slowly drifting ★ circa waves

XIII.

"who the hell is that?" sam asks, climbing out of the car. colin is long gone, sprinting towards the van to make sure kieran hadn't killed eleanor. emma was still opening her door when she looked up at who sam was referring to. it was a girl who looked about their age, with blonde curly hair. and a lot of it. emma didn't mind her, but what made her take a step back was the fact that she was talking to joe. oh, she's talking to joe, big whoop, right? but it wasn't just talking. she definitely wasn't someone joe just met on his 'stroll'.

sam was also curious, and walked hesitantly along side emma towards the van and the rest of the group.

"have you ever seen her before?"

"no, how should i know who she is?"

"i don't know, you live here." emma just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

joe eventually glanced at them as they neared.

"hey guys. hi emma."

"hi."

it was awkward. sam cleared his throat and tried to use his band powers to communicate with joe and tell him to explain.

"oh, this is ellie. she's our old friend. remember? the one who used to go to our school and then moved?"

sam's face changed with recognition, "oh! ellie! isn't she the one who—"

"—well, why don't try out this lucky necklace kieran's been talking about," joe interrupts. sam and emma shared a confused look before venturing through the van door.

-

eleanor was still unconscious, and joe hurriedly explained the circumstances to ellie. colin took the necklace and put it on eleanor. nothing happened. joe suggested they take her to the hospital, but sam was convinced they'd get arrested if they showed their faces anywhere else.

kieran was still snacking on the food they bought earlier. what was left of the lays salt and vinegar crisps. some might say the scent of it was 'wafting'.

nobody's really sure what happened next, but all of a sudden eleanor was awake and eating those crisps.  it took a second the the gang to register that she was no longer dead-looking, but quite alive.

within a minute there was so much noise in the van that eleanor was tempted just to pretend to be knocked out so they would shut up. she hadn't spoken a word. not even when she'd finished her crisps and was onto the jolly ranchers. joe tried clearing a few people out saying only three at a time, but colin, sam and emma decided to kick joe and ellie and sam out instead.

colin gave eleanor a hug but she didn't seem to notice. emma just sat next to her, nicking a few red jolly ranchers.

sam clears his throat (a trademark of sam's before he speaks) "what do you remember?"

eleanor slowly looks up and thinks. "i remember the whole window thing, and me running back to the kitchen, and then i remember hearing screams. and then jumping down, and i probably said something stupid before i passed out."

"ding ding ding, you are correct," emma chastises. "but why do you think it happened? i've never seen you pass out before."

eleanor shrugs. "sometimes it happens when i don't eat enough. it used to happen a lot when i was younger."

sam and colin nod understandingly. "are you feeling better now?" sam asks. eleanor nods but says something about being a bit dizzy. sam gives her some space and waits outside with the rest.

"who's that girl?" eleanor questions. emma sighs heavily and turns to colin for a response.

"she used to be in our class for a bit during secondary school. her name's ellie. she's nice 'n all, but sometimes she's a bit much."