Chasing | Ongoing

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟒

"Trust me, you cannot play the game without knowing the rules."

I heard Nike walk out of her room the next morning, as I sat on the couch. My knuckles were raw under the ice laying on top of them. I felt Nike's gaze on me before turning away.

"I don't even want to know what happened," she muttered and I laughed.

"I'm not hungover, don't worry. I didn't make that mistake," I said, and Nike sighed, pulling open the coffee pod drawer for her required drink of the day.

We sat in silence for a few minutes as Nike busied herself in the kitchen.

"Should I know what happened at the dinner?" she asked, and I paused leaning back to stare at the ceiling.

"The Solon Family was there," I stated, and Nike spat out her drink. I turned to look at her, and her eyes were as big as dinner plates.

"What!" She called, setting her mug back onto the table.

"The wicked bitch of the west forgot to mention that to me, but thankfully I brought a dress to change into," I said, and Nike placed her hands on the counter.

"Which dress was it?" She asked and I chuckled.

"The blue one that I got for graduation," I replied, flexing my fingers under the ice.

"Good, you look hot in that dress," she remarked and I rolled my eyes.

"But yeah, the Solons showed up. Oh, guess what my father wanted to talk to me about?" I said, remembering. Nike tilted her head at me, and I sighed, "Apparently, my grandfather left me some money and my father wants me to split it with my stepsisters."

I watched as Nike's eyes went wide before she took another sip of her coffee. "If you said yes, I'm going to throw you out the window, Ella." 

I laughed, "I didn't, because Tessa implied that I'm going to make the same mistakes as my parents and get pregnant," I stated, and Nike dropped her coffee, swearing as she caught it and it splashed on her dress.

"That's what I wanted to say," I sighed, pulling out a hand from the ice to run it through my hair.

"Please tell me you attacked her and that's why your hands are all messed up," she muttered, and I glanced away. "No," she growled, "Ella, what did you do?"

I took a deep breath before staring at the ceiling, "I was so shocked that I just left. I was going to come back here, but then I thought of the danger that would be to our walls, so I went to the Harbuz."

"Whose medical bills do you need to pay?" Nike asked, and I shrugged.

"I didn't catch his name," I said, a twinkle in my eyes.

"What did this poor soul do to incur your wrath?" She mumbled, and I laughed.

"You really wouldn't want to know," I said, and Nike started to walk over to her room.

"Get changed, we're going shopping," she said, glancing down at her own dress. I turned to her, as I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What are we shopping for?" I asked, and she gave me a look telling me that I was an idiot.

"The gala on Saturday? Did you really forget already?" she sighed, and I turned away.

"Give me like half an hour," I sighed and she smiled.

"I'll be waiting for you then," she said heading into her room. I relaxed my body on the couch for another moment before groaning as I pulled myself up.  Thankfully, most of the damage had been done to my ribs, and not anywhere else. The bruises would be easy to cover up. I picked up the ice packs and put them in the freezer before heading into my room to get changed.