Accidentally On Purpose

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Elle had to stay after school to make up a math test so I didn't hear from her until around 8. My phone rang and I picked up to a semi-cry.

"He said he prefers short hair," She wailed. "I'm going to have to cut off my beautiful hair. My baby. I don't want to cut my hair!"

"Calm down. Who doesn't like long hair?" I asked, putting my phone between my ear and shoulder as I finished my physics homework.

"Lucas doesn't! I don't know what I'm going to do! How short is short? I don't like short hair!"

"Hey, I have short hair," I responded, moving onto psychology.

"Yes, but you look good with short hair. There is no way I am going to be able to pull off short hair. My beautiful long hair!" Elle whimpered into the phone.

"This is not the end of the world. I like brown hair on guys but would I be okay with blond? Yes, I would. You hate beards but Lucas has stubble on his face. Just because someone prefers something else doesn't mean you have to change anything about you."

"So I don't have to cut my hair?" Elle asked, followed by a sniffle that let me know she was trying to calm herself down, and I rolled my eyes.

"No, you can keep your hair just the way it is." I responded.

"Thank the Lord," She commented just as my phone buzzed.

"Hold on, someone is texting me," I put Elle on speaker and checked my phone.

"Is it Conner? I totally ship Calex. You guys are like perfect for each other. I love you two as a duo." Elle babbled.

"Elle," I said, pulling up my messages.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up." When I said this, she laughed, but obliged.

When I looked at my phone, it was a text from Lucas. 'Hey, what's up.'

"Who's it from?" Elle asked after I stared at my phone for a few minutes.

I panicked. What explanation could I give Elle for her crush texting me? And how could I explain how I got his number or how he got mine. "It's Conner. He just needed the homework from math." I replied to her question while typing a 'nothing much, you?' back to Lucas.

"You have math together? I thought you had history together." Elle asked curiously. I mentally cursed myself for not thinking through my lie.

"We don't. We just have the same math teacher." My phone buzzed again. 'Nothing much. Just got done with a workout for baseball.'

"Oh, right..." Elle trailed off and I heard shouting in the background. Shouting in her house was a common occurrence in the Harden household.

"Crap, my mom wants to talk to me. I hope she hasn't looked at my physics grade yet. That would be really bad," Elle hung up without a goodbye and I was left to sit in my room, feeling guilty about lying to her about who was texting me.

'I just had ice cream for dinner, so who's the real winner here? I responded to Lucas's text. Minutes later, my phone started ringing. It was Lucas.

"Hello?" I answered the phone, feeling both popular and incredibly guilty.

"Ice cream? For dinner? Where are your parents?" Lucas rushed out of his mouth. Apparently we were skipping greetings today.

"Out at some business dinner. I'm babysitting." I closed my psychology textbook and shoving it off my bed. Apparently the universe did not want me to do my homework and I was one hundred percent fine with that. It's not like I really wanted to do it anyways.

"Did your siblings get ice cream for dinner?" Lucas asked.

"Not all of them. One of them had cake and another had a box of girl scout cookies." I responded.

"That's crazy." Lucas said. "A whole box of girl scout cookies?"

"They were the lemon ones, so I'd count that as a fruit." I rolled off my bed and got up, ready to put my youngest sibling, Ana.

"My parents would have a cow if any of us ate like that."

"My parents probably will when they get home. They left us nice, balanced meal for me to heat up but I didn't feel like it and Austin wouldn't either. So we settled for dessert."

"How many siblings do you have?" Lucas asked and I sighed.

"5 others. Adam is 17 but I always get left in charge. Then there is Adrian who is 13, Aaron who is 11, April is 6, and Ana is 2."

"That is a lot of kids." Lucas responded.

"Yeah, April and Ana were kind of surprises."

"And you all have 'a' names."

"Good for you for picking up on that." I responded, picking up a passed out Ana from her play pen and putting her safely away in her crib.

Lucas laughed, as if my sarcasm weren't to insult him and began humming a tune that was emitting from his side of the line.

Feeling an awkwardness set in, I tried to not breathe too loudly as I went to find April to also put her to bed.

"So, what's going on in that house? Is it full of kids in a sugar craze?" Lucas asked breaking the silence that had turned almost comfortable.

"Um, there is nothing crazy going on, which almost worries me."

"Really?" Lucas asked. My phone started buzzing and Elle's name popped up.

"Hey, Lucas. I have to go." I said, the guilt for having a nice conversation with the boy Elle had a huge crush on weighed down on me again.

"Okay, talk to you later." I hung up on him and answered Elle's phone call.

"She did." Elle said as a sort of explanation. For what, I wasn't sure of yet.

"She did what?" I asked, locating a very sleepy April and picking her up, ready to take her to bed.

"Checked my grades. Mom Harden is so not happy," Elle stated. "A certain Elle that you know and love is now grounded. It's only a matter of time before she takes my phone."

"Aw, poor Elle." I responded, lugging April up two flights of stairs.

"Is that my Ellie?" April asked and when I nodded she reached for the phone.

"Ellie?" She asked when I gave her the phone.

"April-bear? Shouldn't you be in bed?"

"I'm going now." April held the phone upside down and I hoped Elle could hear her.

"Oh really? Who's reading you a bedtime story?" Elle's voice crackled through the phone.

"ADAM!" April's enthusiastic tone screeched.

"Go get him," I said to April and she said goodnight to Elle before handing me my phone back.

"So, grounded?" I asked as I went back down to the basement where my bedroom lied.

"Yep. It sucks. How is Lucas going to fall in love with me if I can't even go out with him?" Elle asked and more shouting ensued from the background.

"Crap! Gotta go hide my phone so Mother can't find it. Talk to you later. Love you, bye." Elle hung up hurriedly and I sighed, collapsing on my bed.

I fell asleep that night with thoughts of Lucas and a heavy guilt on my mind.

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A/N: So hopefully this chapter makes up for the last one.

My fabulous cover was made by cxsmicology

She has been my biggest fan so far and I love her for it.

So, Alex feels guilty. Serves her right.

I love you people.

Em