The Girl Hiding In The Shadows

Chapter 36

Ella's POV

"Hey! Ella! We've done a big favour for you! How are you going to thank us?" Nick yelled and grabbed me from the back, to stop me from going anywhere. I kicked and struggled until Nick let me go.

"What the hell?! Is this how you repay our kindness?!" Nick violently shook me till I felt dizzy.

"Did I ever mentioned beating up Zachary?! No? I didn't right? So why in the world would I thank you?!" I refuted back in frustration and attacked Nick. On second thought, that might not be the smartest move.

I was dragged away by the others and being forced to stand straight. Without any warnings, Nick raised his hand and gave my cheek a hard slap. I couldn't handle the blow and fell to the ground. Those who were holding me didn't even bother to rescue me. My cheek burned up in pain and I could taste blood in my mouth.

Nick was about to kick me when the boys pulled him away. I was already curled up into a ball to protect myself from the kick.

"Nick, alright. We wouldn't want Ella here to report this to the police." Paige advised Nick and helped me up.

"Keep quiet and let me do the talking." Paige whispered into my ears as my whole body shivered in fear.

"Ella wouldn't dare to tell all these to the police right? If she want to risk the safety of the people she loves?" Luke traced my jawline with his rough fingers. Cold shiver ran down my spine while trying not to flinch back by his touch.

"Luke. Shut up. I am sure Ella will make the wise choice." Paige waved off Luke, so, I took the opportunity to run away.

I kept on running towards nowhere. My legs started to feel sore and I finally stopped running. Coincidentally, my home was right in front of me. I let out a breath of relief and quickly get inside quietly.

What I didn't expect was my mum sitting at the living room, crying. I stood at the hallway, motionless. I've never saw my mum cried before. My hands lost grip of the home keys and clang. The sound of keys dropped on the parquet floor.

My mum gazed up in shock from the sudden noise. Her eyes lit up at the sight of me and that made me feel like bawling my eyes out. Simultaneously, both of us ran towards each other.

"Mum.. I'm so sorry."

"Ella.. What happened to your face?" My mum gently stroked my sore cheek and a drop of tear escaped from her eye.

I did not know how to answer her. I did not know what else to do other than crying.

My mum hugged me tightly and I did the same. After our crying session, we both wiped away each other's tears. In the past, I wasn't sure if I could tell my mother about what happened. However, I've decided to tell her everything now.
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"Mum.. So, what am I going to do now?" I whispered over a cup of hot chocolate.

My mum and I just had a heart to heart talk. To be honest, being able to pour out all my opinions and feelings felt really great. My mum kept very quiet the whole time as I explained with tears streaming down my cheeks. She held my hands and occasionally gave them a squeeze for encouraging me to carry on talking. Who's better than to seek an advice from? The common sense answer is an adult.

"Regarding to your feelings for Zachary and the problem with Rachel, there's no correct or wrong solutions. I know that my smart daughter knows what to do. Follow what your heart desires. One advice I could give is, from the moment you started to explain, I already know what you're going to do. You know it yourself too, you're just too proud to admit it."

I looked at my mum with appreciation and love in my eyes. If anyone in the world would take the title of knowing me the best, no doubt that would be my mum.
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Rachel's POV

"Rachel, what are you planning to wear for prom?" Helen arched an eyebrow at me as I took a long sip of my drink.

"I haven't thought of it yet!" I answered and realised time flies so fast that we're already graduating.

"Well, I know of a shop which sells beautiful prom dresses at an affordable price!" Nicole suggested and swiped on her phone to search for that shop.

After that episode with Ella and her friends, I didn't get the chance to talk to Ella one to one. Ella would come to class at the last possible minute and the first one to leave the class. During lunch time, Ella would be missing until the next lesson.

Ella seemed to be avoiding all of us. Yes, even Nicole and Helen. No one knows if she's still hanging out with those people. Well, I didn't spot her with her friends anymore though..

"Here it is!" Nicole announced as she found the official website for the shop. By the way, the shop's called Elegance.

Wow. It was the first word which came to my mind. The website's layout was beautifully designed. Oh wait. I should be looking at the dresses they are selling. Helen and I leant closer to Nicole's mobile phone. Nicole tapped on the 'dresses' category and 'prom dresses' sub category.

Double wow. When we are brought to the prom dresses page, the three of us stared at the phone with our mouth agape. They have a great variety of designs and colours. There are other necessary accessories that would be match with the dress. It's like a one stop prom shop for girls. The price is actually quite affordable. With some persuasion, our parents might allow us to do our prom shopping there.

"Girls, I've got an idea. Why not we head over to have a look so that we can think of ways to convince our parents!" I voiced out my suggestion and the girls didn't even bother to reply me. We stood up at the same time and went out of the café giggling.

Fortunately, Elegance is just a 5 minutes walk from the café we were at. We could easily spot Elegance as it stood out among the rest of the other shops.

The exterior of the shop already looked fantastic. As we went into the shop, the interior was astonishing.

There was an array of dresses that are hung neatly. You know when girls stepped into a walk-in wardrobe with all kinds of fabulous outfits or shoes or bags or wallets? It's like heaven for girls. We're not an exception here. What I've just described, is exactly the scene right in front of our eyes.

We split up to have a look around the shop. My eyes are shining in pure happiness. I have short listed a few of the dresses as that would save me time from choosing, later on.

At last it's time to go home, we reluctantly exited our heavenly place.

"We've gotta come back here." Helen squealed in delight and the remaining of us nodded in agreement.

Author's note :
Hey guys :) Just a heads up, the next chapter will be the last one followed by an epilogue. :') I hope you guys have enjoyed this story so far! Your continuous support meant the world to me! :D I did have the idea of writing a sequel for TGHITS. Hehe.. Let's see how things go from here. A vote/comment/share will be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading! ❤