ON HOLD:Ethereal Elle

Chapter Four, Skipping Class

Even though Elle frightened Ace, he instantly felt calm after seeing her heartwarming smile approaching him. They hadn't even had a proper conversation yet but there was somehow immense calmness radiating from both of them when they were together.

"You seem pretty stressed" Elle said as she looked him up and down casually, Ace laughed nervously before nodding.

"I had to get out of that music room. Everyone is bothering me today" He explained with a sigh. Elle could tell just by looking at him that it was so much more than being irritated over other people, but she decided not to question him on it.

"I should be in class now too but I felt like I had to be here. It's a beautiful day" Elle told him as she looked up to the sky and smiled with content, Ace grinned slightly and nodded in agreement once she brought her attention back to him.

"I was just about to go for a walk, care to join me?" She asked, trying to act much more confident than she actually felt. Her mind was freaking out over being in Aces presence once again. She knew deep down that this interaction was different than the normal, that she wasn't just attracted to him and tripping over her words like a nervous girl who has a crush. Somewhere inside a flicker of light would appear anytime she thought about this mysterious, miserable musician.

And the thing is, Ace felt it too. He felt all of the things that were going on inside of Elles head, but he would never admit to it. Not even to himself. 

"Uh, sure" Ace muttered before following Elle down the path and out of the college gates. They were both in an awkward silence for a while, as this kind of thing was not something they were both used to.

Ace was questioning himself as to why he had said yes to a walk with the small optimistic girl he had never seen before they bumped heads. Ace is extremely disconnected from everyone, even his own friends. He hangs around with them mainly because he doesn't want to be alone, deep down he doesn't care for them. Not a bit. His life has been difficult which leads him to believe that he can act anyway he wants to, because of all the shit he has been through. The only person he ever truly cared for was his crazy drunken father who never taught him anything as a child. Which is why his emotions run haywire and he has no idea how to handle them.

"So, why are you fed up?" Elle asked Ace as they entered the local park that was down the road from their college. Ace looked at her before laughing, he thought she would be unable to handle the truth that was his messy mind.

"My birthday is coming up soon. This always puts me on edge, more than usual" Ace told her as they walked slowly. The only thing they could hear was the birds chirping loudly in the trees around them. They both felt at peace even though they were diving head first into a difficult conversation.

"You don't like parties?" Elle joked while giggling, Ace shrugged his shoulders while debating if he should tell her the truth.

"My mother died when I was born.. So it's never something I celebrate" Ace confessed quietly with his head lowered, Elles smile was instantly wiped off her face.

"Shit. I'm really sorry."

"I just get mad thinking about it. My parents were extremely happy and in love before I came along and my existence destroyed everything" Ace explained while shaking his head. His hands were now tensed into fists and the emotions were boiling inside of him. Elle could tell that he needed to get all of this out, he didn't need advice or a hand to hold. Just a listening ear.

"My mum left, I appeared and my dad became this monster filled with hatred. He emotionally abused me and I didn't know any better, I thought it was just tough love. As a child I looked up to him but now that I'm twenty two I see him as scum" Ace rambled angrily as Elle watched him, she nodded every so often and sighed deeply when he had finished talking.

"When was the last time you spoke to him?"

"Two years ago, the day I left to come here. He said he never wanted to see me again and I said the same."

Elle found a bench that was sitting directly in the sunlight, she walked ahead and quickly sat down on it with her legs crossed. Ace followed her and sighed deeply as he sat down next to her. They were in silence once again, this time Ace was in complete confusion. Nobody on the planet knew about his abusive father, he had never told a soul about this stuff and how it made him feel. Somehow it just felt right to express his feelings in front of Elle, like she wouldn't tell a soul anyway.

"Uh, what about your family?" Ace asked Elle to break the silence. He now felt awkward and ashamed over what had occurred.

"I've never been close with them. I feel like I am from another planet when stuck at family events" Elle explained with a laugh, but Ace could tell this upset her.

"I get you. That's how I feel around here, like nobody understands me at all" Ace said as Elle nodded quickly to confirm that they felt exactly the same.

"I'm sorry for getting mad and ranting about that stuff, you probably didn't need to hear that" Ace muttered awkwardly after another minute of silence. Elle shook her head before placing her hand on his arm.

"It doesn't matter if I wanted to hear it or not, you needed to get it out of your system. I'm glad you did" She told him with a smile, he stared at her in confusion before thanking her. The gentle kindness Elle threw his way was alien like, something he was not used to at all.

"Thank YOU for skipping class with me, this was nice" Elle said with a grin, Ace agreed. They decided to head back to college to see what damage had been done in their absence.

They parted ways at the green, it was beginning to get crowded there as lunch time was approaching. Ace began to get awkward as they stood in silence.

"Thanks again for listening to my bullshit" Ace said to Elle giving little eye contact.

"It's okay. I'll see you again sometime" Elle smiled and gave him a wave before walking back to her class. Ace watched her quickly cut through the small groups of people before turning the corner. He exhaled loudly once she had disappeared.

"What the fuck just happened" He whispered to himself before walking off.

Our boring class was still continuing as Ace re entered the room, his mates began to cheer and clap as he crossed the room and sat down on his seat again. Miss Caufield rolled her eyes and continued to teach the lesson.

"Sorry for snapping at you Gregg" Ace muttered to Gregg across the table. Greggs face instantly lit up like he lived for Aces attention. I stared at him weirdly before the clock hit 12:30 which meant it was time for lunch.

"Thank fuck" I said loudly, making sure the whole room heard me. Everybody began rushing towards the door and as did I until Miss Caufield refused to let me leave.

"We need to talk about your attendance and your future in-"

"HEY ACE! THIS WILL CHEER YOU UP, LOOK OUTSIDE!" Richard screamed while he pointed out the window. I approached them to see what the fuss was about. Ross began to laugh and Gregg looked unimpressed.

"What is it?" Ace asked unexcitedly as joined them at the window.

"It's Imogen, in all her glory" Richard said in a theatre voice. I approached the window to see that they were looking at one of the big headed theatre girls, she was sitting on a bench outside fixing her makeup in a mirror. I glanced over at Ace to see him staring at her in a somewhat loving way, Richard patted his back and left him to it. I shuffled closer to Ace before tapping his arm, he looked across at me angrily for interrupting him.

"You can do a hell of a lot better" I whispered before raising an eyebrow. He continued to look at me, wondering what I was talking about. But he knew, Elle was in mind.