Ellie stayed home for most of the weekend. Her friends came over during the weekend, but other than that, she didn't do much.
When she went to school on Monday, she went to her locker first. She didn't try to find Aaron and Anthony. She spent the entire weekend thinking of what they told her weeks earlier about Farkle and how he looks at her.
They were right. She did like Farkle. She did have feelings for him.
There was one problem: she cared too much about Farkle and their friendship then admit her feelings to him.
Her repressing her feelings only led to her feelings growing stronger.
"El, what's wrong?" Aaron asked when he got to her.
"Nothing," Ellie lied.
Aaron raised his eyebrows knowing that it was a lie.
"It's nothing, okay?" Ellie said. "I don't want to talk about it."
He sighed. "Fine."
Ellie bit her lip and sighed in frustration.
"You're right," she said.
"What?" Aaron said.
"You're right," Ellie repeated. "I like Farkle."
"Oh," Aaron raised his eyebrows. "How -"
"I saw him with Smackle and their friends," she explained. "And I realized that I like him. A lot."
"Huh."
"Is it bad that I think that Farkle deserves someone better than Smackle?" Ellie said, guiltily.
"I don't know," Aaron said.
"I like him and I know that I want him to be happy, even if it's not with me, but seeing how Smackle is, I just...."
"Farkle should be someone who doesn't make comments like Smackle," Aaron said.
"Yeah," she said. "I mean," she shut her locker door and she and Aaron began to walk, "Smackle is nice and everything, but..."
"Yeah, I get it," Aaron said.
"I hate this so much," Ellie said. "I feel like I can't do anything about this."
"It's going to be okay," Aaron promised. "Whatever you're going through or will go through, Anthony and I will always be there for you, like always."
"Yeah?" Ellie said, smiling weakly.
"Yeah," he said. "You're our best friend. We wouldn't leave you like that."
"Thank you," Ellie said, hugging Aaron."
Aaron smiled and wrapped his arm around Ellie as they hugged.
"We love you too much to let you go."
"I love you too," Ellie said.
They let go.
"Where's Anthony?"
"He's sick," Aaron said.
"Oh," Ellie said, disappointedly. "I hope he gets better soon."
"Yeah, me too," Aaron said.
They entered their history class and took their usual seats.
"Wanna come over after school?" Aaron said.
"Sure," Ellie said. "But I wanna check on Anthony first before we head over to your place."
Aaron nodded in agreement.
"Hey, guys," Farkle greeted Aaron and Ellie.
"Hey, Farkle," Ellie.
"Hey," Aaron nodded.
"Where's Anthony?"
"He's sick," Ellie said.
"Oh, I hope he's okay," Farkle said. "El, can you help me prepare for my audition tomorrow after school?"
"Sure," Ellie said.
"Great," Farkle smiled. "Wanna come over?"
"Um, sure."
"Great. I'll -"
"Alright, class," Mr. Matthews began class, "settle time. It's time for class."
Farkle turned around and took his seat.
He leaned back and whispered, "I'll text you tomorrow."
"Alright."
***
"Hey, Ellie, Aaron," Peyton, a friend that Ellie made over New Years, greeted them after school.
"Hey, Peyton," Ellie said.
"Hi," Aaron smiled.
"Have you guys seen Anthony at all today?" Peyton asked. "He's my lab partner in Biology and I didn't see him in class. And he's not with the two of you."
"Oh, he's not feeling well today," Aaron explained.
"Oh," Peyton said, disappointedly. "I hope he's okay."
"We're heading over to his place to check on him," Ellie said.
"Yeah, wanna come?" Aaron asked.
"Can I?" Peyton siad.
"Yeah," Aaron said. "C'mon, let's go."
"Thanks," Peyton smiled.
The three headed over to Anthony's place to check on him. They brought him the assignments and work that he missed that day so he wouldn't miss anything.
"Here is all of your school work," Aaron said as he and Ellie placed all of his work on his desk.
"Thanks," he said.
He was leaning on his elbows in bed.
"Were you able to do the lab without me today?" Anthony asked Peyton.
"Yeah, I was," she said. "There were a few things I wasn't able to do though."
"Oh, sorry," he said.
"It's fine," she assured him. "Don't worry. We can do it tomorrow assuming you feel better."
"Yeah," Anthony agreed.
They stayed for another fifteen minutes before saying goodbye to Anthony. Aaron invited Peyton to come work on homework at his house as they were heading out.
Peyton hesitated at first but agreed.
***
Ellie wasn't paying attention to Peyton, Aaron and Anthony's conversation during lunch the following day at school. She was watching Farkle Minkus and his friends.
Ellie wished she was in Smackle's spot. She doesn't care about being a big friend group. All she wanted was to be sitting next to Farkle. She just wanted Farkle's company.
"What do you think, Ellie?" Peyton asked.
"Hm?" Ellie said, snapping out of her thoughts
"We're going out tomorrow night," Peyton said. "What do you think of pizza?"
"Oh, um, sounds good," she said.
"It's Farkle isn't it?" Peyton asked.
"Is it that obvious?" Ellie asked.
"To us, yes," Anthony said. "To everyone else, doubt it."
"Oh," Ellie said.
"Just tell me," Anthony said. "What's the harm in telling him?"
"The harm is that I could lose a friend," Ellie said.
"Hey, you won't know what will happen if you don't tell Farkle how you feel," Anthony said.
"Well, there's a possibility of him freaking out, so," Ellie said.
"El, he likes you," Aaron said.
"But he has a girlfriend," Peyton said, "remember? If she tells him how she feels for him while in another relationship, she'll probably be a home wrecker."
"Thank you," Ellie said.
Peyton nodded.
"That's not what I heard," Aaron said.
"What?" Ellie said.
"What did you hear?" Peyton asked, leaning forward.
"I heard that Farkle and Smackle broke up," Aaron said, casually. "They're still friends, but they broke up."
"Oh," Ellie said.
"You have your chance," Anthony said. "You can tell him."
"No," Ellie said. "No, I'm not gonna tell him."
"Why not?" Anthony asked. "He's single."
"But he just got out of another relationship," Ellie said. "I can't tell him."
"She's right," Ellie said.
"What?"
"Yeah, I'm with them," Aaron said.
"Why? Farkle doesn't have a girlfriend now and Ellie likes him, and it's obvious that he likes her, so what's the harm?"
"You're so oblivious, Anthony," Peyton said. "You can't tell someone how you feel when they just got out of a relationship. You have to wait before saying anything."
Anthony sighed.
"It won't look good on Ellie if she and Farkle got together immediately after Farkle got out of a relationship," Aaron added.
Ellie nodded.
"Alright, fine," Anthony gave in. "Don't tell him now."
Ellie looked over Anthony's and Aaron's shoulder to see what Farkle was doing. He was getting up from his table and walked away. It looked like he was walking over to him.
She quickly looked away and leaned forwards.
"I think Farkle is walking over," Ellie told her friends.
"What?" Aaron said.
Anthony turned around at the same moment Farkle reached their table.
"Oh, hey, Farkle," Anthony said, his voice cracking.
"Hey, guys," Farkle said, cheerfully.
"Hey," Aaron said. "I heard what happened between you and Smackle. Sorry about that."
"It's fine," Farkle said, his smile dropping a little. "We ended things on good terms."
"Clearly," Peyton said, looking over at Smackle at the other table.
"We're just friends," Farkle said.
"Do you mind sharing with us what happened?" Anthony asked. "You don't have to, but..."
"I realized that I don't like her the same way I used to," Farkle said. "She noticed and I noticed and instead of me leading her on, we decided to just be friends."
"Sorry," Ellie said.
"It's fine," Farkle said. "We're better off as friends."
"That's it?" Anthony raised his eyebrows.
"Anthony," Peyton snapped at him.
"Yeah, that's it," Farkle lied.
Ellie bit her lip, knowing that he wasn't being truthful.
Lunch ended and everyone began to pack their things and leave for class.
"I'll see you guys in class," Farkle said.