Knife in my Heart (Purple Devil Series book #1) #Wattys2016

Chapter 12

It's been a week and my mom has only been home once. She came in when me and Eli were eating breakfast, kissed me on the forehead, grabbed more clothes and said she was going to be gone for a week this time. Said her boss needs her in Maine for a big case or something. I was only half listening. I don't know if it's possible for a mother to divorce her own daughter, but whatever it is, she isn't here anymore. 

"Carla come on we have to get to school!" 

"Coming! My hair is being crazy this morning." I fly down the stairs with just a little resistance left from my injured ankle. Eli took great care of me. I guess sprained ankles come with the territory being a great volleyball player. 

"Well throw it in a ponytail let's GO!" Eli tosses me my backpack as I step on the stair landing. 

"I'm here are you happy now?" Smiling  a satisfied grin.

"Yes. You know I never like to be late." We grab our jackets and open the front door. I almost fall over this box that is on the porch all wrapped with a note on it. 

Eli jogs up behind me, "What the.." He doesn't even finish what he was going to say. "C. did you order something?" He grabs the box and brings it to the coffee table in the living room. The living room is my second favorite room in this house, besides my room. Warm brown walls with black leather couches, and red throw pillows. And lets not mention the seventy inch TV that my mom insist we don't get rid of after my dad left. We pretty much decorated the whole house except for a new TV. I grab the card and read,

 "I think you are trying to help my cause, how nice of you. My two favorite people in the same house! :) Let the fun begin xoxox -Purple Devil.

Eli takes the card reads it and tears it up after. I open the box expecting flames or a bomb or something. All I find is a cute stuffed elephant much like the one I had when I was little, and a stuffed monkey. I look at Eli and I know that it was from when he was young. 

"How did this person know? The only people that know I had this was my family, and...." He throws it in the box and grabs his keys and out the door. I do the same but follow his running since his strides are much longer than mine. 

"Eli, wait up!" I have to almost run to catch up since his strides are longer than mine. "Eli where are you going?!" Now I sprint so I can get to the car before he realizes that he is my ride. 

"There is only one person that knows about that monkey than my family. So, that means that they she has to be the person behind all of this. So I'm going to make it stop." He opens the driver's side door, but I come around to slam it shut and force his to stop. "Carla what are you doing? We can finally put an end to this!" 

"Not like this you're not. Now I don't know who you are talking about, but from what I can see, you are going to drive over to her house, cause a big scene trying to make all this stop, but ending up making it worse. Now, take a breath and tell me what is going on so we can make a clear-thinking plan." I get in the passenger side and buckle my seat belt. Eli opens the door and looks at me curiously. 

"What are you doing? I thought we were going to talk about this and make a plan? His arms are outstretched on the car and I can see that his muscles are not as toned since he hasn't been to the gym in over a week. 

"You're gonna tell me then we are going to try to make it to first period." He looks up and chuckles. 

"Fine. I guess we shouldn't be late." 

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We get to the school and we sit in silence. We only this year and next year until we have to move away and leave the securities of high school. To be honest, I'm scared. I know high school, I got this place down. To leave, it's like coming into a new world with no idea of what lies ahead. That really scares me. "Are you sure it's her that knows about the monkey besides my family." We get out and walk toward the doors.

"Ok, so we walk up and talk to her." I say as we walk into the foyer of the school and the administration ladies look up and smile while holding a phone against their ear. 

"No Carla, we can't do it here. Are you nuts? We have to thing about this. She could have told somebody else and it could by anybody. Or my mom could have told.. Oh wait, that would mean she would actually have to care about me." He shrugs and starts walking faster. 

"You know it bothers me the way your mom is. Has she always been like that?" He looks at and down the hall and back at me. I look down to see what he's looking at to find Jon standing at his locker on the phone. 

Eli shrugs, "No not until a few months ago. Now it seems that she only cares about Jon. Don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous of him or anything, I just wish mom would treat me like her son again." Before I can respond, the bell rings and we go our separate ways until the end of the day. 

Just as I thought this morning was going well, I see her. The person that Eli told me knows about the monkey. "Ok, do I walk over and question her, or do I go to geography?"  I decide to do the obvious, I walk over to her. "Hey Emily! We haven't talked in FOREVER! Wanna hang out today?" I give my cute, gal friend smile hoping she takes the bait. Emily is actually quite pretty when she isn't in a mood.

"Oh hey girl, where have you been? Did you get my e-vite to my party next week?" Bingo! She's in a good mood, thank the Lord. "I can meet you somewhere after school. How about Starbucks at four?" She starts walking down the hall, but then stops and turns around. "I felt so sorry for you when that video came out. I was going to call to see how you were, but I think we all know that Eli's got that covered.Do you know you broadcasted it?" She looks sincere but I can't trust her. Eli said that she was the only one that knew about the monkey because they were childhood friends. 

"No I don't. I'm not going to make a big deal about it. It happened, I need to move on with my year. Besides, the principal thinks that me or Eli did it, which we didn't." 

"Well, whoever did it....." She looks over to the windows with a weird, far away gaze. "I'm sure they had a reason. People don't just do that kind of stuff just because they're bored." Then, she walks away.

"This day just seemed like it would never end!"I smile, waiting for a witty comeback but  Eli is standing at his locker staring straight ahead not looking at  me. "Hey, are you ok?" I touch his arm trying not to hold on too long. 

"You promised." Eli shrugs me off and walks out the door. The sky is so gloomy, and the air feels heavy on my chest. Rain is coming and it's gonna be a BIG storm. 

"What are you talking about? What did I promise?" He stops, turns around and his eyes are full of fury. His gaze goes all the way through me making my legs unsteady. 

"You said you were not going to talk to Emily but you did anyway. And you are meeting her today!" He gets in the car and starts it up. 

"I had to Eli she was standing right there. She is a friend! I can't lead on that we are suspecting her of anything." I get on the passenger side and slam the door shut. Eli hates it when I do it. He always says, "Respect the car, appreciate the car." Whatever. Eli looks at me like I have three heads. "What? You're my ride home, and you're staying at my house." I see the corners of his mouth go up in an attempt of a smile. 

"Why whenever I get angry you know exactly how to calm me down?" Just as I was about to answer, a crash of thunder erupted and a flash of lightening came. We both jumped and the energy from inside this car was gone. 

The ride home was silent, but I've never felt closer to him.