two-bit wasn't the emotional type. he never cried, and people found it hard to talk to him about feelings and things like that. even his own sister. but the exterior of a person is often deceiving.
he too felt emotions. it's not like he was brain dead and oblivious to everything around him.
what most others failed to realize, is that the drinking and jokes was just a way to drown out the feelings of despair. his drunken humorous remarks made any sincerity he attempted to present seem insincere.
to everyone else, it's as if he was in his own world even though he was completely present.
"echo? elle?" he stood in the doorway of his sister's room, who was fast asleep. he cracked a grin to himself and pulled a chair up to her bed. how would he wake her today? decisions, decisions.
or perhaps.
he slowly walked towards the desk, his eyes scanning its many contents one by one. his hands gently brushed over the sturdy wooden frame, taking in the years of stories held within its edges. taking a seat in her worn chair, he began flipping through the many records scattered about the desk. each piece a testament to the countless hours of hard work and dedication she had put into her craft.
the photos on the wall were a mix of her personal life and work. the tiny canvases, each adorned with a masterfully crafted painting, were just as impressive. despite their small size, each was a true masterpiece. every inch of the desk, even the walls surrounding it, was a treasure trove of all her hard-earned accomplishments.
although two-bit rarely showed it, he was proud of his younger sister. she'd make it someday, going further than he could ever dream to go.
he picked up a small painting of what appeared to be their house, with an assortment of flowers surrounding it. he smiled to himself before walking up to ellie and yanking her blanket from her, prompting her eyes to shoot open.
"c'mon, ellie, we gotta go," two-bit said as he walked out of her room, taking her blanket with him.
feeling a sense of unease settling in her chest, ellie pushed herself out of bed, her limbs heavy from the effects of a restless night. with a groan, she sat up, scanning the room for any sign of the culprit that had disturbed her sleep. goosebumps rose on her skin, as if in response to her sudden movement, reminding her of the cold chill that had crept through her window.
quickly getting ready for the day, she wrapped herself in layers of clothing to guard against the chill. She pulled on a thick, warm sweater and added gloves to protect her skin from the cold, bitter winds that had begun to sweep across the streets of tulsa.
as she stepped outside, she was greeted by the cold air, sending a shiver down her spine. her heart raced as she spotted her brother's car waiting on the side of the road. she hurried towards it, wanting to make it before the cold froze her to the bone. the morning fog enveloped her in a blanket of soft white, like a silent promise that the day would be filled with wonder.
"took you long enough. if i ain't know better, i'd say you were tryin' to skip school today," two-bit said, putting the key in the ignition.
"well, i guess you don't know better," she mumbled, rolling her eyes at his insinuation.
he looked over at her. "what was that?"
"i said you're wrong. i'm just not a morning person."
he rolled down the window on the passenger side. "that's funny, i coulda swore i saw you awake before me nearly every day durin' the summer," he said, leaning over her to adjust the mirror. "can you straighten that out for me, ellie?"
ellie scrunched her nose. "you smell like beer. you been drinkin' already? or is it just the smell of your car? and it's cold. roll the window back down."
two-bit got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, fixing the mirror, ignoring her request. "i think we both know the answer to that. thought you was supposed to be smart."
she looked at him in disbelief as he got back in the car. "so you're plannin' to drive while you've been drinking." she threw her hands up in frustration. "that's just—great. wonderful."
he looked at her quizzically, his hands resting on the steering wheel. "the hell's your problem? it's never been a big deal to you before." he started to pull out of their driveway.
"gee, two, maybe cause it's kinda illegal? and i did have a problem with it before, i just didn't say anything. you're reckless enough while drivin' sober. slow down." she rolled up her window.
he let out a laugh, "well, if it bothers you that much, you can walk to school in the cold."
"you can't make me do that. mama said you gotta look out for me at school."
amused, he let out a scoff. "yeah, well, last i checked, we're not at school, and this ain't mama's car. ask her to take you to school tomorrow if you hate bein' in the car with me."
"it's not funny. i don't feel safe when you're driving."
"aw, c'mon, you know i got it under control. i wouldn't do anything to put my only sister in danger." two-bit laughed again, but it all seemed so apocryphal. his eyebrows furrowed together in worry.
did his younger sister genuinely feel that he didn't care for her well-being?
the two siblings got to will rogers high, with ellie trudging along behind her brother. they met up with soda and steve, who were laughing at some socs. ponyboy and johnny were likely hanging in the courtyard. dally wasn't there, to no one's surprise.
ellie spotted melissa not to far away, and turned back towards the group. "i think i'm gonna go to the, uh, library. i'll see y'all later."
soda put his arm around her, "why're you so eager to leave, lizzie? do ya hate us that bad?"
"i don't think i could ever hate you guys, especially not you, soda. i've just got some studyin' to do," ellie lied, glancing back at her friend.
"what're you lookin' at?" steve asked, following her gaze.
"no one!" she said, a little too quickly.
he raised his eyebrows in amusement. "so, it's a someone? you got a boyfriend, betty? cause i'll go knock his teeth out right now. been itchin' for a good fight, anyhow."
soda shoved steve lightly. "c'mon, steve, lay off." he turned back around and looked down at her. "but y'know, steve ain't lyin'. if there's someone we gotta know about, you'd best let us know. don't want you getting into any trouble."
trouble. why does this group of hoodlums get to decide who's trouble? if it weren't for darry, they'd be causing all sorts of problems.
"lizzie?"
"there's no one. but if there were, i'd tell you guys," she said with a sigh. "but i really should get goin'."
two-bit looked over to where ellie had been previously. he saw melissa, but then noticed some more popular socs standing near her. he pulled ellie to the side. "i know you want to, but don't go over there, she's with the other rich kids right now."
"she is?" ellie looked back over there, seeing melissa looking irritated within the group. "but it's not like she'll do anything bad just cause she's with them."
two-bit rubbed the side of his face tiredly. "okay, but they ain't her. you can talk to her later. unless you wanna have her come over here," he suggested.
"no!" she said loudly. "i mean, no. they can't know i'm friends with a soc," she gestured to steve and sodapop. "the others can't know, either. the only ones who do are you and ponyboy."
he shoved his hands into his pockets. "so what's the big deal? pony knows, and i know. what difference does it make if the rest do? you embarrassed of us or somethin'?"
she shook her head. "you know it ain't like that, two. i'm just scared of what they'll think of it. she's my friend, i don't want them to treat her poorly."
as if summoned by some invisible force, sandy arrived on the scene with an unbridled sense of energy, bounding over to ellie. she wrapped her arms around her shoulders, enveloping the young girl in a warm embrace that made her feel like she had arrived home after a long journey. ellie felt her arms instinctively wrap around sandy's frame, clinging to her like a lost puppy. for a moment, they clung to each other in silence, the only sound being the chatter of the students of will rogers.
"how are ya?" sandy asked as evie slowly walked up to the group, keeping a slight distance.
two-bit cocked an eyebrow. "ellie's got more friends? well i'll be damned," he muttered to himself as he walked away to find ponyboy and johnny.
"i'm okay, how are you, sandy?" ellie asked, now smiling.
"i'm great, i dunno about evie though. c'mere, eves."
evie hesitantly walked up to the rest of them, avoiding their gazes. "hey, elizabeth. everything goin' well?"
ellie nodded, "somethin' wrong?"
she smiled. "no, there's nothing wrong." she stole a glance at steve and soda, who were talking about something quietly with big grins on their faces. evie gave a small wave to the two. "i'll tell you what's up at lunch," she said before walking away.
sandy and ellie watched their friend leave. "this better be good. she usually tells me as soon as something's botherin' her," sandy said, tilting her head. "but i won't bug her about it."
"well, she did say there wasn't anything wrong. maybe it's good news and she's just tryna figure out how to tell us."
"maybe," sandy smiled.
sodapop and steve walked up to the two girls conversing. "hey, sandy, what's up?"
"nothin' much, just talkin' with elizabeth. she's a good person to have a conversation with."
steve raised his eyebrows and exchanged a look with his best friend. "you hear that, soda? betty knows how to talk! i didn't know she ever talked in public." he looked back at sandy, "or maybe the conversation was one sided?"
ellie's cheeks grew warm, and she felt a wave of embarrassment flood over her. she instinctively clenched her fists and quickly pushed them into her sweater pockets, unsure of what to do with them. she shifted nervously, her heart beating a mile a minute as she tried to keep her composure in the face of the unexpected situation.
"steve, cut it out," soda said quietly.
steve held up his hands. "just sayin'."
sandy rubbed her arm awkwardly. "umm, no, actually. we were having a two-sided conversation, and it was going well, until you decided to attack her for no reason, steve. maybe she just doesn't like talkin' to you that much."
soda noticed the atmosphere growing tense, a tension that was palpable enough to give him the chills. the air seemed to be filled with the sounds of offense and disdain, and he felt a sense of unease settle in his stomach. it was then that he noticed ellie, who stood in the middle of the fray, a look of fear and confusion etched on her face. he knew that ellie was the subject of the argument, and felt a protective instinct well up within him. without even thinking, he inched closer to ellie, grasping onto her right arm for reassurance. ellie's grip tightened on his arm as well, and the two of them found solace in each other's presence. despite the chaos bound to erupt around them, they were a small bubble of peace, shielded from the strained atmosphere.
"she has plenty conversations with me. what're you implyin', golding? that she don't like me?"
"steve—"
"maybe i am, randle. cause you can be very rude sometimes, you know that? you ever stop to think about anyone else's feelings? or do you just not think, ever?"
"sandy, it's okay, really—"
sandy's head whirled around to face ellie once more. "no, elizabeth, it's not. you're tellin' me you just let him say whatever he wants to you?"
"no, but—"
"maybe you should listen to the little girl, sandy. seems she knows more than you."
sandy's eyebrows scrunched closer together. "the hell's that supposed to mean?"
ellie felt soda's hold on her arm get tighter. he seemed frozen in place, unsure of what his best friend was bound to say, but also unsure of how to ease the situation without setting either of them off.
steve crossed his arms and smirked. "i think you as a woman should know when to shut up."
for a second, ellie felt herself tense up, felt her body still. it's as if, for a single second, her blood stopped flowing, her organs stopped operating, and her bones stopped supporting her. but she couldn't let that last long. as much as she wanted to look away, she couldn't.
she slipped out of soda's grasp and gently grabbed onto sandy, who was glaring at steve. "it's okay, sandy, you know how steve can be. he gets a little worked up sometimes," she said reassuringly as she dragged her away.
ellie stole a glance behind her and could see that soda was upset with steve. she saw his gestures and mannerisms and the way he talked to him. although she couldn't hear a word he was saying, it didn't take a genius to know he was being told off. passersby were rubbernecking, some looking concerned, some laughing.
the worst part of it all was that steve was yelling back.
her heart dropped to her stomach as she watched the two storm off in opposite directions just as the bell rang.
"you okay, sandy?" ellie asked quietly.
"yeah, i'm fine. steve just gets under my skin sometimes, is all. i'll be okay." she looked down at ellie and gave a halfhearted smile. "now get to class. i don't want you bein' late and gettin' into trouble."
"okay, sandy, i'll see you at lunch, possibly!" she called over her shoulder.
ellie walked through the busy halls of her school, desperately wanting to keep her eyes glued to the floor but forcing herself to keep her head up. she knew she couldn't keep her eyes down forever, especially in a school full of hormonal teenagers looking for any reason to mock someone.
mama has good posture, she reminded herself.
she had spent years trying to perfect her habits, her body language, and her stance, but it was as if there was a part of her that she just couldn't get rid of. a part that she had been trying to get rid of for years, but it stubbornly persisted, like a weed that refused to be pulled from the soil. she knew it was all in her head, that she was the only one who could change her thoughts, but it seemed that the harder she tried, the more it persisted.
there was something stubborn within her, something that seemed to tug at her spine, making her want to slouch and hide away. ellie struggled to overcome this part of herself, to stand tall and proud, but it was a battle she found herself losing time and time again.
all she could do was keep reminding herself of her mother's sage advice, words that echoed in her mind with each step down the hallway: "stand up straight, elizabeth." ellie's mind raced with thoughts of her mother's words, of her impeccable posture and her gracefulness. she had always admired her mother's poise, and she wanted to live up to her example. she tried to emulate her mother's habits, to stand tall and hold her head high.
with each step, she straightened her back and lifted her chin, hoping that eventually, the habits would stick and the thoughts would disappear once and for all.
₊⋆☁︎₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆₊☁︎⋆₊
"so as i was grading your papers, i noticed a few stuck out to me. i wrote comments on each and every one of your essays, so, if you happen to be one of the select few. you'll know," mr. hall stated, stacking some books.
"now," he clasped his hands with a smile, "as i stated in the beginning of the year, i'm always available if you need any help or advice, during lunch, after school, and homeroom, if you have a pass from your teacher. and then, of course, in here while you guys are working and i'm not actually teaching."
ellie looked at melissa, who mouthed the words "it's you" to her. ellie shook her head and jabbed a thumb in pony's direction. melissa looked at pony and noticed he was idly doodling in his notebook. she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
mr. hall stood up from his desk and began to hand out the papers, placing each one face down on everybody's desk. "feel free to exchange notes and stuff, cause i know you guys will anyway."
he gave melissa's paper back to her and muttered a quick "interesting" before going to pass back more papers.
"ellie, i can't do it. look at my grade for me, will ya?"
ellie let out a small laugh and grabbed melissa's paper. her eyebrows raised in surprise, prompting melissa to groan and bury her face in her hands as she sunk further down her chair.
"no, melly, you did really well. look, he said here that your writing is 'unique and stylistic yet comprehensible,'" ellie said, reading through the notes he left.
melissa looked at ellie, a confused expression written upon her face. "what's that mean?"
"it means you have a different way of writing but it's still understandable. it's a good thing."
melissa sat up straight and grabbed the paper back from ellie. "so my parents won't kill me after all!" she leaned back in her chair to get a good look at ponyboy. "hey, pony, you see this? i'm not as dumb as you think!"
ponyboy looked at her, unamused. he simply held up his paper which showed his perfect score.
with her face dropping, melissa slouched in her chair once again. "i can't believe a twelve year old can outperform me."
mr. hall walked by once again and gave ellie her paper. she flipped it over and scanned the essay, looking through the notes scribbled in red ink. she'd worked very hard on writing this.
so naturally, she couldn't help but feel her heart drop for the second time that day when she saw the words "see me" at the end of her work.
"somethin' wrong, echo?"
she looked up from the bold letters and shook her head. "nah," she saw mr. hall sitting back down at his desk. "i'll be right back, guys."
she stood up and walked up to her teacher's desk, who was shuffling some more papers. "mr. hall?"
he looked up from what he was doing. "yes, miss mathews?"
"i was wonderin' if there was somethin' wrong with my paper."
his eyebrows knitted themselves closer together. "i don't think so, lemme see it."
ellie handed him her essay and watched him look through it, picking at her nail polish anxiously. she could practically feel eyes on her, but when she turned around, nobody was even paying her any mind.
"yeah, okay, there's nothing wrong with your paper." he pulled a stool next to his desk. "have a seat."
ellie sat down, bouncing her leg when she was settled.
"so, if i'm interpreting this correctly, you asked several people for their experiences of the eighth grade, correct?"
she nodded.
he pointed to the third paragraph. "this story sounds familiar." he looked at ellie, "does your brother happen to be keith mathews, by any chance?"
"yeah, was he your student?"
"indeed he was. he was a good student, at first. i could tell he got bored easily, though, stopped caring about academics. the obvious social differences between him and his classmates made him stop caring."
ellie rested her chin on her hand. "it's not easy to continue caring when you know you're probably not gettin' anywhere in life just cause you're poor."
"but he had potential. my coworkers didn't like him very much, but i think they just don't take enough time to get to understanding their students."
ellie nodded, her eyes scanning her paper once again. "i think you had these two as well. steve randle and—"
"sodapop curtis," he finished for her. "two peas in a pod, but they were polar opposites. mr. curtis seemed to put fun over learning. mr. randle, on the other hand, never appeared particularly happy to be in class, but he did what he needed to."
"sounds about right. but why did you need me to see you about this? you gave me a good grade,"
mr. hall smiled. "well, miss mathews, i noticed you titled your paper 'purple colored lenses.' but there's nothing in your writing that mentions a lens of any kind."
"there's not? i thought i did..." ellie trailed off, her eyes grazing each neatly written word.
"the thing about that is, i feel like not adding it adds more meaning to your essay. it discusses how shallow the system is and what most well-to-do people don't know or see." he elaborated further when he saw ellie's confusion, "just like how we don't exactly know what you meant by the title, or the fact that we don't see the phrase within your paragraphs."
the nervous tapping of ellie's foot ceased. "i meant it to be like, how we don't all see through rose colored glasses, or blue ones. it's a mix."
"which makes it so much better. it's up to the reader's interpretation to decide what it all means."
up for interpretation, just like my paintings.
"oh."
"if you practice the wordplay and double meanings, i believe you'd be a strong writer," he said, handing her paper back to her.
"thank you, sir," she said, walking back to her seat.
"what'd he want, ellie?" melissa asked, doodling bright, bold stars on her paper with green highlighter.
"he just discussed my... writing capabilities. i dunno, i'm still kinda confused."
"but you're a good writer echo, what're you confused for?" ponyboy questioned.
"why he didn't do that for anyone else. like, you're a good writer, pony," ellie shrugged.
"well, maybe he wrote everything he needed to say on his paper and didn't feel the need to discuss. what did y'all talk about up there?" melissa asked.
"i heard my brother's name in your conversation." pony chimed in.
ellie cracked her knuckles in thought. "well, he did ask me a few questions to clear things up."
"yeah, see, i think you're the only one who interviewed several people. going above and beyond, like always," melissa said, rolling her eyes playfully.
"it's not even that i wanted to go above and beyond. the first few people i asked gave me vague answers, and i don't think i could've wrote a whole essay with just that."
"you talkin' about steve? yeah, never go to him with help for homework. he's stupid," ponyboy said.
"stop it, pony. steve ain't that bad," ellie said, musing on the heated argument that occurred earlier between him and sandy.
"which one is steve again?" melissa asked.
"the annoying one whose ego needs to be humbled. i swear, he'll start an argument over literally anything. i dunno how my brother can stand being friends with him, let along best buddies. soda actually knows how to treat people," pony said bitterly.
"yeah..." ellie said quietly, hating the fact that there was so much tension within her friends.
it was like a disease that spread, the feeling of dislike lingering after a minor interaction. obviously, arguments and disagreements were normal, but it seemed to happen more than often lately, and ellie didn't like it.
but it was difficult to stop anything, for her voice was often overpowered by anger.
where does someone stand when she's in the middle of everything, but doesn't want to get involved? it was a funny thought, really, and quite contradictory.
to stand aside as an innocent bystander that's afraid to stop anything. it was inevitable, in fact, since, according to steve, her opinions didn't even matter.
no, steve doesn't mean that. he was just upset. we're all humans with rights and thoughts.
right?
₊⋆☁︎₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆₊☁︎⋆₊
"so what was it you wanted to tell us, evie?" sandy asked as they sat down on a bench.
a sudden gust of wind swept past them, making them feel even colder than before. melissa instinctively pressed herself against ellie, trying to help her friend stay warm. they huddled together, their bodies pressed against each other as they tried to shield themselves from the chilly air. their arms wrapped around each other, providing some small comfort in the face of the growing cold.
"wait, you wanted to tell us somethin'?" melissa asked quizzically.
"yeah, this morning she said she'd tell us whatever it was during lunch. and it's lunch time, so no more stalling," sandy said nudging evie affectionately.
"okay, well, this may be a little awkward, but i kinda like steve," evie mumbled, brushing her wavy brown hair away from her face.
sandy's jaw dropped in disbelief, ellie's lips parted, and melissa was just there, not sure what to think. she didn't know steve.
"eves, are you serious? steve of all people? he's such an asshole!" sandy exclaimed.
evie stared down at her lap and shrugged. "i think he's sweet. sure, he can be a little cocky sometimes, but he ain't that bad."
"i agree with evie. steve really isn't that bad. he just has his moments. maybe he wasn't havin' a good day, sandy," ellie tried to reason.
sandy scoffed, and evie looked up from her lap. "wait, what? what happened?"
"steve thinks it's cool to pick on elizabeth all the time, it's aggravating. like, sure, i get that it's probably fun for him, but he's gotta learn when to stop," sandy huffed.
"but he's nice most of the time, sandy, really," ellie said as melissa rubbed her arms consolingly.
"if ya say so, i'll agree for the sake of you two," sandy said, pointing at evie and ellie.
"ya know, evie, i noticed that steve talks to soda about you. and i'm pretty sure he likes you back. he's always sayin' how great of a person you are. but i never stick around long enough to hear if he actually does."
evie let out a soft laugh. "that's sweet."
melissa suddenly put two and two together. "wait a damn second. is this what rose knew back at the diner the other week? that you didn't want her to tell?"
evie nodded sheepishly. "yeah..."
melissa's eyebrows furrowed. "how'd she even know, if sandy didn't?"
evie sighed. "rose is... insightful. she's smart, ya know? she figures things out when you'd never expect anyone to. i'm not even completely sure on how she found out, cause i never said anything. i feel like she knew even before i did."
ellie leaned her head on melissa's shoulder and yawned. "is rose some sort of genius or something? cause when i was her age, i was strugglin' to braid my own hair."
"i'm starting to question it myself," sandy said with a slight smile growing upon her lips.
"i dunno, guys. rose don't seem all that genius to me. she can't even spell unresolved," melissa grinned.
"she's a better writer than you, melly," ellie teased.
"yeah, yeah, don't matter. at least i can spell unresolved."
for the next few minutes, ellie sat there, watching her three friends talk. the entire time, her mind couldn't help but revert to the conversation between steve and sandy.
she didn't want sandy to hate steve, they were supposed to be friends. after all, they hung out a lot along with evie and sodapop.
sodapop.
he looked so distressed this morning over something that could've easily been avoided. ellie couldn't help but feel bad for all of them.
evie, who likes the guy her best friend can't stand.
steve, who made a joke that didn't go over.
sandy, who didn't like to see her friends being mistreated.
and soda. poor soda, he just wanted everyone to get along. he was always in the middle of arguments between his brothers. or between steve and ponyboy. and now, sandy and steve.
she didn't want to see friendships fall apart, so, naturally her mind began to work, trying to find out how she could fix this.
if she could.
maybe she'd just speak out about it for the first time in her life.
"i dunno what's been up with everybody and the arguing," ellie told her mom later that day. "it's stressin' me out, mama."
mary mathews had the day off and was cooking dinner. two-bit had gone out with dally.
"sweetheart, friends argue. it's normal, they'll figure it out eventually," she said as she slid some potatoes into a pot. "could you get some tomatoes of out the fridge for me?"
ellie complied, putting the tomatoes on the cutting board. "but, mama, it's like having your siblings fight all the time over nothin'. if things go south from here, i'm gonna be stuck in the middle of several friends who don't like each other. i don't wanna have to hear them talk shi...bad about each other just cause they decided to stop bein' friends. cause, at the end of the day, i still love them all."
"i had many siblings, dear," ms. mathews said, chopping up the tomatoes. "arguments were inevitable. sometimes you just gotta wait it out."
"wait for it to get worse?"
"to get better. i know steve and sodapop, i watched them grow up together. they're inseparable, i don't think something like this will split those two up."
"but mama, you didn't see how upset soda looked. i've never seen him more mad at anyone, ever."
ms. mathews turned to face her daughter, one hand on her hip. "baby, soda's a human just as you and i are. he has emotions too, it's normal for him to get mad sometimes. are you feeling okay?" she asked, pressing the back of her hand to ellie's forehead.
"i'm fine, mama. physically, at least."
"okay, good, now go get washed up for dinner," she said, kissing the top of ellie's head.
ellie sighed and washed her hands. she observed her reflection staring back at her, frowning. she grabbed some bobby pins and twirled it up, attempting to replicate her mother's own style.
she failed quite miserably. it was wonky and lopsided, and with a sigh, she pulled the pins out, releasing her hair from the updo. she forced herself to smile, seeing her mothers features on her own face, but also features of a stranger.
someone she didn't recognize anymore.
she sometimes wondered how he was doing now, and hated herself for it. he left for a reason. ellie should forget about him, just as he wanted to forget about his family. it's what he wanted. so he left, and got it.
she saw his eyes in hew own. she closed her eyes and let out a sigh, trying to get him out of her mind.
live in the present.
but it is the present, right?
she loved him, and deep down, she knew she never truly hated him. she only hated herself for loving him. she used to believe that he'd return one day.
because he promised he would.
he was so convincing. but it's easy to convince a five year old girl. she knows better now.
he left without regret. if he wanted to come back, he would have. how did i end up here again? a teenage girl learning to be a woman. without his help. he's not relevant anymore.
a knock on the bathroom door startled her from her thoughts. two-bit's voice came from the other side. "ellie? you okay in there?"
she unlocked the door and opened it. "yeah, sorry. i zoned out."
two-bit watched her walk away with concern. his sister was worrying him time and time again lately, and he didn't like it.
he was hoping deep down inside that it was just him overthinking it. because she'd always been quiet and closed off, right? nothing out of the ordinary.
maybe she was just struggling to find her purpose?
god forbid she turned out like him. he remembered when he stopped caring about everything. now, the only thing he truly cares about are ellie, his mom, and the gang.
school doesn't matter, and neither does the law.
but he didn't want ellie to think that way. he could see that something was bothering her inside, and he's countlessly caught her staring at nothing, looking to be in a haze. he knew that she was arguing with her own thoughts.
it's unfortunate that she didn't think he cared, cause she wouldn't open up to someone who doesn't.
but he had to try. for the sake of his baby sister.
—
a/n: i'm back guys 🤑🤑