The Day I Met Diane

Chapter 3 - A Little Piece of Heaven

After a few hours of video games and banter, it was time for the group to leave Steve's house. James and Connor left in James' mom's car and Margot was Steve's neighbour.

"So Diane, how are you going home?" Ella asked.

"Oh, I'm going to catch the bus."

"Me too."

And they both left Steve's house. Ella showed Diane the way to the bust stop and they talked all the way to it. Their conversation flowed naturally and the time it took to get there seemed to just fly.

"Look, Ella, I wanted to thank you all for being so welcoming. I really couldn't have wished for better people to come talk to me." Diane said with a smile and shiny eyes.

"We are the lucky ones. You've come to even out the group. Now there is the same number of girls and boys." They both laughed. "You can't imagine how Margot and I suffer."

"I can only speculate."

"But hey, what did you think of the group?" Ella asked in the middle of a smirk.

"Well, the boys seem to be hell bound to pissing of and annoying you and Margot. And Margot clearly doesn't have your ability to ignore them." She said. 

"Well..." They both laughed. "That's pretty much it."

"But I am sure there is much more to all of you..."

Diane looked at Ella with her usual sweet expression. Ella became nervous and her heart started pounding in her chest.

"Wh...why do you say that?" She asked. She was confused. And even though she had no idea what Diane could possibly answer her, she knew that her mind and her heart wanted different answers.

"I mean, you are all friends. And even though Steve or James are annoying to you I can see that you love them a lot." The way she said these things gave Ella a certain relief. She was looking into her eyes when she said this and for a moment there Ella could swear that her heart was going to drop to the floor.

"Well...love is maybe a little much but...yeah, I guess I do care a lot for them." Ella said with a smile.

The bus seemed like it wasn't ever going to arrive. And while standing up for a long time wasn't great, Ella didn't want it to arrive. Being there, looking at the sunset behind a row of detached houses, talking to a girl for whom she felt very strongly, it just felt like a little piece of heaven.

"You know Ella, there are a lot of curious things about your little group." Diane said, breaking the silence that set for a while.

"Our group." Ella said, looking at Diane with a smirk. "Like what?"

"You are all very easy to read."

"Oh really? Well pardon us for not being challenging enough." Ella said, acting like she was desolate with exaggerated hand movements.

"Oh stop it silly..." Diane laughed, putting her hand on Ella's back. "But it is true."

"Well, care to elaborate?" Ella said,, crossing her arms.

"Ok. Steven, for example. He is the usual cocky guy. He is a classical ladies man and likes to be seen like that. But underneath the face he puts on to the world he is a softie."

"Don't ever let him hear you say that!" They both laughed. "It's a death sentence."

"But it is true. He picks on you and Margot because he cares a lot for the two of you. And even if it doesn't seem like it, he cares a lot about what the four of you think about him." She said.

"You know what, that was impressive!" Ella looked amazed. "Do Margot! Do Margot!" They laughed like little kids.

"Well Margot is different. Margot is a loud person with strong opinions. She is a natural leader. I think the best way to describe her is as the leader of a pack. She is the boss and she feels like you all are her responsibility. She has a heart of gold and loves you all immensely, that is why she gets so pissed at the boys, 'cause she cares a lot."

"Wow, do have a gift or you are just fooling with me?" Ella said, clearly amazed.

"Trust me Ella, if I was fooling with you, you wouldn't know." Diane said with a wink that made Ella's heart skip a beat.

"And what about me?" Ella said.

"Well I don't know, not yet."

"Bullshit, you are toying with me."

"I'm not. You are different. More complicated to read."

The bus arrived and because of all the people in it, Ella and Diane got separated. During the whole trip those words resonated on Ella's mind.

"What could she possibly mean by you're different!?" 

The bus stoped in their stop and both girls got out. They walked up a street and realised that they lived in opposite buildings. They said goodbye even though Ella didn't want to and followed with their lives. 

After having dinner with her parents, her older sister Phoebe and her younger brother Will, Ella went to bed. She looked one last time through her window and in the other side of the street she saw Diane, closing the blinds of her window.

And even though she wanted to just sit in bed trying to figure out what it was that she felt for Diane, Ella was tired and knew she had to sleep. 

The fastest she fell asleep, the sooner she would see Diane.