The cut that always bleeds

Chapter two- Poison

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Jenna and Ellie had been best friends for five years now. Five long, funny and exciting years. Now although Jenna was one for having fun, her parents were a little more on the restricting side. Luckily she had her next door neighbour and best friend to count on for a good time. Ellie's parents weren't necessarily strict or not strict, they were just never there. This led to many nights spent at her house laughing the night away with little on their minds except the presence of liquid courage on their tongues.

They'd met at school and just clicked. Jenna knew how to brighten Ellie's days and Ellie knew how to calm down an overexcited Jenna. A perfect fit, you'd think.

Jenna was just as obsessed with women's football back then as she was now, however, her favourite player hadn't been very, well let's just say: old, back then. Now that Lacey was playing on the pitch every match this meant that her biggest fan wouldn't miss a single game. And of course, what's the fun in going alone? Her best friend was there right beside her every time, no matter her honest opinion on the game (and similarly, the players).

"I honestly don't see what you see in Lacey, Jenna. Her right foot is alright I guess, but she seriously needs to work on her shots from her left foot. And those tackles; I mean come on, she's practically begging for a red! She needs someone to bring her ego down a notch or two so she can finally understand she's NOT all that!" Ellie huffed and rolled her eyes, whilst lightly tracing her bracelet on her wrist with her chilly fingertips. Middle of winter was never the best time to go to a match without a coat, but needs must.

"Wow. Sounds like you know the game better than I do, El!" Jenna just chuckled and continued her screeching as Lacey brought the ball to the better side of the pitch. Well, better for the Avon Runners at least.

The game then ended 2:1 to the Avon Runners a few minutes later, and of course, Lacey just had to score one of the goals.

The whole way back to Ellie's car, Jenna was ranting about how good that goal was.

"And, and, the way she just managed to angle it perfectly and hit it straight without a doubt, the goalie would never have been able to save that one!"

"Okay fine I get it you're in love, now go tell that to your poster of Clinton on your wall and not me. I'm tired, Jen," Although she was mildly irritated, Ellie could never be truly mad at her best friend, and so gave her a warm smile.

Although her father worked long hours and earned a fair deal of money, Ellie still valued the responsibility and independence of owning her own wage. Therefore, the small cafe around a ten minute walk from her house in London was the perfect option. Balancing college and work (along with her social life) was never easy, but she managed to get by.

However, this shift at work was particularly difficult for Ellie. She'd already dropped two croissants and messed up an order from an irate elderly woman who "Just wanted her damn chai latte!", and the pure thought of going out into public was troubling her more than ever. To make matters worse, Jacob was standing at the counter.

Taking a few seconds to fix herself up, Ellie let out a faux confident sigh and walked out of the staff room was a falsified smile on her face.

"Baby! You weren't at home this morning so I thought I'd come see you at work." He smiled his ever confident smile and licked his chapped lips in a seductive manner. "God, you look hot in that little uniform, El."

Hearing her nickname, Ellie froze. Only Jenna could call her that. Instead of getting mad, she took in a deep breath and put her smile back onto her face. The 'compliment' was also another bit of salt to add to the injury, but yet again she knew she couldn't say anything about it.

"What can I get for you, Jacob?"

"Hm... how about... a hot chocolate, muffin and a millionaire's shortbread. And a kiss?"

"Don't get greedy there, I only do three orders per customer so that last one can wait for later." Ellie knew a bit of humour would get her out of a situation she really didn't want to be in, even though the smile on her face would not have been there if she were alone.

"Alright alright. Be quick though, babe. I need to get back to college soon, Katie is waiting for me." Jacob huffed but smiled a little at his girlfriend's 'joke'.

At the mention of her name, Ellie tensed up and her fingers froze over the ordering screen. "Katie?"

She tried to voice that out loud but the word didn't leave her mouth. Instead she just finished up the order and kept her bottom lip firmly in her mouth, urging her not to bring up the infamous girl.

Katie was a classmate of Jacob's. She was smart, incredibly beautiful and most of all: popular. Basically everything Ellie knew Jacob would be intoxicated by.

Ellie quickly grabbed Jacob's order and wrapped it up. She thought, for just one second, that that millionaire's shortbread might have been for her.

What was she thinking- she can't eat that! The number of calories in that would be enough for her to gain a few pounds at least! Her hands were now shaking slightly at the thought of that happening. She can't let that happen, what would her mum think? Would Jacob still love her? Surely not.

Jacob gave his girlfriend a light kiss on the cheek over the counter and grabbed the food and drink, and left.

Ellie was left standing in her apron, almost frozen by her own thoughts that had consumed her. The sight of her manager walking through the front door awoke her, knowing she had many more customers to serve and the thought of messing up again almost sending her into overdrive.

It'll be okay. She'll get home and just wait a few hours and maybe have some salad for dinner or something.

At last, her shift was over. Ellie virtually ripped her apron off, rushing to her bed once she'd reached home to have a quick rest before preparing dinner.

However, resting was a difficult task when the impending thought of Jacob's lips on her cheek and hand on her back was consuming her. She hated it. She hated the way he had that effect on her. It was supposed to be nice! The very thought alone of his face after seeing her doing something he didn't like- this could be eating one too many pieces of chocolate or dropping something on the floor- scarred her. Now isolated on her bed, sat straight up and chest heaving, Ellie knew there was only one thing for it.

She reached for her phone to ring Jenna, knowing she'd be up for a long night of nothing.

A few minutes later the large front door opened, revealing a short Latina and a large bottle of whisky in her hand. Both girls giggled and took it in turns downing the liquid courage all night.

There were no fears of getting caught, as Jenna's parents were on a date night, and Ellie's were god knows where.

For the rest of the evening, the only thoughts on either of the girls' minds was the poison coating their tongues.