Hello Stranger

Chapter 3

"Two things," I say starting to pace around the bathroom. "First of all, we're playing Grenville Academy tonight. So, I really hope you're going to be there. Please don't bail on me."

Ellie's eyes got wide. "I thought Drew was out of town? If he's out of time, he won't be playing."

I swallowed, "He's back in town. He came back. I ran into his mom a week or two ago. She was so happy he was back," I say trying to stay calm. "She still doesn't know what happened between us. She kept saying how she missed seeing me."

"Okay, so he's back. So, he's playing in the game tonight. You going to be okay?" Ellie says slowly.

"I'm going to be fine as long as you don't bail on me," I answer honestly.

"I won't. I cross my heart," She says making across against her heart.

I sigh in relief. "Okay. Good." I lean against the wall.

"The second thing?" Ellie questions me.

"Right," I say standing back up. "Joey basically said he's going to break up with Lizzie because he has feelings for another girl. I think I might be that girl."

"What?" Ellie yells. I shush her. "Sorry. Okay, I had a suspicion that he's liked you for a while."

"Why would you think that?" I ask.

"You don't see the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is watching," Ellie explains. "But I thought it was just a little crush or something temporary. It's been longer than I thought it would be, but I also didn't think he'd break up with Lizzie because of it."

"That's what I'm trying to prevent. I don't want them to break up because of me. I don't know how to stop it."

Ellie started pacing just as I was before then started ranting, "You could confront him about it and figure out how he really feels. Tell him that the feelings aren't mutual. But that might destroy the friendship or make things awkward. But it might be the best of my three ideas."

"What are the other two?" I was afraid to ask but I had to know.

"You could make him lose feelings for you. You can make him resent the idea of you. But you might have to make him hate you as a person to do that." Ellie answers.

"I don't want him to hate me though," I complain.

"Well, the last idea is kind of bizarre," Ellie begins. "You can find someone to use. Then, use that person to make Joey think you have a boyfriend or crush on them. When it seems as if his relationship is secured and fixed, you can stop. But I also don't know how long that would take. Or if it would even actually work." 

"Oh god. This sucks. I have no idea what I'm going to do!" I say anxiously.

"We'll figure it out," Ellie says hugging me tightly.

A sudden pounding caused us to jump and screech a little. "Who the hell is in there? Why the fuck is this door locked?" A girl yelled. We quickly unlocked the door and opened it. We gave the girl apologetic looks and hurried out. We rushed to class realizing we were already late.

Our campus is one of the largest there is for a high school. Many of our classrooms were more of lecture halls with two to three doors each. So, we tried sneaking into history class through the back door. But our teacher saw us anyway and said, "Ms. Davis, Ms. Andrews. It is so great of you guys to finally grace us with your presence. Take a seat," We rushed over to our quad that only ever consisted of us. "We're doing a history project. I was saying you work with who is in your quad. But you two seem as if you need another member."