No Place Like Home

9 ~ Emma, Was It?

No Place Like Home

Chapter Nine- Emma, Was It?

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"I don't see what the big deal is," Ella replied, holding her phone to her ear as she grabbed a shopping cart and pushing it forward.

'He just has-' Noah cut out on the other side of the phone. 'Listen, it's just the way he is, when things start getting more serious I'm sure he'll give you a chance.' 

"Maybe I don't wanna chance," Ella mumbled, trying to understand why Noah was lying to his brother about hanging around her. Why didn't Lyric like her, was she that bad? Was it the kiss?

'You'll warm up to him, it just might take a while.' Noah seemed to be trying to convince himself. 'Hey, I'll talk to you later, we'll hang out tonight?' 

Ella made her way down the food isles and turned when the animal section came into view. "Love to, pick the movies?"

'One step ahead of ya',' Noah joked on the other end. 'See you later, Bug!'

"Bye Monkey-man." Ella giggled to herself, pulled the phone away from her ear and pressed the end button. She rounded the corner and made her way to the cat food. Her dozens of choices stared at her in a challenging manner and she suddenly felt like she should've done research. 

She settled for a bag of kitten Meow Mix and tossed the load into her cart. 

"Wow," a husky voice sounded behind her. "Its only been a week since my brother dumped you and your already kick starting your cat collection?" 

Ella narrowed her eyes as Lyric stepped closer to her, eyeing her carefully. "How do you know I haven't owned this cat for," she paused thinking. "Years? Huh?"

She took in his bad boy appearance, the leather jacket, black boots. He even had his hands slouched in his jean pockets. Ella was positive girls fell for him left and right, breaking their necks just to get a second look. There was so much of him that looked identical to Noah, but at the same time everything was different. 

Lyric glanced beyond her at the cart. "And that cat still eats kitten food? Unlikely," he stepped closer and smirked down at her. "I bet you haven't even named it." 

His plain challenge was just the shove Ella needed. "I named it," she assured him, her mind reeling for a name that she hadn't even thought about. 

"Oh yeah?" He corked his eyebrow, still unbelieving. 

"Yeah," she placed her hand on her hip and ran her other hand through her hair. "His name's," she paused, buying more time. "O-Oliver." 

Ella slapped herself mentally. What was she thinking!? Oliver? His middle name! Ella plastered on a  half nervous smile, considering she was screaming bloody murder within her head. "I mean- it's not like I named it after you or anything," Ella added on quickly. 

Lyric's cocky expression slipped off his face as he narrowed his eyes at her. "How'd you know my middle name was Oliver?"

Great! Ella wanted so desperately to get run over by a rogue shopping cart. 

She let out a breathy laugh. "Intuition?" 

Lyric held his suspicious gaze and after a few awkward seconds, he sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair, must've been a habit both of the brothers shared. "Whatever," he spoke calmly, turning his back on her and slowly stalking away. "See you around, Emma." 

Ella stepped forward. "It's Ella." She called out after him.

"Doesn't matter." He mumbled, waving her off.