Lavenders green, lavenders blue (spot conlon love story)

Chapter 21- E L L I E again again

"Addy he was totally going to ask you to be his girl on the roof!" 

"Really ellie? I finish tellin you all this story about gettin soaked an gettin kicked out and a secret person betrayin spot an sleepin in spots bed an all you can say is he was gonna ask me ya be his girl? Which he isn't by the way" 

Ellie grinned at me and it forced the words out of me.

"But I kinda hope he does" ellie giggled and jumped up and down in her seat. 

As you can probably assume I had told ellie the whole story, starting from when I left her house last to what I had learned about bates on the way to her house now.  We like to keep each other very informed.  

"So are you ok? Do you still hurt from those guys hurting you?" 

"Yeah I'm mostly all better, Just some healing bruises but they don't really hurt no more"  

"So how long do ya reckon you'll stay?" She asked getting up and leaning against one of the poles that held up her canopy bed. 

"I really dunno, until spot sends someone ta say I can come back"  I saw a smile slowly emerge on Ellie's face.

"Great because as a matter a fact I've had some interesting newsie related things happen to me too!" She twirled around on the bedpost 

"Oh yeah?" I said, a phrase that I had mostly picked up from being around spot, when I said it though it was less sarcastic and more excited "like what?"

"Well" she said, her previous southern accent peeking through "mush might have come around a few times" her voice was almost a whisper, of her Mom so much as heard that ellie was hanging around a newsie she would send Ellie so far away you would have to wait months for a letter to arrive.  I squealed, quietly of course so her mother wouldn't hear.  

"Ellie! I knew he had the hots for you I knew it!"  A jumped up and went over to where she was hanging on her bed post.  

"And that's not all, he's asked me to be his girl! And he's my beau!" I grabbed her hand and we jumped up and down in celebration.  Mush and ellie will be great together.  They've both got some of the biggest hearts I've ever seen.  

"That's so exciting!" And then I came to a realization "what are ya gonna do bout Trevor?"  A little background: Trevor is a boy who was born into the same upper class as Ellie (and apparently I) was.  His parents and Ellie's parents have had them set up to be together since they were practically infants.  Now despite not being able to choose and marry for love, if Trevor had been tall, muscular, kind, loving, and funny like mush was the arrangement wouldn't be an issue. Unfortunately it is quite the opposite. Trevor was a shorter, gangly, stuck up, and frankly pretty rude, boy. Ellie wanted nothing to do with him.

"That's just the thing you see my mamas got her fall ball coming up, ya know the big one that I always get miss Nancy (the tailor) to make you a dress for and then sneak you in?" 

"Yeah I know" 

"Well of course she's making me go with Trevor but I think I have a plan to let me go with mush." Ellie sat down on the bed and I sat next to her.  "So, if we can get miss Nancy to make him up a nice suit and find some shoes, we could pash him as the son of a rich family across the state, I've thought it all out already he was in town this month visiting schools and I met him at the market and we hit it off and I told him about the ball and he asked to escort me.  Now here this is the best part. I tell my mama that I politely declined saying that I already am going with Trevor but mush Insisted and even bought me flowers from the market so how could I refuse." 

"Wow you've really thought that out ellie"  I said, gebuinly impressed. "But are you just gonna lie ta ya Mom tha rest a ya life?"

"Well I figure once I'm 18 I can just move out and only have to see my mom on Christmas or something and then I won't be lying to her because I won't be talking to her at all." 

"I guess that's true, have you talked ta mush about any a this?" To which she smiled really wide 

"Yep, he even picked a flower from the garden and asked me to the ball so that him asking to escort me isn't a total lie" 

I chuckled " you and mush are perfect for each other" I looked down at my hands. Silently wishing that spot and I could be cute like that. Ugh I'm getting ahead of myself. There was no spot and I

"So I was thinking" ellie got a mischievous look on her face and she's stood up, taking a few paces away from the bed and then turning to me as if I was an investor and she was about to pitch me her new product.  "Since I'm going with mush, maybe you can go with spot." She got a hopeful smile on her face. I shook my head. Smiling a bit and looking down at my hand in my lap intertwining with each other.  

"No-" I began to say 

"Oh come one addy-" she cut me off running to me pulling me by my arms and heaving me off of the bed.  She starts prancing around the room, me as her partner "imagine dancing around the ball room, spot holding you, your in a gorgeous dress, he looks handsome as ever. A beautiful song is playing, come on addy doesn't that sound magical?" 

"Yeah but" I pull away from her "that's like a...thing you do with your beau and spots, not my beau." 

"But ellie, don't you want him to be"  

Of course I did, I mean have you seen the boy, he's the most attractive thing to walk this earth. His hair and his eyes, and his jaw and his everything. Not to mention I love being around him even if it drives me crazy. But wha I ready to admit that.  To my best friend, I was ready to admit anything. 

"Yeah, it's just-"

"What is it? What is it that's stopping you from going and getting this boy that you obviously really like" 

"What if," I looked down "what if he doesn't feel the same way about me? I'm not pretty about hand funny enough for him"

"Oh honey" she gave me a hug and then looked me right in the eye "if this spot conlon, king of Brooklyn, thinks any of those things than he is a fool who doesn't deserve you" 

I sniffled "oh yeah?" There was that phrase again, only this time it came out sadder than it had ever come out of spot or my mouth.

"Yeah. But that does not mean you shouldn't try.  Ask him about the ball. And maybe you'll be surprised about what he says"  she took my hands "now whadya think. Same measurements for the dress as last year?"

"Yeah I think so" I hadn't grown much since I don't necessarily eat much in a day.  

"Great, I'm thinking a blue, it will make your eyes sparkle." She smiled.

Just then I heard a tapping on the window, and there was ike. I went over to the window and opened it.

"Spot says you can come back now."  And he climbed back down the tree.  

"I guess I gotta go now" I told ellie. She smiled at me.

"Be brave addy.  Get me spots measurements when he says he'll go with you"  

"If" I corrected her

"When" she winked at me and then went to tell her mother all about her rich new friend mush and how they met at a market and he wanted to escort her to the ball.  I had an equally nerve racking taste ahead of me.  Off I went back to Brooklyn,  Ike not far ahead of me.

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Yay for ellie and mush! I feel like I always end this things with yay but tbh I don't really know what else to say.