2:29 AM

Chapter Thirty-Six

"You know, I don't mind this color as much as I thought I did," I say, as I examine my hot pink nails.

"I love it," Eleanor says. We've gotten almost matching gold dresses. We also have gold and white heels. Well, Ellie has flats and I have four inch platforms. We eat dinner and now we're getting mani-pedi's. It's the last thing before I drop her off at her house.

"Did you have fun?' I ask her.

"Yeah! I can't wait for tomorrow!" Ellie says.

"Oh, speaking of the dance, you know that guy that I've been hanging out with? Colton?" I ask her. She nods. "Is it alright if he goes as my date?"

"Of course!" she squeals. Our nails are almost done drying.

"How's your mom doing?" I ask her.

"She's good. Just working a lot," she tells me. I nod. "Oh, I can't wait to see Ian tomorrow." I laugh.

"Lovestruck, are you?" I ask. Eleanor grins at me.

"He's so dreamy," Ellie says. I smile and shake my head.

"I'm glad he makes you happy," I tell her. She nods and stares off into the distance. I can't help but smile. She's so happy.

I mean, Ellie's a generally happy kid, but she's been through a lot. I'm just glad she has Ian. It'll be good to finally meet him tomorrow. I hope Colton behaves.

Oh, shit. Colton. He didn't believe me today about Greyson. He doesn't trust me. I don't know if we're just messing around or dating, but if he doesn't believe me then we're in a lot of trouble.

He's such a jackass. Greyson's going through a lot and he just needed to talk to someone. And that's all we did, talked. Plus, Greyson's totally hung up on Ms. Rollins. I saw the way he looked at her. There's no way Greyson would ever go for anyone but her.

Why can't Colton just trust me? Why does it even bother me? If Colton was gone for twenty minutes I'd want to believe him. But it's Colton. And Colton's a manwhore so I'd probably think he was fucking some girl.

Jesus. Just let it go, Andy, I tell myself.

"Hey," Ellie says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah?" I ask her.

"I think our nails are done drying," she tells me. I nod and stand up.

"Do you want me to spend the night at your place? Give your mom a break?" I say. Ellie nods as we walk out of the nail salon.

"Yeah! That'd be great!" Eleanor says. I smile and pull out my phone and tear Colton: Hey, I'm gonna spend the night at Ellie's place. Is that cool with you?

My phone buzzes: it's cool. do u want me to grab clothes for u?

I text him: Yeah. Thanks. See you tomorrow.

He texts: say hi to ellie for me. bye.

I put my phone away just as Ellie and I get to my car. We throw the bags in the back and she climbs into the front. As we're driving to her house, she turns on the radio. I smile at her and she smiles back.

Her phone buzzes and she looks down and then her grin widens. I look at her and raise my eyebrows. "It's Ian!" Ellie tells me. I roll my eyes.

"You should probably text him back then," I say. She grins and then starts texting him. I shake my head and my mind drifts to Colton. Before I know it, we're at Ellie's house. She and her mom live in a small house, Ellie's dad's out of the picture.