The Taking of Eleanor Ainsworth

Chapter 2

Ella always found sanctuary in the library, it was a redbrick, victorian building that stood detached from the rest of the school, it was mostly deserted now, with students using the internet now as their primary source of information.

Dust collected loosely on the spines of books, and the bookcases leaned slightly from the weight. Ella loved the library, with its high ceilings and large windows. The air was often stuffy and would always cause Ella to sneeze constantly. The little old lady at the desk saying 'Bless you' every time she heard Ella's sneeze echo throughout the building.

But today Ella skipped her usual session at the library and decided to watch her friend, Matthew play football on the pitch. She walked out onto the playing field, the sun beating down on her and kissing her skin. She shaded her eyes with her hand and scanned the field for Matthew. She grinned when she noticed him in the distance, as if sensing her presence he turned and caught Ella's eyes, grinning even wider at her. She blushed and sat down on the green grass, opposite Amber and her followers, who sat on the other end of the pitch.

Amber glanced at Ella and rolled her eyes, flicking her blonde hair behind her and whispering something to Alexis. They both looked at Matthew and began to cheer, as the boys ran on to the field. Ella watched gleefully, ignoring the glares from the girls and watching her friend skillfully run about the field with the football.

"Whoop, go Matthew," she cheered, as he scored a goal, looking over at Ella and winking, she blushed again and cast her eyes away.

"Hey," she looked up and squinted, the sun was directly behind the person, making it increasingly difficult to make out who this person was. The person shifted his position and sat down beside Ella. She smiled at him, glad that it was the boy who she had met earlier, Theo.

"Hey," She said back, crossing her legs and leaning back, looking at Theo. There was something about a boy with dark hair and blue eyes that made Ella weak at the knees.

"Are they bothering you?" He asked, looking over at the girls on the opposite end. Ella shook her head and smiled.

"I try to ignore them," she replied, watching as he smiled at her choice of words, he turned to look at her, his chiseled jaw strong and his plump lips curved into a smile, his eyes were blue, not the ordinary sky blue or Matthew's eyes kinda of blue, Theo's eyes were crystal sea blue, they were a sunset blue, with flecks of orange. Ella became lost in his eyes, and struggled to find her way out, they were overwhelming, even in the bright sun, they shone a light.

Saying he has blue eyes is like saying the grass is green, accurate but not enough to capsulate the beauty of them. Ella snapped out of her trance and shied away, looking anywhere but at his face, scared that she would become lost again.

"You're an odd one aren't you," he stated rather than asked. She shrugged and untangled her knees, pulling them up to her chest and resting her chin against them.

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't," She sighed and turned her attention to Amber who was jumping up and down, her hands flailing about.

"Everyone seems to think I am." She stared off into the distance. "Do you know whats hurtful ?" She asked. Theo sat there quietly, listening.

"The more people say negative things to me, like there goes Eleanor, the loner, the nobody. The more I begin to believe that I am everything those people say about me." She inhaled deeply, her eyes following Matthew around the pitch.

"So I seclude myself, whats the point trying to fit in, in a place where you can't. People can be cruel, they labelled me as a loner, so therefore I am a loner," She laughed. "An odd loner."