Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 6

Previously: "Alright, bye. Love ya."

"Love ya, Zachy."

Sienna's foot found Ellody's under the table and violently kicked her, desperately trying to get her attention.

"Ouch! Sorry, what?" Ellody muttered, glancing at her older sister. She realised her mum was also looking at her.

"For the third time. Mum asked if you could please pass the sauce," Sienna instructed, raising her eyebrows threateningly.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," Ellody frowned, leaning forward to get the little bottle, which happened to be much closer to her older sister, but she didn't have the energy to mention this.

"Are you alright, honey?" their mum asked quietly, taking the bottle from her youngest. The girl nodded, blinking at her dinner. This time yesterday, she was helping Zach pack the boys' shared suitcase. They had bet on whether Jessie was going to call Daniel or not; Zach and Jack had lost the bet and were supposed to be packing the bag, but Jack was in the pool, so Ellody was helping her best friend.

"Ell? Jesus, she's a zombie," Sienna commented, waving her hand in front of her face.

"It's Ellody," Ellody corrected her; only Zach called her Ell.

"Oh, sorry Ellie-pooh. Ellie-baby," Sienna teased, earning herself a kick under the table from Ellody.

"Girls, please. You're much more mature than that," their mum began, but Sienna shut her lecture down with a shake of her head.

"Talk to her about maturity. She worries about everything. Very immature," Sienna decided, pointing a thumb at Ellody, who screwed her face up at her sister.

"Shut up," she muttered, wanting to leave the table very badly. Maybe I could just pretend I need to go to the bathroom. Well, it's not the first time I've done that, but I still could.

"It's very mature to worry. It means she's accepted her responsibilities and the weight on her shoulders that getting older brings," the woman smiled, and Ellody stood up, unable to hear the stupid lectures about why she worried. She knew why she worried. He meant everything to her.

"I've got to go to the bathroom. Thank you for dinner," Ellody muttered, haphazardly tossing her plate and cutlery in the sink on the way to the stairs.

"Hold on, Ellie, are you alright? Ellody?" her mum called behind her, but she didn't stop. Surely Sienna knew better than to insult her worrying. She knew she couldn't help it. That's one of the things that you got if you were friends with Ellody. You got her worrying mother-hen side, which Zach and the boys knew all about.

Dean Lewis poured out of her speaker, filling her up inside with his sweet voice that ebbed calm.

Because you're the only one who comes when I'm lonely,

You're the only one who comes when I'm lonely for you,

When I'm lonely for you...

She whisper-sung along while painting her nails pink, a shade Zach once said looked good on her fingers, and she completely agreed. Glancing into the mirror, she couldn't help but notice how bad her hair looked. It didn't matter right now, since she was at home. But what if this disaster happened at school? Ellody closed her eyes and rearranged her hair as best as possible with wet nails, then reopened her eyes. It looked much better. Maybe a bit more practise, and I'll be able to confidently fix my hair without a mirror. Perfect.

"Ellody? Can we talk, please?" her mum called through the door, knocking softly. It wasn't locked, but her mum respected her privacy, which was something Sienna didn't do.

"Come in," she called, moving her legs out from underneath her to assume a much more natural position. Her mum pushed the door open, raising her eyebrows at how loud the music was. She reached across and turned it down a bit, but when her mum kept her eyebrows raised, she turned it right down so it was like Dean was whispering to her. "Better?"

"Much," she sighed, sitting down on the opposite end of the bed, furthest from the mirror that sat in the corner. "What was all that about at dinner?" she asked quietly, and Ellody knew she meant business.

"What do you mean?" Ellody said lightly; the last thing she wanted to do was talk about it with her mother, who knew absolutely nothing.

"You've been acting up lately. When you got home from the beach house, you locked yourself in your room for ages. Why? Do you miss Zach already? Are you sure you two aren't dating?" her mum pressed, looking for answers anywhere she could get them, but Ellody wasn't going to give them to her. Sienna and her mum shared the ability to squeeze answers out of people. Mainly Ellody.

"We're not together. And of course I miss him, he's my best friend," she said bluntly, shrugging and turning back to her half-painted nails. She shook the little bottle and began a second coat, trying to show her mum that this conversation was over, but she didn't seem to get the message.

"I would miss him too, if I were you. And I do miss him, because he makes you happy every time he's in town, or you go to see him. Too bad you can't join the band and tour everywhere with them. Wouldn't that be just perfect?" she mused, making Ellody cringe. She'd imagined this too many times herself - not being in the band, but travelling everywhere with them. Watching them perform from the wings and hugging them all as they walked off stage, maybe even doing all this with Christina and Tatum and Gabbie. Maybe Daniel's sister Anna would come too? Her mind wouldn't stop buzzing when it came to the boys and all the possibilities that came with them.

"Yeah, it wouldn't be bad, would it?" Ellody smiled, wondering if she would come off as way too clingy to the rest of the band if she called Zach now. To be honest, they all know how clingy I am already, so it wouldn't make much of a difference. "I might call Zach," she suggested, and her mum nodded before leaving the room, clearly thinking she'd just solved the mystery of why she was being weird. There was no way Ellody was going to correct her.