ON HOLD:Ethereal Elle

Chapter Twelve, First Aid Kit

Richard entered the dorm building with a smirk on his face knowing Ace would be on top of the world, as soon as he found out Richards little scheme. He climbed the stairs before coming to the floor where all of his friends dorms were situated. He knocked on Ace and Greggs dorm room door, still showing off his big-headed smirk.

Gregg opened the door while stuffing noodles into his mouth and barely paying any attention to Richards attention seeking expressions. Ace was sitting on the sofa behind Gregg, staring at Richard in confusion.

"Can we help you, Richard?" Ace asked him in confusion. Gregg glanced up at Richard for a second before returning to the kitchen with his noodles. Richard entered the dorm and shut the door behind him, he crossed his arms and exhaled loudly.

"I was on my way here when I bumped into a nerdy, weird art girl" Richard began talking, Aces face instantly lit up and he looked across the room at Richard intriguingly.

"You spoke to Elle? Why the hell did you-"

"She said she would text you soon" Richard interrupted Ace before pointing to him with a smug look on his face. Ace nodded, trying to play it cool. He was mostly relieved that Elle didn't hate him after the awkward conversation they'd had a few days prior. He had been thinking about it a lot.

"You're so weird man. You're fucking one of the most popular girls at college but also wanting to text a quiet nobody?" Richard said as he adventured around the messy dorm room. Ace glared at him angrily without Richard knowing.

"Yeah, what can I say, I'm a man of many-" Ace muttered trying to continue the boring conversation, only to realise that Richard was busy being fascinated over Greggs fish tank.

"Are you even allowed to own fish here?" Richard asked while tapping on the glass and scaring the fish.

"Nope" Gregg mumbled as he walked through the living area to his bedroom, still with a mouth full of noodles. Ace shook his head before glancing down at his phone, waiting for that Elle message to appear.

"You getting bored of that curvy body of hers man? I'd tap that if you're finished with it" Richard said to Ace while laughing. It was a good thing that Richard didn't care much for eye contact, as Ace looked like he wanted to murder Richard there and then.

The depressing reality for Ace was that he and Imogen hadn't slept together in months. She seemed keen until she went on holiday during the summer, when she returned she barely spoke or even looked at him. But all of a sudden in the past few weeks she has been in need of his attention. Ace pretends to his friends that there is still something going on between them, or maybe he just doesn't want to bring it up to people who don't actually care.

"Ace, Elle here. I've had a crazy few days. Hope you are doing good :-)"

Elle wrote to Ace and sent it quickly before she regretted it. She took a long walk around the college grounds alone, still constantly thinking about her weird ability. She felt as if, if she didn't tell somebody soon that she would explode with anxiety and confusion. Which is when she decided to run back to the dorm building to finally be truthful about why she was distant and weird with me.

There was already a weight lifted off her as she ran back home, knowing she was about to get it off her chest to me, someone she trusted.

"Diana! Diana! I need to speak to you!" Elle shouted as she turned the key in the door and entered our dorm. She instantly fell silent as she closed the door behind her. The room was drowning in heavy sadness. She quickly looked around the dorm for any damage, making sure it wasn't a repeat of last time.

"Diana?" She said quietly while looking over at me on the sofa. I was frozen, staring blankly forward at the wall. Elle slowly approached me, trying not to make too much noise. As she got closer she realised what had gone on as she was away.

I sat with a wet towel on my thigh and a first aid kit sitting on the coffee table in front of me. Elle froze for a second, letting her brain process what her eyes were seeing. I continued to stare forward like a robot until a tear fell from my eye, I looked up at her with a frown on my face.

"W-What have you done?!" Elle stuttered anxiously before sitting down beside me and staring at my leg.

"It's fine, I'm fine. It's all under control" I responded after gasping for air. In that moment, there was no other way to stop the horrible flashbacks. I didn't want to tell Elle why I did it, I didn't want her to think I was crazy.

She gently reached towards my leg and lifted the towel. I whimpered like a puppy at the pain it caused, which shot through my body. Elle gasped at the damage I'd done but tried to hide her facial expressions to stop me from feeling worse.

She sat back on the sofa next to me and sighed. Her mind was now freaking out even more than before. She raised her arms out in front of her and stared in confusion.

"Why didn't you warn me this time?" She thought to herself while biting her lip, trying not to cry in my company. Elle now thought she was the crazy one in the room, that the 'feeling' she received a few days ago was all in her head.

"I'm sorry Diana, I'm sorry I wasn't here, I'm sorry I-"

"Elle, I told you. I'm fine" I interrupted her while glancing down at my leg. Elle began searching through the first aid box quickly, clearly trying not to scream and cry. She began making a bandage that would cover the mess I'd made, I watched her as my heart slowly broke in my chest.

"I'll fix you up" She said quietly while wiping the stained blood from my skin and carefully placing the bandage on my thigh. I watched her before reaching for her hand and grabbing it tightly, she glanced up at me and we both had tears in our eyes.

"It'll be okay, right?" I asked her, my voice breaking as tears fell down my red face. Elle smiled widely at me while squeezing my hand.

"Of course. We're going to make it. Wait and see" She replied while sniffing, I nodded and continued to watch her clean me up. After she was done she stood up and grabbed both of my hands to pull me up too.

"I don't want to move, Elle" I whispered while groaning in pain, she continued to pull me up.

"Its nap time! Your favourite time of day!" She shouted excitedly with a fake smile on her face. I sighed and nodded before struggling to get up. We walked slowly across the dorm and into the bedroom. Elle pulled my duvet off and carefully helped me into bed like I was an old lady who couldn't walk anymore.

"Are you going to join me?" I asked with a smile. Elle laughed and nodded before climbing in next to me and putting the duvet around my trembling body. She turned to face me so she could wipe every tear my bloodshot eyes formed.

"We're going to make it, we're going to make it" She repeated in a whisper while stroking my head slowly. I sighed quietly and shut my eyes, wishing this nightmare would be over.

As I slept, Elle lay next to me wide awake. She wanted to explode with anger over what was going on. She felt stupid, thinking that she had a magic power that made her able to protect me. Even though what she had just done was amazing, more than anyone had ever done for me.

She shut her eyes tightly and held me close before hearing her phone vibrate on the wooden floor in the living room, knowing it was Ace.