Call me Different *ON HOLD*

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

At lunch, we sat with a bunch of others from our pack, with a few add ons, friends that some people had made. Jay made me sit and wait while he got both our lunches, and in that time I got a visitor.

The seat next to me slid back, and I looked up from the napkin I was slowly shredding to pieces. "Jay do you reckon after we could- Oh! You're not Jay!" A blush crept onto my cheeks as Tyler smiled down at me.

"Hey Ella, mind if I sit here for a sec?"

I nodded, and he sat down. God, his eyes were amazing. They were green... almost too green... like abnormally green... I was suddenly jittery and nervous. My stomach never felt that nervous!

"How are you doing? I heard about your injury. Jesus, you have some guts playing ball with those guys!" He grinned and I laughed.

"I'm fine, it was just a little knock to the head. They're all talk anyway. Harmless."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Apparently you scored most of the goals too! We'll just have to add athletic to the list of qualities."

I bit my lip, trying to hold back a smile. He was so adorable I just wanted to... Well... I don't know what I wanted to do actually.

"Thank you, I guess it was only because I used to play so much with Jay."

He raised an eyebrow. "Jay?"

"Best friend. Tall, dark brown hair, hangs over me like a shadow?" I muttered sarcastically. As much as he annoyed me, I did appreciate Jay always being there, and I know he knew it.

Tyler laughed. "Yeah, I think I know the one. You two seem pretty close."

I nodded and ripped the last piece of napkin up. I now had a nice pile on the table. Great, kudos for acting normal Ella. "We are..."

Tyler nodded slowly and ran his hand through his perfect hair. "Well, I guess I came over here to apologise for acting so weird earlier... I don't know what really happened, it was weird..."

I shook my head quickly. "You have nothing to apologise for! I probably just looked like someone you knew or something."

"Still... I didn't want to make you feel awkward. But that's not all... Do you want to, I dunno, hang out sometime? There's a lake, we could go kayaking, or I could kick you butt at table tennis... Your choice!" He flashed me another warm smile, and I smiled back.

"I'd love to hang out sometime. It'd be nice to make some new friends."

A look passed over his face, but he covered it quickly. "Awesome, I reckon we'll be great..friends. Tomorrow after breakfast?"

I nodded. "That'd be great! Thanks."

He stood up. "See you around Ella."

I waved goodbye and sat back in my seat. The weirdest thing happened... It truly felt as if Tyler was as close to me as Jay. In his presence I just felt to... comfortable and familiar. It's like having a blanket over you, then the sudden loss of warmth you feel when it's pulled off you. Exactly the same as with Jay... Is it possible for that to happen, or was I just losing my mind?

--

By the end of the first day, I was completely exhausted. Jay insisted that we stay indoors, as he wanted my head to remain safe. Slightly overdoing it if you ask me, but I was happy enough to curl up in my room with him, Alice and Maddie (Izzy disappeared), a cup of hot chocolate and a game of monopoly. Don't judge, I love that game. Especially considering I always get Mayfair and Canary Wharf, and when you put hotels on those babies you've practically already won the game.

When Jay left at about 10pm, I pulled out my phone to check my messages. I had three missed calls, all from my parents. Oops...I suppose I should have called them.

My dad picked up on the second ring.

"Ella!"

"Hey dad!"

"How are you honey? How's camp?"

There was no way I was telling him about my injury. He's just as protective as Jay, if not more. "I'm great! The camp is amazing! So much better than I even expected!"

"That's good, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself! Made some nice friends?"

I nodded, then stupidly realised that he couldn't see me. "Yeah, there's heaps of cool people here. My roommates are all great." Alice and Maddie 'awwed' in the background, and I chucked a pillow at them.

"Jay looking after you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yes Dad, he's hardly left my side."

I could just see my dad's satisfied smirk. "Good. Very good."

"Are you and mum okay?"

He sighed tiredly. "Just busy... We've had a lot of rogue attacks recently, and an influx of refugees. And Cassidy's kid came down with the flu, so you can imagine how panicked she's been..." he trailed off. Dad worked so hard for the pack, he really shed blood, sweat and tears to make sure that all the members were safe and happy. I couldn't be more proud of him if I tried.

"Oh Dad... Wish I could help somehow..."

"Don't be silly! You don't worry about this, just enjoy your holiday! Your mum's asleep at the moment, I'll tell her you called though."

"Thanks dad, love you."

"Love you too honey. Sleep well." And with that he hung up.

Mum knew where it was at; sleep sounded like a good idea right now. I said goodnight to the girls, then curled up in my bed and was asleep before my head even hit the pillow.