Diamond Rings & You

Chapter 2

ELENA'S POV:

I laid down and rested my head in Mattia's lap. We were in the back of Dad's car, driving home after the ceremony. Kairi, Alejandro and Vic were going to come in an Uber since we wouldn't all fit.

"You looked beautiful today" said Mattia softly. He was playing with my hair, allowing a tingly feeling to rush through me. I smiled up at him and closed my eyes. I hesitated to ask him, even though a part of me didn't really want to know.

"When do you leave?"

He laughed and looked down into my eyes. His dreamy smile made me love him all the more.

"You're trying to get rid of me that quickly?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I sat up beside him, and gave him a reassuring kiss on his cheek.

"Never, I just wanna know how much time we have together" I said, intertwining my hand in his. He lifted my hand and kissed my knuckles softly.

"Don't worry about that amor"

He was right. I shouldn't have been worrying about it. But I just knew how much it would hurt when he'd eventually have to leave, and I was trying to forget about that pain as much as I could.

We got home and Mom immediately pulled me into the living room.

"What are you doing?" I said, freeing myself from her grip. She smiled nervously at me and placed one hand on her hip.

"I-I just thought we could talk" she said in a high pitched tone. Something was definitely going on.

"About what?"

"Oh you know" she said, waving her hands at me. I shook my head slowly and tried to figure out where this was going.

"The weather!" she exclaimed. This was all starting to scare me a little, but I heard the front door open. I turned to see it was Vic and the boys, but they ran straight into the kitchen where Dad and Mattia were.
I tried to follow them but Mom ran infront of the door.

"Ma, come on!" I said, starting to get annoyed. She got a message on her phone and stepped out of the way.

"Okay fine, go ahead" she said with a huge grin. I furrowed my brows at how weird she was being but walked over to the kitchen anyway.

As soon as I opened the door, my ears immediately reacted to the party poppers going off, and the silly string being sprayed onto me.

"Congratulations Elena!" shouted everyone in unison, signalling towards the table. There was a three tier cake, with my name written all over it. I grinned from ear to ear when I saw how beautifully the kitchen was decorated with pink and white flowers. I could get used to these kind of surprises.

I cut my cake and Mom distributed pieces out to everyone. Mom and Dad disappeared out of the room, leaving me alone with my best friends.

"This cake is fire" said Kairi, taking another mouthful. I felt so content with them all here. They really bought New Jersey to me.

"So what'd you guys think of England?" I asked, setting down my plate on the counter. They all looked at each other with their lips pressed together.

"It's.." started Alejandro, but he quickly looked at Vic for support.

"I mean it's very..." Vic tilted her head as she thought long and hard about a way to describe the dull atmosphere we were in. I wanted to put them out their misery but it was hilarious to watch.

"I mean the- you know..." attempted Kairi, looking over at Mattia with a desperate look on his face.

"It's...nice" Mattia said painfully, causing me to burst into laughter. They let out a sigh of relief and started laughing with me, just as my parents walked in. Mom was clutching an envelope and her eyes were red. Dad was holding onto her and they both looked at me with sad smiles on their faces.

"What happened Mamma?" I said, rushing over to her, but she shook her head and placed her hand on my cheek. I looked back at everyone else and they looked slightly happier than my parents.

"This is our gift to you, for the graduation" said Dad, gently nudging Mom, who in turn placed the envelope in my hands. I opened it and my eyes widened when I saw it. A plane ticket to New Jersey.

One way.

The tears came again and I pulled them both into a hug, holding them tightly whilst silently thanking God in my head. I pulled away and Dad took a step forward.

"I mean, we've spent two whole years here, and you still haven't adapted, so I can't force you anymore, you should go back home if that's what'll make you happy" he kissed my head and I wrapped my arms around him.

"And you guys all knew about it" I said in astonishment, turning to face Kairi, Alejandro, Vic and Mattia. They nodded with the most ecstatic smiles on their faces.

"And you guys called them here, didn't you?" I said to my parents. They also nodded as I felt Mattia's hand slip into mine.

"Someone had to take you home" he said, I looked up at him and planted my lips on his, without saying anything else.

"Aye less of that please" I heard my Dad saying as he started walking towards us.

"Put a sock in it Hunter, the girl's in love" said Mom, pulling him back. I smiled at Mattia and he smiled right back at me.

Everything was so perfect.

-

Since my flight was leaving tomorrow, we decided to get pizzas for my last night in England. Mattia and I offered to go pick them up, gaining a suspicious stare from my Dad. Mattia cleared his throat and picked up his car keys, whilst looking over at Dad.

"Don't worry, I'll have her back by midnight" he said, smirking at me. Everyone started laughing, apart from Dad who just raised his eyebrows. I held onto Mattia's hand as we walked over to the car.

We reached the pizza place fairly quickly, but much to our disappointment, there was a huge line for pick ups.

"Baby I'm gonna use the bathroom real quick" said Mattia, letting go of my hand. I nodded and dug my hands deep into my pockets to try keep the cold away.

"Elena?"

I heard a familiar voice from behind me and clenched my jaw. Slowly turning around, Jackson stood infront of me.

"What do you want now?" I asked him coldly, avoiding eye contact.

"Can we talk?"