Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 53

PREVIOUSLY: His touch hurt like a gunshot, but he could never know why. Ellody would die before she admitted it.

~

"It's hard to act like I don't think about you, sometimes," she whispered.

"I should win an Oscar," Jonah's voice sang from her speaker. Ellody sunk deeper into the bath, bubbles creeping up her neck. The smell of vanilla, the sound of Jonah's voice and the warmth of the bath made the most comfortable feeling in the world. Ellody took a deep breath, taking in every element of this comfort, and actively trying to forget about her day. It was pretty hard to forget when laughter erupted from Ellody's bedroom every few minutes as Christina made up with Sienna, and Tate forced them to play Uno.

"It was my birthday, right at the end of the night. It was the first time, he hurt you bad and you cried. Right in my arms, fell to a million pieces. Held you together, girl, I know all your secrets."

Well, nearly all of them. He certainly didn't know her biggest secret.

"Do you know how hard it is to - be the one to fix you? And all you do is run back to the one who breaks your heart... you're making this too hard."

Well, Kay certainly breaks his heart. She makes up rumours and uses him for publicity. And Ellody didn't technically fix him when Kay did any of it, but she knew how to cheer him up. Just like he knew how to cheer her up.

"I know I said I'll be your friend, but it's too hard."

Zach's voice bounced off the bathroom tiles, filling Ellody's ears like his voice had just hours earlier when he'd asked her why they were gone so long, and when he said that she could tell him anything. That she was his best friend.

"Hard. It's just too hard."

It was too hard. Every time she saw his grinning face, she wanted to kiss him. She wanted to call him mine.

"I said I'll be there to the end, but it's too hard. Hard, it's just too hard. You keep running back to him, I know it's hard. Hard, it's just too hard. I know I said I'll be your friend, but it's too hard. Hard, it's just too hard."

She had never related to a song so damn much. And it really sucked.

Suddenly, Hard stopped playing, and her phone started vibrating.

Why does everyone call me when I'm in the bath?

Jonah's face lit up the screen, sending panic through every inch of Ellody's body with a hint of dejavu. He'd called her in the bath before - but that had been when she liked him. Now what?

"Hey, what's up?" she said as casually as possible.

"Hey, I was just wondering if we could... talk," Jonah replied, his voice deep and bouncing off the tiled walls. The girls fell silent across the hall, and Ellody knew they could hear him. She took him off speaker and held the phone to her ear with a shaky hand, wondering what he could possibly want to talk to her about.

"Could I call you back in about fifteen minutes? I'm kinda doing something right now, but I'll be done soon," Ellody mumbled, leaning over the edge of the bath to grab her towel.

"Oh. Uh, yeah, sure. Call me when you're ready," Jonah sighed, and the line went dead. Ellody frowned at her phone, her heart racing. What could be so important to him that he's upset at waiting? This cannot, in any universe, be a good thing.

~

ZACH'S POV:

"You and Ellody were getting pretty close back there," Jack said quietly, nudging Zach's shoe. Zach blinked at his friend, wondering what he meant.