~COMPLETED~
Ellody Brown, a high-school girl who happens to be Zach Herron's best friend since childhood, hasn't told Zach how she feels about him. But what happens when feelings for someone else come in between them? Ellody struggles with anxiety...
PREVIOUSLY: If she didn't tell her mum about everything, she would burst. About Zach, Jonah, the concert, her grades. Maybe she'd understand. Maybe she'd ground Ellody for life. But Ellody was too full of lies and anger and sadness and she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"If I come out, I'm telling mum everything," Ellody said firmly. There was surprised silence before the door opened and shut. She was alone in the bathroom. Her mind set, she walked out of the stall and washed her face. Glaring at herself in the mirror, Ellody pushed her phone in her back pocket and stood as tall as she could. I'm done with lying. I'll keep Jienna a secret, that's not mine to tell. But I've got to tell mum everything else.
~
Sienna's crying was muffled the second she slammed her bedroom door shut. Ellody's heart was racing, and her mum was sitting at the dining room table, head in her hands.
"I can't believe this, Ellody Brown. Go to your room, please. Don't talk to your sister. Lock the door, keep her out of your room until I'm done with her and I get to you. Now," she decided, and Ellody rushed upstairs before she could change her mind.
Ellody's first thought was to call someone, but who? Who could she possibly call? There was no way she was telling Jonah all this. He hadn't called yet, and it had been over an hour. Zach was the last person she could talk to. Just thinking about him made her want to cry even more than she already did. Sienna was out of bounds, but why would she want to talk to her anyway? Her sister was absolutely infuriated that Ellody spilled every bean in the can - the concert, and her grades. She was waiting for her mum to come to her room so that she could vent about Zach and Jonah, and she already felt better now that her mum knew about the concert.
BRRT BRRT.
Christina's face appeared on her phone screen, posing happily in a bikini from that weekend. Ellody accepted the call instantly, wondering how she knew she needed her right now.
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"Christina, thank God," Ellody blurted, lying down on her bed and smiling enormously as another tear slid down her cheek.
"Oh, hey Ellody. I was just calling to ask if you know when Zach's birthday is. I'm putting important dates in my calendar and-"
"The twenty-seventh of May, 2001," Ellody cut in, wanting to talk to the girl so badly that she couldn't even let her finish her sentence.
"Thanks. Did you want to talk about something? You sounded disturbingly excited when you picked up," Christina added, allowing Ellody to sigh with relief. She always knew when Ellody needed her.
"Yes, I really do need to tell you a whole range of things. How long do you have?" Ellody asked quickly, making herself comfortable on the stack of pillows behind her as more tears of exhaustion filled her eyes.
"Um, hours. I'm picking up a Fabletics package this afternoon and was hoping to do a haul on my Instagram story later on, but I always have time for you," Christina explained, waiting for a response. Ellody took the opportunity and began with where it all started... the airport. When Jonah hugged her longer than everyone else. The emotions she was filled with on the way home. The concert with Sienna and Jade, even the part about Sienna and Jade being together. Running into Kay and asking Zach about them and not getting a clear reply. Going to Jonah about the test at school and not Zach, doing badly and saying she did well. Adding to the lies building up inside her, being forced to spend time with her dad as a family that never existed in the first place. Family was Sienna, Ellody and their mum. They had a biological father, but they never had a dad - even though they called him dad, because Sienna decided that 'father' sounded weird.
"And after all that happened today, I still went to Jonah. And then Zach texted me... hold on, I'll send you a screenshot..."
"OK, sure."
"There. After that conversation, I just felt empty. After all that, I needed to tell someone so I blurted everything to mum. Dad left straight away, paying for everything and saying that this was something we needed to work out together, and then ditched. Such a dad thing to do, we weren't surprised to say the least. Mum was infuriated that we'd lied to her for so long and was especially mad at Sienna for pulling me into it, so now Sienna's not talking to me. It doesn't matter anyway, mum won't let us talk to each other. She sent me to my room and Sienna to hers, and now I'm lying here and waiting for the explosion next door," Ellody finished, taking a deep breath. Her heart felt a little lighter after explaining everything. Christina paused in case there was more before talking.
"OK, you've clearly been holding that to yourself for a while. Have you told your mum about Jonah and Zach yet?" she clarified.
"No, when she comes in to talk to me I'm going to talk to her about it," Ellody sighed. The phone crackled a little to show Christina was moving around.
"Wow, OK. So... you like Jonah. How long for?" Christina asked quietly.
"Since we were at the airport and saying goodbye to the boys. It sounds stupid, but he hugged me a little longer than the other guys did and gave me a look and I just... fell. Really hard. And I know he's with Tatum, and they're perfect together, which is another reason I haven't told him. Just in case they're really together, in a proper relationship," Ellody added, biting her lip as the stairs creaked. Her mum had finally gotten herself together and decided to confront Sienna.
"That's fair. I barely even hugged the other boys, but I know you're closer to all of them than I am. I'm only close with them because of my bean," Christina said, laughing to herself. Ellody smiled, remembering Christina and Corbyn on the holiday house weekend. They hardly left each other's sight.
"I love you two together. So cute," Ellody giggled, but she stopped as Sienna's door was opened and their mum started talking.
"Thank you. I still think you and Zach would be cute, by the way. You still like him, right?" she asked. Ellody's heart did a flip, mind racing back to the photo of Corbyn, Zach and Ellody in the hammock. His arms around her, their faces pressed against each other's.
