Sam was a bitch—everyone knew that—but to think she was actually capable of crushing my dreams was beyond her. Finally, when she was becoming nice, the evil in her woke up. I was in love! Didn’t that mean anything to either of them?
“Ella, you need to eat something,” Quinn said, pushing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich toward me.
The Remon family had been so nice to me during the past week since I had not gone to school as well. When she wasn’t home, Brian took care of me. Once a day he would lock me in the bathroom and demand that I take care of my business. Quinn would cook and bring home my homework, even though that was the last thing on my mind. My parents kept calling me, asking when I was coming back, but Quinn would answer them saying I needed time. But it didn’t feel like I was going to be fixed anytime soon. This kind of pain needed a lifetime to heal.
I moaned and pushed the plate away.
Quinn sighed and got up to leave the room the same time the doorbell rang. My body tensed. Aspen had been coming to see me every day and Quinn would yell at him while Brian would threaten to beat him up.
“Quinn!” Brian shouted from downstairs.
At his scream, Sam tried to barge into the room before she was blocked by Quinn.
“Scram, Quinn,” she demanded and pointed toward the door.
“Not a chance, Sam! Why would I leave you alone with Ella?” Quinn yelled at her. Sam stood there with a bored expression, her hands resting on her hips.
“Are you done?” Sam rolled her eyes.
“Quinn,” I croaked, finally speaking after days. Quinn locked eyes with me. I nodded, and Quinn gulped. She waited a minute and stared at me.
“Okay!” she finally said, throwing up her arms. She then turned to Sam. “But I’ll be back in five!”
Sam turned to me once Quinn left. She smiled smugly at her and crawled into the bed with me. She sniffed, probably smelling my BO. Showering has not been my best friend that week.
“I couldn’t have that one see my soft side.” Sam tried to laugh and nodded to the door.
I tried to smile as well, but I couldn’t. Everything in me had become weak.
“Ella,” Sam started. “I’m sorry that I did what I did.” I scoffed. “Ella, please.”
I looked at her; my eyes were just peeping from over the comforter. “You’ve never called me Ella before.”
Sam laughed and looked at the ceiling. The laugh was sincere, not her usual cackle. “Who knew I was capable of doing that?”
“I sure didn’t,” I said, rolling my eyes. Still, I wasn’t so sure what Sam’s angle was with this conversation. What did she want from me? I hardly ever thought now that we would become the best of sisters especially after everything that had happened. After long years of being nowhere near “twinzies,” I didn’t think that it would start at that moment.
“Can I tell you a secret?” Sam whispered next to me. I continued to watch her, but she kept her green eyes on the ceiling.
“Go for it,” I said, sighing.
She laughed humorlessly and slowly stopped. Her breathing slowed down, and I watched as she took a gulp. Her hands reached for one another. If someone asked me then, I would have said she was nervous, maybe even scared, of telling me what she was about to say.
“I’m jealous of you,” she finally said, her voice so low.
I wanted to laugh but it got caught in my throat, thus starting a slight coughing fit. Sam took her eyes off the white ceiling and watched me closely. The lines around her eyes were tight but surprisingly, she looked gentle.
“Jealous of me?” I finally said after recovering from a minute of coughing. Never in a million years would I imagine her saying that. Sam, jealous of me? That just didn’t seem possible.
“It’s true!” Sam said louder when she saw my shocked face. The mascara on her eyes was thick as she blinked. “You have friends,” she whispered and continued to stare at me.
“So do you.” I pointed out, still confused by her jealousy.
Sam shook her head. “Not real ones. The girls on the squad are just good for partying and gossip,” she said. “You know that gets tiring after a while. But your friends… they will do anything for you! I mean, look at this.” Sam gestured around the bedroom I was lying in. “Quinn let you stay here for almost a week because of what I did. Those girls, plus Caleb, love you so much.”
I took a moment to think about that. She was right. The four of us were the best of friends, and if one of us needed another, we were all there for each other. It was a team effort, and I loved every single one of them to pieces.
“You also have Aspen.” Sam added.
My body tensed, and tears threatened to pour from my emerald eyes. Nobody had said his name to me ever since Caleb’s party.
“That was a lie.” I scoffed and turned away from her.
“No, no it wasn’t,” Sam said and crawled over my body to face me again. “I kept asking him to do stuff.” I opened my mouth to yell at her and say how much of a bitch she was, but she just continued to talk. “Look, I’m sorry, but I hated you. Like I said, I was jealous of every single thing about you, especially your athletic ability. I may not come off that way, but it’s true. The only way I knew how to hide my jealousy was by being a bitch. And I promise you, Aspen’s feelings toward you are real.”
I laughed. “Says who, Sam? He told me he didn’t love me—to my face!”
“Eventually he did.” Sam sighed. Tears now sprung to her eyes. “It’s true that I really liked him, Ella, but whenever I tried to hang out with him, he would blow me off. The person he wanted to hang out was no longer me… but you.” She shook her head. The first tear left her foam green eye and fell past her cheek, landing on the back of my palm. “It started off as a joke.” Her voice caught in her throat and more tears spilled from her eyes. “Then he began to like you and started blowing off all of our plans!”
“It was all a lie, Sam!” I protested.
She looked at me hard in the eyes before saying, “Once he came to breakfast with you here, he fell for you hard.”
I shook my head. “I don’t buy that Sam. If you’re just trying to crush my spirits again, stop. I’m done with your bitchy behavior.” I pushed Sam away from me and willingly crawled out of bed for the first time.
“I’m your sister, Ella!” Sam exclaimed and leaped out of the bed as well.
My eyes narrowed at her. “Since when?”
She shook her head. “Don’t do this, Ella. We’re finally about to mend things.” Her cheeks were turning red, and I noticed that her mascara has stained her face. “Aspen loves you, and so do I.”
It felt like Sam had just punched me in gut. The wind flew from my throat, and I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know what to say. In her defense, she honestly appeared sorry. But who knew? It could all just be an act so that she and Aspen could continue hurting me.
“How can I believe you?” I asked and crossed my arms, resting my weight on the bathroom doorway.
“I broke up with James,” she said.
“What the hell does that have to do with any of this?!” I screamed. Now that just made no sense. We were already making progress.
“I never liked him! It was all an act. Breaking up with him gives me a chance to find myself and be the person I want to be.”
“And who’s that?”
“A girl who people actually like,” she said, shaking her head. “Not the girl everyone’s scared into liking. I want to be genuinely liked.”
“That’s going to take some time,” I whispered.
“I know, and I’m willing to take as much time as needed in order to gain real friends. I know it’ll be worth it.” Her eyes were cast down, a small crease between them, and her lips were quivering. She was silent as tears still rolled down her cheek.
“We can give that a shot,” I mumbled looking down at my fuzzy socks.
“What?” Sam said, taking a step closer.
I looked up and saw her tiny smile with her pearly
whites. “We can try that,” I told her again, nodding.
Sam let out a cry and jumped on me. Her arms wrapped around my neck, and she held me close as we rocked each other from side to side. Slowly, I reached my arms around her waist and gave a little squeeze back.
“I think this is our first hug.” I laughed.
“I think you might be right.” She laughed too.
Chapter 30
Drive the Car
“Okay class, please give me your full attention right now!” Mr. Baxtor demanded, his voice booming.
My head looked up from my notebook for the first time that class period. It was Spanish class, and I had dreaded going to it all week long. Aspen still sat in the seat next to me. It hurt, but I ignored him the entire time. Every now and then he would whisper my name or throw a little note at me. And every time, I would act as if no one was there and continue copying the notes.
“Atención!” Mr. Baxtor repeated. Now everyone looked up. “Gracias.” He smiled. For a fifty-year-old teacher, he had incredibly white teeth. “So, you guys will have a project due next Friday,” he explained as he handed out a sheet of paper. “And you will be working with the person next to you.”
My body froze. He didn’t mean that, right? There was no way he had just said that. Sitting to my left was Aspen, and there was no way in hell I was working with him. I felt Aspen watching me. He waited for a reaction, but I sat still and didn’t move until Mr. Baxtor explained himself further.
“Miss Branson’s row will be working with the person to their right,” Mr. Baxtor said. “Mr. Carder’s row will be to their left.”
I let out a huge breath of air. Finally, I could breathe again. When Mr. Baxtor was talking, it had felt as if somebody was stepping on my chest, sucking the air right out of my lungs.
“Guess we’re partners,” the person next to me said. It was Carson Yalin. Glasses hung on his nose as he looked at me. It was probably the first time we had ever spoken, because I had been ogling Aspen and his perfect complexion throughout the school year. He didn’t look so perfect anymore.
“Thank God,” I whispered.
“What?” Carson leaned into me to try and hear me, his voice soft and thoughtful.
“Nothing,” I mumbled and closed my book. I peered down at the paper Mr. Baxtor had given. We had to create a menu for a restaurant and make a dish from the menu to share with the class. It was a simple enough project.
“I’ll be working on the project myself and then I can put your name on it,” Carson said and dropped his notebook into his backpack.
I looked at him closely. “What? Why would you do that?”
He shrugged. “I usually do that when I get paired with a popular kid.”
I gaped. “You think I’m popular?” I asked him. Nobody had ever called me that. It was always Sam who was called popular.
“I mean, you are dating Aspen Carder.” Carson pointed out. There it was again. My body froze once more. “Sorry you guys aren’t working together,” he whispered under his breath as he fidgeted with his backpack.
Suddenly, Aspen was leaning toward me and I saw anger in his eyes. His fist landed on my paper. “Where have you been Yalin? We’ve been broken up for three weeks now.”
“Sorry. I’m not involved in the latest gossip,” Carson replied.
“Watch it, Yalin,” Aspen warned and then backed off my desk, returning to his. That was the only time in class he ever stopped looking at me.
“Your ex has anger issues,” Carson murmured and leaned back in his chair.
“He’s also a major douchebag.” I added.
“Good to know.”
“Ella!” A voice called from the doorway. I looked up and saw Sam waving at me with a frantic look on her face. She jumped from one foot to another. When we made eye contact, she waved me over.
“She can’t leave right now, Samantha,” Mr. Baxtor said. “We’re in the middle of class.”
“Mr. Baxtor, it’s a family emergency!” she said louder. When Mr. Baxtor just continued staring, Sam moaned. “There are only five minutes left! It’s barely the middle of the class.”
The teacher rolled his brown eyes and pointed for me to go. Quickly, I slung on my backpack and hurried out.
“What’s this all about?” I asked Sam once she pulled me away from the door. Sam pushed me up against the wall next to the door. My bones crushed against the cement wall. “Ow!”
“Listen to me Ella!” Sam yelled.
“I wasn’t not listening!”
“Oh,” Sam said and let go of my shoulders. I rotated my arms to try and make them feel better. “Sorry.”
“Whatever,” I said. “Now what is it? I have a project to do.”
“I know. Caleb and I are doing the same project.”
“You guys are working together again?” I asked. It must’ve been hell for Caleb. All year it seemed that Caleb and Sam were being paired together for every project.
Sam shrugged and shook herself back into focus. “I need you to take the car home today.”
I nodded. “Okay, why?”
“I have a date to go to, and he’s driving, so I need someone to drive the car home,” Sam said rather quickly.
“Who’s the date with? Last time I heard you were crushing on Aspen.” I snickered.
Sam scrunched her nose. “It doesn’t matter who. And no, I don’t like Aspen. He’s a dick.”
I laughed. “That is true.”
“So, can you do it?” Sam asked and leaned closer to me. Our noses were practically touching.
“Yes!” I exclaimed just as the school bell rang. My classmates began to pile out of the Spanish room immediately.
Aspen walked out after a couple of people. “Dick.” Sam coughed and looked around the hallway. Aspen stopped walking and looked at Sam. “Can I help you?” She sneered at him.
Aspen looked at me and opened his mouth, but shook his head and kept walking.
“Sam!” I shouted and hit her in the shoulder.
“What?”
“You can’t just tell people they’re dicks!”
“You can when he pretended to date my twin sister for three months,” Sam growled as she gave Aspen the stink eye.
My arms folded over my chest. “You’re the one who made him do that.”
Sam smiled and finally looked away from Aspen. “Yeah, but I’m a bitch. Everyone knows that. He shouldn’t have listened to me.”
I shrugged. “True enough.” I laughed and began to walk down the hall.
“Isabella!” I heard Carson’s voice behind me. Sam and I both turned around and saw him running toward us.
“It’s just Ella,” Sam corrected when Carson reached us.
“Sorry. Ella,” Carson mumbled and turned to me, “when do you want to get together for the project? Since you want to work on it together.”
I shrugged. “Is after school okay?”
Carson nodded. “Can we meet at the library downtown?”
“Sure, I’ll meet you there at three.”
Carson smiled before heading down the hall.
“Seems as if you have a date today too,” Sam said, nudging my side.
“We’re going to a library. What kind of date is that?” I laughed and we began our walk down the hall.
“A date for two nerds,” Sam said.
I laughed and gave her a push. “I don’t know why I forgave you. You’re horrible.”
“Because everyone loves Samantha Branson!” Sam shouted and threw her hands up. Then she began to spin around the hall.
Laughing, I shook my head. My sister was truly crazy.
***
The last bell of the day rang, and I ran out of Chemistry. It wasn’t every day that I get to drive the Jeep, so whenever I do, I always treasure every second I had with my baby. Before going to the library to meet with Carson, I had hoped to stop at Starbucks and get a coffee. Finally, with the cool weather slowly coming, I was able to start drinking hot drinks again. I was all for i
ce coffees, but a girl needed her hot drink every so often.
I finally reached my locker, excited with the prospect of the Jeep and my drink, when someone suddenly spoke.
“Ella, can we please talk?” Aspen asked me when I reached my locker. He was leaning against it so casually, as if we still talked every day after school. I only ignored him and squeezed my way toward my locker. He rested next to me, and I could smell the faint scent of his cologne. It reminded me of the outdoors.
“Can you at least look at me?” he asked, his voice growing in need of any response from me. I could feel his dark brown eyes wandering over my head, so I quickly grabbed my folder before slamming the locker shut.
I tried to escape his presence as fast as possible. Thankfully, he didn’t come after me, but I felt him watching me the entire way down the hall. Even when I turned the corner and walked out to the crisp air, I couldn’t shake the feeling of his eyes on me.
The car was cool for once. It wasn’t filled with stifling heat, and that was a great gift. It was only 2:40, so I still had a chance to stop for a coffee. Hitting the gear into drive, I sped out of the parking lot and started on the road. Once I reached the town, my phone began buzzing,
It was Aspen.
I ignored the call and tried to refocus on driving. It was hard, though. Aspen wouldn’t get out of my head. My brain yearned to know what he wanted to say. What if I should hear him out? After all, he did say he really loved me.
My phone rang again, and I let out a groan. I ignored the call again and gripped the steering wheel. Why couldn’t Aspen Carder leave me alone?
Once again, my phone began to ring, and it was still Aspen trying to get me. Frustrated, I hit answer. I was only going to tell him to stop calling me, because I was driving.
I regretted hitting the answer button immediately.
My car suddenly jolted sideways. It began to tumble, and pain began to spread through my legs as they hit steering wheel. My butt was lifted from the seat, and shards of glass began to pour into the car. I tried to scream, but only a muffle of gurgles came out. The car walls seemed to close in on me; it was like my body was being compressed into the car. The pain in my leg wouldn’t go away. As the car continued rolling, my head bounced against the seat and the wall, and then finally it hit the steering wheel and everything turned back.
Try and Catch Me: A Young Adult Fiction Page 17