The Accident: A Josh Hutcherson Story

Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The game really was on.

Ella and Claudia had began to butt horns at every single little thing. It was easier for the actress as she didn't have to come up with weird scenarios just for an excuse to get close to Josh, nor did she have to explain herself when she did. But Ella was clever and she was resourceful as well.

It was very helpful that a couple of days after the photos of them kissing was released the baby decided to kick for the first time.

"Oh my god Josh, it's kicking!" she exclaimed, interrupting their viewing of Drive, her hand flying to her stomach in surprise. Josh got up off the sofa, leaving Claudia sitting on her own, and went to feel the baby kick. 

"It's not another false alarm, is it?" Claudia asked dryly.

Okay, so over the past couple of days, Ella had been faking the baby kicking just to get Josh closer to her and away from Claudia. But this time it really WAS kicking. Ella took his hands and put them on her swollen stomach, waiting for the next kick to come. While they waited, Josh's eyes were focused solely on her belly, as if he could see right through to where the baby was growing. Ella didn't forget to send a smug look at Claudia over Josh's shoulder while he was occupied. Claudia threw a dirty look right back.

"Holy shit, this kid has a powerful drop kick," Josh said as the baby pummelled Ella's insides five times in a row. "They're going to be one awesome kid."

"They take it after their dad," Ella said quietly, a small smile forming on her face. Josh looked at her curiously, a slightly confused expression gracing his features. Ella didn't meet his eyes, instead focusing her gaze on her stomach. "Where-ever he is," she added for good measure.

As if the sentence reminded him of something, Josh removed his hands from her stomach and dug his hand onto her pocket. "That reminds me, I got you these." He pulled a packet out and handed it to her. Ella frowned and took the packet hesitantly, reading the front. "E-smokes?" she asked.

"They're kind of like cigarettes," Josh explained. "Minus the bad stuff. I know you've been having trouble with things lately, what with being pregnant and pretending it's not getting to you and all . . . They won't do you or the baby any harm. I think they'll help curb the cravings, better than the patches anyway."

Ella pulled one of them out of the box and put it in her mouth. "How do they work?" she frowned, looking at the metal contraption with a grimace.

"You don't need to light them," Josh explained. "You just sort of . . . inhale, I guess."

Ella nodded and when she inhaled, she felt the same rush she got from real cigarettes without the thick smoke and pain in her lungs. "Oh god, that's good," she breathed, exhaling back out.

"That can't be good for the baby," Claudia said acidly.

"No, it doesn't harm the fetus, I checked," Josh replied. Claudia scowled and sat back on the sofa, looking thoroughly pissed off. Ella took another long puff and exhaled again, sighing happily.

"Josh, I can't thank you enough," she said, leaning forward and wrapping him in a one armed hug. She met eyes with Claudia over his shoulder and stuck her tongue out of her nastily, her grin melting into a frown when the actress simply flipped her off. "Now all I'd need is my alcohol back and I'd be set for the next five months."

Josh sat back with a grin. "About that-"

"What? You found magic serum that tastes like alcohol but isn't alcoholic?!" Claudia said angrily.

"Uh, no, there's this champagne you can get that is non-alcoholic. If you want Ella, I could get you some," Josh said. 

Ella groaned, the thought of finally having a drink and a smoke again sounding too good to pass up. "And it won't harm the baby?" she asked.

Josh shook his head. "Not at all, I swear."

"Then let's do it. We should make a night of it," Ella said. "It is Friday and all that. We should all get together tonight, have some take out, watch movies and have a drink together. Wouldn't that be fun?"

"Sounds delightful," Claudia muttered, her tone flat. Ella narrowed her eyes at the girl savagely, her gaze feeling like it could burn through layers. Claudia returned the sharp stare, her jet black eyelashes fluttering as she blinked only occasionally. Josh looked between them, seeming perplexed, unsure what was going on between the two of them and why they had such a bitter attitude towards each other all of sudden. The last thing on his mind was probably that he was the reason they were like this. Not that Ella liked Claudia before she realized her feelings anyhow.

"That sounds great, Ella," he said carefully, as if fearing that one or both of them will detonate if he said the wrong thing. 

Ella looked away from Claudia and smiled brightly at him. "Then let's do it," she said. "Of course, unless your fiancee doesn't want to." 

All eyes fell on Claudia, who seemed to be finding it very difficult to hide her resentment behind a placid face. But, as any actress could, she pretended to be feeling something completely different to the truth. "No, I want to," she said, trying to sound upbeat but coming off as sarcastic. 

"Are you sure Claudia?" Josh asked. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sure you're sick of spending all your time with me anyhow. Maybe you could go out with friends tonight, have a girls' night out or something? Ella and I could just sit in and watch a movie, maybe invite Connor."

Ella could practically see the cogs turning in Claudia's mind as she tried to think up a feasible excuse and, just to rile her up, she made kissy faces behind Josh's back. Claudia grimaced and shook her head, the fictitious smile still plastered on her features. "No, I want to," she insisted. "It sounds great."

"Great!" Ella said, actually feeling genuinely enthusiastic about the whole affair. "Why don't we all meet here at, what? Nine o'clock?"

"Sounds like a plan," Josh said brightly, Claudia staying silent. "I can take the motorcycle out to the store and get you some of that champagne I was talking about."

"And some of the real stuff for us," Claudia said, putting emphasis on the word 'real'. 

Ella clenched her hands into fists and resisted the urge to punch her again. "Sounds like we've got a fantastic night ahead of us then." She decided to omit 'with loads of opportunities to mess with Claudia' to the end of the sentence last minute. 

Was it wrong that she was actually looking forward to tonight?