Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 36

PREVIOUSLY: Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder, and her anxiety kicked in as she turned around.

"Are you Ellody Brown? Oh my God, was that Jonah Marais? Mum, that was Jonah Marais! Wait, what were you doing with Jonah?" a random teenage girl shouted in her face. Ellody stared at her, deciding that she was a fan and not someone she should know.

"Um, hi," Ellody muttered. She hadn't been taught how to act around fans, since she rarely left her house and didn't usually have to deal with them.

"This is crazy! Literally no one has pictures with you. Not like Christina - everyone gets photos with Christina. But you're, like, so different!" the fan said loudly, gaining looks from random people in the airport. Ellody tried to wipe the tears off her face as subtly as possible.

"Um, yeah... I try not to get involved with fans as much as Christina does because I don't really... um... deserve the attention I get. I'm just friends with the band, I'm not a YouTuber or anything exciting," Ellody explained quietly. The fan nodded, soaking up anything she could get from Ellody.

"I have a friend who makes edits of you and Zach. We ship you two more than we ship Zach with Kay, but don't tell him we said that! Did you see Kay's post about them being in a relationship? That was such a bombshell, hey?" she chattered. Ellody's heart felt as though it was beating in her throat, and she wanted to scream and cry and dissolve into the floor all at once. Suddenly, the girl pulled her phone out and wrapped her arms around Ellody, taking a selfie. She tried her best to smile, hoping it didn't look like a weird grimace.

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Ellody muttered. The girl frowned before letting Ellody out her embrace. Ellody walked quickly through the arrival gates and down the escalators straight to the carpark, where she ran as fast as she could to her mum's car.

"There you are! I was about to call you," she said calmly as Ellody slammed the door hut, breathing heavily. "What happened?" her mum asked suddenly, watching Ellody rush to put her seatbelt on and take a few deep breaths to slow her heart rate.

"A f-fan stopped me when Jonah had just left, and I..." Ellody stuttered, tears stinging her eyes.

"Oh, honey," the woman sighed, leaning across to hug her. Even though she'd invited their dad to stay, and every argument they'd ever had, Ellody was glad she had her mum for a hug at the end of the day.

As they pulled out of the airport, one of her mum's highschool friends called to catch up, leaving Ellody lost in her thoughts as the women talked through the Bluetooth in the car.

I wonder what Jonah's doing. Probably getting his Netflix ready on his phone. Or getting comfy for some sleep - he had a long week driving me to and from school, and making mum tea, and kissing me when we were supposed to be asleep...

BRRT BRRT.

Ellody turned her phone screen over, and saw a name on her screen that made her heart fall to her feet.

KAY: hey ellie how are you???

Ellody stared at it until her phone turned itself off. What could she possibly want?

ELLODY: hey im good u?

She wasn't the kind of person who replied with wicked comebacks, or confronted people they hated immediately. It was such an Ellody thing to do to reply casually as though her heart wasn't breaking into a thousand tiny pieces.

KAY: i'm great thanks for asking x i was just wondering if you'd heard from my zachy lately?

ELLODY: no i haven't, i've been rly busy with jonah

Ellody pressed send, then immediately regretted it. This information would go straight to Zach. And the way she wrote my zachy sent chills down Ellody's spine.

"How have your kids been? Are Ellody or Sienna there?" her mum's friend asked. Her mum looked straight at Ellody with a huge grin on her face, willing her to talk. Ellody shook her head violently, staring into her mum's eyes hopefully. There was an awkward silence as her mum tried to get her to say hi, and Ellody refused.

"Uh, Ellody and I are driving home from the airport. We just dropped off Ellody's friend Jonah. He stayed over for the week, he's such a sweet boy," Ellody's mum explained.

BRRT BRRT.

KAY: oh really? I didn't realise you two were together.

It was such a simple text, but it sent Ellody's head spinning in a hundred different directions. How do I reply? Anything I say will go to Zach... do I want to make him jealous? No. I don't. It's Zach! He's supposed to be my taken best friend, like always. I can't be sitting here and trying to make him jealous if he doesn't feel the same anyway.

ELLODY: it's a recent thing, like you and zach i guess.

KAY: oh, zach and i aren't recent. More like on and off. It's kinda hard to explain, but we're official atm.

ELLODY: yeah i saw your post.

KAY: you should do something to show everyone that you and jonah are together! Like a post or something cute

Ellody glared at Kay's text, deciding that her and Jonah's relationship was going to stay private. I don't have to post my private life updates like you.

ELLODY: i think we're gonna keep it private, like what christina & corbyn are doing

KAY: oh ok. I just like everyone knowing that he's mine, ya know?

ELLODY: yeah but jonah and i are different

Ellody felt so much rage towards Kay right now. I'm not possessive like you! I'm not crazy and controlling and I don't need everyone to know the details of my personal life!

"Are they together?" her mum's friend asked, pulling Ellody out of her phone and back to her mum's conversation.

"Are you and Jonah together? You're not, are you?" Ellody's mum asked her expectantly. Ellody made a split-second decision on whether she wanted her mum to know. Sienna already knew, but that was by accident. This was purposeful.

"Yeah, we are, actually. It's a recent thing, but we're keeping it private, since he has millions of fans that really don't need to know," Ellody explained. She avoided her mum's eyes and turned back to her phone.

"Wait, you're together? Since when?" her mum asked, extremely confused.

"It's a recent thing," Ellody repeated herself, glancing at her mum's face to see her reaction. To her surprise, her mum was smiling.

"I'm glad. He's such a good kid," she added. Ellody bit back a smile, hoping Sienna would forget to mention they shared a bed almost every night of his stay.