"Darling, I thought maybe it's time you rejoin-" I cut off my mom.
"No", I bit into my toast and scrambled eggs.
"You didn't even-" I cut her off again as she sipped her coffee. "Oh, I know what you're going to say. That's why I cut you off" I continued eating.
"It's just socialising is good for you to make some new friends," she said. "I talk to Zach Dempsey", I replied. "Oh he's one of Bryce's friends right? Good, maybe some female friends what about Sheri?" I put my plate in the sink. "Mom one day at a time okay" I kissed her cheek.
"You have a nail appointment later by the way," she informed me. "Thank you."
I smiled seeing my boyfriend but frowned cause he was with Tyler again. I have nothing against him, but god, I miss my man.
Mr Porter called Tyler, so we're getting alone time finally.
"No smile today? You look beautiful" he hugged me. "Thanks. I would be better if I had you with me," I confessed, walking with him. "Sorry about that Tyler has just been having a rough time and he's actually really cool to be around", he told me, chuckling a bit. "I can tell based off of the matching shirts."
"Yeah. How are you? Is everything sorted out with your parents?" He asked. "Yeah I suppose so, for now, I just kind of feel like last year is repeating itself it's unnecessarily stressful", I pouted. "Hey don't say that I'm not going anywhere, your gonna be okay Ella. I promise" I squeezed his side.
"What's going on with you and the jock?" He asked, "Nothing just studying" I shrugged. "You can study with me."
"Can I? What about Tyler" I looked up at him. He looked a bit annoyed. "It's not like that Cyrus, I promise. Your everything I could want" I took a seat. He nodded. I leaned over and kissed his cheek.
~Library~
"Fucking Ryan Shaver. Every single kid who's gone to court has completely skated." Tyler grumbled angrily. I rolled my eyes. "No one has admitted what they did. It's just me. I'm the only one." He continued sounding defeated. "What exactly do you consider the truth, Tyler? I told the truth whether you believe it or not that's your business," I declared bluntly.
"I didn't mean it like that Ella. I'm sorry," Tyler recanted. "It's fine just be careful with how you say stuff there's always two sides to the story, I'm not saying they're wrong or right, but just you know to be careful please," I said gently.
"Yeah, that Ryan is a fucking tool", Cyrus interjects, squeezing my feet currently on his lap. I giggled, grateful he was easing the tension, "Worst kind of gay", Chad said. "I mean, I didn't mean that because he's gay," Tyler said sympathetically.
"Oh, I did," Chad said matter of factly, looking annoyed. "He's fucking shallow and pretentious, and he fucking dresses gay every day. Classic homo," he scoffed. "Chad's also gay, FYI. Hence, he can say shit the rest of us can't," Cyrus added in.
"And if you ever want to fuck with him, there's an app for that." He started typing away on the keyboard. We leaned in to see. "You guys can't be serious that's kind of mean," I said, leaning back in my chair. "He deserves it", Tyler replied. "Come on, Ella it would be fun," Cyrus said.
"Okay fine, but I better not get in trouble" I heard my phone chime.
Zach
Can we study later?
Ella
Not sure yet.
"Who's that?" Cyrus asked. "Zach he wants to know if we can study later", I replied, scratching my forehead. "Are you going to go?" He asked. "Not sure" I shrugged. "After this, I can promise you a great date," he said, smirking. "How great?"
He leaned into me and whispered in my ear, "Me, you, my sofa and food" I laughed so loud "Very tempting. I've been convinced."
Ella
Sorry, raincheck. Something just came up.
Tomorrow?
Zach
It's fine. I have PT with Alex
I have court tomorrow. So I'll let you know
~At Monet's~
I sipped on a smoothie.
This wasn't funny anymore, just sad.
The guys couldn't stop laughing, though. Ryan turned and looked our way; they looked away, laughing even more. I noticed Tony walked over to him, and I smiled a bit. I never want to see people suffering.
"We should go the fun's over," Chad said sadly. "Yeah Ella and I need alone time," Cryus said, pulling me closer to him. "Yeah", I smiled at him. "Bye guys", I hugged Chad. When I went to hug Tyler, he seemed shocked "Do you not do hugs?" I asked.
"No, it's just", he mumbled. I smiled, realising he was nervous. "That's okay, Tyler. Fist bump?" I held up my closed knuckle. He smiled, bumping me back. "Bye, Ella," he said.
"Oof", I let out, falling back onto Cyrus' couch, "I always feel better after showering." Cyrus sat down, pulling me closer to him throwing a blanket over me. "You smell better too" he pinched my nose we laughed at his joke. He put on Me Before You, one of my all-time favourites.
At this moment, I felt better eating grilled cheese sandwiches cuddled up with my boyfriend. "If I was in a wheelchair, would you wipe my ass?" He asked.
"Oh hell no", I laughed.
~Next Day~
I was able to stop attending ASS-class cause it's Mr Porter's second time MIA, and other people didn't have to attend. Today was going to be a slow day unless I take an extra class.
I sat with Alex, Clay and Tony at lunch today. "Can I have one?"I pointed to Tony's baby carrots, and he nodded his head. "So what did your doctor say, Alex?" Clay asked him. "I'm sorry, I tried, but they're not gonna let me testify." He replied.
"Shit", Clay cursed, "Did the doctor say why?" He pressed, "Maybe cause it's too stressful", I replied.
Suddenly Clay got up. "Justin!" he mumbled.
What? Justin. I haven't seen him well in forever. I turned around, and yeah, there he was shabby and homeless-looking, but that was him.
"Hey Jess. I missed you. Can we go somewhere else to talk, alone?" He asked. "No." She replied, looking scared. "I came back for you. It's the only reason why I'm here." I made eye contact with Bryce. Did he know? "If you want me to stay, I promise you I'm here for good. Look, if you want me to go, I'll go. Forever, this time." He said nervously.
"You said that before." She replied, "I...I tried to go away. I tried to forget about you. I...I tried so fucking hard, but I can't stop thinking about you."
"Yeah, I think about you, too. And I wish you were dead." She replied. Wow, see, this is why I don't like her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you more." He said, sadly turning around. He stopped seeing Bryce. "You." I noticed Monty advancing on him.
But he just fell. "Justin!" I yelled, running towards him
"Justin"
"Justin, wake up!"
"Wake up. Wake up. Justin." Tony and Clay rolled him over. "Fuck," Tony said.
"Yeah we gotta get him back to my house," Clay said to Tony. "No, I can't do this anymore. Okay? I'm out" What are they talking about. I looked at Justin's face sadly. "What do you mean you're out?" Clay asked, "There is no 'we', okay?" Tony replied harshly.
"Hey! He can stay at my house just let's go please," Clay looked at me. "We gotta get him out of here", Tony said. They helped him up, and we walked out of the cafeteria.
"Ella get the door please," Clay said to me. "What do I need to get him? Oh my god, he looks like pure shit" I scrunched up my nose. "Thanks, alot Ella like I don't already fucking know," Justin groaned.
"Hey, you shut the hell up!" Tony yelled at Justin, "It's okay Ella. Go in my car. I'll drive you back to school," he told me.
I kiss Justin's cheek. "I'm here for you okay" he nodded his head. I left the room thinking. I really hope Tony tells me.
~Back at school~
Cyrus💣
Hey I'm doing something later with Tyler. I'll call you when I'm home
I rolled my eyes, of course.
Zach
Just left the courthouse can we hang out after practice?
Ella
Yes.
I walked out of my last class for the day when I bumped into Zach. "Oh hey I was going to wait outside on the bleachers for you" he shook his head. "I'm actually going out. I can't deal with the guys today. Coming?" "Yeah"
"Nice car," I told him. "Thanks."
"What the fuck!" I heard a loud voice yell. I turned to see Clay looking royally pissed off. "Why would you say all of that? You just made everything worse for her." He said angrily, "I didn't mean to. Clay, I swear to God, it's not a lie. I'm sorry."
"So how come no one knew about it?" Clay asked, "You were out of town last summer" Zach replied, "It wasn't on your tape." I rolled my eyes. "She put everything on your tape? Come on Clay stop fucking freaking out all the goddamn time!" I yelled at him, upset with his behaviour.
He seemed to get more mad. "You didn't deserve her," He said, staring Zach down. "I know. I'm sorry," Zach said sadly. "Fuck you. You just go to hell." Harsh Clay
"Clay, come on, man." Zach tried talking to him, "Get the fuck out of here!" Clay yelled in his face. "Zach, let's just go", I pleaded. He slowly nodded and got in the car then we drove off. "God I cannot stand Clay sometimes like we just had to make sure Justin was okay."
"Wait, you saw him?" Zach asked. "Yeah, he looks like shit. I think he could be using" I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Shit. What do you want to eat?" He asked, "Huh?"
"We're not studying. I'm stressed, your stressed, I haven't eaten since this morning, and I have PT with Alex later," he replied. "Pizza."
~Local Pizza Place~
"Here you go half meat, half vegetarian" the waitress placed the pizza in front of us. "Thanks", I smiled. I took a napkin, pulled out a piece and bit into it. He started laughing at me. "What?" I asked, giggling. "You have sauce..." he reached over and wiped my lip. "That's so embarrassing" I wiped my mouth with a napkin.
"No, it's cute", he smirked. We talked for a while. "Do you remember when we were younger for valentine's day, you made me cupcakes?" he asked, drinking his soda. "Mm, yes I do, then you shared them out to everyone" I drank my water.
"Hey, I couldn't eat them all", he tried to defend himself. "Yeah, I know cause your a nice guy," I emphasised with my fingers. "Wow, okay, Ella hurt..." he placed his hand on his chest. "Just for the record I liked you alot, but I was afraid to tell you because of Bryce you know." I looked at him, confused.
"Sorry, that was out of timing. I shouldn't have brought it up," he mumbled. "No, it's fine. I liked you too" I felt my phone buzz. Oh, shoot, my nail appointment. "Oh cool cool", he took out his wallet to pay. I took out my purse. "Nah, it's fine" he gently pushed my hand away.
"Can you give me a ride to the nail salon?" I asked. "Yeah sure", I smiled. "Let me just use the bathroom first."
~Later that night~
"You know if you stare at it harder, I highly doubt anything would happen either way just saying," I looked up to see my mom with a wine glass in her hand. "Hilarious mom. I'm waiting on Cyrus to call me" she looked around. "Why?"
"Cause he said he was going too duh," I said as if it wasn't obvious. "Mhmm call him. It's almost bedtime" she patted my shoulder, walking off. Fine. It rang for a while, but the voice was different.
Mackenzie: Hey Ella
Ella: Hey Mac. Is Cyrus okay?
Mackenzie: Oh yeah, he's fine. He just um drank too much with Tyler and passed out.
Ella: Oh, ok. Let him know I called, please
Mackenzie: Sure. Bye
Ella: Bye