I got out of my first warm shower in months, immediately missing the feeling of the warm water, I wrapped myself in an orange dressing gown that had been left out in the bathroom, then pushed open the door and stepped out of the bathroom tucking a strand of damp hair from my face
"I'm done" I smiled,
looking down at Ellie as she sat on the wooden flooring
"Oh. Okay thanks" She smiled awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with me
"You okay-" I began to say
"Yup," she said quickly, dashing into the bathroom and slamming the door behind her
"Fuck." I heard her mutter, causing me to chuckle
'She's adorable..'
I thought, images of Ellie's bright red face popping into my head
I decided to have a look at the bedroom.
The room was decorated with orange-striped wallpaper and turquoise furniture. I spun around seeing how posters of bands I have never heard of before were scattered all around the space.
Neatly laid out on the bed, were two pairs of jeans, boots, socks, t-shirts and jackets for me and Ellie.
A note sat on top from Maria saying that we could find her just across the street. Beside the clothes was a clear, rubber cup.
Weird.
I read over the explanation on the instructions it came with. It said it was a reusable menstrual cup, used by people on their periods to catch blood internally.
"Huh...yeah not for me maybe Ellie will want it"
I mumbled,
as I placed it back on the bed
Now that I had some time to process what had happened earlier, I felt hope building up inside me that Ellie reciprocated the same feelings I had for her ..
I pondered on what could have happened if that branch hadn't hit the window..
would we have... kissed?
I was soon taken out of my thoughts by the door to the bedroom swinging open
"Hey.." Ellie poked her head around the turquoise door
"Sorry about earlier... I didn't mean to slam the door in your face like that I just-"
"It's okay" I chuckled,
cutting Ellie off
"Oh look what Maria left for us" I giggled picking up the menstrual cup
"What the fuck is that"
she laughed, moving over to me
"It's for periods...I don't wanna explain just read"
I said shoving the instructions at Ellie
"Weird... are you going to use it?" She asked, looking up from the piece of paper
"Uhh..idk I mean maybe as a last resort"
"Yeah.."
"She also got us fresh clothes!" I grinned, pointing at the two piles of neatly folded clothing
"Nice." she said nonchalantly, picking up a pile of clothes
"I'll go change in the bathroom" she said, retreating out of the bedroom
After Ellie and I finished putting our new clothes on we decided to go over the street to the house Maria said she would be in the note,
Ellie knocked on the door we got no answer so I just pushed open the door and walked in Ellie following behind me
"Hello? Maria?" Ellie called out. As she removed her hood,
we wandered into the living room. And Above the fireplace, on the mantelpiece, we noticed there was a chalkboard with two unlit candles in front of it.
On the board, there were two names and dates written out
Kevin
4/3/00 – 9/29/03
Sarah
7/20/89 – 9/27/03
The door opened and Maria walked in.
"Oh, good. Just traded for this. Go ahead, try it on."
She walked over to us with two coats, She handed Ellie a purple one and a navy blue one to me.
"It's, uh, super fuckin' purple." Ellie said sarcastically, as she put it on
"Eggplant. It fits?" Maria pulled on the arms to make sure fit, before taking it off
I giggled at Ellie's comment as I pulled the navy one on
"Does it fit?" Maria asked me
"Yup." I replied
"Shoes aren't too big?"
Maria fussed.
"Uh, no. Where's our other stuff?" Ellie's asked
"Rag pile. Did you get the thing I left you?"
"Yeah. Weirdest gift ever."
I said
"But useful. Who's been cutting your hair?"
"World-class salons."
Ellie joked, nudging my shoulder,
Making my cheeks start to burn up at the sudden physical touch
"Let me get my scissors." Maria turned towards the kitchen.
"Oh, whoa, no. Uh—"
"Uh I don't know-"
Ellie and I began to protest
"Trim. That's all. Just the ends, I promise."
Maria persuaded
We hesitantly sat down with a towel wrapped around our shoulders, reluctantly letting Maria trim our hair,
"So, this was, like your job back then or something?" Ellie asked.
"No, I was an Assistant District Attorney out of Omaha, Nebraska."
Maria explained.
"I put bad guys in jail."
"Oh... Cool, I guess."
I said, having no idea what a District Attorney was.
"I always liked doing hair though." Maria said as she continued to snip "Maybe it was a mom thing. You were looking at the little memorial Tommy made?"
"Uh, yeah. I'm... I'm sorry about your kids." Ellie said
"It's okay. And kid. Just Kevin. Sarah was Joel's daughter."
Oh. Joel had never mentioned anything about a dead daughter. I mean he wasn't the type to talk about that kind of stuff anyway maybe Ellie knows I thought looking to my side, to see Ellies surprised expression
I guess not...
"Oh, maybe I shouldn't have said anything."
Maria began to backtrack
"No, it's okay." Ellie said flatly. "I guess that explains him a little."
"Look, I'm not gonna ask you what you're both doing with him—"
"Good." Ellie said
"But there are clearly things you don't know about Joel."
"Oh, like how he used to kill people? We know about that." Ellie kept her gaze forward, as Maria, ran a comb through her hair.
"So, then you understand my concern."
"He doesn't do that anymore."
I defended him.
"He stop killing people?"
"Innocent ones. And Tommy did it, too. Are you worried about him?"
Ellie pointed out
"Tommy was following Joel. The way you two are now."
"Well, maybe we're smarter than Tommy. No offence."
I jumped in
"You're definitely smart. Would've made a hell of a lawyer."
She walked around into my field of vision, leaning against the kitchen bench.
I noticed her pronounced belly and realized she was likely pregnant. But decided against commenting on it
"There's a whole lot you're not telling me."
Maria continued.
"Good. Therein lies the point. Be careful who you put your faith in. The only people who can betray us... are the ones we trust. You understand?"
I nodded alongside Ellie
"Now, come on. Grab your super fuckin' eggplant coat." Maria said to Ellie,
making me giggle
"Where are we going?"
Ellie asked
"The movies."
Maria said,
before leaving the room.
"Could be fun?" I shrugged,
Turning to Ellie
"Yeah.." She said as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
