All I hide

Chapter 44

I felt relieved too early, I realise as I check my messages again. He's left me on read. He never leaves people on read. This is the third day in a row now. What's going on? The chair beside me scrapes against the laminate floor as Elliott plonks himself into it.

"Hey." He props his chin on his hand, resting his elbow on the table as he tries to catch my gaze.

"Hey." I give him a small smile, putting my phone away and casting thoughts of John out of my mind. I'm not going to agonise over it and let it distract me from other things. I can't think that way anymore; if I do I'll worry myself into a breakdown and I no longer want to do that.

"Shall we get away from here?" There's a mischievous glint in his eyes and I know he's not thinking of anything good.

"The others will be here soon. We can all leave together."

"What's the fun in that?" He smirks and leans closer to me. "We can do better things if we're alone."

"You'd love that wouldn't you?" I reply sarcastically.

"If you say yes then you'll love it too."

I'm saved from answering by Reina thwacking him with her bottle.

"Ow! Rei!" Elliott rubs his shoulder where she hit him and leans back in his seat sulkily.

She simply rolls her eyes. Keep your bad thoughts to yourself.

"But..." he cuts himself off when he notices her glare.

"Well what's going on here?" Elijah joins us, followed by John.

I try not to look at him and grab my bag from the floor. "Nothing much," I say to Elijah. "Just the never ending saga of Ellie being told off by Reina."

They start leaving the cafeteria but Elliott remains in his seat.

"Shall we go?" I ask him, poking his arm to get his attention but he gives me no response. "Ellie?" Still no response so I get up to leave. "Suit yourself." As I pass behind his chair, he grabs my wrist to stop me. "El –"

"We're not going with them."

"Why?"

"I want to be alone with you."

"But –"

"Do you trust me?" his tone is serious and I feel something stir in my chest.

"Yes but won't the others wonder where we are?"

"I'll deal with them. Just please come with me."

Twenty minutes later, we're in a part of the city I'm less familiar with. Elliott grabs my hand and leads me down a side road. Trees come into view, all sorts of types, and we go through a gate, walking up the cobbled path to a quaint café. He takes me to a table on the rooftop that overlooks the café garden. It's so serene and beautiful and just the sort of escape I needed right now.

"This place is amazing and so beautiful," I say in awe, looking at the view.

"Mmm. It is." His eyes are on me; I don't need to look at him to know that.

"Alex would love it here. John too." A wistful smile passes my lips as I turn back to him. "Maybe we can come back here with everyone one day."

"Mmm."

A waiter comes to take our orders and I let myself get lost in the view once again. We spend the afternoon eating desserts and drinking iced coffee and exploring the garden, letting go of our worries and just simply being two teenagers in love.

****

Two more days pass and John is still ghosting me. I seriously don't know what I've done to upset him but I'm getting frustrated. I find his contact number and try calling him, sitting on my bed and massaging my temple to keep myself calm. He picks up on the last ring. "John? Are you there?"

"What do you want?" he asks dismissively.

"What do you mean what do I want? You've been ghosting me. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Did I do something to upset you? You've been talking to everyone but me."

I can hear him sigh in annoyance and this bugs me even more. "You're fine. I'm just...it's good. Don't worry. Please don't make it about you."

"If it's not about me, why am I the only one being ghosted?" I respond in disbelief. "It's hard not to take it personally when your best friend goes cold on you for seemingly no reason."

"Sam I'm fine. Please just give me some time."

"Okay." I give in; this is clearly going nowhere.

"Okay." He hangs up and that's it.

I grip my phone tightly, clutching it to my chest. It shouldn't hurt this much but it does. Taking a moment to compose myself, I head downstairs to find Alex. He cuddles me immediately, laying his head on my chest and arm around my front. He doesn't say anything and neither do I but still, I feel comforted and it's enough to reassure me that things will work out if I don't lose hope.