Chapter 9
Ellie
E llie watched in horror as Sadie ran out of the gym crying. Her eyes traced back the path Sadie had taken, which led her straight to Abigail Massey. She was standing smugly next to the drinks table, a satisfied look on her thin face.
How could she do this to Sadie? Why would she do this to Sadie?
Gritting her teeth, Ellie marched over to where Abigail was standing.
Punching Abigail was assault. Ellie knew that. It did little to dim her desire to do so, but Ellie could throw verbal punches just as well.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Excuse me?” Abigail looked annoyed that Ellie would even think she could talk to her. “What’s your problem?”
“What’s my problem?” Ellie scoffed. “How about how you just humiliated my friend for no reason.”
“Oh,” a smirk formed on Abigail’s lips, “I didn’t realize you two were friends . Maybe I wouldn’t have done that if I’d known she hung out with the…” Abigail looked Ellie up and down with a disgusted look on her face, “queer kids.”
Ellie could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She was so mad she could almost feel the steam pouring out of her ears. Making a fist with each hand, Ellie dug her freshly painted fingernails into the palm of her hands.
“I’m sorry that you’re so insecure that you have to treat Sadie like shit to make yourself feel superior. But you don’t do this shit. To anyone. And if I were Sadie, I would be reporting your ass to the police. In fact, I think I’ll go give her that advice now.”
“She sent the picture.”
“And you just distributed it without her consent. Sounds a little like a felony to me.”
She had no idea if what Abigail did was, in fact, a felony. However, her words seemed to hit their mark, as Abigail, for a fleeting moment, looked scared. Ellie couldn’t look at her any longer. The longer she stood there, the angrier she became.
But she had to put her anger aside.
Because she needed to find Sadie.
Forcing herself to casually walk out of the gym, Ellie looked around the parking lot for Sadie. She didn’t see her or her car. Ellie ran to the softball field: nothing. She even checked the nearby park with no success.
Since she rode to prom with friends, Ellie had no way to go after her. Calling her parents meant explaining what happened, which Ellie didn’t want to do. Not yet. And calling Mason would involve Chase, who was a former police officer, and Ellie didn’t know how well that would go over if Sadie hadn’t told her mom and Charlie what happened. Because, at the end of the day, that was Sadie’s story to tell. When and how and if she wanted to tell it.
There was only one person Ellie could think to call.
“Thanks for picking me up,” she said as she got into the passenger seat of Blake’s black SUV.
“Anytime.” Blake sympathetically smiled. “Everything okay?”
Despite not wanting to talk about it, Ellie found herself spilling the whole story to Blake as they sat in the parked SUV.
“I can’t believe Abigail would do that.”
“Girls can be so mean for no reason,” Blake sighed. “Women too. I don’t think there’s an age limit on being a bitch.”
Ellie smiled at the comment as Blake squeezed her shoulder.
“Do you want to come over to our house for a bit?”
“Actually, can you take me to Sadie’s house? I need to check on her.”
“Of course.”
The drive to Sadie’s house was quiet, with Blake’s hand staying on Ellie’s knee as they drove. It was more comforting than Blake probably realized. Ellie was so upset over how Abigail had treated Sadie. Sadie didn’t deserve that. Well, no one did. But especially not Sadie.
“Park here,” Ellie pointed to the gravel parking lot for the tree farm a few hundred yards from Sadie’s house. “I’ll be right back.”
“Take all the time you need. I’ll be here.”
“Thanks, Blake.”
Getting out of the car, Ellie hurriedly walked toward the back of the house. She could see Sadie’s bedroom light on upstairs, and she made her way over to the trellis. Ellie prayed it was sturdy enough as she began to make her ascent to the second story. Thankfully, she arrived on the slanted roof without issue and crept over to Sadie’s window.
I feel like a creep.
Ellie had wanted to avoid going to the front door, just in case Sadie hadn’t told Delaney and Charlie what had happened. There was no way Ellie wanted to be the way they found out. So creeping around felt like the next best thing.
Inside the bedroom window, Ellie could see Sadie lying on her bed. She tapped softly on the window, startling Sadie. She quickly jumped up from the bed and stared at the window, a look of fear on her face.
But as soon as Sadie saw Ellie, her eyes softened. Her fear was replaced by what seemed to be relief as she walked over to the window and opened it.
“Hey.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Oh, ya know,” Ellie laughed. “Just inspecting the roof.”
“Mhmm,” Sadie smiled, and it made Ellie feel better she was at least smiling a little. Sadie motioned for Ellie to move out of the way, which she did. Stepping out onto the roof, Sadie walked a few feet before sitting down. She patted the spot next to her, and Ellie eagerly joined. “I guess I know why you’re here.”
“I just had to make sure you were okay.”
“I honestly don’t know what I am.”
“I’m here if you want to talk about it.”
A silence settled between them, and Ellie suddenly felt nervous. What if Sadie didn’t want her there? No, she would have told you to go. What if she’s embarrassed about the picture? She shouldn’t be; it wasn’t her fault. Ellie’s brain didn’t know what to think, so instead she started talking.
“Or we don’t have to talk about it. We can just sit here in silence and look at the stars and the trees and smell the ocean air. I didn’t realize you could smell it here. I guess it makes sense; it’s just over there. But it seems so far away because there’s not a direct way to it from here. You’d have to go through downtown or up by that fishing cove off Cumberland.”
“Ellie.”
“Or, I mean, if you do want to talk about it, I can tell you that Abigail Massey is a bitch and the whole school thinks so now. If they didn’t already. Which I’m sure they did. She is such a bitch. You could press chargers if you want—I think. I think I remember reading about that somewhere. But maybe not. I don’t know. But I do know this probably absolutely sucks right now, and I hate it for you, but I think it’ll all be old news soon.”
“Ellie,” Sadie said again, stopping Ellie’s nervous rambling.
“Yeah?” Ellie nervously smiled at Sadie.
“Thank you for coming.”
Swallowing hard, Ellie scooted over toward Sadie. Their hips touched slightly, and for the first time ever, Ellie could feel something change within her. She was no longer looking at Sadie, her friend. She was looking at Sadie, the girl she really liked.
“There’s no place else I’d rather be,” Ellie said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Sadie slowly leaned her head toward Ellie resting it on her shoulder. Ellie’s heart rate quickened as she nervously licked her lips and put an arm around Sadie. It felt more perfect than anything in the world. Her arm around Sadie with her head on her shoulder was a memory Ellie never wanted to forget.
“I can’t believe I was dumb enough to send Trevor that picture in the first place.
“You’re not dumb.” Slowly, Ellie moved her free hand across her lap toward Sadie’s hand, which was absentmindedly resting on Ellie’s thigh. Their fingertips touched, and to Ellie’s relief, Sadie didn’t pull away. “We all make mistakes.”
“I’m sorry I sent that picture to you.”
So it was an accident.
Ellie didn’t know why that made her sad. But she didn’t have time to dwell on it. Her only goal was to make Sadie feel better.
“It’s okay,” Ellie smirked. “It was a great picture.”
Sadie quickly whipped her head up to look at Ellie, nearly bopping her head against Ellie’s chin in the process.
“I’m just saying,” Ellie laughed, noticing that Sadie was blushing.
“You really think so?”
“Well, yeah.”
Shrugging, Ellie tried to figure out how much she should tell Sadie. Should she tell her she liked her? Or would that scare her away? Maybe it was too soon for that. After all, they were just kinda sort of becoming friends. Ellie didn’t want to risk that and ruin their budding friendship if Sadie didn’t feel the same way.
Sadie pulled her knees up to her chin as she sighed.
“I just wish I could go back in time and never send Trevor that picture.”
Ellie noted how she didn’t seem to regret sending the picture to her.
“I know I need to tell Mom and Charlie what happened, but I’m so embarrassed. I’m embarrassed I took it and sent it. I’m embarrassed I ever thought Trevor Mariano was interested in me. Because , of course, he was wanting to make Abigail mad. She’d dumped him for that hockey player, remember?”
“Vividly. I was in the lunchroom when the drama went down.”
“Lucky,” Sadie chuckled. “I never get to see the drama firsthand. Did he really throw his sandwich at her?”
“Yup, and it was peanut butter so it stuck to the back of her uniform like a magnet.”
“Excellent.” Sadie laughed, really laughed, and Ellie soaked in the sound of it. She liked knowing she had made Sadie laugh. Had made her smile that gorgeous smile that could make any day better. Ellie was sure of that.
But her smile slowly faded as she looked up at Ellie.
“I don’t know how to tell Mom and Charlie what happened. You know what I told them happened to make me want to leave prom early?”
Ellie shook her head.
“I told them Trevor tried to kiss me.” Sadie rolled her eyes. “Like I’m some dumb teenager.”
“You’re not a dumb teenager.”
“Oh, I am. I’ve done nothing but dumb stuff the last few weeks. Sending inappropriate pictures, pretending to like a boy I don’t care anything about, lying to my mom.” Sadie sucked in a deep breath. “I just didn’t know how to tell my mom. I knew she’d lecture me and want to talk about it but I just can’t yet. Not with her. Not right now. It’s still all so fresh.”
“Yeah, no, I get it.”
“Do you think Mom and Charlie will be mad at me?”
“How could they?” Reaching out, Ellie tucked a strand of Sadie’s hair behind her ear. “Abigail sent that picture, not you.”
“But I took it. And I know better.”
“Everyone makes mistakes.”
“Not me,” Sadie sarcastically laughed. “I’m supposed to be the Golden Child—the one who gets good grades and excels at sports, the one who doesn’t date because she’s so focused on getting into a good college, the one who has absolutely no friends because no one likes them at her new school, although I haven’t been new to the school in two years.”
Ellie let Sadie sit with her feelings for a moment. She knew counting each point wasn’t what Sadie needed. When she felt the time was right, she cleared her throat.
“You got something wrong.”
“What’s that?”
“You have a friend.” Ellie watched as Sadie’s eyes softened again. “Me.”
“Oh, Ellie. I didn’t mean you in that rant.”
“I know, but I also didn’t know if you knew I saw us as friends.”
Something flashed across Sadie’s face, almost so fast that Ellie missed it. But she was fairly certain what she just saw confirmed what Ellie had been feeling too. Because what she saw on Sadie’s face, even for an instant, appeared to be a disappointment.
Right when Ellie told her she saw them as friends.
God, me, and my choice of words. That’s not what I meant. I’ve probably friend-zoned myself forever now.
But Ellie didn’t have time to clarify.
Because Delaney poked her head out the window and called their names. Startled, they both turned toward the window. “What are you two doing out here?”
“Mom,” Sadie scrambled to her feet and into the window while Ellie remained frozen in place. “I’m so sorry. Ellie was just making sure I was okay.”
“I—I was.”
“Well, that’s good.” Delaney smiled softly at Ellie. “I’m glad she has friends like you, Ellie. That’s just what Sadie needs right now.” Delaney pulled Sadie in for a hug and kissed her cheek. “And Ellie, you do know we have a front door, right?”
Ellie nervously laughed. “I do, yeah.”
“Use it next time,” Delaney added with a wink before walking out of Sadie’s room, closing the door behind her. Sadie walked back over to the window, leaning out slightly. Ellie slowly—carefully—walked over to her, kneeling down outside the window.
“Thanks for coming over, Ellie.”
“Always.”
It was as if all the world around them stood still as their lips moved painfully slow toward each other. Ellie had never kissed anyone before. Not the way she wanted to kiss Sadie. Suddenly, her nerves got the best of her and she quickly stood.
“I should get home,” she stated, trying to seem casual. But she was far from casual. She wanted to say screw it and kiss Sadie. But not now. Not when she was so upset over what had just happened. Ellie didn’t want Sadie to ever think she only came over because she liked her and wanted to kiss her. She truly cared about Sadie, even if no kissing was involved.
“Oh, okay.” Sadie didn’t look too sad about the lack of a kiss, which was a relief to Ellie. “Maybe we can hang out sometime. You know, under different circumstances.”
“I’d love that.”
“Me, too.”
“I’ll text you when I get home.”
“Okay. Be safe.”
“I will.”
Ellie could feel Sadie’s eyes on her as she carefully walked back toward the trellis.
“Do you want to just go out the front door?” Sadie asked with a giggle.
“No, this is sexier.”
“Yeah, it is.”
Winking, Ellie very unsexily descended the trellis back down to the ground. She waved up at Sadie before running in the direction of Blake’s car.
It wasn’t until she was at Blake’s house later that night, tucked into bed after texting her parents where she was, that Ellie fully processed what Sadie had said before she left.
Yeah it is.
Sadie thought Ellie climbing her trellis to knock on her window was sexy ? Ellie smiled from ear to ear. Maybe she wouldn’t be in the friend zone for too long after all.