Change For Me

47. alone in the dark

~~~~

Jae's pov

"Ellie Mae?" She answers the phone after the second ring. It silent before I call out her name again but softer, "Ellie?"

My brows furrow when I hear heavy breathing on the other line. I check the side mirrors of my car, noticing how dark her house is.

"W-Where are you?" She sniffs and my heart drops. I start to worry because there's no doubt that she's crying.

"I'm outside your house to talk to you because of what happened at Conrad's—what's wrong?" I'm about to leave my car but she stops me.

"Stay..." She breathes in, then there's shuffling. "Okay?"

"Ellie, I'm coming." I'm already taking off my seat belt.

"No! Just stay. You can't come inside tonight." She ends the call while I'm left clueless to what she has in plan.

"Shit," I look down at her contact. I grip my phone and push back my hair from my eyes.

I think of the possibilities, reflecting on what happened today. I can only assume that she might be upset because of our friends. That's primarily why I've decided to stop over at her place so that I can talk to her. Although it is not my place to do so, and I'm not obligated to either, I just want to reassure her.

I look through my messages for the sake of it as I wait for Ellie. I stumble upon Conrad's contact and before I know it, I'm dialing him.

Something is wrong. I've never seen Ellie like this.

"Bro, it's 1 am." He groans. For someone who pulls all nighters for school and gaming, he makes 1 am seem so late.

"Do you know anything else about what's happening with Ellie? Is she alright, Conrad?"

"I really don't know Jae. Why? Did something happen?"

"Something's wrong." I whisper. "I-I want to help her."

"Is she okay?" He sounds concerned.

"I'm not too sure. I just have this feeling—" My eyes widen as the door of my car suddenly opens. I almost panic because I believe the intruder to be a random creep instead, I stare in shock when Ellie takes a seat.

I'm quick to end the call with Conrad. "You snuck out?"

"Go," She dismisses what I've said.

I lean closer and notice how bothered she really is. Even in the dark I can tell that her cheeks and nose are flushed, and her eyes are swelling up from the crying.

"Ellie—"

"Not now," she looks down at her hands that shake nonstop. "Please..." She finally looks at me and I may have felt my heart break. She sounds so desperate, her eyes practically begging me to get as far away as possible.

I nod, driving out of her street.

~

I pull up to a scenic overhang that my sister and I used to visit. We'd sometimes route our hikes here, and drive up to this location when we're in need of clearing our heads.

I thought it's the best place to introduce Ellie to. It gives me comfort and calms my mind. I hope it does the same for her.

We sit in silence for a long time. Doing nothing for this long may have made another person uncomfortable. On the contrary, I wait patiently until she's ready because it is what matters most to me.

She nestles deeper into her coat, pulling the hood over her head. At the same time, I wonder what she's thinking and by knowing her for this long, there's probably too much that it's consuming her.