Carved

CHAPTER 20

DYLAN

We've been through a lot.

When we arrive back at our apartment, there is too much excitement to sleep.  The day had been long and exhausting, but laughter gave us a second wind to stay up longer.  My wallet is a little lighter, but I was right. It was worth it to see Ian's face. The guys are still laughing about it. Ella pretended to be angry with us, but I know she loved it. She suppressed her laughter when we showed her his car hidden under a pile of mud with 'I'm a DylDoe' messages.

Since nobody can sleep, we all hang out in the living room watching TV and talking. I don't think I have ever seen the guys so happy and comfortable with a girl. Nights like this Casper and Benji would have danced with a few girls before going back home alone. Dex would have picked up a girl gone to her house and come back regretting another night. I would have been in bed. Alone, of course.

Now, I think we all met our equals, or the ones. Brittany is rubbing the facial hair on Casper's face. Benji is laughing at being called cuter than a speckled puppy. He's trying to get Amber to share more of her adorable sayings. I didn't think Dex would ever spend more than a day with a woman. He told me she's his sex soul mate. I wish he didn't go into so much detail. I'm having trouble looking at the two of them. I look at Ella instead. My Ella. My one.

"The last song, was that really your stories?" Casper asks as he takes Brittany's hand.

"Yep. That was our sad story," Brittany purses her lips.

The boys look at them wanting to ask questions or hoping they would share their stories.

Brittany takes a deep breath, "I will start. My father wanted to surprise my mother for their anniversary. My father was a hopeless romantic. He loved doing sweet gestures for my mama. There wasn't a moment where they weren't showing their love for each other or for me. They were driving to the cabin they stayed in during their honeymoon. I was nine when their car crashed. I didn't have any other family. I was never adopted. I just went from one foster home after another." She tells us a little more about her life. When we start to give her our apologies, she stops us and tells us to hold our sympathies until they all finish.

"My Mama and Papa tol' me I was gonna stay with my aunt in Georgia for a couple days. A couple days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. I was only eight but I waited like a dog waiting for his master to return home. They never did. I was like an abandoned mutt. It wasn't until I was older and we moved to Pennsylvania that my aunt tol' me my Papa was in trouble with some bad people. It would have been hard for them to run with an eight year ol' in toll. We never heard from them again." Amber turns to Whisper indicating she can tell her story.

"When I was a sophomore, a senior charmed me and told me I was the only one for him. He made me believe we were in love. After I gave the a...donkey butt my virginity he told everybody how easy it was to get me in bed. He also said I was awful. The rumor spread fast. One day I decided to sleep with another guy just to prove I wasn't a bad screw like he said. That's where the picture came from. I walked into the school with scandalous pictures of our night posted everywhere. Mallory Thorne took the picture you saw during our performance." Whisper sits back and places her head on Ella's shoulder.

Casper and Benji lean forward wanting to hear Ella's story. The way Amber and Brittany stiffen with what looks like anticipation, I deduce Ella has not shared the story with them either. A tear starts to fall from Ella's eyes, but she nods to let them know she is ready to share. It will be seven years on Halloween. The memories are fresh in my mind. Perhaps it is because I have nightmares at least once a week.

Our parents had decided to throw a Halloween party. The adults were at Ella's house and the teenagers were at my home. Ella and I were going to the Halloween parade. Ella was going to borrow her mom's white shawl, but needed to grab it from her mom's closet. The door to her mom's bedroom was locked but she usually kept it locked during parties to keep partiers out. Ella knew where the key was hidden in case she needed something. Her parents never cared. We didn't think it would be any different this time, but it was. We found her mom in bed with a man. Only she wasn't with Ella's dad. She was with mine.