Why us? - Montgomery De La Cruz

Arcade

Ella walked into the Arcade with a smile on her face and she walked over to the table that was full of familiar faces "hey Alex, hey guys" she says to them all and they all greet her. Zach quickly stands up and pulls a chair out for her, giving her a smile which she gladly returns and then sits down and allows him to push the chair back in and then he sits back down in his seat that was next to him

"Thanks for the present by the way, it was cool" Alex says while giving her a quick smile and nod, which she returns

The table suddenly becomes awkward and Alex stands up "Im gonna go and play some games or something" Alex says awkwardly and they all nod and watch as he walks off

"hey are you feeling better today?" Ella asks Zach softly as she leans over and whispers into his ear

"Yeah" He says with a soft smile and the two of them smile at each other

"please tell me that the two of you have finally gotten together" Alex's brother says from across the table and everyone's eyes widened at his words

"no" Ella mutters out quickly "I'm still with Monty"

"oh" peter mutters out quietly and then looks over towards Alex and quickly decides to change the subject "uh so tell me the truth. Hows he doing guys?" 

"Hes going good. Uh his balance is getting better everyday and so is his strength" Zach says 

"I mean he is still working on his memory but..." Clay adds in

"but he is doing great" Zach finishes

"yeah, Zachy has been taking real good care of him the whole time, the two of them have definitely created a great bond" Ella says with a smile as she looks between Zach and Peter

"turns out that you only need one hand to whoop your old man at Skee-ball" Bill Standall says as he pulls out a seat and sits down at the table with them and Alex comes back 

"you should have challenged me at Dance dance revolution" Alex says and Ella laughs softly and sends a grin over at him

"thanks Ella" alex says and glares playfully at everyone else at the table "its my birthday you are meant to laugh at my jokes"

"alright, wings, fries and curly fries" Mrs Standall says and places down a few trays of food in from of them and then takes a seat next to her husband "burgers will come up when they are ready"

"thanks mum" alex says 

"yeah thanks mrs Standall" Ella says and sends the woman a kind smile 

"ella hunny, its so good to see you, hows your dad going?" Mrs standall asks and everyone at the table except for Alex's family went quite

"he's um, he's good Mrs Standall" Ella says softly and sends the kind woman a smirk before picking up a fry and putting it in her mouth, she feels Zach grab her hand from under the table but these pulls her hand out of his, knowing that Montgomery wouldn't like it. 

Ellas father and Mr Standall had been close friends while growing up so Alex's parents knew him but they lost contact a few years ago so they had absolutely no idea of how the man had treated his daughter

Zach gave her a sad look and then slowly pulled his hand into his lap and let out a small cough, his cheeks flushing red in embarrassment 

"that's good, tell him we said hi. Have you guys all got your game cards?" Mrs Standall asks all of the teens around the table 

"Yeah, yeah thank you mrs Standall" Zach says and gives her a polite smile and then begins to eat the food 

"hey Jess" Zach says, causing them all to look up and over at the girl