The Secret of Ella and Micha(23)

I force myself to cheer up and sit up straight. "Actually, it's pretty nice. There's a lot to do and the school is great."

"You're acting weird." Ethan eyes me, rubbing his chin. "Something's got you all wound up."

"I'm completely okay," I say in denial. "Although, the excessive questions are a bit much."

Lila peers over at me as she licks froth from her lips. "He's right. You look upset or something." She feels my forehead. "You're not getting sick, are you?"

Micha returns to the table and the coffeehouse has cleared out a bit. He grabs a vacant chair, pulls it up to the table, turning it backwards, and then sits down in it.

"So what are we up to for the rest of the night?" Ethan asks while Micha checks his messages on his phone.

"I got to take this pretty lady over here to get her car fixed by you." Micha nods his head at Lila.

Ethan looks pleased. "Wow, I'm honored to be the one to fix it."

Micha slides his phone into his pocket. "We have to swing by Ella's house and pick it up, so meet us at the shop in like a half-an-hour."

"Absolutely." Ethan waves the waitress over to give us the check.

"What do you think?" Micha asks me. "Does it sound like a plan?"

I shrug, distracted by where he went with that girl. "Yeah, sure."

Everyone takes their coffee's to-go and we head for the door. I leave mine behind, along with something else, but I'm not sure what.

Perhaps a piece of my new identity.

***

Micha and I don't speak the entire drive home. It freaks Lila out a little and I worry that the more time she spends here with me, the less time she's going to want to spend with me on campus. When we pull into the driveway that routes the side of my house, there is a painful reminder of another reason I didn't want to come back waiting for me near the garage.

"Whose car is that?" Lila scoots forward in her seat. "It's gorgeous."

"Why is he here?" I grimace, scowling at the shiny red Porsche with Ohio license plates.

"Now be nice," Micha warns, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "He's your brother."

"But it doesn't make him less of an *," I mutter. "And he swore when he left, he was never coming back here ever again."

"That's your brother's car?" Lila asks. "Good God, what does he do for living?"

I press the tips of my fingers to the sides of my nose. "Who knows?"

"Well, how does he afford a car like that?" she requests interestedly.

"It's not his car," I say. "It's my mothers."

Micha and I swap an oblique look, recalling the day the car mysteriously showed up in the garage. She never would tell anyone how she got it, and for a while, Dean and I expected the police to show up and arrest her for car thievery. It never happened and as time went on, it became like a game to my mother. Not just with the car, but with life. We never knew if she was telling the truth or not.

After she died, Dean took the car. He acted like it was his right and maybe it was. He wasn't the one who'd snuck out of the house that night and left our mother alone.

"And that gorgeous car over there is yours," I remind Lila, diverting her attention elsewhere. "You should probably go get it fixed, before Ethan wanders off from the shop."

She slumps back in the chair. "I'd really like to meet your brother first before I go."

"I'm sure he'll still be here when you get back." Actually I'm hoping he'll be gone.

"Come on, Lila, we'll make it quick." Micha opens the door. "We can drop it off and walk back. It isn't too far."

When I climb outside, he captures my gaze over the roof of the car. "Are you coming with us?"

"I think I need to stay." My eyes travel to the back door. "Who knows why he's here and what he'll say to dad? And I don't think dad can handle his crap."

Pressing his hands to the roof, he leans over. "But can you handle his crap?"

"I'll be fine," I assure him. "Just get her car fixed. She needs to get out before she gets sucked into this place."

"This town isn't that bad." Micha closes the door. "You used to think the same thing."

"I also used to believe my mom would get better," I say. "And look what a crashing disappointment that was."

From the back of the car, Lila blinks at me, stunned. "Ella, I didn't know your mom was sick."

Micha's expression is guarded. "Let's go, Lila. Ella's right, if Ethan gets too bored, he'll bail."

They head for Lila's car and I head up the driveway, wishing I could run back into Micha's arms and alleviate the hole in my chest.

Micha

I worry about Ella the entire drive to the shop. Dean was never a good brother and at the funeral, he blamed Ella for their mother's death. He basically tore her to shreds. Maybe it was his way of mourning, but it was still a shitty thing to do.

"So what's up with Ella and her brother?" Lila asks, resting her arm on the console.

"I think that's something you should probably talk to her about." I turn the car into the parking lot of the shop. "It's not really my story to tell."