rags to riches | jeff wittek ( DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Nine : Late Night Facetime

♫ Goodnight n Go - Ariana Grande ♫

If there was one thing I wasn't expecting, it would have to be a Facetime from Jeff at around 10:30pm . Initially, I ignore it the first time because I was under the assumption that it was a mistake. But when he called again, I waited until the last minute to answer.

Jeff is laying down also, his hair not done at all and face lightly shaven. It irritated me that someone so attractive could be so inconsistent. I wanted to be friends with Jeff so bad but he made it so hard.

When David comforted me a few days ago, Jeff walked in on us and didn't even ask if I was okay. Then when I went to clean for Jason the next day, he completely ignored me.

But here I am, looking like a clown, now on Facetime with him. "Hey Ellie." A smile forms on the corner of his lips, probably a little confused since he was staring at a black screen.

Being home alone meant that I was able to lay in bed in darkness. "Yes Jeff?" I try to remain cold, but I feel like maybe I was sounding a little excited. "Am I interrupting?" There was a lot of loud talking that seemed to be coming from outside the room he was in.

"I was about to go to sleep." I lie through my teeth. May or may not have been watching Victorious on Netflix, something I decided to invest $9 a month for myself. "But I wanna talk to you."

"You do?" I act surprised, rolling my eyes at his constant mood swings. He only wanted to talk to me now that there was no one else around. It seemed to be the trend between us.

"Of course I do. Why would you not think so?" I refrain myself from answering that question and instead, lay in the darkness as I stare at my dimly lit screen at Jeff, hand behind his head, his muscles somewhat flexed. "Are you okay?" He asks me, trying not to let the silence overcome us.

"I'm wonderful, why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you were crying the other night." His gentle and soothing voice brought ease to the anxiety i've been experiencing for the last few days. "Just some family stuff." I try to keep my response as short and uninterested as possible. I'm tired of giving Jeff the power to make me feel as if he can keep putting me through this mind game.

"Is everything alright?"

I loudly sigh, "Yes Jeff."

Silence. Besides the constant loud music that plays below and above me. The screams from outside, either from joy or fear, it was hard to tell.

"You don't want to talk about it?" Jeff asks me. Is this guy not getting the message? Or does he know what he's doing and he's playing the game too. "I don't, quite honestly, considering the fact that you act different whenever we're around other people."

There's silence, besides the commotion, on the other line and I look at him to see his attention is focused on something behind his phone, presumably a light fixture or fan. "I'm sorry. It's kind of hard to get out of the habit but i'm really trying."

At this point, I was confused but it wouldn't be bad to at least try to keep things working with him. If we weren't seeing each other often, I wouldn't even care.

"I accept your apology." I tell him, as I snuggle myself into the warm sheets. My hand reaches over to my side table and I turn on the bedside lamp. Jeff's brown eyes immediately light up. "Have I ever told you that you are just beautiful?"

I almost choke on my own spit as I hear those words come out of his mouth. He's joked about it before but his tone was so sincere and genuine that my mind completely went blank. "Yes. That's obnoxiously followed by some snarky remark." I subconsciously smile at him.