Ella's Twisted Senior Year(23)

However, only one problem of the day is solved. I still need to get to school.

Ethan appears in the kitchen just moments after I come back down to ask Mom for a ride. I know she works in the opposite direction of the school but I’m desperate.

Before I can ask, Ethan barrels into me—okay well, his arm barely touches mine, but it feels like I’m being barreled into—and grabs a muffin. He takes a massive bite, and turns to me. “Ready?”

“Ready for what?” I ask.

He jiggles his truck keys. “School? Let’s go."





Chapter 13





Never in my life have I seen someone so horrified as when Ella realized she’s stuck riding to school with me. The expression on her face was fleeting, but it rivaled that of my sister’s when she has to get a flu shot. I guess she didn’t get the memo last night. Last night Mr. Lockhart had asked me if I’d mind driving her until she gets her car back. This morning, it seems like everyone was aware of that fact except for her.

Guilt grips me as we drive to school, neither one of us daring to break the silence. I shouldn’t have let it go that far yesterday. Hell, I shouldn’t have offered to drink with her, especially since she seemed a little freaked out by it. She’s right about one thing, about me becoming a football player and changing into one of them. Back in the day, I would have never pictured drinking underage, at home or not. It just didn’t seem smart. Now I drink all the time with the guys, at parties, and at home where my parents don’t ever say anything about their liquor supply being slowly depleted. Have I really changed as much as Ella thinks I have? Sure, I spend weekends at parties instead of hanging out in the rec room, but isn’t that what all teenagers do?

My mind drifts into a fantasy of what life might have been like if Ella and I had stayed friends throughout high school. I would have still tried out for football because of my dad, so I would have made all the same friends. Would she have come with me to watch the games? Were we doomed a long time ago to grow into separate social cliques or would we have stayed together?

“Where are we going?” Ella asks when I turn off the main road.

With my hand on the steering wheel, I extend a finger to point straight ahead. “Donuts.”

“Uh, you just had a muffin at home.”

I give her a side-eyed glance. “Correction: I just had a healthy muffin at home. I eat them every day to keep Mom happy but then I stop for a donut.” I pull into a parking spot and put my finger to my lips. “Don’t tell her,” I whisper.

Ella grins. “Try not to take too long. School starts in fifteen minutes and regular students like me don’t get free tardy passes.”

I’m not sure what she means by that, but I cut off the engine. “Then let’s hurry.”

“I’m not going in,” she says, studying the zipper on her backpack.

“You’re not hungry? Those muffins are not appetizing.”

She shrugs. “I don’t want to waste money on donuts.”

“But you didn’t say you weren’t hungry so come on, I’ll buy.”

She sighs through her nose and looks out of the passenger door. I nudge her with my elbow. “You can still hate me, Ella. Me buying you a donut won’t change that.”

Her lips quirk into a smile but she forces it to go away. “Fine. You can buy me one donut. And a coffee,” she adds with a smirk. “And I’ll still hate you.”

It doesn’t really feel like she hates me so I grin. “Sounds like a plan.”

Mrs. Kim’s eyebrows shoot to the ceiling when we walk into Kim’s Square Donuts. “New girlfriend?” she asks, eyeing me conspiratorially. Before I can say anything, she puts her hand up to her mouth to block the words she totally doesn’t say quietly. “I like her. She seems nicer than the other one.”

I nod, wishing I had a time machine to erase the last few seconds and go back to when Ella was in my truck and tell her she can stay there and wait on me. There’s no way Ella didn’t hear that because Mrs. Kim doesn’t ever speak quietly.

“You want the usual?” she asks, reaching for the glazed donuts.

I nod and remind myself how to speak. “Yeah, and uh, whatever my friend wants.”

Ella steps up to the glass, gazing over the varied selections. “The donuts are square,” she says, lifting an eyebrow. “That’s cool.”

“Easier to make,” Mrs. Kim says. “Plus it’s more donut than the circle ones for the same price.”

Ella nods. “I like that. I’ll take one glazed, please”

“And a coffee?” I ask.

She shrugs. “Nah, it’s cool. I was just messing with you.”

“And a coffee,” I tell Mrs. Kim.

She leans over the counter and makes this exaggerated wink. “This girl is nice. I like her better.”

My lips twist upward before I can help it. “Yeah, I do too.”

Ella clears her throat. When I look over there, she’s staring at her shoes, a grin the size of Texas on her face.

Mrs. Kim rings up my order and I nudge Ella in the shoulder on my way to the register.

“I still hate you,” she whispers.

“I know.” I hand her a coffee and the bag with her donut.