After French class I walked to my locker to grab my bag and head home. I was lucky that I only had to finish my math homework and I had to think of what to do for my art project. I was going to go home, finish my homework, go to work and then go to bed. I was so exhausted from the day that I just wanted it to be over.
“Chloe!” a flash of red was running towards me. Sarah stopped in front of me out of breath.
“I was looking for you everywhere!” she panted.
“You were?” I wasn’t use to people looking for me. I was more use to people forgetting I even existed.
“Yeah” she said “listen. Huge problem. The art club is down a few people and Ms. Berwick is going to cut the club if we don’t get a few more people signed up by the end of the week.”
“I’m really sorry Sarah” I told her “I cant I have work.”
“But it’s only for an hour and a half two days a week” she told me “plus it gives you extra time to work on any assignments.”
I looked at my clock. It was two fifteen now, meaning that the club would go until three forty-five. I would still have two hours and fifteen minutes before I had to get to work, giving me a few hours to finish up my homework.
“Well” I said. She pouted at me as a sign of begging. I rolled my eyes “fine. But as long as it’s worth my time”
She jumped up and down and hugged me awkwardly. I hated when people touched me.
“I promise you it’ll be fun!” she said with glee. I smiled at the huge smile she wore across her face.
“So when do we meet?” I asked her
“Mondays and Wednesdays in the art room” she said to me.
“Alright” I told her. “I'll be there in a couple minutes I just have to do a few things first.”
She nodded and I headed off to find Keegan to tell him the news and that I wouldn’t need a ride home from Susan. I found him waiting on a bench outside, talking to Emily and a few other kids I didn't know.
“Keegan!” I called after him. He turned around and looked at me.
“I joined the art club.” I told him “but do you think Susan will be able to come pick me up at around three forty-five?”
“Why don’t you just ask Eli to bring you home?” he asked me “I mean, he has Hockey practice until then anyways. He can just bring you home.”
“Where can I find him?” I asked Keegan.
“He’s probably in practice now. Ill text him and he’ll get it after practice. Ill text you if he can’t bring you home or anything.”
I thanked Keegan and walked back into the school and made my way into the art room, to find a few people sitting around the tables drawing, with some soft music playing in the background. I noticed Sarah sitting with a group of girls and sat down at the empty seat, and took my sketch book out of my bag.
“Hey Chloe!” Sarah said smiling “these are my friends, Addison and Victoria.”
“Hi” they said in unison. Addison had brown hair, and was a little overweight, while Victoria had Blond hair and hazel eyes.
“So what took you so long?” Sarah asked me.
“Sorry” I felt bad for taking so long “I just had to figure out how I was getting home”
I said home slowly. Although over the past few days my life has dramatically increased, it was still weird to think of it as home.
“Well do you need a ride?” Sarah asked confused “because I can drop you off on my way home.”
“Its okay” I told her “Eli’s dropping me off. He has hockey so we’re just going to go home together after”
She smiled at me and continued drawing. The art room was so peaceful at this time. There were only about five kids in the room, making it almost empty compared to 25 student classes. I started to draw a tiger in my sketchbook.
Time in the room seemed to pass so quickly that soon it was time to go home. I put my sketchbook in my bag and headed to find Eli. The hallways weren’t completely empty, but empty enough that you didn't have to plow through the mounds of students to find someone.
I spotted Eli filling up his water bottle and walked up to him. I swear, every time I saw him he seemed to get more and more attractive. As I walked closer to him, butterflies filled my stomach.
Oh god. I couldn’t have a crush on him. He was one of the only guys I have actually felt comfortable around. He’s my cousin and friends best friend.
“Hey Chloe!” he said to me when he noticed me. He was a little sweaty but it didn't bother me.
“Hi” I smiled back at him. “You got Keegan's message right?”
“Yeah” he said “but I can’t bring you home. I guess you have to walk”
He started laughing when he saw my jaw drop. When I realized he was joking I rolled my eyes.
“God Chloe,” he said “you are so gullible, you know that?”
“Well I’m sorry!” I said, putting emphasis on the sorry. “But in case you didn't know by now, I don’t exactly have any friends.”
“Now when you say that, are you being sarcastic?” he asked me “or are you serious.”
“I’m one hundred and twenty percent serious” I told him
“You’re lying” he told me, smiling.
“How do you know?” I teased. “You barely know anything about me.”
“Because I’m your friend” he told me. I smiled. I felt the tears welling up in my eyes. After seventeen years of being alone and afraid, I finally had friends. Eli pulled me in for a hug. And for the first time, I accepted a hug. He pulled me in tightly and stroked my hair. I could feel the tears rolling down my face.
“Its okay” he said to me softly “whatever happened in your past is done with. You don’t have to worry about it any longer.”
We walked together to his car and I hoped into the passenger seat, and he drove out of the parking lot. He fiddled with the radio before he settled on a station. I looked out the window the entire ride. It wasn’t an awkward silence; in fact, it was the most comfortable kind of silence there was.
He pulled up in front of the house and I unbuckled my seatbelt. It was so nice of him to drive me home on such short notice.
“Hey Chloe,” he said smiling “listen, on Friday, Keegs and Em are going out so I was wondering... do you...um... want to just, you know hang at my place? You know, only if you want to.”
I smiled and rolled my eyes. “actually.” I told him “I have plans. You know me, super popular, places to go, people to see.”
He smiled. “So I take that as I yes then?”
“Of course.” I told him. I thanked him and walked into the house. I took my shoes off at the front door and ran up to my room, and watched as his car disappeared down the street. I flopped down on the bed and smiled. Eli was such an amazing friend to me. I stared up at the ceiling and wondered how I even made it here.
At five to six Keegan dropped me off at Sophie’s and as usual, he had to come in, grab a coffee, and steal some time with Emily. Today there weren’t that many people in the cafe, so Emily and I had tons of time to chat about different things and get to know each other.
“Eli told me he invited you over Friday” Emily said to me as we cleaned up
“Yeah” I said, trying to act casual, but I was still extremely excited.
“You know, he really likes you” she told me. “Well I don’t know about if he like-likes you, but he defiantly wants to be your friend. Can you just promise me one thing if you guys do end up taking it to the next level?”
“Sure” I told her. Emily looked serious, but at the same
“Don’t hurt him” she said sincerely “he’s been through so much, more than most people. He’s like a brother to me and I couldn’t stand to see anything else happen to him. You understand, right?”
“Of course” I told her softly. Whatever Eli went through must have been bad. It didn't bother me too much that I didn't know. I didn't even know if I wanted to know. In a weird way, it made me feel normal, like I wasn’t the only kid with a crappy past. I would never hurt Eli.
After work Emily dropped me off at the house and I quickly took a shower and changed into my pajamas. The day had been too long and full of excitement. So many new faces and places, it was too much for someone who had been in such a bad place for so long. I walked downstairs to see Susan drinking some tea and working quietly on the computer.
“What are you doing?” I asked her, sitting beside her at the kitchen table.
“Just working on some things for the fair.” She said calmly, and continued looking blankly at the screen. I decided to leave her alone to get the work done, considering it was a lot of work to get a fair up and running.
“Chloe?” she said, just before I left the room. “I need your opinion”
I nodded and walked back over to the computer, where I was shown a pamphlet.
“Were going to be handing these out at the entrance of the fair, so people can see the different events going on and where they’re going to be located.”
I nodded, absorbing this information. The pamphlet looked very nice, similar to one you might see at an amusement park.
“Do you think it’s too cluttered?” she asked me “is there too much writing? I've been trying to make this absolutely perfect but I don’t know what else to do to it.”
“Its perfect” I told her “really, I mean it. It’s easy to read, and there’s practically no writing on it so you can see where something is at first glance. Defiantly not cluttered.”
“When is the fair?” I asked her curiously.
“Sunday” she said “and I only have five more days to prepare! I hope Melissa finished making the banner.”
I smiled. My aunt did love this town. She dedicated so much time making sure this fair was absolutely perfect. My aunt smiled back at me and closed the top of her computer.
“I love having you around Chloe” she told me. “You are so much like your mother. So genuine and caring, just like she was”
“If she was so amazing, then why did she leave?” I asked my aunt softly. It was the one thing that didn't make any sense to me. Susan had told me she was an amazing person. But how could she leave her children? Sure my dad wasn’t violent or into gambling while they were together, but it never made sense to me why she didn't take us.
“I don’t know” she told me “I really wish I knew. I cannot picture Lori doing that to her kids. She always wanted kids. But then she took off one day with your father, and got married, having Marcus not even a year later. She called me and told me about him, and how small he was, and then she did the same when you were born. She even brought the two of you up here once. You were a tiny little thing! But then the calls stopped suddenly, and I hadn’t heard of her until I got the call from my mom about you.”
“When was the last time you heard from her?” I asked curiously.
“Probably about the same time she left” she told me. She then sighed. “It’s hard on me. I use to look up to her so much. She was always the one who got everything. But now, thinking about what she did to you and you Marcus, I hate her for that.”
“I miss her” I whispered to my aunt. It was true. After everything she had done, I just wanted to know her. I hated her, but at the same time I needed her. She’s my mother, and I needed to know who she was.
“I do too” my aunt admitted “my parents have tried tracking her down, but we have no idea where she is or anything. And it breaks my heart to see you without a mother”
“It’s alright” I told her “you’re just as great as one.”
I walked up to my room and lay on my bed, looking at my phone. I already had a few numbers programmed in. Emily, Keegan, Susan, Garrett, Colton, Sarah, and Eli.
Eli
Whenever I thought of him I got butterflies in my stomach, and I couldn’t help but smile. I’d never really had a crush on anyone before, or maybe I had and I just chose to ignore it because no one would want to date a girl who isn’t loved. But no one knows about my past here. They treat me as Chloe the new girl, and not Chloe the neglected girl.
The next few days went by quickly, and soon I found Friday, the day I had been waiting for all week, rolling around. Now that it was the school year, Emily and I only had to work Monday through Thursday, though we could go in on the weekends for some overtime. Emily told me she usually did when she didn't have anything to do, but this weekend, we were jam packed. Friday was Emily’s date with Keegan, and I was going over to Eli’s for the first time. Then on Saturday we had to get all our homework done, plus Keegan and I were going to help Susan set up at the park for the fair on Sunday.
After school, I followed Eli to his car. I was going over strait after school. Over the past few days, we had gotten to know each other fairly well, but there was a part of Eli I didn't know. The part that Susan and Emily kept indirectly telling me about. Then again, there was a part of me that Eli didn't know either. The part of me that no one here knew.
“Ready?” he asked me as we got into his car, I nodded. He backed out of the school parking lot and turned left, the opposite way to get to Keegan's house.
“Beware of my family” he told me “there...interesting”
“How so?” I asked him. He just shook his head.
“You’ll see.” He said “and I should also warn you that they might...suspect were dating or something. You’re the only girl I've brought to the house aside from Emily, and she’s like my sister.”
I nodded. It made me feel special to know that Emily and I were the only girls he brought over. But I had to keep reminding myself that we were only friends. He drove for another five minutes, and pulled into a subdivision. The houses were large, much larger than Keegan’s. The trees were much larger than anywhere else around the town. Eli turned onto a dirt road and continued up a large driveway. It was there I spotted the massive house. It was at least three stories tall with large pillars that reached up to the top. It was the biggest house Id seen in my life.
“You live here?” I turned to look at him. Eli was rich? He defiantly didn't seem like the type of guy who had tons of money. He wasn’t cocky or anything. He was perfect.
He pulled up in front of one of the garages and I stepped out of the car. I suddenly felt self conscious. What if his family didn't like me? I guessed they knew about me moving in with my aunt, but would they look down on me? If they were anything like Eli, I knew the answer would be no.
He led me to the front door and we walked in. the front entrance felt so grand, with two chairs and a large chandelier in the center. I took off my shoes and followed him into the kitchen.
There was a girl in there that looked around twenty in the kitchen on a laptop. She looked up as she heard us walk through the archway.
“Hey Eli” she said. She was very pretty, but there was something about her that was off. It was the same thing with Eli. They both had this smile on all the time, but at the same time they seemed gloomy.
“Hey” he said back “this is my friend Chloe. Chloe, this is my big sister Hailey”
“Hi” I said awkwardly. She smiled at me.
“Hi Chloe” she said. Then she turned to Eli “mom just went out to get some dinner. Were having Chinese. She’ll be back in like twenty minutes or so”
He nodded. “And dad?”
Hailey shook her head. “He’s coming home late.”
Eli nodded, like he was use to this news.
“So are you two dating?” Hailey asked excited. Eli’s face turned bright red. I’m sure mine did too.
“No” he said “we’re just friends.”
She cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. Eli just rolled his eyes at his sister’s gesture.
“Come Chloe” he said to me “let me show you around.”
I nodded and we walked around the house. It was larger than it looked from the outside. He showed me every room, which was decorated with antique furniture and many paintings. I couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to grow up in a house like this.
“And this is my room” he said as we approached the last room down the long hallway upstairs. He opened the door and we walked into the blue room. There was a large bed with blue sheets on it, along with a couch and a television. He had shelves of hockey trophies and pictures.
I walked over to the couch and sat down. He sat beside me. I focused my eyes on him and nothing else, because nothing else mattered. He smiled at me. My heart was going 100 miles per hour.
“What do you want to do?” he asked me. I shrugged.
“I know” he said to me “let's go downstairs and find a movie to watch or something”
“Sounds good” I said, and I followed him down the stairs and into the living room, where there was a shelf full of movies. We ended up settling on the first Harry Potter movie, because Eli insisted that I needed to see it. We started walking back upstairs, when we heard the slam of the door.
“I’m home!” called a voice. Eli and I walked over to the entrance way to find a woman, who was most likely Eli and Hailey’s mother, Melissa Farlow.
“Hey mom” Eli said “this is Chloe, Keegan’s cousin and my friend”
“Oh,” she said, handing the bags of food to Hailey “yes, Susan has told me lots about you. Nice to finally meet you”
“You too” I smiled at her. She had the same dark brown hair that Eli had, along with tired, sad looking eyes. I was so curious to find out why they looked so sad, but at the same time, I felt that if I knew, I would feel terrible for wanting to know so badly.
Eli and I made plates of food and took them upstairs to his room, to watch harry potter. After we finished the movie we talked for hours. Eli was so easy to talk to. The words just flew out of my mouth and it was so easy to keep a conversation running. His laugh was priceless. The perfect sound that made me smile.
At around ten Eli grabbed the keys off the table to bring me home. I said goodbye to Hailey and Melissa, and we walked out of the house. I wondered if it was normal for Eli not to have his father home before 10, as I didn't get to meet him tonight.
As we pulled up in front of the house and I unbuckled my seatbelt. The night was perfect, almost as perfect as a date with him would’ve been. I was so happy that Eli and I were becoming good friends.
“Hey Chlo” he said to me “are you coming to the fair Sunday?”
I nodded “Keegan and I are going early to help out.”
He smiled at me “me too”
I said goodbye to Eli and walked into the house. It was dead silent. Shay was definitely in bed by now, and Susan might have crashed early because she was going down to the park to start setting up the booths and games for Sunday. I walked into my room and changed into my pajamas, crawled into bed, and slowly, my eyes drooped shut.
heey sorry this took so long to upload! ive been super busy the past couple days and couldnt write very much. so what did you think? cant wait for the next chapter! the fair! yay! exciting stuff believe me! feel free to leave any questions or comments down below for me and i'll be sure to reply! thanks for reading!