuck she's doing there?
El saw Stacey place her hand on Mike's bicep and you could practically see smoke coming out of her ears.
El couldn't process her feelings fast enough. All she knew was she was upset. Point blank. Before El could begin to process herself, a car pulled into Mike's driveway. Karen's car.
Mike and Stacey got off Mike's bed at the sound of Karen calling Mike down to help unload the groceries. Stacey went out Mike's bedroom door and before Mike could follow her out, he caught El's gaze through her window.
El's glare was so intense it made Mike's palms sweat. El shook her head before walking out of her room and down the stairs. She walked out the front door to greet Karen.
"Hey Karen!" she greeted with a smile.
"Oh, hi sweetheart! How've you been?" Karen said, struggling with the grocery bags in her hands.
"I'm great. Uh, do you need some help?"
"I would love some." Karen laughed as she shut the car door with her foot.
"Hey Ma." Mike said as he walked outside to see El help his mother.
"Hey Mike, did Stacey leave already?" Karen asked.
Her casual tone made El's eyes go wide.
"Hi Karen. I was just leaving; I've gotta go meet someone." Stacey said, walking out the front door.
"Ms. Wheeler." Karen corrected before walking inside her front door.
Stacey nodded before climbing into her Volkswagen Beetle and driving off.
Leaving El and Mike outside.
"So much for bad vibes huh." El said
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I'm sorry for Karen and I interrupting your private session with the Stacey Walker."
"Private session what?" Mike said, now confused.
"You know you said it was a study group. If you had a sex sesh with another girl, you could've just said that."
"Sex sesh? What the hell are you talking about!?"
"You and Stacey, Mike. You both on your bed, alone together. Her rubbing her hands all up on you. Which you know is just a tad hypocritical when you just told me that she was trying to go after Troy."
"Yet you seem more upset at the thought of her with me." Mike acknowledged
"Whatever." El said with furrowed brows.
"El are you jealous right now?" Mike asked, unable to wipe the grin off his face
"Wh- what? Why would you even ask me that?"
"That's not an answer." Mike said
"I- that question is stupid. And I can't believe you're asking it in the first place."
"Yet you still haven't answered."
"Wh- I-you know what? I should get these inside" El said, fed up with struggling to keep hold of the groceries in her hands
"I got it." Mike said, relieving the bags off her hands.
"For the record though, just to squash that jealousy marinating in your head, it was a study group. She's in my physics class and we're in a group together but the third kid, Henry, had to bail last minute. And we were on my bed because I have a new watercolor piece that's been drying on my desk and I didn't wanna mess it up."
El stayed silent while the pebble by her shoe became the most interesting thing.
"Satisfied?" Mike said, lifting her chin with his index finger to meet his gaze.
"The ice cream is melting." El answered before taking a grocery bag from his hands and walking inside.
"Hey guys. Everything okay?" Karen asked
"Yea we're good. This is kinda melting though" El laughed as she placed the ice cream in the freezer.
"Well, you're welcome to stay for dinner. Now that Stacey left." Karen said, filling up a pot full of water
"Stacey wouldn't have been invited to stay?" Mike asked.
Receiving a not-so-subtle eye roll from El.
"No way. Not to talk bad about people, but her and her mom aren't exactly my favorite people." Karen answered.
"Why is that?" El asked, eager for the details.
"Her mother just always looks down on other moms who don't own their own nail studios the way she does. And us single moms are supposed to stick together you know?" Karen answered
"Wait. Single moms? Stacey's mom is a single mom?" Mike asked.
"Yea. Her and David have been divorced since Stacey was a toddler. Why?"
Troy said he was comforting Stacey because her parents were getting divorced.
Mike looked over to El and it was clear from the look on her face
"I'd love to stay for dinner, Karen." El said
"I've just gotta go lock my door."
Mike followed her out the door.
"Don't start Mike."
"I didn't even say anything." Mike said
"You were thinking it."
"Because this is the exact bad vibe I was talking about. You know now for sure that he was full of shit."
"Mike please drop it ok?" El said, rummaging through her drawers trying to find the house key.
"El do you think I like this? I don't. Honest to god I would've dropped it the second you told me to if I thought for one second that he makes you happy. But he doesn't. You and I both know that." Mike said.
"Fine. You were right. Only I don't want to believe it ok?"
"And I get that. But are you for real gonna keep seeing a guy who, not only lies to your face, but doesn't make you happy?"
"I just don't get why he would lie. I don't. if he wanted to be non-exclusive, he could've just said that. Or maybe he was consoling someone that was going through something bigger than just divorce; something that wasn't his secret to tell."
"Ella if that was the case then he would've just said that."
"Maybe not."
"Fine. Ask him then."
"What?"
"Stacey said that she had someone to meet later tonight. I'm willing to bet my life savings that it's Troy." Mike said.
"So?" El questioned
"So, ask him if he's free tonight."
"Will you finally drop this if I do?"
"Yes."
"Fine." El said, taking out her phone to message the football captain.
El:
hey
Troy:
Hey babycakes
Gross. Mike cringed
El:
So, there's a showing
of Spiderman tonight
at the Multiplex.
Wanna go?
Troy:
Damn I would but I've
got to babysit my cousins tonight.
Next week tho.
"See? He's busy."
"Yea babysitting his cousins." El countered.
"Ok we're going."
"Going where?"
"After dinner with my mom, we're going to Troy's house and let's just see if Stacey doesn't show up."
"That's creepy."
"That's a stakeout. If cops can do it, so can we. ACAB." Mike said with a smile.
"Fine. Only if we can get Dairy Queen too."
"Done." Mike said, following El out the front door.
~*~
"So, do you know where Troy lives, because I don't." El said, enjoying her Oreo blizzard.
"I do actually, his place is pretty much the beacon for parties in our grade." Mike said, pulling into a neighborhood.
"You are aware of how creepy this all is right?" El asked; Mike parking in a guest space by a large tree.
"Well, if we get caught, you're going right down with me." Mike smiled
El sighed into her seat, trying to get comfortable.
"Tell me about your new art piece. We could use a distraction."
"Ah Ella, you are not the only one with an opportunity to impress a professor. Ms. Hutton has a gallery event coming up and she's allowing students and interns to submit their work. This is the first time she's been allowed to submit two pieces so of course she's gonna submit something of hers but she's letting her students fight for the second spot."
"Mike that's amazing. What are you gonna submit?"
"I know I don't want it to be basic."
"Nothing you have ever or could ever make could be basic, Mike. And I know I'm not the first to tell you that." El said.
"Yea. But there are also those who don't care for art at all, let alone the artist who makes it." Mike mumbled.
"Like who?"
"No one, just- you know how it is. Lots of people tend to believe the arts aren't a real career. I'm sure you've heard that at least once, despite you being as talented as you are." Mike replied
"Yea. But I couldn't be happier with how proud Dad is of my music. He's always playing my demos in his car when he's at work."
"Yea. My mom's the same way. Half the art in the house is mine she framed and hung up."
"My mom loved it too. My music. Hell, she was the one who taught me to play piano in the first place. I miss her so much it's insane." El laughed.
It went quiet.
"You know sometimes I'll forget she's dead? As morbid as that sounds; sometimes something will happen and I'll come home to tell her and the second I'm about to open my mouth, I realize it's pointless because she's not here."
Mike wiped the tear that slid down her cheekbone.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay." El said, leaning into his touch.
They held each other's gaze for a second before El spoke again.
"What did you mean Mike? When you said, 'there are those who don't care about the artist.'"
"My dad. I'm uh- not sure if you remember but I idolized that guy. I grew up wanting to be just like him. I wasn't always the most confident about my art when he was around though. He always wanted me to go into the office business like him. Stocks and all that bullshit no one understands. I did try. You know, I did try and feign interest in what he wanted, simply because it's what he wanted from me.
"Mom could see I hated it though. She could tell I wasn't at my happiest, not compared to whenever I'd paint something. Whenever he was at work and mom had the day off, we'd always go outside and fingerpaint. Dad wasn't the happiest when he'd found out about it. He's always gone on and on about how 'dreams don't pay bills.' And that 'art is something you put up on the fridge, not a career.' Looking back, I really don't understand why the hell I wanted his approval so bad. No matter what I did it's like he always raised the bar higher and higher until he couldn't even reach it anymore." Mike laughed
"Mike..."
"It wasn't until I found out he was cheating on mom that I realized what a pathetic man he was. Worst part was that he wasn't even sorry. He was cheating and also felt justified enough to call my mom an unfit mother to raise Holly and I. He left with Holly. It wasn't until a couple weeks later he actually had the fucking audacity to ask me to come with him. Not even ask; he was on the way out the door with his bags and called for me the way you call your dog to come to you. I didn't move. He called me again. I stayed rooted in my spot.
"He said I'd waste my life away if I stayed with my mom. I stood up and I swear I saw my mom's face go white like a ghost. I can't even begin to imagine the pain she went through. I only stood up to slam the door in his face. I turned around and hugged my mom. I'm pretty sure we stayed like that all night.
"Ted was the worst person to look up to. I see that now. And it isn't fair to blame him for the end of our friendship but, every realization I had concerning him made me push you away..."
He looked at her with heavy lids and teary eyes.
"I'm so sorry. I saw how depressed my mom was once he left and took Holly and I realized that love isn't real. Seeing my mom so broken, it broke me too.
"I was falling for you El." He exhaled
"I was falling so hard for you. And maybe I was ever since we first became friends, but the more I got to know you, it was like I couldn't help it. You've never been on the receiving end of meeting you, but I promise, not falling for you is like throwing a stick and telling a dog not to chase it.
"I know that pushing you away because I realized how love is pointless was the most unfair thing I did to you and I'll never not be sorry for that. I just- watching my mom cry all the time and having no motivation to get up in the morning was like watching my future; my mom was so in love with Ted. Maybe not as much as I loved you but definitely in the same area code and look how it turned out for her. I just couldn't risk it. I couldn't risk putting myself through the possibility of being with you if the outcome could result in the same way.
"It wasn't until the night of the fair that I realized how fucking pathetic I was being too. Pushing you away, tormenting you, and not being there for you all because I was just a little bitch who was refusing to acknowledge how he felt. I find it so ironic that I thought cutting you out of my life would make me immune to being like Ted when in the end it had the exact opposite effect."
El was quick to get rid of those doubts.
"Hey hey, you are nothing like him. Do you hear me?"
She placed his cheeks into the palms of her hands.
"He was a coward. And a liar. Their relationship was all you knew. We tend to look up to our parents' relationships and you cannot blame yourself for looking up to someone who should've been there to guide you, not tear you down or belittle you. You're sitting here blaming yourself when you have yet to be proud of what you have done. You are here for me now. You are an exemplary son to your mom. You are the most gifted, talented, humble person I've ever met."
"I'm so so so sorry. You deserve the world El. And I can't thank you enough for your patience. And your willingness to give me a chance despite me waiting this long to tell you why I shut you out." Mike said, enjoying her touch on his face way too much.
"Well, you did bribe me with caramel macchiatos."
They laughed.
Mike wished he could live in this little bubble forever. The bubble of honesty, and love, and truth. More so he wished he could tell her he was still very much in love with her.
But it wasn't until they heard a car lock alarm, that they looked out of the wind shield.
El and Mike looked out to see Stacey walking up Troy's driveway.
It was silent for 5 seconds before the door opened to reveal a shirtless Troy; a Troy who pulled Stacey at the waist for a kiss before closing the door behind them.
El froze in her chair.
"El..." Mike spoke softly
"Take me home, Mike. Just take me home." El said, leaning against the passenger window.
El didn't begin to process her feelings until she was in the comfort of her bedroom.
She was a little alarmed at the fact she didn't even care about Troy at all.
I think I've known that for a while now. Throughout Mike's entire confession I really just wanted to fall asleep in his arms again.
I don't like Troy. I doubt I ever did. I hate to say that I'm pretty sure I was just bored. But I don't feel as bad about that now seeing as how he's been having a relationship with Stacey.
I think. I think I like Mike.
Hearing him talk about falling for me only made me grasp the solid fact that I wasn't crazy about our relationship before he shut me out. I would be a liar if I said I wasn't falling for him too back then.
I like him. Yup.
His art. His humor. His looks. Just who he is, I like all of it. And I know now that we can move forward. Now that everything is on the table.
Well, almost everything.
I'm gonna meet with Troy tomorrow and end things properly, as much as he doesn't deserve my respect, I need him to know it's done. Ghosting is a coward's thing.
Then, I tell Mike.
El couldn't be happier as she fell asleep.
AUTHORS NOTE:
as always tysm for readinggg
sorry I couldn't stick to my own schedule lmfao but I do rlly like how this chapter came out and hope u do too.
it's 1 am lol so imma go to bed
also if anyone watches/reads attack on titan pls message me omygod
gn babes 🖤✨