Under her sleeves

Chapter 12//An Oreo cake?

"I love you Ella. I've told you this a million times. And I'm going to prove it to you. Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I'm sorry...no."

I run into the house sobbing and Gilinsky catches me before I can run to my room. He wraps his arms around me and I give up trying to escape. Resting me head on his chest, I sob until I can no longer breathe and my eyes are clouded over and I can't see. 

"Shhhhh. Ella-bella, what's wrong?" he whispers, rubbing my shoulders. 

I laugh slightly at Jack's nickname for me. He started calling me Ella-Bella when I got home. I think about Shawn and start to cry more. Jack continues to rub my shoulders until I calm down again. 

"He asked me if I would be his girlfriend."

"What? Why are you crying about this?"

"I said no."

"Why?" Jack asks calmly. 

"I-I don't deserve a guy like him. He's a-amazing and I...I'm not. I cut, and am ugly, and and has an amazing voice an-"

"Shut up. You're beautiful," Jack says while lifting my chin, forcing me to look at him. "Don't say you're ugly. It's your choice, but you should have said yes. Shawn is probably heartbroken now," Jack finishes, kissing my cheek. 

Cam comes down the stairs and looks at me. Jack must have mouthed what happened because Cam's eyes widen and he nods. He looks worried and scared, and motions for Jack to follow him. Jack tells me to go to Matt's room and I nod, wiping the remaining tears from my cheeks. 

"Matt?" I ask softly. 

Matt is laying on his bed, scrolling on his phone. He smiles but then frowns when he sees that I've been crying. He pats the spot next to him on the bed and I walk over, laying down next to him. 

"What's wrong?"

I tell him what I told Jack and he nods along with every word. That's what I love about Matt. He doesn't say anything. 

Matt spent the next 30 minutes making me laugh and teaching me how to use Vine. We were looking at some of the other boys' vines when Taylor and Carter came to look for Matt. They both looked very worried. 

Matt gets up from the bed and goes over to them. Taylor starts whispering and Matt's usual playfulness disappears. He looks over his shoulder at him and smiles sadly. What happened? Matt nods his head and comes back over to me. 

"We're going to find Shawn. He left, but his car is still here. Don't worry. Our friend Mahogany is coming over to hang out with you until we get back. Love you," Matt says, rubbing my shoulder and kissing the top of my head before walking out the door.

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I open the door to find a curly-haired red head smiling back at me.

"Hi! I'm Mahogany. But you can call me Lox if you want to."

Mahogany struts into the house like it's her own and heads toward the kitchen. I follow silently, not wanting to talk. 

"I know you're down, so I thought we could make an oreo cake."

"An oreo cake?" I ask quietly.

Mahogany's laughter fills the room as she nods. We mix up the batter and she turned on some music. She started to dance around and made me laugh by starting a pillow fight. Mahogany was about to hit me in the head with a pillow when we heard the front door open. 

Mahogany slips into the kitchen and Aaron comes into the living room. I open my mouth to ask where Shawn is, but he stops me. 

"We found him. But he needs rest. You can talk to him in the morning, okay?"

I nod and go to the kitchen to help Mahogany finish the cake. The boys all came in when we opened the oven because of the smell. I watch their eyes glaze over and they start to drool at the sight of the cookies n cream frosting sitting on the counter top. 

"No, you guys can't have any. It's has to go on the cake!" I exclaim, laughing at the sight of disappointment on their faces. 

Mahogany and I finish putting the icing on the cake and start to cut it. I watch, laughing, as they all dig in and make a mess. 

"Hey Ella..."

"Hey Nash..."

Nash hugs me but then rubs icing all over my face. I gasp, and throw a glob of icing at him. He ducks, and it hits Taylor in the chest. He giggles and smashes cake in Mahogany's face. I look around me at the guys, and girl, who have made me laugh when I almost forgot how to. Although one person is missing, I'm still somewhat happy.