I turn back toward her and lower my voice. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here? What areyoudoing here?” she asks, her volume mercifully matching mine.
That really isn’t any of Ella’s business. She’s the one who was lurking in the shadows like a creep. How long was she going to stand there and secretly watch me? “Didn’t realize you were such a voyeurist."
I can barely see her in the light, but her posture stiffens. “I’m not a voyeurist.”
“Then you just like spying on people.”
She shakes her head. “I wasn’t spying on anyone.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“I was…”
“Watching me quietly in the dark.” I run my hands through my hair. “Call it whatever you like, but you’re like that creepy vampire in those cheesy movies my mom likes. Do you sneak over to my house and watch me sleep, too?”
“First of all, barf. I’m not watching you sleep. Second, did you just compare me to Edward Cullen?” She lets out a loud puff of air. “Believe it or not, my being here has nothing to do with you. I have no desire to watch you while you sleep or look at you at all for that matter. Now, if you excuse me, I’m out of here.” She starts to push past me.
“Wait,” I say too quickly.
Ella stops. “What do you want?”
“Can you just hang out for a second?”
Ava has been following me around all night trying to talk to me about school charter reform at the state level, and I’m exhausted from pretending that I care or even understand half of the things she’s talking about. I snuck upstairs while she was talking to someone else. I’m not sure if she saw me duck inside Hardy’s room or not. If Ella leaves now, she might tell Ava where I am, or, at the very least, draw attention to Hardy’s room.
Ella lets out a harsh laugh. “Youinsult me and then want to hang out? Is this why you’re so popular? Because of your stellar personality?”
“Just be quiet for a second.” I listen out for any sound outside the room.
“Wow, you really are a charmer.” She takes another step, and I grab her arm. Her skin is soft beneath my fingers. I only feel it for a second before she wrenches out of my grip. “What is your problem?”
“I’m hiding from someone,” I admit.
“Not sure what that has to do with me, but I don’t want to stick around a second longer to find out.” Her hand reaches for the door handle.
“Please,” I say the word like a curse. I don’t like asking people for help, certainly not Ella. “I just don’t want anyone to find me.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before shutting yourself in here with me.”
“I didn’t know you were in here.” My voice is too loud. Why can’t Ella just shut up and be quiet for five minutes?
She turns the knob. “Maybe if you pulled your head out of your?—”
“Ella, for the love of all that is good and holy in this world, will you please stop for two seconds?”
To her credit, Ella doesn’t finish her sentence, and she doesn't open the door. She just stands there. I hold my breath as I wait for her to either walk out or stay. What feels like an eternity later, she sighs. “Two minutes, but I’m turning on the light. If I’m going to be trapped in here with you, I don’t want it to be in the dark.”
“Fine.”
She flicks the switch, and the room illuminates. The sudden brightness blinds me, and I squint down at the carpeted floor. Thankfully, my eyes adjust quickly.
The first things I see are Ella’s shoes. I’m hit with a sense of deja vu. Are those my sister’s shoes that I dropped off at the thrift store the other day? I normally wouldn’t notice something like that, but they have these beaded designs on them that look like waves. They remind me of the beach, and I always thought they were cool.
My eyes continue up, and I am surprised to see bare skin—lots of it. I force my eyes to move quickly over her legs, but when I get to the rest of her body, something looks off. The dress she’s wearing, it doesn’t fit well and not because it’s from the thrift store. It almost looks… “Is your dress wet?”
She looks down at herself and runs her fingers along the bottom hem. “I…uh, someone spilled juice on me. I washed my dress in the sink.”
