Chapter 2
Ella
Plans Are Set In Stone
“You honestly need to get out more,” Charlee urged, throwing herself onto the chair next to mine.
I was in my bedroom on my laptop, trying to finish up some last minute project for my psychology class. She had been bugging me to go to the mall with her for the past hour and a half, and I wasn’t anywhere near finished when she first barged into my room.
“I will, as soon as I finish this assignment,” I said, keeping my eyes trained on the words scrolling across my PowerPoint presentation. I needed an at least a C to pass this class and so far, I was steadying myself on an A-, which wasn’t too bad.
She threw her strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and let out a breath. “I hate waiting around for you.”
“Stop complaining. I’ll be done soon Char.”
While Charlee found amusement in eyeing her fresh manicure and tying thin braids over and over in her hair, I focused as hard as I could to finish so I could finally be done for the semester. After this spring semester was over, I had to be ready for the summer classes that I signed myself up for. I was determined to finish college early and get myself as far away as possible from Everest Hills.
“Done,” I sighed, saving my program and shutting the lid of the laptop. I looked over at Charlee as she beamed a bright smile. She picked her bag up off of the floor and slung it over her shoulder.
“You’re not going to class today?” I asked, raising a thin eyebrow.
She rolled her eyes at my concern for her academics. She always said I was like her second mother. “Nope. I emailed my professor my assignment and told him I had important matters to take care of.”
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “What important matters could you possibly have to take care of?”
“Important…shopping matters,” she said slowly, batting an eyelash at me. She knew I wasn’t going to be happy.
“I cannot believe you,” I sighed, grabbing my bag from the floor and following her out of the bedroom door of my apartment.
“Ella,” she whined. “Stop trying to make me feel bad, okay?”
“Your classes should come first if you plan on doing anything with your life,” I commented dryly.
Before leaving, I threw my long brown locks into a ponytail. I hadn’t had time to become presentable since this morning. I’d spent the whole morning working on my assignments so I could prepare for next semester. Then Charlee barged in sometime during the afternoon and wouldn’t even let me put a little mascara on.
“God, you always do that,” my best friend whined again. I swear she hadn’t matured a bit since she left high school.
Charlee and I have been best friends since kindergarten. We’d met while putting our backpacks in our cubby holes for the first time and we were inseparable since. Sure, we fought a lot but we always found a way back to each other again. These was mostly due to the fact that I was pressuring her into taking school seriously, when Char would rather knock back a few alcoholic beverages and hook up with boys rather than do an essay.
We were so different sometimes that it made me wonder how we made it this long as best friends.
“Not my fault I want you be able to leave with me after all of this,” I said, gesturing around the living room of my apartment.
I cringed a little when I saw pieces of crumbled notes on the floor and a half eaten plate of pizza sitting on the coffee table. The papers were strewn around the trash bin, never having actually made it into the bin itself. I also noticed a few crushed up soda cans and coffee mugs that were empty on the side table. I really did zone out when I was doing school work. I completely forgot to clean up the mess I had made last night before passing out on the couch.
“Hey, I want to leave Everest as much as you do. I can’t help it if school bores the shit out of me,” she snapped, popping her gum loudly. As she protested more, telling me how much she really did care about her life, I cleaned up the few out of place items.
It had been my dream to become a therapist to children for as long as I can remember. I’d always had this knack for giving out advice and it made me feel good when others reported back with good news thanks to me. Ever since I found out I could help kids in different ways than doctors could, I strived to make something of myself everyday. I passed all of my high school classes with straights A’s and was the valedictorian of our graduating class. I even got a full ride to Everest Hills and a degree waiting for me at the end of the run.
I was determined to get the hell out of here afterwards, especially after the fiasco with my older sister, Lacey and some idiot named Dylan Fouler. I needed my life to be drama free for the next five years so I could get my Masters and leave this city for good. For others, Everest Hills was a beautiful place, physically speaking.
It was named after its lush trees and mountain areas. Everywhere you went, the sun was hidden behind grassy green leaves and tall trees. It was usually known for its beautiful weather in the springtime and it was often a place for tourists in the summer. The neighborhoods were mostly suburban with typical families of a set of parents, their 1.2 children and a golden retriever in the window. All of the homes were formed in bright red bricks and wooden porches. Not one family had a muddy covered lawn, but more of a grassy expansion that seemed to go on for ages.
Everest was mostly quiet in the night time, the chirps of crickets or cicada bugs only softly heard through open windows. It was known for its low crime rates and safe schools scattered at street ends. The only violence that actually occurred in the neighborhoods was verbal, because no one knew how to keep things to themselves. Our neighborhood could belong on a magazine cover if needed. But when you have lived here all your life, the scenery and the people became so tiring.
From the insider’s perspective, it could be a draining experience with the people that surround you on an everyday basis. It was one of those small towns where everyone knew you and there wasn’t a face you couldn’t have seen before. People were always in your business and you couldn’t keep a secret to save your life. It could often be described as one giant high school where everyone was just dying to become part of the popular crowd by spilling secrets they weren’t to.
I’d spent enough years here that I’d grown disgusted by it, and I’d had enough of it.
So that’s why I made it my mission to pass every class I could in college and make sure Charlee did too. I wasn’t going to leave my best friend behind in a place like this.
“You know I only want the best for you,” I noted, knocking her shoulder with mine as we walked out of my door and towards my car.
“I know,” she sighed. “I just wish I hadn’t chosen a major that took up so much of my time. I need to relax!”
Charlee was part of a conservative family who had pretty much paved the way of life for her, showing her that the only practical thing she could do was become a doctor. The only thing she could choose on her own was what field of medicine she wanted to practice, but that was about all she could do. They had even chosen the college they wanted her to attend. The Carlile’s were pretty set in stone on what they wanted their only daughter to become and they would stop at nothing to get her there. This left her stuck studying to become a pediatrician until she was in her late twenties.
“My parents suck,” she sighed before jumping into the passenger’s seat of my bright red Ford Explorer. She closed the door gently, knowing that this car was my baby. I would potentially freak out if she did anything to hurt it.
“They just want what’s best for you,” I said, starting the engine. “That’s what parents are for.”
“God, could you be nineteen for five seconds,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes again. “I swear, it’s like I’m best friends with a thirty year old.”
My attitude was something Charlee complained about quite frequently. I had the mind and maturity of a thirty year old and knew how to prioritize well. I knew what I had to do to achieve my dream and I wasn’t going to be lazy about it. Just because I chose to stay in on Friday nights to finish school work instead of drown my problems in alcohol, she thought I could pass off for her mother. I liked to have fun; I just knew what was more important.
After a half hour drive from my apartment to the mall, I was pretty sure Charlee was drained of complaints for the next few days. She had talked my ear off the entire way there about her problems with her parents, her laziness to go to class, and her most recent boy toy and how he wasn’t calling her back. It shocked me sometimes, the things she chose to get so worked up about.
And I was the one who wasn’t fun anymore.
We made our way down the walkways to some of Charlee’s favorite stores as she picked up new clothes were her parents never ending debit card. The was the only thing she seemed to enjoy when it came to her parents, the money they gave her in return for her compliance to their wishes, was endless.
As she was about to walk into a small boutique called Lilies and Laces, we were both stopped by a fiery red head boy with anxious movements. I widened my eyes as he started to speak furiously fast and arms moved around dramatically.
“Whoa fireball, slow down,” Charlee said, raising a hand. He stopped almost immediately and waited for her to continue. “What do you want again?”
He took a deep breath and started slowly this time. “I’m supposed to be promoting our songs to girls. Well so Wyatt tells me. Would you like to listen to our stuff?” He seemed very jumpy and almost as if he was wishing he could leave this very instant.
“Are you okay? You seem…anxious,” I asked, sending him a concerned look. His eyes flashed to mine and he nodded quickly.
“Matty, why are you bugging these gorgeous ladies? They obviously have better things to do,” a blonde man said, as he came up next to the red head, throwing an arm around his shoulders. He was the epitome of a player and reminded me so well of a certain boy named Dylan Fouler.
“Well you told me we needed a bigger girl fanbase. They’re obviously girls so,” he spoke quickly, trying to shrug the blonde’s shoulder off of his arm. The blonde wasn’t budging a bit. He still eyed us with a smug grin on his face.
“Well do they like us?” he asked, not even bothering to look at this said Matty boy. He was looking back and forth between me and Charlee the whole time.
“They haven’t said anything yet. You came over before I could hand them a headphone,” he snapped, agitatedly. It was clear that that the two didn’t get along well at all.
“Would you beautiful girls like to hear some kick ass music?” the blonde questioned. Charlee raised an eyebrow curiously at him for only a second before simply nodding her head. He smiled widely as he handed her a pair of headphones from Matty’s hands.
She listened carefully, holding the headphones against her ears. As she bobbed her blonde head along to the music, she grinned widely. “Pretty awesome,” she yelled over the noise.
I was still suspicious of the two, wondering why they were parading music around a mall on a Friday afternoon. Didn’t they have better things to do?
“Who’s the singer? His voice is amazing,” she cooed, still bobbing along. I rolled my eyes at her lame attempts at catching another boy. She always acted like it was the end of the world if there wasn’t a pretty boy she could run to.
“His name’s Jag. I would say you could meet him, but he’s busy right now. But I’m Wyatt, I play guitar,” he grinned, holding a hand out for Char to take.
He acted as though his title of guitar player suddenly made him second best. I was sure that he used his musical talent to pick up girls quite often. She gladly complied as they both smiled at each other. He held onto her hand longer than normal before letting go and rubbing Matty’s head affectionately. Matty looked more annoyed than before.
“This here is Matty our drummer,” he commented, messing up his bright red locks. Matty smacked his arm away and rubbed a hand over his head to smooth it out.
Wyatt focused his attention on me now, pushing the headphones my way. I shook my head and pushed them back in his direction. “That’s okay,” I said.
“Aw, come on. We need more pretty girls like you at our shows. We just got signed and we’re trying to get a bigger fan base before we release a record,” he urged, trying to push the headphones back to me.
“I’m fine, thanks,” I protested, holding my hands up.
Wyatt didn’t budge and continued to grin at the both of us. “Well will you at least promise to look us up online?”
“I’ll download your stuff, sure,” Charlee butted in, looking a little too excited. Wyatt winked at her and then turned his attention to me again.
I looked over at Charlee and she gave me a look that read, ‘He’s hot, don’t ruin this.’ I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to the cocky blonde in front of me. Matty was beginning to become my favorite because he was so silent.
“Fine, I’ll check you guys out online,” I sighed, giving up.
“Thanks ladies,” Wyatt winked, going to shake our hands. “Maybe we’ll see you guys at a show soon?”
Charlee nodded eagerly while she shook his hand. It was like she couldn’t stop flirting with a boy who was even two feet away from her. She never gave up on possible prospects.
He went to shake my hand and I ripped it from his when he tried to hold onto it longer than he should. He didn’t drop the stupid smug grin from his face at all as he walked away. Charlee watched him with adorning eyes and I pushed her shoulder to snap her back into reality.
“What?” she scoffed, pushing me off.
“Come on, idiot,” I went to say, but she cut me off as she yelled into the direction of the retreating boys.
“Wait, what are you guys called? You never told us!”
Wyatt turned around and yelled, “Fight the Fury,” before smiling and waving at her again. She waved back longingly and turned back to me with a look of euphoria in her eyes.
“Oh my god, he’s so cute!” she squeaked.
She kept ranting on like a petty fan girl about his looks and the way he called her gorgeous for what seemed like hours. I dragged her by the arm into the store before I became too fed up and wanted to leave.
“And that Jag boy’s voice is incredible, Ella. My god, his voice could melt any heart. Even yours!” she piped up, smiling at me playfully.
“I’m not cold hearted!” I snapped, fingering a pink and grey striped blouse from the rack.
“But ever since Dylan you’ve been avoiding boys like they carry some sort of disease,” she noted, playing with a blue laced bandeau.
“Some of them actually do,” I quipped, eyeing her carefully. “That blonde one sure as hell probably did.”
“Hey, he was sweet!” she protested, throwing the bandeau down and glaring at me.
“And so hot,” I mocked her, fanning my face for effect. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed.
“You’re no fun, Ella Montgomery,” she said, before walking near a rack of skinny jeans.
“You always say that,” I laughed, walking up behind her. I picked up a light distressed pair and a pair of plain looking ones before walking up to the register.
Charlee was rapidly texting away on her phone while I paid, and she smiled widely when it beeped again in her hand.
“Ah!” she squealed. I jumped a few inches from the floor when I grabbed my bag from the counter.
“What?” I sighed. “You just made my heart jump in my chest!”
“Sorry!” she quickly said, before returning to typing back on her phone. “There’s a party tonight at Luke Oliver’s apartment. Everyone around campus is going. And I just got invited!”
“And your point? You go to parties all the time,” I noted, walking out of the store and towards the exit doors. I’d had enough shopping for one day and was ready to return back to my books at home. I still had one more project to get done before the semester ended.
“Luke Oliver is pretty much the hottest boy on campus right now. And I’m taking you with me!” she squealed, threading her arm with mine as we walked towards my car.
“No you’re not,” I simply stated, throwing the bag in the car.
“You’re going with me to this party, Ella. You need to get out more! Stop stressing over school for once,” she whined as she put her seatbelt on.
“I do get out!” I protested.
“No. You don’t. I’m taking you to this party whether you like it or not,” she stated in a final tone.
“Did I ever tell you how much I hate you?” I asked, gripping the steering wheel firmly. This was going to mess up my schedule to get my spring semester work done. A stupid party was not at the top of my list for tonight.
“You love me,” she quipped, a smile spreading across her lips. “You never know, this party could change everything for you.”
“It’s a party,” I deadpanned. Did she honestly think a party held the plans for my future? I had already planned out everything for my future, and nothing was going to change that.
“You never know,” she sang, playing with a lock of her hair as we drove off.
I could already tell this wasn’t going to be good.