Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 17

PREVIOUSLY: Ellody didn't want to see who was possibly calling her in the middle of her worrying and overthinking.

BRRT BRRT.

But they seemed persistent. 

BRRT BRRT.

She turned the screen towards her, immediately filled with excitement. Jonah was calling her.

"Jonah? Is something wrong?"

"That was a nice greeting," he laughed. His deep tones flooded through her like a warm shower.

"Sorry, I'm just wondering why you're calling," Ellody sighed, brushing the tears off her eyelashes and cheeks.

"Not to be weird but I noticed that Zach was kind of brushing you off earlier, and you must have needed him because you were calling him when he said he'd call you first," Jonah explained, and Ellody couldn't be happier that he was talking to her right now.

"Thank you for noticing. I wouldn't say he was completely brushing me off, he was just distracted. I don't blame him, it would be hard to focus when you're in a room full of people talking and having a good time-"

"You should be here," he blurted, cutting off her endless babble. Ellody stared at the dirty curtains, not wanting to believe what he was saying. She didn't want these feelings inside her to intensify like they were right now. She didn't want to like him like this, or to agree with him.

"I wish I was," she replied, going against what she was just telling herself. Her heart wanted him for some reason, and her brain couldn't seem to do anything about it.

"Is there anything you want to talk about with me? I know you wanted to talk to Zach about something but I'm not sure you got the whole message across," Jonah asked cautiously, as though he was afraid of saying the wrong thing. Ellody didn't want to tell him everything - her normal thing would be to go and vent to Zach, but he was busy right now, and Jonah was right there...

"I still don't think you'll get caught," Jonah repeated quietly. Ellody reached for her toothbrush, words failing her. Maybe he was right. "You had the lanyards on you the whole time and nobody even questioned you, or looked at you funny. There's no reason to panic, OK?" he added, knowing that she was still doubtful.

"OK. I think it's still sinking in that we did it... but thank you for talking through it with me," Ellody sighed, glancing at the time on the small clock in the bathroom. Nearly ten in the morning. Twelve hours ago, she was still at the concert, adrenaline pumping. She hadn't run into Kay yet.

"You'll get over it eventually. Stuff like this takes time to settle in people's minds, especially your crazy mind," Jonah replied, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess," she sighed. Ellody had to admit, talking to Jonah for fifteen minutes was a lot better than talking to Zach for a few neglectful seconds. "I'm gonna brush my teeth and shower and be me again. Talk later?" Ellody suggested.

"Of course. Call me any time, I'm always here for you. Unless I'm performing - that might not work out," he laughed, making Ellody smile at herself in the mirror.

"OK, thank you for this. I feel so much better," she admitted, and they said goodbye before she hung up. Ellody put her phone down, sighing as she stared into her own eyes and not really knowing how to feel.

~

The woman's body was blocking the whiteboard, and Ellody was unable to see how much time they had left until she had stepped away. Ten minutes. Ellody moved her gaze to the last question on the classes' science test, her brain going blank. The words seemed to swim before her eyes, Zach's side profile and Jonah's warm voice filling her head instead of the science question in front of her. Her heart couldn't choose between them - she wanted to be with Zach, to hug him, to kick her feet in his lap and kiss his face and call him mine. But she also wanted to stand next to Jonah on a beach, to wrap her arms around his neck as he whispered everything is going to be OK. But was everything going to be OK? I could still get caught.

"Eight minutes to go. Check over your answers and place the papers on the top left corner of your table, facing down, once you have finished."

Could I go to jail? Or be fined? Or worse... could mum find out? Surely she would've figured it out by now if she was going to... right? Would Jade somehow let it slip? Would Damien? What would Sienna do if mum found out? She'd have to confess about Jade, we couldn't say that Jaiden was there too. Mum would want to talk to Jaiden's parents, to then find out Jaiden doesn't exist, meaning Sienna would have to come out to mum and everyone else...

"Are you alright, Ellody Brown?" a woman asked, jolting Ellody out of her overthinking daydream and back to reality.

"Yeah," she mumbled, redirecting her gaze to the sheet of paper in front of her. She vaguely remembered something to do with the answer, writing it down and turning over her paper. Normally she did well in tests, but she had been stressing over Jonah, Zach and the concert so much she didn't study at all the night before, only revising a bit of vocab on the way to school. Suddenly, the bell rang and every id in the room quietly stood up and grabbed their bags from under their chairs. Ellody hastily stood up, knocking over her chair as she went. People stared at her as they left the room and she uprighted the chair, ears pink.

"OMG, what a nerd," a girl whispered loudly to another girl behind her as they passed. A loud amount of snickering was issued from the group as they exited. Ellody's chin wobbled a little as she grabbed her bag and pulled it out from under the desk, nearly tipping the table over, but a guy caught it as he walked past.

"Slow down there," he muttered, sliding past her and out the door. Ellody wanted to sink into the floor, but there was barely anyone left in the room, so she hoisted her bag on her back and left the room with barely any dignity left. As she made her way down the halls, Mia appeared at her side.

"Bit clumsy today, are we?" she commented, playfully knocking her arm into Ellody's. She shrugged, wishing Mia would leave her alone, but she didn't have the confidence to ask her to go away. "Everyone has their moments. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll all forget about it in no time. It was one chair... and nearly one table, if it wasn't for that guy," she added loudly. Heads turned at the sound of the popular girl's voice, and Ellody hated every second of it. She finally got to her locker and threw it open in her haste to get to lunch and sit by herself - she could sit with anyone she wanted, but she wanted to be alone. Being friends with people that had over two million followers on Instagram had its perks, but she didn't want to deal with people fangirling over her for a second longer than she had to. "Well, I want to get a good seat in the cafeteria, so I'm gonna run. Catch you later," Mia decided, bounding down the hallway after the back of Jackson's head. Ellody forced her books into her locker, taking her packed lunch her mum had made her and her phone hidden in her jumper pocket. She made her way outside, avoiding eye contact with everyone and sitting under a tree by the edge of the school. She pulled her phone out, thumb hovering over two names in her text list. Jonah or Zach?

ELLODY: do you have a second to talk

She pressed send, knowing she made the right decision this time. Delivered turned to read, and dots appeared.