Patrick's POV
I walk into the courtyard, searching for him. Ellen stayed home today, not wanting to see him. I would've stayed with her if I didn't have a job to do.
I finally find Riley, leaning against a pillar talking to one of Ellen's friends, Megan. I walk up to him and nudge his shoulder, causing him to stumble.
"Dempsey. I wouldn't do that if I were you." he warns me.
"How could you do that to Ellie?" I ask.
He smirks and shrugs.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. How could you?"
"Listen, it was fun with her. But she thought of me as a boyfriend."
"And? Isn't that what you were?" I ask, getting angry.
"No. I thought of her as nothing more than a little whore. Someone to play with." he says coolly.
My fists connect with his face and he falls to the ground. A crowd forms around us quickly as I sit on top of him and throw more punches.
A few of his football friends tear me off of him and throw me to the ground. One kicks me in the side as the others start to punch me.
The principle breaks up the fight.
"All of you. In my office. Now!" he says angrily.
We all pile into his small office and the nurse begins to clean me and Riley up.
After hearing all sides of the story, Riley and I were both suspended for a week while his jock friends were suspended for two weeks plus a month of detention.
I grab my keys and drive home. I walk into my house and see my mother sitting at the dining table, drinking tea with Ellen. They both look up at me and gasp.
"My boy, what have you done?" my mom asks, running over to look at my injuries. Ellen sits at the table, staring at me with a shocked look.
I look in the mirror that is hanging over our fireplace.
My nose is bloody and bruised, my lip is cut open, and I'm predicting a black eye or two in the morning. I lift up my shirt and see a large, dark purple bruise on my side. On my back is a large gash.
Ellen walks toward me with a first aid kit.
"Patty, what have you done?"
I shrug.
"You should see the other guy." I say, holding up my bruised and bleeding fists.
"You got in a fight? With whom?" my mother asks.
"Riley." I say.
"Patrick. Why did you do that? I could have handled it." Ellen says, bandaging my knuckles.
I shrug.
"Are you mad?" I ask. She looks at me and smiles a little, shaking her head no.
"How did it start?" she asked curiously.
"Yeah. Tell us all about it." my mother says angrily.
"Uh, well, I walked up to him at school and we said some stuff...and I punched him."
"Patrick, what did he say?" Ellen asks.
"And then I punched him some more.."
"Patrick tell me what he said!" Ellen says forcefully.
"Well, he called you a whore. He said that you were always just someone that he could play with." I said quietly. My mother gasps, tears coming to her eyes as she hugs Ellen.
"So I punched him a couple times. And then his football friends came to beat me up. The guy can't even finish his own fight. I tell ya, El. You're better off without him." I tell her. She smiles softly at me.
"Thanks Pat." she says before cleaning me up.
When she finishes, she puts the kit away and sits back down at the table.
"El, let's go." I say, grabbing her hand and pulling her up.
"Go where?" she asks. I ignore her and pull her to the backyard toward the tree house.
"Up here."
We climb up the ladder and sit on the sofa, facing each other. I pull out a package of Oreos that I snuck up here and set them in front of her.
She smiles and tears the package open. She grabs one and holds it out. I grab one side of the cookie and she grabs the other. Slowly, we close our eyes and tear it apart. Opening our eyes, we see that she got the side with the cream.
"A clean tear." she says triumphantly.
"It means we will be together forever." I say. She giggles and nods before licking the cream from the Oreo. I eat the cookie and she hands me her cookie to eat.
She hates the cookie part but loves the cream while I hate the cream and love the cookie. It's perfect for us, as long as I don't mind eating her cookie after she has licked it. Which I don't.
We grab another cookie and repeat the process.
The sun starts to set but we keep going.
"I'm suspended all through next week." I tell her before shoving a cookie in my mouth.
"Really? That's a shame. Will this affect your role in the musical?" she asks. I shrug.
"I don't think so. It's too close to the production for them to find a new Tarzan." She nods and licks the cream.
"Patrick? Ellen? You out here?" I hear my sister, Mary call.
"We'll be right down." I call back.
Ellen closes the package and hands it to me. I grab it and put it in the food stash next to the sofa.
"Ellen. You're okay, right?" I ask. She smiles and nods.
We climb down the tree and go our separate ways. I meet her through the window a couple minutes later. She opens her window and shouts, "Get ready to catch this."
I hold my hands out, prepared. She chucks a can with a string attached to it out her window and I lean out to catch it, almost falling out.
She motions me to hold it up to my ear.
"My dad is upset with me because I call you every night." she says through the can. I chuckle. I look at her and she looks sad.
"El, you're not alright." I tell her. She slowly shakes her head no.
"Will you tell me what's wrong?" I ask.
"What's wrong with me?" she asks. My heart breaks when she asks this.
"Nothing is wrong with you, dear."
"Then why did he break up with me?"
"Because there's something wrong with him. Not you. Any guy would be lucky to be with you." She giggles.
"You're sweet. But I'm not so sure."
"Oh come on! You're smart, you're beautiful, you're funny, your giggle is the cutest sound I've ever heard." I tell her. She giggles and I smile.
"You're the whole package."
"Thanks Patty."
"Goodnight Ellie."
"Goodnight Patty." she says, dropping her can out the window. I reel it into my room and shut my window.
