Betting on your Heart

Chapter Four

It had been approximately 4 days since Ella last date, since she had cried on Damien's lap. Ella had been going to great lengths to avoid Damien at all costs. Ella got strange and confusing feelings around him, feelings that scared her. Plus, there was the fact that she had actually needed saving by him. It embarrassed her that she had not been strong enough, that she had been so weak against one boy. Ella had started taking the bus to school, just to stay away from Damien. She had reverted back to her old clothing and every time Damien said something to her she walked briskly away from him.

Valerie and Alice had attempted multiple times to get Ella to open up as to what had happened, why she was acting so oddly but she would evade their questions every time. Ella was just very troubled over that night and didn't feel like getting them involved. Thankfully, Darren had not yet shown up at school since that day but there was no doubt in Ella's mind that he would show up again sooner or later, more preferably later. Additionally, Ella didn't want her friends knowing about the moment she had with Damien. It had actually quite surprised her how affectionate he had been to her. Ella liked that Damien better than his normal dick self.

A hand roused Ella from her glorious sleep and she turned annoyed to her side. "What?" she mumbled into her pillow. When she heard low (sexy) chuckling she quickly sat up in her bed to see Damien sitting there. Ella narrowed her eyes, though for some strange reason... her stomach was doing flips. "What are you doing in here?!" These were the first words that she had said to him in four days and they weren't even kind. Damien's eyebrows furrowed with either concern or confusion, Ella couldn't tell which. The silence was suffocating but eventually Damien answered her. "I just wanted to see if you were alright." He said, leaning slightly closer to her.

Ella turned her head away from him, an embarrassed blush covering her cheeks. Wait, she was blushing? Since when did Ella Wilding blush in the presence of her annoying step-brother?! Ella coughed, uncomfortable with the thought of blushing towards Damien. "I'm fine." She murmured, not looking him in the eyes. Damien raised an eyebrow at her questionably but didn't say anything. He simply nodded his head, got up and exited the room. Ella let out a relieved sigh. Then she huffed and got out of bed, it was Saturday and she should not be up this early but there was no point in going back to sleep now.

Ella started walking towards her door when she spotted her calendar. She froze in place because the current date was circled and had the words 'Nora's birthday' printed on it in big letters. Shit! Ella had completely forgotten that it was Nora's birthday and now she had to go get her a birthday present. Though, this is be fairly easy since Nora was only a toddler and she would like pretty much any toy Ella got her. Ella sighed and began the morning ritual, though she just wanted to crawl back into bed and sleep for the next twenty years.

After an hour, Ella was finally all dressed and primped for the day. She had actually stopped feeling so morose about the events that had happened last Monday and decided it was time to dawn her new clothes again. Ella made her way downstairs and looked around when she saw balloons and banners scattered graciously around the living room and kitchen. Ella spotted everyone sitting around the kitchen table having breakfast and she walked over to them. Ella leaned over Nora and gave her a birthday kiss on the cheek then proceeded to get some Captain' Crunch cereal out of the cupboard. Then she took a seat across from Damien. He looked up at her with his normal, annoying smirk playing on his face.

"Why are you dressed like that? Do you have another date?" He asked with curiosity. There was no doubt in Ella's mind that he was already plotting to destroy her next date, if she ever got another one that is. Ella scowled at Damien "No, I just feel like dressing like this." She stated before continuing to eat her cereal. Damien rolled his eyes; it felt like they were already back to 'old times'. Damien wasn't complaining though because bickering was better than Ella ignoring him completely. He had actually been proud of himself when she saved her, he had been sure that they had finally gotten somewhere; that she was actually starting to like him to an extent.