Midnight Love || ✔️

11:51 pm

xiv || fourteen

THE DOOR opened to show a tall girl with blonde hair pulled into a high ponytail, sun-tanned skin, and rosy cheeks dressed in black leggings, a school swim team sweatshirt, and cozy socks. She grinned as she saw them, "Hi! Oh my God, we're all so excited to meet you!" she said, and then stepped into the house and waved them in. "Hey Noah," she said disinterestedly, turning eagerly to Ella. "I'm Ophelia. I know, weird name but my parents are weird like that. It's so nice to meet you, Ella. Oh, I'm not a stalker or anything, Noah just told us your name," she grinned wider and stuck her hand out for a handshake. Ella shook her hand, her eyes wide. "Have I mentioned we're—I especially—excited to meet you? We've been friends for so long it's starting to get boring and we need more girls in the group. Come on let me show you the rest of the group," she said, pulling Ella by the hand that she didn't drop after the handshake.

Ella was shocked to say the least. The girl talked a mile a minute and seemed to barely draw breath in between talking. But she seemed nice, and she liked Ella even though she didn't know her. She didn't seem to get the wrong idea about her, and seemed . . . excited. Truly excited, to meet and get to know Ella.

Ella felt welcomed. Liked.

Her old friends barely looked or talked to her.

Ella was lead down a narrow hallway to a kitchen with a dining area. The room was fairly large, much larger than Ella's kitchen for sure, with smooth, light wooden cabinets, and dark marble countertops. There were copper pots and pans hanging from above the kitchen island, like in those fancy interior designing magazines. There were stools where several people were perched on, and ingredients were spread out in front of them on the island. There were huge windows that Ella saw actually opened up onto a lavish backyard. The windows must bring in plenty of natural light during the morning, and now it gave way for the orange glow of the sunset. There was a circular wooden table, the same shade as the cabinets, with an artfully arranged centre piece, utensils, and cloths. The chair ha cushions in a darker beige colour. All in all, it looked professionally done.

After Ella took in the setting, she noticed the group of people scattered around the room. The chattering stopped and a chorus of "hey" and "hi" and even a "hello" greeted her. Soft music played from overhead speakers, and everyone looked very relaxed, and even happy to see her.

Sitting on stools at the kitchen island were a girl and two boys. The girl smiled at her and Ophelia introduced her as "Kelsi, our mom," which brought a laugh from Ella. She was giddy, and happy, which jarred her a bit. Kelsi had black hair cut into a bob, and kind green eyes behind thick rimmed glasses. She was wearing an orange and black stripped sweater and a black skirt with black ballet flats.

"Hi, Ella. It's so nice to meet you. Noah told us so much about you," said Kelsi.

"Oh, I hope it was good things," she said, turning to Noah. He was looking a little bashful, staring at anything but her.

"Don't worry, it is," she said.

Next, Ella was introduced to Gaven, a muscular guy with sandy blond hair and brown eyes. He was a football player for a team outside of their school, and a field hockey player for the school. Even though he looked like he could crush her in an instant, he was very sweet and kind. Beside him was another boy who sat decorating cookies with orange and black icing. Zack had a buzz cut, and dark eyes and skin. He was more lean, and looked like a skeleton compared to Gaven.

On the table sat three more people, two girls who were holding hands, Feather and Hannah. Feather was Ophelia's twin sister, but the two didn't look much alike. Feather was the complete opposite of Ophelia with pale skin, dark hair with streaks of rainbow, and hazel eyes. Hannah had an Afro, with lighter black skin, and brown eyes. They were both grinning, and pure bliss can be seen in their eyes. It warmed Ella's heart. The last boy sitting at the table, Ross, had wire-thin glasses, styled brown hair, and dark eyes. His skin was a darker shade of brown, and Ella could practically feel the intelligence radiating from him.