Problems

Problems - 3

Logan stared in disbelief at tall, dark-haired boy who had arrived unexpectedly at their table. He wasn't sure what he wanted from Ellie, as such, but he knew it couldn't be anything good. He saw Amber glowering out of the corner of his eye, and he knew she'd be pissed of for at least two reasons; one, that Craig McDonald was more or less infringing upon her territory, and two, that he would probably try and steal their new, pretty friend away from them. Logan knew how protective Amber was of her friends, that it would annoy some people, but Logan didn't mind at all. It made him feel safe, loved, and though he knew it to be wrong, he didn't feel like he needed to cleanse himself whenever he was with with her. She was like the mother whom he never really had.

Ellie and Craig were still locked in a kind of staring match with each other, not with any particular hated or niceness, but sort of eyeing each other up. Ellie still had the expression on her face that was somewhere in between confusion, amusement, and a plain blank stare. Craig wore a similar blank stare, and only a hint of interest showed itself through his mask. Ellie was the first one to speak.

“Yeah, I am. What do you want?” Her voice remained flat, not betraying any feelings. Craig liked her. She could do the monotone 'bored shitless' voice almost as well as he could.

“My parents have this weird interest in England. Do you want to come back to mine after school?” Apart from the part about his parents being interested in England, the rest of the proposal was a standard line for Craig. He did his smile and pouted with his eyes in a way that he knew all the girls loved. Well, most of them. He didn't even know why he was asking this of the foreign girl, maybe some erratic thought said that maybe his parents would do something this time. Pure bullshit.

Ellie remained immune to Craig's 'sexy face,' as Jack called it. “Uh, no. Even I'm not that stupid.” She smirked at Amber, who was half leaning across the table with her mouth open like she was about to jump to Ellie's defence, but frozen in her tracks. Logan just smiled at the confrontation. He had a feeling life was going to get a lot more interesting with Ellie around.

Craig tried not to look pissed off at being rejected for probably the first time in his life. He shrugged, expression remaining nonchalant. “Whatever, British chick. Your loss.” He got up and walked away with as much dignity as possible, his emotionless mask managing to stay fixed on as he told himself that he really didn't care about this, she wasn't even that good looking anyway. With a jolt he realised that he didn't like not being able to have something, like his parents' love, which he had probably known for a long time in his subconsciousness. He knew was also more than just not being able to have something, was like he yearned for it, he needed it.

He shook his head, masking his epiphany and shooting a few people he passed death glares for good measure.

Back at the table, the three remaining students giggled among themselves. Ellie was told that she was probably the first person that had said no to Craig, and she responded with a shrug. “He's just a jerk. I'm sure he'll get over it when he gets older.”

Amber grinned. “Wanna bet?”

They all laughed, Amber and Ellie feeling liberated by the freedom school brought them from their family problems. Amber didn't have to care about her ignorant mother or the blood that was sure to stain the bathtub in the next few days. Ellie didn't have to care about what pain her step-dad was going to inflict on her, what he was going to do to her when he got in from his new job. Logan felt different. He felt like his eating disorder followed him everywhere he went, for when he left his family behind he had to face the bullies at school. Amber kept him safe, as Ellie would now too, but there were times he had to walk alone. He wasn't proud of the fact that he relied on girls to help him out when, if anything, it should have been the other way around. He stared at the lunch he had unintentionally picked at and silently gagged, bile trying to rise up his throat as he stared at the pitiful amount of food he had managed to eat. This is not what you're meant to do, Logan, he told himself. How are you going to improve yourself if you have no self control? You're a failure, a failure! He closed his eyes, trying desperately to block out the thoughts, and failing miserably. He stood up from the table.