A few hours after I spent way too long doomscrolling on my phone, Ellie knocked on my bedroom door.
“Hey, Karla. Your friend is here,” she stated with that sunny smile that she always had.
I sat up from my bed, stunned. Had that many hours passed already?
I began frantically combing my hair behind my ears. “What?! I’m not ready!” I exclaimed as I stood from the bed. I wished my body moved faster than it did, because my heart was sprinting and doing cartwheels while my legs dragged slowly along.
As I opened my dresser drawers, I searched for somethingto change into. Ellie walked over to me. She placed a hand against my shoulder and said, “Karla, you look great.”
I huffed. I stopped my erratic movements.
I took a breath.
I released it slowly.
“OK,” I said, before turning to walk out of the room. Ellie followed behind me, then walked at my side. She always walked at my speed, never a step faster. Never leaving me behind. There were only two other people who did that. My dad and Ash. Lorelai was always about half a mile in front of me, but that was because that kid was moving like the Tasmanian Devil at all moments of all days. Freaking speed racer.
Once we reached the living room, I saw Ash sitting nervously on the couch with his hands in the pocket of his signature tarnished hoodie. Standing over him was Dad, who had his arms crossed over his broad chest in his designer suit.
“You said your mother is a nurse and your father is an EMT?” Dad asked Ash, clearly interrogating him.
“Dad! Back off,” I reprimanded as I approached them both.
Dad glanced over his shoulder at me with his grumpy expression. “I think it’s important to know who’s in my household, Karla. And—”
“Grey,” Ellie cut in. “Stop it.”
Did Ellie just tell my father to stop it? And use a nickname for him?
And to think, I was just starting to like the woman. Now I was going to see my father destroy her before firing her right before my eyes.
Goodbye, Ellie. It was nice while it lasted.
Dad’s stare shot straight to Ellie, a look of disdain at first that shifted to... understanding?
Whoa.
What kind of witchcraft did that woman have within her?
Dad’s whole demeanor shifted not in a negative way but in a... lighter way? His shoulders relaxed. His jaw loosened. He looked... calmer. At peace, almost. Ellie kind of made me feel that way, too. As if the air was a little easier to breathe when she was around.
I wondered if she had some crystals or magical herbs in that purse of hers.
“Well.” Dad cleared his throat. “Have a good visit, you two. If you go in your room to hang out, the door stays open.”
“But—” I started.
“No discussion on that. Actually, better yet, stay in the living room or backyard,” Dad ordered.
I grumbled to myself. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“Actually, I do. Eleanor,” he stated, turning in her direction. “Keep an eye on these two.”
“Yes, sir,” she replied before glancing my way with a slight wink.
God...
Did IlikeEllie?
