Back In Boston

Chapter 9

When Ellie woke up, she felt ecstatic. It had been a long time since she woke up feeling this way. She even remembered why, because her dreams were coloured with what happened last night, on repeat in her head. Though as she opened her eyes, she realized Riley wasn't there anymore. She sprang out of bed, put her tangled hair in a quick braid, and strolled out of the room and down the hall.

Riley was in the kitchen, flinging a pancake in the air. She turned around when she heard Ellie, and smiled, before turning back to the pancake.

"I hope that's not for me." Ellie yawned and Riley stuck the pancake onto a plate.

"Why not?"

"Not a big breakfast-foods gal. Cereal is just fine with me." She explained, sitting on one of the stools by the counter.

"Okay, I don't eat cereal that often but..." The older girl turned away from the stove and squat down, looking in the lower cupboards. Ellie sucked in air, trying not to feel like she was staring. Because, obviously she wasn't.

"Mmmm. Cap'n crunch. You like pirates?" Riley stood back up, pouring the cereal into a bowl.

"I can do that you kno-"

"I asked you a question Ms. Williams." Riley interrupted her, smirking. Ellie sighed and shrugged.

"I respect pirates. Pirates are thieves. I'm a pirate in all technicalities."

"Better not steal my shit, El. My mother's a cop." Riley winked at her as she poured the milk, then slid the bowl to Ellie.

"I'll keep that in mind." Ellie nodded, biting into her spoon.

"So, I've gotta let you know. Things will get boring around here if we just stay inside all day. Since we have a full week of no school, I say we make dates out of it." Riley poured a shit ton of syrup onto her pancakes and Ellie choked on her food.

"A- what?" She coughed out but Riley ignored it.

"You know you really have to be careful. Food is for chewing Ellie." She rolled her eyes and Ellie got a hold of herself.

"So. What did you have in mind for today?" The copper haired girl asked, her voice croaking a bit.

"Actually, my friends wanted to hang. This girl named Elizabeth and Kenzie. I-"

"Wait. You actually have GIRL friends?" Ellie interrupted, absolutely dumbfounded.

"Yeah. I'm a slut, make out with plenty of girls. I love my bitches." Riley said sarcastically and Ellie sighed.

"Could have worded that a little better, couldn't I?" She mumbled and Riley stood up, walking around the counter to stand beside her.

"Probably." She whispered, kissing Ellie on the cheek quickly. She felt her whole body freeze as Riley ran down the hall, yelling at her to get ready.

Ellie wasn't sure what to expect, but going bowling wasn't one of them. She had never went bowling before, but she wasn't about to tell Riley that in front of her bitchy-looking friends. She knew Riley was popular, but hanging out with these girls wasn't something she expected them to do.

"Aren't we supposed to put on bowling shoes?" Ellie asked and Kenzie snickered, shrugging.

"You're kidding right? I'd rather my toes break than wear those disgusting, clunky, things." Fair enough. Ellie thought to herself, trying not to beat herself up over saying something stupid.

"Hey, what happened to her face?" She heard Elizabeth whisper to Riley, who shot her a dirty look. Of course. Ellie picked up a ball, channeling her hearing towards them.

"She got in a fight with some boys. You should see the other guys, blood was everywhere. I watched the whole thing because she wouldn't let me join in." Riley lied and Ellie felt impressed, and thankful. It was good to know someone was on her side.

Riley seemed to brush off the other comment her friend was making and turned to Ellie.

"You gonna just stare at me, or is my girl actually gonna throw the ball?" Riley complained and Ellie's heart skipped a beat. My girl.

"I've never bowled before!" She blurted out quickly. You weren't supposed to tell them that, idiot!

But Riley just smiled as her friends sat down on the bench.

"Want another stereotypical movie thing, arms around you, teaching you how to do something?"

Ellie bit her tongue, reluctant to respond. She had almost yelled out, 'yes please!!' But didn't want to embarrass herself with her enthusiasm.

Instead, she just nodded and Riley skipped her way over, pressing her body against Ellie's. She grabbed her arm and started whispering in her ear about how to do whatever she was doing. She couldn't remember, because all she could do was focus on how soft her friend's voice was.

At some point Riley stopped talking and was no longer standing against her. Ellie shrugged, trying to observe how others were playing around her. She swung her arm and let go of the ball, watching it fly down the middle and-

Go straight into the gutter.

Riley's friends giggled behind her and she slumped down into the booth, trying to ignore them.

By the end of the afternoon Ellie felt like shit. It didn't feel like she was hanging out with Riley. She was just hanging out with strangers. Her friends were assholes and clearly didn't like the younger girl at all, and Riley was talking to them more than she was talking to Ellie.

They were now walking home, without the annoying bitches, and Ellie was completely silent, trying to sort her thoughts out to say what she wanted to say.

"They hated me." Ellie blurted. That wasn't what she was expecting to say, but it would do for now.

"What? No." Riley shook her head, clearly about to explain why everything was so awkward.

"Sorry. Let me rephrase that. I hated them." Ellie grumbled, side glancing towards Riley. She let out a big breath and went to speak, but Ellie wasn't done.

"What is this? What is we- I mean. What are we?" She stuttered, looking back out in front of her, but Riley stopped walking and she had to turn around, raising her eyebrow. She was pretending that her heart wasn't beating at the speed of sound, and there was a horrible ringing in her ears that she ought to get checked out.

Instead of saying anything, Riley took a few big strides forward, grabbing Ellie's cheeks and pulling her forward. Ellie gasped out in surprise as their lips hit, and she wrapped her arms around Riley's back, gripping tightly.

The kiss lasted a few moments before they both slowly pulled away and Riley smiled shyly.

"I have girl friends, but not like you, Ellie Williams."