Not Thinkin' Bout You

Chapter 54

PREVIOUSLY: Feeling overwhelmed, hurt, angry and a whole range of emotions Ellody hadn't felt in weeks, she opened YouTube and searched how to play the perfect song for this moment on the piano.

~

Hugging her books to her chest, Ellody walked through the school hallways, hoping nobody stopped to talk to her. She wasn't in the mood for anything. She was so incredibly behind in schoolwork and homework that she didn't really know what to do with herself.

She turned around a corner and almost ran straight into a girl with long brown hair and what could possibly be the world's longest eyelashes.

"Oop, sorry," she muttered as Ellody's books slipped through her arms and landed on the ground. Her pencil case opened a crack, and coloured pencils spilled across the floor loudly.

"Great," Ellody sighed, dropping to the floor and picking up as much as she possibly could. The girl bent down and helped her pick everything up, scooping her pencils into her pencil case.

"This is like a cliche movie scene when the main actor meets the love interest and they're picking up, like, a napkin, and they touch hands," the girl grinned. Ellody gave a half-hearted smile, wishing she was sitting in class right now. She was going to be way too late, and it was her favourite teacher, too.

"Kind of, yeah. But I'm straight," Ellody clarified, standing up and organising her books in her arms. The girl gave her pencil case back, and Ellody cautiously took it.

"Well then, that's one thing we don't have in common," the girl laughed. Ellody nodded slowly, thinking about how to best leave this conversation.

"I have to get to class, I'll see you around," Ellody suggested, pointing at the classroom a few doors away.

"Wait, English with Ms. Miller?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Um... yes?" Ellody smiled. A potential friend?

"Mint. Let's go," she grinned. Mint? I like her already.

They were standing just outside the door when Ellody realised she didn't even get this girl's name.

"Wait, I just realised-"

"Ellody Brown! Late!" Ms. Miller yelled as the girl pushed the door open. Ohhh crap.

"Sorry Ms. Miller, we were..." Ellody began, but the girl shook her head slightly at Ellody, and she stopped.

"My bad. I made us late," she said loudly. A few people looked up from their laptops, and Ellody's face grew hot.

"Oh, that's OK. Lucy, do you want to sit with Ellody? This is your first English class, welcome," the woman smiled. Ellody watched her favourite teacher in amazement. She was usually a dragon when it came to late people, and until today, Ellody had never been the late kid. But she was totally OK with Lucy being late? Weird. Probably special treatment, since she must be new.

"Thanks," Lucy nodded, glancing at Ellody, who quickly placed her books and laptop on her table at the front. The pair sat down, and Ellody crossed her fingers that Lucy was good at writing essays.

~

"You need more evidence. That bit there could be summarised with this quote," Lucy explained, pulling out her copy of the book they were writing an essay about and flicking through the highlighted pages. Ellody was in awe of this girl. The minimum word count for their essay was 700 words, and Lucy had written 1600.

"OK, yeah," Ellody muttered as Lucy pushed her book across the table and pointed to a highlighted quote.

"It's Ellody, right?" she said suddenly. Ellody looked up and nodded slowly, confused that she'd gotten it right the first time. People seemed to love calling her Melody, or Ellie.

"Everyone gets it wrong," Ellody smiled, copying the quote into her essay notes.

"I guess I'm not like... other girls," she smirked. Ellody laughed and shook her head, glad that there was finally someone in her life that stopped her from thinking about Zach.

~

ZACH'S POV:

There was never any privacy on tour. Not that Zach had ever really wanted any. But right now, he needed a break from everyone. He wanted to see Ellody.

"Dude, do you reckon I could go to Ellody's?" Zach called, hoping Caspary was listening. No reply. But then the bus door opened and Jon Lucero stepped inside, shaking his head at Zach.

"You guys can't keep disappearing on me. You went to a beach in Denver a few months ago, Jonah disappeared to see his mum recently..." he trailed off, taking a deep breath. Zach's heart dropped - he knew it was going to be a 'no', but he didn't have to remind him that Jonah visited Ellody and lied about it.

"Fine. It's whatever," Zach shrugged, trying to keep his anger bottled up. He couldn't explode at Jon; it wasn't his fault. The man opened his mouth to say something else, then stopped and exited the bus, shutting the door. Zach curled his hands into fists and kicked the wall angrily. "Come ON!" he shouted, pain shooting through his foot. Corbyn poked his head out of his bunk curtains, an eyebrow raised.

"What's wrong now?" he joked, rolling out of his bunk and hitting the floor loudly. "Ouch, I need to stop doing that," he mumbled. Zach shoved his phone in his back pocket, reaching out for the bus door handle before remembering that Jon was having an online meeting outside to get away from the noise, and he couldn't leave the bus.

"This place is a prison," Zach mumbled angrily, falling back on the couch in defeat.

"It's not that bad. Sometimes, when I really want to see Christina, or I just want to get away from this madness of the music industry, I want to leave. But most of the time, it's alright. Not amazing, but alright. Better than an office job," Corbyn commented, his eyes glistening at the mention of his girlfriend. Zach wanted whatever his friend was feeling right now. He wanted the bleary-eyed love and midnight FaceTimes that Corbins shared. He wanted it so badly.

"I agree. It's better than an office job. I just... I wish I could have Ellody," Zach shrugged. As much as he hated it, his face grew hot, and tears pooled in his eyes. Corbyn took a deep breath before sitting down, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. 

"I know, Zach. I know how it feels," Corbyn said quietly. Zach rubbed his eyes with his fists, wishing he wasn't about to cry in front of Corbyn. It wasn't like he never got emotional in front of them. Heck, he cried about Kay in front of Jack way too many times. But he'd never felt so vulnerable.

~

ELLODY'S POV:

"I know I said I'll be your friend, but it's too hard," Ellody sang under her breath, counting her books in her hands and realising she was missing her science textbook for next period. She frowned, checking again, then squatting down to find her missing book in the ironic mess that her locker was. There were only two things in Ellody's life that were a complete mess - her locker, and anything involving Why Don't We at the moment.

"What are you singing?" Lucy asked, appearing beside her. Ellody paused, wishing she hadn't been caught singing. She wasn't a good singer, not at all, and it was completely embarrassing to be listened to.

"Um, nothing. Come on, we'll be late," Ellody said quickly, slamming her locker shut and clicking the lock into place.

"Nothing? It didn't sound like nothing. I've heard you sing it before," Lucy replied, raising her eyebrows. Ellody shot her a sideways glance, wondering how often she sang to herself without realising. "Not that I've been listening to you muttering to yourself or anything," she added, smiling.

"I'm glad. Now hurry up, I'm not being late again," Ellody decided, smiling back. 

A~N there you go lucy, you made your appearance. hey everyone, thanks for reading :) i haven't written or posted in ages, i thought going back to school would be good for my uploads but it's made me worse, sorry bout that :( but this week is the last week before holidays for three weeks! yay :) thanks for sticking with me guys ily x