Time Jump! They are both 12 now.
Patrick's POV
I stand in my backyard, juggling for hours. I teach myself new tricks and even learned how to juggle with four pins!
"Hey there stranger!" I hear Ellen say. I jump, startled at the interruption of silence. A pin hits my face, knocking my glasses off.
"Ouch!" I say, gripping my nose. I finally find my glasses in the grass and put them on.
"Hey, El." I squeak. She walks over, giggling at my mishap.
"Didn't mean to make you mess up." she says. I nod. "What are you doing?"
"I'm practicing. Hey! Did you hear that they have a juggling league at the high school?" I ask excitedly.
"Sounds like a total snooze fest." she says.
Ellen and I are very different now. She is one of the popular kids at school and I'm pretty known for being the biggest geek.
"Have you finished your book report?" she asks, smirking at me. I glare at her.
"You know I haven't. It's not nice to make fun of me like that Ellen." I say, tears forming in my eyes.
"Hey! I was just asking. It's due tomorrow."
"Well it's not my fault that I have trouble reading!" I scream at her, my face going red.
Her stare softens and she walks toward me.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I can help you with your reading, Patty. All you had to do was ask." she says, hugging me. I hug her back and wipe my tears away.
"My moms taking me to the doctor tomorrow. So that gives us one extra day to work on it."
I tell her as we walk inside.
"Why are you going to the doctor?" she asks.
"So they can tell me why I have trouble reading."
"Some people just aren't good at certain things. Doesn't mean they need to go to the doctor for it." she says as we walk up the steps toward my bedroom.
I shrug and open my door. I grab Romeo and Juliet from my nightstand and hop on my bed. Ellen sits next to my as I start to read aloud.
"My bou...boon..." I stutter, trying to read the word.
"bounty." Ellen says.
"My bounty is as boun...bout..."
"Boundless." Ellen says, patiently. "Try again."
"My bounty is as boundless as the eas...ser.."
"Sea."
I throw the book on the floor, frustrated.
"It's okay, Pat. Just try again." Ellen says, handing me the book.
"My bounty is as...boundless as...the sea. My love as peed...I mean deep."
"Good."
"Will you just read it to me El? Please?" I ask, handing her the book. She sighs and grabs the book.
"My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; The more I give to thee, The more I have for both are infinite." she says smoothly. I watch her mouth as the words form effortlessly.
I smile as she continues to read. She read over the entire book to me that day.
"A glooming peace this morning with it brings; The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head:
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things: Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished: For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
She closes the book and sets it on the nightstand.
"You have a lovely voice, El." I tell her softly.
"Patty, you hear me talk all the time. Why are you saying it now?" I shrug and blush.
"I've never heard you talk for so long. And you said such beautiful things." She smiles and giggles.
She looks at the clock by my bed and gasps. It reads 9:27.
"I have to get home. I'll see you in a couple minutes through the window." she says, slipping her shoes on.
I wave and look out the window. Once I see her figure run toward her house, I jump up and run to the bathroom. I quickly brush my teeth and wash my face.
I run back to my room and change into my pajamas as fast as I can. I turn back toward the window and see her waiting for me. I slide my window open and try to get her attention by waving.
"Ellen." I whisper loudly.
I look around my room and find a bag of peanuts. I grab them and open the package. I throw a peanut at her window. She turns at the noise and slides her window open.
"Hi Pat." she says. I smile.
"I can't talk much since it's already so late." I tell her. She nods and grabs her bowl of ice cream.
"Did you get one for me?" I ask. She nods and grabs another bowl. She sets it on the platform connected to the rope we strung across our houses. She moves the rope, making the platform wheel its way toward me.
Once the bowl reaches me, I grab it and start to eat the ice cream.
"Thanks, Ellie." I tell her. She smiles and giggles.
"Crap." Ellen says, while jumping into her bed. I duck down and listen.
"Ellen. No more staying up late. Got it? You have school tomorrow." her dad says grumpily.
"Yes daddy." she says softly. I hear the door close and I peek through the window.
I see Ellen looking at me.
"I better go." she says. I nod.
"Goodnight. Goodnight. Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I say goodnight till it be 'morrow." I say, grinning widely. She giggles.
"Oh my Romeo. How will I survive a night when I am not in the arms of my Romeo?" she asks.
"I will see thee in my dreams, my love."
"As will I." I chuckle as I shut my window. I see her crawl back into her bed and smile.
I remove my glasses and put them on the night stand. This night was the night that everything changed. This was the night that I dreamt of Ellen Pompeo.
