Time after time

Outsider

Noah POV

A week has passed since I proposed to Elle on this hill overlooking LA.  When my mom gave me the ring and told me she thought it would be a good time, I didn't really believe her.  Elle seemed so upset and I didn't want to add to it but at the same time, she had just begged me not to leave without her!  

And my mother was right... as much for Elle as for me!    If it wasn't for my proposal, she probably would have come home from the beach and cried her way to sleep.  Instead, we celebrated our engagement in our own way... until late at night!  

We stayed at the beach house in an effort to avoid Lee and Linda for a few days.  As much as my protective spirit wanted to hide Elle from the hardships of the world, there are responsibilities we couldn't avoid, like clearing out her room at her father's house before we left for Boston.  My mother was very kind to offer to help us on the pretext that it would go faster.   I could only be grateful to her because in one day, the room was emptied, the suitcases of the things we were going to take with us to Boston packed and the boxes of things to be moved to my room in LA were closed.  I was relieved that my parents agreed to make room for Elle in my room, it allowed her to still have a home in LA.    And as my mom told me, our house was sort of Elle's second home and with the engagement it was natural.  

We've been relatively tight-lipped about our engagement, not making it public on social media at the moment.  We both told my parents who were so happy for us!  Elle told her dad and Linda when we went to clear her room. Mike apologized for the way Linda's move was announced to Elle and the urgency to make room for Linda.  He told her that he was happy for her and wished her a new life in Boston.  Then I had the task of texting Lee to tell him, a text message that went unanswered...  I know my brother is angry at Elle for choosing Harvard, that he feels lonely and abandoned!  But I would have liked him to be even a little happy for her!  

We hadn't seen him since last week's disastrous lunch, and we'll leave tomorrow, Elle and I, for Boston, avoiding this week's.  For our last night in LA, Elle convinced me to go to the senior goodbye party at County Day High.  Having been popular but also lonely in high school, I didn't have any nostalgia to leave for college like Elle (the only thing I regretted about high school was the fact that I could see Elle every day).  But she wanted to go and what Elle wants becomes what I want by reference.  Her desires are orders! 

So Elle and I walked into the restaurant hand in hand for this goodbye party. We were quickly surrounded by the group of OMG’s who wasted no time:  
-Hi Ellen!  You must be on your way to Boston, both of you!" said Olivia. 
-I can't believe you've been in a long-distance relationship for a year," Mia said with a dramatic look. 
-There's a rumor, Ellen, that the two of you are engaged. " Gwyneth said conspiraciously.

Elle looked at me with a smile before I took her left hand to show it to the three chatterers.  The jaws of the three girls dropped and they gave their congratulations to Elle with looks full of jealousy.  Elle and I burst out laughing!  We hadn't even exchanged a single word with the OMGs.  But I was happy that this comedic side changed a little bit the tense atmosphere that had prevailed since we entered the restaurant.    

Elle got hooked by Ollie and Miles who wanted to take a picture with her.  I whispered in her ear that I was going to get us a beer and let her go and chat with her friends.  

Elle POV

I had very mixed feelings when I walked into the restaurant tonight.  I realized that I genuinely loved each and every one of these people that I was around throughout high school.  Even the OMGs who glared at me with a look of jealousy when Noah showed them my engagement ring.  Later that evening, they offered me a shooter and said: 
-One, two, three ... to your future wedding, Ellen!
-Thank you!  It's still Elle but that's okay! " I said to them as I drank my glass.