When Ellie Falls in Love (Moonflower Cove #12)

Chapter 1

Ellie

T hey would never do this if the theater kids won an award.

Ellie Mackenzie sulked in the corner of the Moonflower Cove High School gymnasium while the hockey team was being introduced. As if anyone at the pep rally didn’t already know who every player was. Their high school wasn’t that big, with barely five hundred students over the four grades. Everyone knew everyone, especially the jocks. They were like royalty.

Which was something Ellie would never understand. Maybe it was because her twin brother, Brayden, was one of them. Brayden was the furthest thing from royalty. Ellie loved him, sure, but she would never let him live down the fact he had her text his current girlfriend to ask her out.

“And right winger, Brayden Mackenzie!” Their principal held out his name longer than necessary as Brayden ran across the gym floor, through the peppy cheerleaders, to where his teammates were standing. Ellie stood and clapped, which was the most amount of school spirit she’d ever expressed.

“Go Bray!” she yelled, getting her brother’s attention. He smiled and waved at her as Ellie did the same back.

Ellie knew little about brothers—she only had one—but she knew they had a special bond. Maybe it was the twin thing their parents always talked about. Whatever it was, Ellie adored her brother. Not that she would ever tell him that. It would go straight to his head and he’d never let her live it down.

He ran his hand through his shaggy brown hair. Neither Brayden nor Ellie lacked confidence, but there was something about seeing her brother so poised and celebrated by their peers that made Ellie jealous. Brayden always got the most attention. Maybe it was the fact he was the only boy in their family of seven. Or maybe it was because Ellie wasn’t as popular as she liked to think.

Sure, she had her theater friends, her sisters, and Brayden, but that was it. There was no significant other, only a few good friends. Ellie had always been called a mama’s girl because she would rather hang out with her parents than anyone else. Normally, Ellie ignored the teasing. She knew her classmates were just jealous that she had a great relationship with her parents while they hated theirs.

But seeing Brayden laughing with his teammates, who were also his friends, made Ellie wish she had that.

“Your brother is so annoying,” Dylan West piped up beside Ellie.

Dylan had been in theater with Ellie for years. Their moms were best friends, so they had grown up together. But even if their parents weren’t friends, Ellie loved Dylan enough to still want to hang out with her. She was also one of the few people in the theater group who wasn’t intimidated by Ellie.

The Mackenzies don’t lack confidence.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “Dude, legit. But be nice.”

“Why?” Dylan laughed. “I’m just saying.”

“And I’m just saying don’t be mean. That’s my brother. Only I can call him annoying.”

Dylan waved her off. “Doesn’t change his annoying aura.”

Ellie resisted the urge to roll her eyes again. She loved her brother with her entire heart, but she also loved to tease him relentlessly. Especially since her brother started dating Bridget Johns, the head cheerleader. They were so stereotypical that it made Ellie want to throw up.

I don’t know how he gets all the girls, anyway.

She shook her head, clearing the thought from her brain. Ellie had never dated anyone, boys or girls. She’d been too busy taking vocal and piano lessons to pay attention to such frivolous things. And it had paid off, too; she was a shoo-in for the lead in the upcoming spring musical.

But that didn’t mean Ellie didn’t want to date. People who werehappy and in love were all around her. Her parents, her older sisters, and their friends who were like family to Ellie. Everyone had someone they could turn to when they’d had a shitty day, or someone to just go to the movies with them. Ellie was always the third wheel. Or the fifth wheel. Not that she cared.

Except I do.

Ellie sighed, trying to focus back on the pep rally. The state finals were coming up, and the hockey team had made it for the first time in a decade. Sure, it was a big deal, and Ellie was proud of Brayden for helping get the team there. But she had homework to do and a musical to prepare for.

Thankfully, the pep rally ended fifteen minutes before the last bell and everyone was dismissed early. Ellie zipped up her backpack and headed down the stairs with the mass of students doing the same thing. She smiled and waved at Brayden, who was chatting with Bridget and not paying attention to anything else in the world.

Ugh.

One day, Ellie wouldn’t be bitter, but it clearly wasn’t today.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ellie caught a glimpse of Sadie Baxter sitting alone at the top of the stands. She had headphones on and was completely absorbed with whatever book she was reading. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but two strands hung loosely down her face. Sadie looked so lost in her own world that Ellie wished she could have that amount of focus.

And look that pretty doing it.

Ellie didn’t know why she was so captivated by her. She had known Sadie for a few years. And while they’d had a few classes together, the two weren’t friends by any means. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact thatEllie’s sister Mason and Sadie’s cousin Chase were together, the two might never have crossed paths.

But Ellie couldn’t take her eyes off of her.

Not until Dylan playfully bumped her shoulder against Ellie’s.

“Can I get a ride home?”

“Yeah,” Ellie shook her head, forcing her gaze away from Sadie, “sure.”

Although the high school was centrally located in the small town, Ellie and Brayden had to drive home, as it was too far to walk home from the school. And because of their different after-school activities, Brayden and Ellie rarely carpooled. Ellie’s friends often took advantage of that, not that she minded. Her parents always taught her to take care of others anytime she could.

“Who are you staring at?”

“Nothing.”

“Mhmm,” Dylan rolled her eyes and walked down the last few steps of the stands. Ellie followed behind, taking one more glance in Sadie’s direction.

But this time, Sadie was staring back. She was stuffing her book into her backpack and offered Ellie a quick smile. Ellie waved at her, smiling back.

“Eleanor,” Dylan snapped her fingers to get Ellie’s attention.

“Sorry.”

“Geez, is someone naked or something?” Dylan looked in the direction where Ellie had been looking. Her eyes went wide and playful, and Ellie knew her well enough to know that she was about to say something snarky.

“Come on.”

Grabbing Dylan’s elbow, she led her out of the gym and through the door to the senior parking lot. She didn’t have to look at Dylan to know she was smirking. It happened every time Dylan caught her looking at someone.

Especially Sadie.

Because as much as Ellie would like to deny it, today wasn’t the first time she found herself looking at Sadie. There was just something about her icy blue eyes that pulled Ellie in each time their eyes met. Not that it happened often, but it happened enough to have been caught by Dylan more than once.

“Stop,” Ellie snapped as she unlocked the hand-me-down car her parents let her drive. They put their bags into the back before getting into their seats. Ellie buckled her seatbelt and started the car, determined not to look over at Dylan.

“You can ignore me all you want, but I know the truth.”

“You know nothing.”

Selecting her Taylor Swift playlist on her phone, Ellie turned up the music to not-so-subtly tell Dylan to stop talking.

Dylan did not get the hint.

“You could just ask her out.”

Ellie snorted a laugh. “Oh, I could, huh?”

“Yup. You’re a catch. Anyone would be lucky to date you. And Sadie is pretty.”

Gripping the steering wheel, Ellie left the parking lot and headed for Dylan’s house.

“Regardless, I’m not asking her out. I don’t have time to date anyone.”

“Blah, blah, blah.”

“Well, I don’t.” Ellie turned down the road that led to their houses. “We have the spring musical coming up, and then graduation, summer break, and college.”

While starting college with no idea what she wanted to major in still scared Ellie, she was determined to make the most of the next chapter in her life. Even if all her friends, including Brayden, were heading to colleges far away from the Cove while Ellie was going to attend the Moonflower Cove branch of the University of Maine. There was no need to head off to a fancy school where she would take the same classes, anyway. And this way, she could still live at home.

I need to ask them if I can move into the garage now.

The garage apartment had served as a temporary house for both of her older sisters, and Ellie was determined to convince her parents she needed to move there while attending college. While it was still fairly close to the main house, the added privacy of having its own entrance and kitchen meant Ellie could at least feel as if she was living on her own, even if it wasn’t in a dorm room. And secretly, Ellie loved the fact her parents would still be so close.

“Saving yourself for the college dating scene,” Dylan teased, playfully jabbing Ellie in the ribs. “I see what you’re doing.”

“Stop it. My dating scene will literally be the same. I’m not the Mackenzie going away to college.”

Dylan’s playfulness faded as she asked, “I thought you were okay with that?”

“Who says I’m not?”

“Your tone,” she laughed.

Ellie gripped tighter onto the steering wheel. Her parents were already spending an enormous amount to send Brayden off to the University of Maine in Orono. He had a partial hockey scholarship, but Ellie had heard her parents discussing their financial situation. They would never tell Ellie or Brayden they couldn’t go to the college they wanted to, but Ellie decided not to go away because of that. Not that she’d ever tell them that. Her parents always did everything for their kids, all five of them. Ellie could go to the local college for them.

“Well, at least you still have me in town.”

“True.” Ellie parked the car in Dylan’s driveway. “See you tomorrow.”

“See ya.”

Hopping out of the car, Dylan grabbed her bag from the back and headed up the walkway. Her mom, Cameron, was cleaning out her flower bed, and Ellie waved at her. Cameron and her mom, Vera, had been best friends since college, and she was like an aunt to Ellie and her siblings.

As Ellie drove home, her mind wandered back to the image of Sadie sitting in the gymnasium.

Those blue eyes…

“Get a grip, Ellie,” she said aloud in the empty car.

But her brain didn’t listen.