CRUEL, CRUEL WORLD, Ellie Williams (2)

(Prologue) Our Future Days

PROLOGUE. OUR FUTURE DAYS

KATHERINE KNEW THAT THINGS WERE GOING TO BE DIFFERENT NOW. She and Joel were hiding something huge from Ellie—something absolutely detrimental. If Ellie ever found out...oh, Katherine couldn't think about it. The auburn-haired girl would never forgive Joel or her lover.

Katherine tried not to think about it too much. Instead, she watched as Ellie drew in her journal, enamored by the concentrated look on her face. Katherine heard the door open and turned back, smiling as Joel walked into the room.

Joel walked to Ellie's side, nudging her shoulder slightly. The girl jumped in her spot, taking her headphones off before looking over at Katherine. "You could've warned me," she grumbled before looking back over at Joel. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Joel shrugged. "I tried knocking, but..." he trailed off.

"I just wanted to see you get scared," Katherine said with a cheeky grin directed toward her girlfriend, laughing when Ellie gave her an annoyed look.

Ellie sighed. "What's up, Joel?" Ellie asked awkwardly, looking over at the man.

Joel looked slightly nervous. "Just checking in. Folks are... y'know, talking about how impressed they are with you two and how well, you're helping out," he said.

Ellie nodded. "That's good," she said.

"Yeah. Tommy and I went out riding the other day and he, uh... he told me a joke and I thought about you," He said. "It's, um... Oh shoot, now I forgot it, uh... It was somethin' about a clock... how do you—" He started, but Ellie cut him off.

"Joel. It's, uh, it's pretty late, and we gotta get up in a few hours—" She said with a slight frown.

Joel nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, and I'm gonna get out of your hair, I just, um... I wanna show you two somethin'. Just gimme one second," he said.

Ellie sighed as he walked out of the room, turning to look at Katherine. "What's going on with him?" she asked.

Katherine shrugged. "Beats me. He's trying his best to do better, I guess," she said with a shrug.

"Why though?" Ellie asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Thank god Joel walked back inside because Katherine didn't know how to answer that question without giving herself up. Keeping this a secret is going to be much more difficult than I originally planned, Katherine thought to herself.

"What's this?" Ellie asked as she looked between the guitar and the man standing before the two teenagers with a seemingly nervous look on his face.

Joel sat down across from the two of them, holding the guitar in his hands. "Some folks call this thing here a gee-tar," he joked.

Ellie and Katherine both let out small laughs. "Funny," Ellie stated.

Joel looked between them once more before letting out a small sigh. "Do you wanna hear something?" He asked nervously, his leg bouncing with slight anxiousness as he awaited their response.

Ellie and Katherine shared a look before nodding. "Alright," Katherine said with a small smile, hoping to diffuse the nerves from Joel's demeanor.

Joel sighed in slight relief. "Okay. Promise me that you won't laugh," he said as he sat in a more comfortable position.

Ellie shook her head. "We won't laugh. Well, I won't," she said, sitting back in her chair.

"I won't laugh either. You promised you'd sing to us," Katherine told him with a small smile as she sat down on the arm of Ellie's chair, feeling the girl's arms wrap around her waist.

Joel nodded. "I'm trustin' you two..."

He inhaled a deep breath before beginning to strum the chords to the song. He hummed along to it softly to make sure he got the tune right before he began to sing.

If I ever were to lose you
I'd surely lose myself
Everything I have found here
I've not found by myself
Try and sometimes you'll succeed
To make this man of me
All my stolen missing parts
I've no need for anymore
'Cause I believe
And I believe 'cause I can see
Our future days
Days of you and me.

Joel exhaled as he finished, setting the guitar in his lap as he looked between the two teenagers. "There you go," he said with an awkward shrug.

Ellie hummed before responding. "Well... that didn't suck," she said with a small shrug. Katherine grinned lightly, nodding in agreement. "It was pretty good," the blonde added.

Joel laughed at the response, standing up from his spot. "I'll take what I can get," he said before handing the guitar to Ellie. "She's yours."

Ellie shook her head as he handed her the guitar, taking it gently with furrowed eyebrows. "No. No, no, no. I don't know the first thing about this," she said as she looked up at Joel.

Joel wouldn't let up. "I promised that I'd teach you how to play," he told her.

Katherine shrugged, looking down at Ellie. "He did say that," she told the auburn-haired girl.

Joel nodded at Katherine's words. "So what do you say, tomorrow night, first lesson?" he asked Ellie.

Ellie nodded after a moment. "Deal."

"Okay. Okay," Joel mumbled to himself with another nod, beginning to walk to the front door.

"Hey, Joel," Katherine called out. The man in question turned around, looking at the two of them questioning. "Did you...remember the joke?" she asked with a small smile.

Joel sighed through his nose, leaning against the doorway. "Um... What is the downside to eating a clock?" he asked the two of them. Ellie and Katherine both looked at each before shrugging with amused looks on their faces. "It's time-consuming."

Katherine let out a snort whilst Ellie smiled. "That's so dumb," the auburn-haired girl said, her spirits uplifting slightly.

Joel breathed out a laugh and nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he said. "G'night, girls."

"'Night Joel," Katherine replied as the man shut the door, leaving the girls to themselves as they examined Ellie's new gee-tar with a sense of wonder and fascination in their eyes.