Inferno

~81~ From Top to Bottom

Ellie's POV

I've been keeping tabs on Luke pretty heavily since we found out he was bullying. Until Taylor had his accident, I literally went up to each teacher at the end of every single day to make sure he hadn't bullied. I was overwhelmed by the difference in him. His teachers were too.

"If I would have known it would have changed this drastically, I would have told you months ago. I'm so sorry, Ellie," Lance said to me one day.

I haven't been doing daily checks this year, but I have been doing weekly ones. So far, so good.

Lance comes into my office, with a cut on his head. "What happened?" I ask as I help him sit down.

"Porter and Finley got in a fist fight in the hall," he says, wincing when I start pressing to make sure nothing got broken.

"You're lucky. It's just a cut. I'll clean it for you," I say with a smile as I go to get some stuff.

As I'm working on his head, he's acting funny.

"You ok? You've been acting funny since school started," I say, wiping the cut with alcohol.

He winces

"Yeah," he says simply.

"You still seeing Lisa?" I ask carefully.

"We're not dating. It's pretty casual," he says, being tactful that they're just sleeping together.

"Oh"

"Does she know it's just casual?" I ask with a smirk.

"I don't think so. I've got to figure out how to tell her," he says, rolling his eyes.

I just snort. How awkward.

"Have I done something to offend you, boss?" I ask him as I'm putting ointment on his cut.

He smiles gently and shakes his head. "No, Ellie."

I look at him hard. "Then what's wrong?"

He sighs and shakes his head. "I can't tell you. It will just put a strain on our friendship."

I just look at him. "So will not telling me," I threaten.

He looks at me hard for a minute. "I just thought that maybe you and Taylor were splitting last year," he says, embarrassed.

"Oh"

"Sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut," he says, really embarrassed.

"Look. I'll say this once, and then I'll never talk about this again, hear me?" I ask, looking at him sternly.

He just nods.

"Taylor is the absolute love of my life. We will always work things out. Always. I will never cheat on him. NEVER, Lance. However, if there never was a Taylor, I'm sure I would have been crushing pretty hard on you," I say as I put a bandage on his head and tape it up.

He just nods, hiding a small smile. "So, just really good friends?" He asks after just a second.

"Really good friends," I say with a smile.

"No more fighting, boss. Leave that to the kids," I say after I put the last thing of tape on him.

He chuckles

"Thanks Ellie," he says, leaving the office.

At lunch I decide to sit with everyone. I still feel kinda bad for Lance. He really is a good guy.

Lunch is about halfway through when Luke comes up to me. He never acknowledges me at school.

"What's up, kid?" I ask, giving him a smile.