Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 25

PREVIOUSLY: Zach was calling.

Oh my goodness. Do I pick up? Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my-

"Hello?" Ellody mumbled, holding her phone to her lips as she walked absent-mindedly to the bridge.

"Ellody! Man, we haven't spoken properly in forever. Talk to me, what's been going on? Anything exciting at school? When are your holidays next?" Zach blurted. Ellody's eyes widened as his words jumbled in her brain. Surely he wasn't calling to ask about school. There had to be some other motive.

"Why are you calling?" she asked bluntly, biting her lip.

"To talk to you. That's usually why people call each other," he joked.

"No, for real. Why are you calling?" Ellody repeated.

"I just... I miss hearing your voice. You never call me anymore." Silence. Ellody thought of Jonah, even though he hadn't mentioned him.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy," she lied. Busy thinking about you.

"You always called, especially when you were busy and stressed. What happened? Did I say something?" he pressed.

"No. You didn't say anything. I-I'm sorry. I have to go," she muttered, pressing the red button to hang up. Zach's face disappeared from the screen to reveal her phone background, which she'd recently changed from her and Zach to a picture of the sunset on the beach that weekend. Somehow, the sunset picture made her heart ache worse. It certainly didn't help as 8 Letters began to play, transforming her mindset to Jonah's face as he sang.

You know me the best

You know my worst, see me hurt, but you don't judge

That, right there, is the scariest feeling

Suddenly, all she could imagine was Jonah. Hugging Jonah when she first saw him in Colorado on their weekend away. Hugging him goodbye at the airport. Fantasies of kissing him goodbye one day. Maybe not even having to say goodbye at all.

"Stop it, Ellody," she told herself sternly. I've been thinking about them far too much lately. This run was supposed to get them out of my head.

Ellody picked up her pace, shoving her phone in her back pocket so she couldn't think about Jonah. Or Zach. Or any of the boys, for that matter. 8 Letters ended, making way for These Girls, and reminding Ellody of Kay. That girl had quite the grip on Zach. If she didn't, Zach would be able to say that he wasn't dating her, and that they were done. But he still couldn't seem to. Not that Ellody had even asked him about Kay recently.

I want to talk to him so badly. Why do I have feelings for Jonah? Can't I just be a normal person who has feelings for one person?

~

"Ellody, can you please come downstairs?" her mum called. Ellody sighed, tossing her phone on her bed and slowly leaving her room. Her run had been good, and she was still in her towel after a shower after being indecisive on which piece of Why Don't We merch she should wear to bed.

"I'm coming," she replied loudly, wishing she was in bed right now. Her mind was so full of Zach and Jonah and her inescapable feelings that she just wanted to go to sleep.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, her mum gave her a look that meant business.

What did I do?

"Yes?" Ellody frowned, meeting her mother's stern gaze.

"I don't want any backchat at what I'm about to tell you, and don't you dare talk to Sienna before I do," she began. Ellody raised her eyebrows, her heartbeat becoming faster. What could be this important?

"Um, sure," she muttered, biting her lip worriedly.

"Your dad is staying in Sienna's room for a week. Starting tomorrow, Sienna will be in your room on the trundle. OK? OK," she explained sharply before calling for Sienna to get downstairs. Ellody's mouth fell open, and she nearly argued, but one look from her mum scared her back upstairs. Sienna stomped down the stairs past Ellody, avoiding her eyes. Ellody felt empty without Sienna, like something was missing. It was a different feeling to not having the band with her. Probably because I have always had Sienna to count on, and now I don't even have her.

~

"A week? It's not that long. Maybe you and Sienna can make up in that time," Jonah reasoned. Ellody shook her head, knowing that he didn't believe it himself.

"Sienna's not like that. She doesn't... give in that easily," Ellody explained. She wished Jonah was right, but there was no way.

"Then I'm not sure how you're going to do this. You can call me every day. Twice a day. It's better to talk about stuff than bottling it up and, eventually, exploding," he said. His promises were warm and comforting, like drinking hot chocolate in winter.

"Thank you."

"Any time."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before Jonah asked about her dad, and Ellody began telling him the whole twisted story about how he had never really been there. Fifteen minutes later, Ellody looked at the clock on her bedside table and realised how hungry she was.

"I should go eat. Thank you for listening to me talk. I think talking is my best stress reliever," she sighed, sitting up on her bed and staring at a polaroid photo of Jonah and Daniel tackling each other on the balcony of the beach house in Colorado.

"Go do that. And remember that I will always listen to you talk, if it's in the middle of soundcheck or at midnight. I miss you heaps," Jonah added. Ellody's stomach filled with butterflies and she grinned.

"I miss you too. Goodnight," she said quietly.

"Goodnight," he replied. Ellody's thumb hovered over the hang-up button for half a second before pressing it. She loved talking to him, he was a better listener than Zach had ever been.

~

Sienna sat on a nearby bench, a stubborn frown on her face that she'd kept since their mum announced they were all driving to the airport together.

"Can you see him, Ellie?" the woman asked, her thin, brown hair framing her face as she stared excitedly at her daughter. Ellody shook her head and restrained herself from pulling her phone out of her back pocket. She definitely would if her mum didn't look so painfully excited.

"I can't. Tell me why we're at the airport again," Ellody insisted. Her dad lived half an hour away. It wasn't like he had to fly to see them.

"He went on a business trip, remember? I thought it would be nice to surprise him, since he was planning to get a taxi to our house," she explained, craning her neck to find him in the crowd of people spilling out of the gate from London.

"Right," Ellody sighed, looking around the airport for anyone who could be her father. She didn't care if he got a taxi, or if he walked home for goodness sake. Ellody wished she was here to pick up one of the guys. Preferably Jonah. Or Christina. Or someone that she could talk to and enjoy their company instead of being lumped with Sienna for a week while their good-for-nothing dad sat around the house and their mum tried to get them to 'bond'.

"Is that him? Sienna, Ellody, I think that's him!" she said suddenly.