- Chapter 7 -

22 1 6
                                    

"Stop, stop, stop!" Cat waved her hands to end the girls dance routine. They had been practicing all day and yet all they had managed to do was collapse when doing pyramids and trip over each other.

Cat put her pen in her mouth and scrutinized the girls. She took out her clip-board and started writing down something while the girls started to break off into their own little cliques. Ellie stood by her self in the corner. It had been a week since her fight with Cat, she never realised how lonely lunch and dance practice was without them.

"We're so screwed for the first comp." Grace said behind Ellie. She turned around to face the shorter girl. Grace looked like a mystic elf with her long pointy ears and blue-green eyes. Much like Ashley's.

Ellie nodded in agreement. Cat was scribbling something out on paper and rewriting it over and over again, the stress was getting to all of them but Cat was stressing the most, after all she made the promise that they would win. The first round was in two days.

"Hey so I heard what happened after Cat's party." Grace said cautiously. Ellie tried to look uninterested, the last thing she needed was another person fighting with her. "About what?" She asked. "About you and Alexander. You hooked up with her only because you were drunk." Ellie brushed it off. "Yeah, but I haven't spoken to her about it."

Grace started smiling, "you aren't dating her are you?" Ellie paused, "No why?" Grace opened her mouth but at that moment Cat blew her whistle.

"Okay people I worked it out. Lily, Mia, Kate you guys come in the first line while the rest of us stand back to twirl while we do the rest of the routine here." She pointed to a spot marked with tape. Cat kept giving girls instructions and soon they started trying it out.

Cat's eyes gleamed with success as Ellie and the other girls finished in splits. "Yes! Okay this is what we're doing, in two days in our first round is up so we're not leaving the gym until dark." The team nodded.

"The final part you need to be in pairs, so.. Lily with Rita, Jessie with Ashley, and Ellie with Alex." Ellie froze, she wouldn't. But now Alex was coming towards her with an unreadable face. Ellie glared at Cat, and she glared back mouthing something Ellie couldn't make out.

Ellie smiled awkwardly at Alex, who just huffed and turned away.

"So we'll practice in pairs for fifteen minutes before trying it all together." Then Cat blew her whistle and started talking to Ashley.

Alex started turning and transitioning into dance moves (I know nothing of dance except the Schuyler sisters' equal signs) Ellie sighed. "Listen Alex, I know I hurt you." Alex ignored her.

"It was a mistake, not the kissing you part, you're not the mistake! But the way I reacted. It was wrong for me to push you away like that! It's just I was drunk and I don't like girls, I'm so sorry!" Ellie stumbled over her words. Alex sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Look Ellie I get it. But what you still did was wrong, you can't tease a queer person like that." Ellie started apologising again but Alex cut her off, "I can forgive you for now if you give me some space." Ellie nodded silently, but grinned at looked off at Cat, who seemed to be watching her. This won't be so bad. It's good Alex understands that I'm not gay.

But her heart-beat stopped for a second on the last word.

*******************

Cameron was right out the front of the gym, and for the first time in a week Ellie ran out of school. She had organized that after his training session, (that ended right at the same time as her practice) so that she could stay at his place tonight.

Ellie climbed in the back seat of the car at immediate got a blast of air conditioning. Cameron was sitting in the front completely exhausted and sweating bullets next to who Ellie assumed to be Elijah. That sounded a lot less weird in her head.

"Hey Cam, Elijah." Ellie nodded. Elijah managed to just lift his hand for a wave. "So where are we going first?"

Cameron started driving out of the car park. "Drive-through fast-food and then we'll drop Elijah off and then it's just you and me kid." Ellie noticed the way he said Elijah's name. Kind of sweet and yet so far away.

They ended up stopping by Starbucks, which made them all laugh because they loved stereotyping teenagers into the next generation. Ellie got a coffee despite the late night. But as they were walking out she noticed some of the dance girls whispering something and pointing at Elijah and Cameron ahead of them.

They dropped Cameron's "Boyfriend-but-not", Cameron went in with him. Then they sped off to Cameron's house. They drove another half an hour before they reached it. Cam's street was scarily quiet.

Cameron opened the door with a soft click. "Mom, Dad?" He said quietly. Nobody answered, Ellie felt something was wrong. Cameron ran up the stairs. Ellie followed.

And there in an open bedroom was Cameron's Dad.

With his hand around His mother's neck.

Ellie may have screamed; she couldn't tell over Cameron's mothers gasping.

The Mr Dusetto turned around. "Oh good." He said with menacing eyes, "The (word that rhymes with bag) is back." He dropped his wife. Cameron stepped in front of Ellie. "Come here you (word that rhymes with pitch) (A/N I WOULD NEVER EVER, EVER CALL ANYONE THESE THINGS)"

Nine-one-one, Ellie thought, and she quickly grabbed her phone. She dialed the police immediately.

Fifteen minutes later they were standing out the front of the house, Mr Dusetto being hauled into a police car. The police told Cameron along with various weapons they also found stashes of drugs.

Ellie turned towards the bigger boy. "Are-Are you okay?"

Cameron just crouched down and started sobbing.

To break girl code Where stories live. Discover now