It Started With A Whisper.

Chapter Six -- The Graffiti Graphics Wall

"Dylan? No effing way!" Taylor yelled excitedly

"Yes effing way Taylor! He said 'Call me Charlie'! How would he know?"

"Maybe because he's a fucking stalker" Drew chimed in

"No he's not." I reply

"Oh really? Remember that time he mysteriously got your number and texted you?" He said

"Yeah so? He probably got it off Nettle when he sent me a buddy request."

"Even so, he lied about it! He said he got it from Taylor, and she didn't even have it in her new phone yet."

"Yeah okay but that was like seventh grade Drew. What's your problem with him?"

"He's a fucking player! You see the way he acts with girls. Remember Emily Vasquez?"

"Oh yeah!" Taylor chimed "Emily Vasquez was the quiet girl in the back. She was super nice and always got A's."

"Yeah, then she started dating Dylan. Her grades dropped, she dyed her hair, and frankly, she's a bitch now. And it got worse after she dumped him."

"She dumped him?" Taylor and I said in synced astonishment.

"Yeah, she dumped him and started dating that Lily chick."

"She's bi?" Taylor asked

"Yeah, and rebellious. They're the ones that started the graffiti graphics wall behind the school."

"Seriously? The wall is amazing!" I say "I've always wanted to write on it."

"Yeah, me too, but that's not the point!" Drew says "The point is that Emily would never do anything like that, until she dated Dylan. He changed her, for the worse in my opinion."

"Look Drew, calm down. I'm not even sure I like Dylan. I mean, he's not the same. Now that I know it's him--"

"Hey princess." A voice called from behind me. I turned around to see Dylan inches from my face. Before I could reply he leaned in for a kiss. But before he could kiss me--

"Could you please not." Taylor said

Dylan turned his head without pulling back. "What?"

"PDAs in front of her friends. Uh, no. Gross. Save that for the Vespa."

"What?" He repeated.

"Forget it. Let's go Drew."

"Uh, where?" Drew asked.

"Anywhere but here." Taylor scoffed as she scowled at Dylan. "See ya, Elle."

"See ya, Tay." I say as my best friends walk away.

"So," Dylan said, leaning back in, "where were we?"

"Look, Dyl." I say, holding my hand up to his face and pushing him away. "can we not do this here? Or now? I mean, we haven't even been on a date. Not a proper one."

"Oh you want to go on a date? Alright. I'll pick you up tonight around seven."

"You know where I live?" Maybe Drew was right. Maybe he was stalking me.

"Elle," He pushed a strand of hair behind my ear. "I was at your birthday party, silly girl."

"Oh. Oh yeah."

"See you in a bit." He kissed me on the cheek then walked away.

***

"So this is it." I say, shaking a can of blue spray paint.

"Yep." Taylor says, shaking a can of black. "Let's do it."

We began to paint the wall. Spraying skylines, arrows, quotes and whatever else to contribute to our generational art. We painted for an hour or so, and as we finished, I climbed onto Taylor's shoulders and sprayed a large A and started circle around it.

"Ya know," Taylor said

"Yeah?"

"Drew's right."

I stopped spraying mid-circle "About what, exactly?"

"Since you've been hanging with Dyl, you've rebelled."

"Oh," I snickered, and finished my circle "nah, I would've done this anyway."

I jumped down and we stepped back to review our work.

"Wicked." I said.

***

 I was sitting alone at the lunch table, as I have been for the past few weeks. A wide beam of light flashing at me from my phone as I wait for Dylan to text back. I locked my phone then lied my head on the table and listened to the sweet sounds of We The Kings. This was getting ridiculous.

Everyday since we started dating, Dylan made me wait most of lunch for him to finish futbol practice then swept me away and kept me for half of my free period. It was romantic at first, but now it's just me sitting alone until we waste my perfect study time on the beach beside our school, getting sand all over my clothes and in my shoes.

Just as I thought I'd just head over to the science hall for some study time, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I slip my headphones off. "Dyl?"

"Nah, it's just me" I turned around

"Oh, hey Drew, what's going on?'

"Well," he sat next to me "My best friend is sitting all alone during free period lunch, what's that about? Where's your 'perfect' boyfriend?"

"Dylan? He's far from perfect. And at futbol practice, again."

"Really? That doesn't seem very Charmont." He said with a hint of surprise.

"Yeah I know. It's like, when we were together before, he was perfect, in every way. Nice, funny, clever. But now, he won't even sing with me anymore."

"Really?"

"Yeah! And he's been extremely distant for the past few days, always with the team and never finding time for me. It's like, without the mask, without the mystery, the magic is gone."

"Oh."

"Yeah." I look up at Drew, who's looking at his shoes. "Sorry, let's not talk about this, I don't want to put my problems on you. So, how have you been? I hear you've been talking with that girl Julianna"

"Yeah, Jewels is cool. She's in a band you know."

"Yeah, something like Angel Bites, right?"

"Yeah, yeah."

For a moment we sat in almost silence as First Kiss by A Rocket To The Moon played from my phone.

"So." He broke the silence. "I've been meaning to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"Well--"

Before he could continue, Taylor came running into the cafe shouting. "Elle! Elle! Come here! Come, now!"

"What? What is it Tay?"

"Just come look!" She said grabbing my arm and pulling me away. I grabbed Drew's wrist and we all ran off to the court.

She pulled us all the way to the graffiti graphics wall and said "Look!" Then pointed to the wall.

"Whoa." Drew and I said in unison.

Across the an entire half of the wall, painted in dark blue with silver accents, read I Love Princess Ella.