Things Are Rough All Over

Chapter 13: Trouble In Paradise

Elena's POV

"You actually had an anxiety attack?" Audrey asked, sorrow in her eyes. We were all sitting around Madison's bed, talking about our night after we left the dance. "Yeah, I did. I thought I was ready... but I guess I wasn't." I said, looking down at my hands. 

"Hey, don't feel bad Elena. You're dad put you through hell and worse because of what he did to you. That isn't your fault." Eleanor said, rubbing my back. "Thanks El." I smiled. "What about you Madi?" I asked, changing the subject. "Dally actually tore me." I said, blushing at the memories of last night. "Soda tore me too a little the first time we did it. It goes away after about three days." Eleanor said, Madi nodded. "Yeah, that's what Beth Anne said." Madi said, leaning forward a little. 

"I'm hungry. Do y'all wanna go to the diner and get something to eat?" Audrey said, our stomachs all growled and we laughed. "Madi, are you okay to walk?" Eleanor asked, Madi rolled her eyes playfully and carefully stood up.

We walked out to the living room and slid our shoes on. "We're gonna go to the Diner. We'll be back later." Audrey said, we walked out of the house and started down the street. When we got to the diner, we sat at our usual booth and waited for the waitress to stop by. 

A bubbly voice brought us out of our conversation and we looked up to see a blonde. A very familiar blonde. I felt Eleanor tense up beside me as the blonde looked at us, ready to take our order. "Oh, hey guys." she said, a forced smile plastered on her face. She glanced at Eleanor and scowled a little. 

"Hi Sandy." Eleanor said, her voice was shaking. I grabbed her hand under the table and she calmed a little. "What can I get you?" Sandy said, smacking on her gum. "What're you doing here?" Eleanor asked. Sandy sighed and crossed her arms. 

"I came back from Florida a week ago. I got tired of my aunt so I took my kid and left." she said, rolling her eyes. "Now, what can I get you?" she asked, annoyance in her voice. "Cheese burger and a vanilla milk shake." Eleanor said coldly, Sandy grinned. "Oh, sweetheart, you should really watch your figure. You've gained a little weight since we last saw one another." she said, a grin growing on her face. 

I had to put my arms around Eleanor to keep her from jumping on Sandy. Eleanor was no where near fat. She had perfect curves and a perfect body. Sandy, even after being pregnant, was thin like a twig. "C'mon girls, let's go somewhere else." I said and they all nodded. We stood up and headed towards the door.

"Oh, Eleanor, say hi to Sodapop for me." Sandy called after us, Eleanor was fixing to bounce but Audrey and I pulled her back. "El, no, she isn't even worth it." Audrey whispered in her ear. Eleanor took a deep breath and we walked out of the diner. She didn't say anything as we made our way down the street. 

"I'm gonna go home." she said softly, heading in the direction of her house. "El, don't let what Sandy said get to you. She's just mad because she knows Soda moved on with someone way more gorgeous than she is and way more loyal." Audrey said, putting her hand on Eleanor's shoulder. Eleanor shrugged Audrey's hand away and walked off, not saying anything else.

We made our way bag to Madi's house and walked in. "Hey, where's Elli?" Steve asked, we all stopped and looked at each other. "She wasn't feeling well so she went home." Madi lied. Steve looked at me, trying to see if we were lying. I looked away real fast and sat on the couch next to him. 

He leaned over and whispered "What's going on?" I didn't say anything. I bit my bottom lip and shrugged. He sighed and took my hand, pulling me outside with him. We walked away from the house a little and he looked at me with his arms crossed, a serious look on his face.

"Elena. What's. Going. On." he said, looking directly into my eyes. I sighed and looked down, running my fingers through my hair. "We ran into Sandy at the diner. She said some things to Elli so we left and on the way back, Elli was being quiet. She said she was going home. Audrey tried talking to her and tried reassuring her but she stormed off." I said in a single breath. Steve's face fell.

"Sandy's back?" he asked, I nodded my head. He rubbed his temples for a minute and looked at me. "Why didn't y'all just say that back at the house?" he asked, I could tell he was getting irritated by our actions. "Because, Steve, Soda dated Sandy. Sandy tortured Eleanor just because she was close with Soda. We were trying to keep the drama out of it." I said, getting annoyed.

"It's not like Soda is just gonna go running back to Sandy, Elena!" he said, raising his voice a little. "That's not the point Steve. The point is that your sister is at home upset because of Sandy, and you're standing here yelling at me like I'm the one that messed things up! You should be thanking me from keeping Eleanor out of jail. She was fixing to jump on Sandy and I held her back!" I said, Steve looked at me and shook his head. 

He started to walk back to the Curtis house and I yelled after him. "Where are you going?" I asked, he turned to me and rolled his eyes. "To tell Soda that his ex girlfriend is back in town being a bitch to his current girlfriend." he said annoyed. "Steve, you can't do that. It's just gonna cause problems." I said, grabbing onto his arm. He yanked his arm away from me and I flinched. 

"It's already causing problems Elena!" he yelled, I flinched again and his eyes softened. He went to grab my hand but I moved away from him. "Leave me alone Steve." I said, turning and walking away. "Elena, come back, I'm sorry." he called after me, I didn't say anything. I kept walking until I reached my house. I stood outside for a minute, thinking about all the things my dad did to me. 

I had so many mixed emotions. I was sad. I was scared. But most of all, I was angry. I walked into the house and went to my old room, flopping down on the bed. I stared up at the ceiling until I felt my eyes getting heavy. I fell asleep soon after. 

~~~

I felt someone pick me up and opened my eyes to see Steve. "What're you doing?" I said in an annoyed, tired voice. "I'm taking you home." he said, no emotion in his voice. I sighed and leaned my head on his chest. He walked a block down from my dad's house and walked up the steps to his. He walked into his room and set me down on the bed. 

"Why did you bring me here? I was perfectly fine in my old room." I said, still mad about earlier. "Just go to bed Elena. I don't wanna argue about it anymore." he said, kicking his shoes off. He took his shirt and jeans off and crawled into the bed.

I stood up, kicking my shoes off and walked to the bedroom door. "Where are you going?" he said annoyed. I turned around and looked at him, crossing my arms. "I'm going to sleep in Eleanor's room tonight. She's my friend and she needs me." I said, rolling my eyes and walking out of the room. 

I walked into Eleanor's room and shut the door behind me. I walked over to her bed and crawled in facing her. Her eyes were closed but I couldn't tell if she was actually asleep or not. "El?" I said, softly. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Hey Elena." she said softly. "What're you doing in here?" she asked, yawning a little. 

"Steve and I are fighting and I don't wanna be next to him right now." I said softly. "I'm sorry Elena. Do you want me to talk to him?" I shook my head. "No, it doesn't matter. Are you okay?" I asked, she thought for a minute and shrugged. 

"Why do you think she really came back?" Eleanor asked, I thought for a minute. "I don't know Elli, but I have a feeling it wasn't for anything good." I said, yawning as well. We stayed awake for a little while longer talking. After a little while, we both fell asleep.

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