Always, Okay?

The Summer Before

That Summer was in fact hell. It was way too hot outside and there was so much going on in her life that she felt as though she was going to have a nervous break down at any minute. Everyone was updating their facebook status with what College they got accepted into and what major they were going to pursue and while Ella knew what she wanted to be, she was stuck feeling like a literal and figurative failure. She wanted what her friend all had and due to not only the lack of effort in high school but her families financial status wasn't a shoo-in either. All Ella knew is that she had to work hard to at least achieve her diploma and from there she could figure everything else out.

Ella was the Second youngest in her family. With two older sisters and four brothers, her house was often crowded and loud. Which meant no privacy or peace of mind of any kind unless her best friend was over. Ella's family adopted her and her four other brothers at a young age and their childhood was always entertaining, to say the least. Her mother, Marie, was the sweetest and loudest Filipina lady you could ever meet. Any time a friend was over, Marie would always insist her guests should stay over to eat for dinner. Which was, when the house wasn't a total mess, or when her brother who inevitably had anger issues punched a wall whenever he had an outburst, or when her youngest brother wasn't being brought home by the police at 2.AM for "Invasion of privacy reasons". That's another story to tell though. But the dysfunction was real.

Ella oddly met her now best friend Shelly on a playground a few years ago - Ella was walking with a neighboorhood friend who comes to think of it may have been in the closet. She touched Ella's boobs once and tried to kiss her and well, that quickly made things pretty awkward between the too. As they were walking home from school, Von nudged Ella's arm and pointed to the two little girls on the playground. As the two girls leaned in for a kiss Von, without hesitation gasped and walked up to the two girls. I'm guessing she was intrigued by what she saw. "Hey, I'm Von this is Ella - Quick question, why are you guys kissing?" When Ella caught up to Von she could see that both girls were clearly not the same age. The Girl quickly explained that the younger girl next to her was her baby sister and that in their culture that's how they express their fondness or love. The kiss wasn't a real kiss, but a peck and Von clearly had jumped the gun because I guess she was amazed at what she saw and secretly desired. 

Von: "What's your name? when did you move here? I've never seen you around before..."

Shelly: " I'm Shelly and this is my little sister Em, we moved here a few months ago from Europe with our family!" 

The girls chatted for a while until it was time for Von to go.

After Von left, the girls quickly bonded over things like their favorite movies, books, songs and who loved the Jonas Brothers more. They soon after spent every day together for years and built an unbreakable bond. Or so they thought...