Inferno Part 2

~75~ Lance

Ellie's POV

We sit in silence as I continue to pick disgusting spider string out of my hair.

Suddenly Lance starts chuckling. "You look ridiculous"

I roll my eyes. "Stick your head up there and let them decorate your face"

He snorts. "Can I please help you?"

I just silently nod. I think I'm just making it worse.

He comes over and silently works on my hair for at least ten minutes.

"If your hair wasn't so damn thick, this wouldn't be a problem."

"Yeah, well, when I thought I was going to get my hair done this afternoon, this wasn't what I had in mind."

After another minute, he sighs. "It's as good as I can get it."

"Thanks" I say simply.

He looks at me for a moment, and then sits back by the door.

We're quiet for another few minutes.

"Are you sick?" I finally ask. I'm tired of the awkward silence.

"What?" He asks, surprised.

"Doctor's appointment"

He looks at me hard for a minute before he shakes his head. "No"

I just nod. We're not friends anymore, so I don't get to ask for details.

We hear a faint noise in the background. It's the bell. School is finally out, but we're still stuck in detention.

"What time is Taylor expecting you home?"

"I said after 5. He won't start getting worried until 6 or so"

Lance groans. "So at least three more hours?"

"At least. My guess is we're not getting out of here until at least 8."

He shakes his head. This is going to be awful.

We continue to sit in silence. Long, awful silence.

Finally he shakes his head. "I'm allergic to something but I can't figure out what. I was supposed to get stabbed with 30 different things on my back this afternoon. I'd still rather be there" he says darkly.

I nod. "Those are supposed to suck"

"Yup" he says simply.

"Why do you think you're allergic to something?"

"I get rashes once in a while, but I don't know what they're from."

I just nod. I can't help him. He could be getting rashes from anything.

"Man I'm starving. I didn't even eat today."

"That's why you're so crabby" I say, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, Ellie. That's exactly why" he snaps.

I sigh as I get up and start searching for Tom's secret stash.

I find it, and bring the loot over.

"What's this?"

"Um, snacks?"

"Thanks. I mean, how did you know they're here."

"I bought them"

Lance gives me a crazy look. "Since when do you eat beef jerky and Dr. Pepper?"

"I don't think Tom has a lot of money. So I buy snacks for him a lot, and then tell him that my family won't eat them, so they will just go to waste otherwise."