The Secret of Ella and Micha Chapter 13

MichaIm determined to redeem a party tonight, even so though Im not a fan of parties. Never genuinely have been. I just alike(p) how they block aside totally the noise inside my head and what Im hoping is that tonights will block out the sound of my dads voice.Ella bailed on me when we got defend to our houses, muttering something approximately finding her founding father. I offered to go with her, and she declined and took Lila instead. I let her be because I sensed she contained space. I was hunky-dory with her taking some time as pertinacious as it wasnt the space of five hundred miles.Ethan and I leave a break from working on the car to plan the party. After a massive amount of text messages ar sent out and a couple of keggers ordered by Ethan, were untroubled to go.Were hanging around in the kitchen, waiting for pack to start showing up when clouds start rolling in and thunder rattles at the windows.Can I ask you something? Ethan asks abruptly.I larn out a fro zen burrito from the freezer and drop it on a plate. Sure. Whats up?Dont take this the wrong way. He leadings second in his chair. But what is it with Ella? why are you so fixated on her? You have like a ton of girls falling at your feet all the time and you employ to totally be all into it. Then suddenly you werent and it was all well-nigh her.I wasnt ever into the girls falling at my feet. I was just bored. I jut out the plate into the microwave and press start.He grabs a handful of chips from a bag on the table. Okay, and that still doesnt answer my question.I cross my arms, un palmy with the awkward heart-to-heart moment. Im not sure, but why do you care?Im just curious because youve never talked to the highest degree it.Yeah, but we dont talk about a lot of stuff.He lets the chair legs reconnect to the floor. Look, Im not asking you to open up and spill your feelings out to me, so quit being weird. I just indigence to understand because Ive known both of you practically forever.The microwave beeps and I turn to it. It was the night of the snowboarding incident. Thats when I realized things were different.When she broke her arm? he asks. And you had to take her to the hospital.I nod. You remember how she fell off the roof and then didnt get up right away and certain people were yelling that she was dead.Hey, I was wino, Ethan gripes because he was the nonpareil yelling. And she looked dead to me.Well, thats when I knew. I take the burrito out and set it on the counter. Thinking she was dead was seriously the most terrifying thing thats ever happened to me. more(prenominal) than the idea of my father never returning. More than my own death.Ethan nods, trying to make sense of my babbling. OkayI slam the microwave penetration shut and tease down at the table. Hey, you asked.He taps his ph wiz on the table. What do you think of Lila?She seems nice. I get up and grab a soda from the fridge and then toss one to Ethan. And she seems to be into you, I guess.He taps the top of the can, and then flips the tab. Yeah, but she yet knows me.Sipping my soda, I sit back down. Everyone barely knows you.He shrugs, staring out the window. I never really understood the point of that whole get-to-know-you thing.The house phone rings and our conversation ends. I urge the rest of the burrito as the answer machine beeps.Um, hi this message is for Micha. Its my fathers voice.I freeze, gripping the edge of the table.Look, Terri, I understand that hes pissed at me, but I need to talk to him. Its important, okay? And he hung up on me yesterday morning I thought perchance if you encouraged him to call me? He sounds frazzled. I dont know look, Im sorry. He hangs up.I release the table from my death grip, get up, and delete the message from the phone. When I turn around, Ethan is on his feet. The hole that I punched in the wall hasnt been fixed and I think about hammering my fist through it again.We should get our bring out picked up before it ra ins, Ethan says, staring at the cant through the window.I pop my knuckles and walk for the door. Sounds like a plan.EllaI find my dad at the bar. Its the first place I look, but its disappointing that it was so easy. Lila waits for me in the car, because I ask her to. When I walk in, I spot him slumped over in a barstool with an empty cup in front of him. Denny, the bartender, is wiping down the counters with a rag. When he sees me in the entryway, he h ageds up his hand.Youre going to need to show me your ID, before you come in any further. He drapes the cleaning rag over his shoulder and walks around the counter toward me.Its me, Denny, I say. Ella Daniels.His eyes widen. Holy shit. Youre back.I nod. I am, but only for the summer.He rakes his reach through his curly brown hair. Where were you anyway? No one really seemed to know.In Las Vegas, going to school. I point at my father. I should probably take him home, Im guessing.Denny glances back at my father. He stumbled in here e arly this morning. I wasnt even opened up yet, but he was already too drunk to understand when I tried to explain to him that we were closed.Ill take him home, I tell him and he lets me by. Im sorry hes been so much trouble for you.He drops the rag on the counter and supporters me get my dad to his feet. He smells like he showered in a bottle of Jack Daniels.I dont mind him being here, Ella, Denny says. But Im scratch line to feel guilty about it. For the last few months, hes been showing up more and more. I think he might have a problem.Hes had one for a while. I drape my dads arm over my shoulder and Denny does the same with his other arm.My dad mumbles an incoherent objection and then something about missing her and deficient it to all go away. We drag him outside and Lila hops out of the car. She doesnt say anything as Denny and I lie my dad down in the back of the Firebird.Its first to sprinkle and lightning snaps crosswise the sky.Thanks for helping me get him out, I tell Denny, shielding my eyes from the raindrops.Denny rubs his neck tensely. Have you ever considered getting him some help?What do you mean? Like rehab? I shout over the thunder.He shrugs. Or AA. Something that will help him get his life together.I scratch my head, confused. Why hadnt it occurred to me? Panic starts to claw up my throat and guilty feelings about my mothers death consume.Just think about it, Denny says, giving me a pat on the arm. And if you need any help, you know where to find me.I thank him again and jump into the car. I wait for Lila to say something, but when she opens her mouth, its not what I was expecting.My older sis was a drug addict, she says quickly. For like a year.I settlement chewing on my gum. I didnt know that.I know. Not a lot of people do. My family is very firm on keeping our dirty laundry to ourselves. She rotates in her chair to look at my dad snoring on the backseat. But I privationed to tell you so that you know that I understand how hard it i s to watch someone you care about hurt themselves.I turn the car down my street and the tires splash puddles onto the hood as they hit the potholes. Why did you never tell me before?Why didnt you tell me about your dad?I dont know. Who is this girl sitting next to me? So my life doesnt scare you?She arches her eyebrows and sits forward in her seat. I wouldnt go that far, but your personal life doesnt.***There are three large Keggers on Michas back porch when we pull up to my house. The garage door is wide open and his car is missing. The rain is pouring down and flooding the sidewalk and the tree next to the house sways in the wind.They must have got the car fixed, I say, unbuckling my seatbelt. Dang it. Lila smacks her hand on her knee and a smile expands across her face. I was so looking forward to watching Ethan bent over the hood.I snort a laugh. Well, that wasnt really my point, I say when I stop laughing. We somehow have to get him out of the car and into the house and I was g oing to have Micha help.Lila and I turn toward the backseat, trying to figure out a way to get my dad out.Maybe we could ask your brother? Lila suggests.My eyes roam to the Porsche parked in front of us. Im not sure hell help even if we ask him.It doesnt hurt to try.Yeah, youre right. I sigh and text Dean to come help. He doesnt answer, but a few minutes later the back door swings open. Dean steps out, barefoot, with a hoodie pulled over his head. He doesnt say anything when he swings the door open. Lila hops out of his way and he ducks inside the car and drags our father out. I scramble out of the car and hold the back door open for him. He lets my dad lean his weight on him and he underworld him to the living room sofa.Where did you find him? Dean asks me as he turns my dad to his side in case he throws up.At the bar. I place the continental quilt from the back of the couch over my dad and he snuggles up to it like a child. Denny helped me get him to the car.Dean presses his lips together, and bobs his head up and down. Thats where I figured he was, but I didnt want to go looking for him.You know Im not even old enough to be in a bar, right?And Im old enough to know that I dont want to deal with this crap anymore.I open my mouth to yell at him but zip my lips and shake my head, acquire power of my temper.He backs toward the stairway. Ive had enough. Im moving on with my life and you should do the same. He leaves me in the room alone with a heavy feeling in my heart.Id contend to move on, but Im not sure how. Running away to Vegas for eight months sure as hell didnt help because Im almost back to where I started.***Lila and I decide to go to Larrys Diner, the local fast food drive-in, to get some lunch. Its a seventies themed restaurant where the waitresses wear roller skates and skate up the cars to take orders. After they hook the food tray to the window, we eat in the car and listen to music.The rain is still beating down, but softer, although the roof is draining onto the front of the hood. Were chatting about the group of guys sitting on the tables underneath the canopy, when Lila focuses the conversation to somewhere I dont want to go.So where did you and Micha run off to this morning? she asks, sipping her soda and batting her eyelashes innocently.I dip a fry in the ranch cup balanced on the console. Nowhere. He just chased me down the street.She dumps some more ketchup onto her chicken sandwich. Then why did both of you come back soaking wet?My body tingles at the memory of Micha and me rolling around in the grass. One of the neighbors sprinklers turned on while we were running across it.Seems like you were awfully wet just from being in the sprinklers for a few minutes. She dabs her lips with a napkin. And you look really happy right now.I force back a smile and pick the pickles off my burger silently.If you dont want to tell me, she says. Then you dont have to.Im just not comfortable talking about Micha, I explain. When I d ont even know how I feel about him.Okay, well you could talk to me about it. Thats how friends help each other figure things out. She pauses, cleaning up some grease that dripped on her shirt. Didnt you ever have a friend that you could talk to about everything?I shrug and take a bite of my burger. Micha maybe, but I cant talk to him about him.She looks at me sadly. Try talking to me then.I chew on a fry, trying not to choke. Once its out there, its real. Im not sure I can.Just try, she urges. Whats it going to hurt?I stir the ranch with a fry. Micha kissed me on the front lawn. Thats why we came back all wet. We were lying on the grass, getting soaked by the sprinklers and making out.Did you like it?Like what?She rolls her eyes. The kiss.I like it every time he kisses me, I say nonchalantly. Yet at the same time, I dont. My feelings are conflicted.Because you dont know what you want? she asks.No, I think I do know what I want, I mumble, stunned by my own answer. I just wont admit i t.She says, I think you just did.I stretch out thinking out loud. I think I might have figured it out that night on the bridge My mind starts to drift back to that night as I stare at the rain pattering against the windshield.She slurps her soda. What happened the night on the bridge?I kissed Micha. I shut my eyes, drifting back to the memory, not on the bridge but somewhere else we went that night. Were in his car talking. He seems happy and so do I.She giggles. I knew it. I knew he wasnt just a friend. So tell me the details, like what happened after the kiss.My eyes open to a veil of rain on the window as the images drift away from my mind. Nothing. I left for college.She balls up the sandwich wrapper and sets it in the bag. You just left? God, no wonder you two visually undress each other. The sexual tension between you is probably about ready to burst.I start to deny it, but realize shes right. I want Micha so badly it physically hurts sometimes, just if it hurts to want him this much, then how bad would it be to lose him?Speaking of the devil. She rolls down the window as Michas Chevelle pulls up beside us. What are you like stalking us or something?Ethan leans over from the passenger side and hollers, How did you ever guess?Michas extremely quiet, as he reads the menu on the marquee. The waitress skates over and ducks her head into the cab of the car, cohesive out her butt. Rain waterfall on her back as she jots down their orders and then giggles at something either Micha or Ethan said. Either way, its annoying. I pile all the garbage onto the tray, start up the car, and rev up the engine, startling the waitress and everyone else.Lila gapes at me. Ella, what are you doing?Sorry, I apologize, feeling kind of bad, and put a tip on the tray. The waitress gives me a tight smile as she collects the tray and skates off to the order window.Micha hops out of the car and his boots splash in the puddles. He stretches his long legs and arms, and then winds aro und the back of my car and to my door. He taps his fist on the window. Sighing, I roll it down.He crouches down so were eyelevel and rests his arms on the seal of the window. Do you want to explain what that was about?An accidental slip of the foot, I say, knowing hes going to read straight through my bull shit lie. Sometimes it happens.Not with you. His eyes twinkle like sapphires as raindrops bead down his face. If you want my attention, just say so.I want your attention. The truth falls from my lips, shocking us both.He kisses me on the forehead with his wet lips. See, that wasnt so hard.Yes, it was, I surrender, defeated. But Im tired.Of being someone youre not?That among other things.He lets out an unsteady breath and lowers his voice as he leans close to my ear. Are you ready to talk about it?I shake my head. Not yet, but maybe soon.Im here when youre ready. He gives a soft suck on the sensitive spot right below my ear, and his tongue tastes my skin before he pulls away.You wa nt to race home? He wiggles his eyebrows, teasing me. Loser owes the other one a favor.I scrunch up my nose and glance over at his Chevelle. Im not stupid enough to think I could ever win that bet.He laughs, sucking his lip ring into his mouth. I promise Ill go easy on you.A naughty feeling dances inside me. What if I dont want you to go easy on me?Hes speechless, which is rare. His gaze bores into me and then he strides forward and kisses me. Its quick, but it steals my breath away.