My dad looks at Ella as he walks over to us. “You’re the Quinn girl?”
“Um, yeah,” she says, sounding confused. “Ella Quinn. Do you know my dad? Or how did you—”
“I’m familiar with your father,” he says. “He’s done lawn work for some of my clients. You live in the house down the street.”
“Yes.” Ella smiles but seems uncomfortable. Everyone’s uncomfortable around my father, including me. “Well, I should go.” She turns to me. “We can talk more tomorrow about the assignment if you want. I’ll be home after three.”
“Yeah, okay.”
She wasn’t referring to the assignment. She was letting me know we could talk more about my mom and all the other stuff we talked about tonight. If I trusted her, maybe I’d take her up on her offer. But I don’t trust her, and I don’t like talking about this stuff. I don’t know why I did.
“I’ll walk you out,” I tell her.
“Nice meeting you,” my father says to Ella, his thin lips forming a tight smile.
Ella and I go past my dad and back into the house. I walk her through the kitchen and down the long hallway to the foyer.
“I think I got it from here,” she says as I open the door.
“I’ll walk you out. I could use the fresh air.”
“You were just outside,” she says with a laugh.
“It wasn’t enough,” I say, thinking how suffocated I feel every time I’m in that house with my dad. Even when he’s not there, I feel like I’m suffocating.
We get to Ella’s truck, and she opens her door, ignoring the loud screech of the rusty metal.
“You gonna be okay?” she asks.
“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
She gives me a look like she knows I’m full of shit. I let her see too much of me tonight, a side of me I never wanted her to know even existed. I’m going to have to fix this, but not now. I’ll worry about that later.
“Call me if you want to talk,” she says, getting in her truck.
I close her door and step back as she starts the engine. It’s so loud I’m sure the whole neighborhood can hear, and the fumes coming off it are filling the air. The thing’s a piece of shit. I can’t believe it still runs.
She drives off, leaving behind more fumes.
“What was she doing here?” my dad says.
I turn and see him standing by the door, watching Ella’s truck as it waits for the gate to open.
“I told you,” I say, walking over to him. “We had to talk about our assignment.”
“On a Saturday night?” he huffs. “Since when do you do school work on a Saturday night?”
“I didn’t plan to, but it’s due on Monday and she has to work tomorrow.”
“And what did Aubrey think about this?”
“She doesn’t care. Why would she? It’s Ella Quinn,” I say as though just saying her name disgusts me. I don’t want my father to know that I like Ella. He wouldn’t approve, which is probably why I’m so attracted to her.
“You and Ella Quinn.” He chuckles. “I suppose it is rather preposterous. Didn’t you used to bully the poor girl?”
“Still do,” I say with a smirk. “I’m only being nice to her so I get a good grade.”
He pats my shoulder. “I’m glad you’re finally understanding what it takes to make it in this world. Use people for whatever they’re good for, then step on them on your way to the top.”
