Chapter Ten

Elle

      “Whoa! What happened to your face, Elle?” Nick laughed as expected at my appearance, as I stepped through the door.

      “Make fun; just remember, you suck, Ross,” I said.

      “On a last name basis now, are we?” he questioned, holding a smug look as his eyes glanced over my exterior once more.

      “Maybe,” I sighed, heading straight for the kitchen. I was hungry. I had had a hot dog while I was out with Jake, but it was pretty gross and didn’t satisfy my hunger.

      “Seriously, what happened to your face? Did you loose a bet or something?” he pestered.

      “No; Jake said we should paint our faces, so we did,” I said, not regretting the fact that my face was now a vision of red and white. Sure, I looked dumb, but so did Jake.

      “Ah, yes! How did the date with our dear friend, Jakey, go?”

      “Fine,” I answered, not wanting to discuss it with him. Talking to your ex boyfriend about your current boyfriend- ever heard of boundaries?

      If I was going to answer his question in more detail, I would’ve told him that today was a fairytale. Jake picked me up, and drove us to the stadium. I’m not one for baseball, but I was just excited to be with Jake.

      As we walked towards the sports arena, I saw blurs of red, white, and green everywhere. We were then swept away by other eager sports fans. Jake held my hand the entire time, so we wouldn’t get separated. We went through the agonizingly long process of security, and by the end, I was wishing that I had taken Jake’s advice, and hadn’t brought a purse.

      Once we were in the actual structure, I was in awe. It was so big, busy, green, and amazing! Jake led us through the crowd to a section, and we walked out into the glorious sunlight from the underground passageway we had been in. The feild’s freshly cut grass glistened, and even the dirt looked bright. We claimed our seats, and the game began. There were people yelling, screaming, and cheering, and the entire time Jake was trying to explain to me what was occuring.

      At about the fifth inning (Or was baseball divided into quarters?), the team we, or Jake, were rooting for hit the ball to the back of the feild, resulting in a homerun. Jake was so happy, he picked me up, and kissed me. Jake Anderson kissed me at a baseball game. Is was magical! Our date was just... a fairytale! But Nick didn’t need to know all that.

      “Where’d you go?” Nick asked, as I opened up the fridge, a cold wave of air splashing my face. It felt good. I had been sitting out in the hot sun for god knows how long, and the two things I wanted were air conditioning and food. Interesting combination, I know.

      “A game,” I replied simply.

      “What type of game?”

      “A baseball game,” I said, taking a bowl of grapes out of the culinary appliance.

      “Who was playing?”

      “I don’t know…” I said, knowing that I was torturing him with the lack of information he was receiving. Sports were Nick’s thing. He loved and was obsessed with them. He could name every team in the MBL, NFL, and NBA (He happened to be a strong believer that hockey didn’t count as an actual sport, so the NHL didn’t matter to him). I, on the other hand, could care so much less about sports.

      “Was it a major league game or a minor league one?” he asked.

      “I don’t know. They had on white uniforms,” I said, fully knowledgeable about what team was playing.

      “Uh huh. Well, considering you’re not actually that stupid, what teams were playing?”

      “The Red Sox were playing the Yankees,” I sighed in defeat.

      “You were at that game?” he asked, his eyes growing wide.

      “Yeah. The Red Sox won. Apparently, that’s who we wanted to win.”

      “Hell yeah, it is! The Yankees suck! Sox all the way! Well, congrats Elle, even if it wasn’t with me, you just attended your very first New England sports game!”

      “Thanks… I think,” I said, plucking a grape off of the vine, and placing it into my mouth.

      “Only one thing- you might want to get that shit off your face before someone else sees. As beautiful as you look, red really isn’t your color.”

      “Shut up, Nick,” I said, taking my bowl of grapes with me as I headed to my room. I climbed up the stairs, and once I reached my room, used my free hand to open up the door. Stepping inside my fairly clean room, I placed the grapes on a side table. As painful as it was to admit, Nick was right- I needed to get the crap off of my face.

      I went into the bathroom, and quietly turned the silver knob, allowing cold water to enter through the pipes, and come out the faucet, splattering against the sidewalls of the marble sink. I put my hands under the flow of water, and enjoyed the cold sensation for a minute, before water conservation popped into my head.

      I quickly grabbed a washcloth from a rack, and ran it under the water, saturating it in the cold liquid, the poor polar bears without homes circling in the back of my mind. Quickly, I turned the water off, and brought the white cloth up to my face. I rubbed my face vigorously, determined to rid my pale complexion of all the cheap face paint that had been applied.

      I looked up into the silver mirror, and my face was red. I went back to scrubbing. My face tingled as the rag continued to move about. I wanted to see my perfectly clear, pimple lacking face again! After two more minutes of committed cleansing, I looked back into the mirror. My eyes caught something that resembled the silhouette of a person in the background, causing me to think it was merely bathrobe or something.

      “You missed a spot,” Nick said, as I jumped up in surprise.

      “You just scared the shit out of me!” I whisper-yelled.

      “Did I? What a shame,” he said sarcastically.

      “Shut up and get out,” I commanded, drawing the previously white square up to my face once again, prepared to repeat the lengthy process as many times as it took until not a trace of red was visible.

      “Here, let me help,” Nick offered lightly, moving closer to me.

      “No,” I said frostily, hoping he was transmitting the message I was trying to send about getting away. I didn’t want his help, I didn’t need his help; all I wanted was for him to go away.

Nick

      “Oh, Elle, you’re so silly!” I said, taking another step towards her.

      “I’m serious, Nick,” she warned.

      “Just let me help; besides, I want to spend more time with you,” I said.

      “You are aware that we’re exes, and that our relationship is unhealthy enough living in rooms opposite each other; adding more time to that would be deadly.”

      “All I want to do is help,” I said as innocently as I could.

      “No,” she repeated.

      “Elle!” I whined.

      “Nick!” she mocked. “Get out!”

      “Fine. Be that way; just remember, if you ever need help, Elle, I’ll always be there for you,” I said, backing away. I left the small room without another word, smiling to myself. Elle was funny.

      I went through the short hallway, and jogged down the steps. After walking over to the general living room area, I noticed John was intently talking to someone on the phone.

      “Yes! I love you, babe!” John said, rolling his eyes as he spotted me. He mouthed the name “Kara” to me, and I nodded, continuing to listen to one end of the conversation.

      “Because I’m busy!” he sighed, as I smirked at the dispute most likely occurring between the couple. John and Kara. I still thought it was funny. She was high maintenance, and he was annoying. They were perfect for each other.

      “Yes! I miss you too!” he said, as my smirk grew. Elle and I were never a volatile, dysfunctional couple; we were always the perfect, sweet couple people envied. Our relationship was like the ones described in fairytales, and then I had to screw it up…

      “New York? Can Elle come?” he asked, taking the TV remote, and turning it on, instantly muting it.

      “Because she’s your best friend!” he said, as though it was simple logic.

      “You know what babe, how about you talk to Nick about this, okay?” he said, giving me a smug look, and handing over his phone to me. I hesitantly accepted, claiming the source that would lead to Kara’s obnoxiously bratty voice.

      “Hey, Thompson,” I greeted, putting the phone up to my ear.

      “Nick,” Kara said, sounding as prissy as ever.

      “So, what’s up? You and Johnny having relationship problems? Did he tell you he was gay?” I asked, resting my feet up against the coffee table in front of me. If I had been at home, I would literally have gotten my phone taken away for that miniscule act. Danni was always really strict.

      “What? He’s not gay!” she said, at the same time John was also defending his sexuality.

      “Oh, so he hasn’t come out yet,” I said, having fun it. I’m not a homophobe. If one of my best friends were gay, I honestly wouldn’t care. Me poking fun at John about his sexuality, dated way back to the seventh grade, so it had been an on going joke I’d had against him.

      “Nick, how about you do yourself a favor and shut up!” she said.

      “Nah, I like talking. So, what seems to be the problem at the moment?”

      “I want John to come to New York, and he said he wouldn’t come without Elle!” she whined.

      “Oh no! Things aren’t going Kara’s way! Whatever shall the world do?!” I said dramatically.

      “Seriously, Nick, convince him to come without Elle or something!” she demanded.

      “But Elle’s your best friend,” I pointed out, using the argument John had.

      “Yeah, but I want to see John alone!”

      “You know what, that’s a fabulous idea; how about you and John can spend the day, and night, together, while Elle and I work out the differences in our relationship, while being in New York,” I suggested, turning to John to see his reaction. He looked as though he was ready to stab me with a toothpick… repeatedly.

      “Since when are the two of you in a relationship?” she asked.

      “Oh did I say relationship? I meant friendship,” I corrected.

      “So, you want to come too?”

      “Well, duh! I miss you, Kara!” I said, trying not to choke on my own words.

      “Okay, sounds good. We’ll work out the details later, but the three of you are definitely coming to New York!” she said, satisfied with the conclusion the two of us had just drawn up.

      “Sounds like a plan!”

      “Talk to you soon or whatever. Tell John I love him, and miss him, bye,” she said, hanging up before I had a chance to reply to, let alone process, her words.

      “Congrats Johnny!” I said.

      “Oh no. What’s happening?” he asked.

      “We’re all going to go to New York, so that the two of you lovebirds can have some nice quality time together, and so that Elle and I can have some real bonding time to work out our issues!”

      “Sounds like hell.”

      “I know, I can’t wait either!” I laughed. Me and Elle. Elle and I. The two of us… in New York… together… without Jake; it sounded pretty damn awesome to me.