"Hold onto me, cause I'm a little unsteady."
Ella knew she wasn't normal. She'd been told so her entire life. She lived a childhood full of pain and loneliness, longing for the comfort of her brother who was miles away on tour with his band. But e...
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— Ella's POV —
Today is Monday, which means it's time to go back to school. We have one last week before we go on Christmas holiday, and I can't wait to be done with school for awhile.
Luke and dad are still asleep when I wake up, which I'm thankful for. I take a pop-tart to eat on the go, grab my backpack and phone, and head out. I'm able to make it out of the house without waking anyone and I sigh in relief as Harry joins me on our walk to school.
"Hey, what happened to your arm?" Harry asks, pointing to the large bruise above my elbow. Memories from last night replay in my mind, but I shrug.
"Nothing, I fell," I lie as we continue our walk.
"You certainly fall a lot," Harry says suspiciously, using air quotes on the word fall. I narrow my eyes and look around at the other kids as we begin to get closer to the school.
"Sorry?" I question, not really sure where he's going with this.
He sighs, "Ella, your dad doesn't . . . hit you, does he?" He asks reluctantly.
"What?" I ask in mock confusion, pretending to play dumb.
"I'm not stupid. I see the way you flinch when people yell and how you tend to shy away from the older boys and grown men, and just anyone who seems angry."
Well, then apparently everyone else is stupid.
"H-he's not," I argue, and Harry just looks at me wearily as we walk into the school.
"Okay," he finally says, but I can tell he doesn't believe me.
"Hey guys," Rose greets as we get to our lockers. They're all right near each other, which is really nice.
Harry smiles at her and then gets into a deep discussion with his friend Percy about sports.
The day goes by pretty smoothly, but Harry keeps looking at me oddly every chance he gets. I know he still doesn't believe what I said, but now it almost seems like it's bothering him.
"Ella!" I nearly freeze at the sound of his voice, but manage to keep walking. "Ella, get in the car!" He barks again.
"You're drunk," I mutter, sighing as I continue to walk while staring at my feet.
"Don't tell me what I am you silly little girl. Now get in the car!" He roars. Harry looks at me in shock and I send him an apologetic look.
