this is me trying | taylor swift

fifteen

❝and when you're fifteen feeling like there's nothing to figure out❞

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

The clock in the stuffy classroom finally marked half past twelve, indicating that the class was over. Without hesitation, Ella grabbed her backpack and made a beeline for the door. Finally. It had been six grueling weeks of the summer class she had begrudgingly signed up for. Because she had signed up so late, most of the desirable classes were filled up, so Ella was left with a Shakespearean Literature course. To save face, she hesitantly enrolled in the course, but this did not mean that she enjoyed it whatsoever. Six weeks of analyzing Shakespeare and nothing but Shakespeare. It was safe to say that Ella was beyond relieved it was over. 

The silver lining of it all was that the course meant that Ella could spend less time at home, which meant more freedom to restrict her eating. However, the freedom was going away and Ella had to be more careful than usual, at least for a little while, because Ella had decided to surprise Taylor and join her on tour for the last six weeks of her summer vacation. It was a well-thought out plan, really. Taylor was currently in Los Angeles for a few meetings she had to attend. According to their mom, Taylor planned to stay in LA until Friday morning, before flying to Denver for her show that evening. Therefore, the following day, Ella and her mom were going to fly to Los Angeles, where they would be picked up by one of Taylor's drivers, and be there to surprise her at the house by the time she got back from her interview in the afternoon. Perfect plan. With just one problem. Ella had no idea how she was going to hide her eating habits from Taylor. 

✮

"Mom, are we almost there yet?" Ella asked, picking at the sparkly blue nail polish on her fingers, her leg bouncing as she watched the various buildings pass by her. 

"Sweetheart, I've already told you. We're almost there, please be patient," Andrea replied rather shortly, having gotten tired of Ella asking the same question three times in the last twenty minutes. Ella rolled her eyes and turned to face the window, continuing to pick at her nail polish. The blue color was nearly gone, only a few specks remaining on each nail.  

"The traffic is really bad right now, since it's rush hour. We'll be there in fifteen minutes and Taylor should be home within the hour," Robert answered, giving a knowing smile to the younger girl who smiled back, satisfied with the answer. Taylor had no idea and she wanted to keep it that way. Ella leaned back and closed her eyes, before turning up the music blasting in her AirPods, allowing the melodic voice of Hozier to lull her into a short nap. 

✮

"Moooommmy, don't make a single sound and don't clean, she'll know!" Ella reminded her mother for the third time, after she heard Andrea's footsteps walking around the kitchen downstairs, as she heard the familiar sounds of dishes being put away. She had left her hiding spot in Taylor's bedroom and raced downstairs to remind her mother, who laughed before nodding, leaving everything as it was. Andrea followed Ella upstairs and made her way to the guest room, before sitting on the bed.

"Is this okay, Mom? Will you let me know when my time-out is over?" Andrea asked her youngest jokingly, as Ella stuck her tongue out at her, before closing the bedroom door and heading back to her hiding spot, which she was quite proud of. She was hiding behind a dresser in Taylor's closet, which perfectly blocked her from visibility. Knowing her sister, she knew that as soon as she got home, she would go straight to her closet and change into comfortable clothes before going back downstairs to feed the cats. Because of the way that the closet and shelving was set up, Ella had a perfect view of the entirety of the closet, but couldn't be seen. She was going to let Taylor change before jumping out and scaring her, as she was heading out. Ella had her phone on standby, ready to record.