Two Thousand Miles Away

Chapter 7

Ella

I was on my bed with my computer open. I had a paper due for biology by next week. It had to be ten pages about genetic mutation. I was editing my rough draft while messaging Jacob. It was a great distraction.

Earlier this morning when Dad picked me up he didn't even look at me. He just drove up, I got in the car, and he left. I've been waiting ever since for him to yell at me. I'd just gotten Jacob's message and had my hands posed above the keyboard when Mike walked into my room.

I jumped when he slammed my bedroom door. "You and Ben decide to go jump in a car so you could have sex!" he yelled. My eyes widened in surprise. My brother never yelled. He acted disappointed? Sure. But yelling. Nope. The fact that he was yelling about something he caused was making me pissed. "Ella what the hell was going through your head. Tell me please."

I looked away from my brother about ready to cry. I didn't like it when people were mad at me. But then the situation that was blurry got pretty darn clear.

I stood up from my bed, balling my hands into fists. "You wanna know what was going through my mind? Huh?" He shrugged and crossed his arms, still accusing me of the worst. "What I was thinking about was how I wanted to go home but I had to get someone else to take me since I was drunk. You left so I went with Ben. He pulled into a field outside of town and I was trapped."

I walked over to my brother and started to jab him in the chest for every word I said. "And none of it would have happened if my brother was there protecting me," I stepped away and looked him in his eye as I said, "Like you promised."

Mike just stood there a little speechless. "You didn't even want me there so you can't blame me when things don't work out perfectly for you."

I started to cry and covered my face. "I didn't want any of that stuff to happen. But because you left it did."

Mike opened his mouth but before he could respond our dad walked in. Without saying a word, he walked over to my desk and sat down. Mike and I glanced at each other, knowing what was about to happen. I walked over to my window seat. Mike sat down on my bed.

Dad stared at his hands for a second, gathering his thoughts. Then he looked up at us. I took a sharp breath as I saw the disappointment in his eyes. My dad never was disappointed in me. I was the good child. "I wanted to address this when you were both here." He turned to me. "Ella, why the heck did you end up in a field an hour outside of town? And tell me the truth."

I frown and shifted in my seat. I loved my dad and I was closer with him then most daughter were. But I didn't want him to think about his daughter having getting in stupid teenage trouble. "I was drunk," I admitted. The words flew out of my mouth in embarrassment. "Mike left so I asked Ben for a ride home. Instead he went out to a field."

Dad leaned his head against the back of the chair. I could see that his mind was figuring out what we did. I was praying that he thought we just made out but I wasn't that naive. My dad turned to Mike. "Where were you?" he asked.

Mike pushed his lips together and looked away from Dad's eyes. "I went to a friend's house."

Dad breathed in very dramatically and shook his head. "Mike, Ella, what's wrong with you two?" We both opened our mouth to respond. "Ella, you're grounded for a month and I don't want you seeing Ben anymore."

"What?" I blurted out. Even though I wasn't the happiest with Ben at the moment - I had sex with him. I wanted to try and make it work. "Come on, I like Ben."

Dad shook his head. "There is no chance of me changing my mind. Ben took advantage of you. He should have just brought you home."

I knew that he was right so I just buried myself in my knees and tried not to cry.

My dad turned to Mike. He shook his head. "Mike," he whispered, folding his face in his hands, "Ella's your sister. You should have been looking out for her."

Dad just turned and walked out of the room. Mike followed a few seconds after. I needed to vent so I picked up my phone.

Ella,

That guy sounds like a dick but you shouldn't break up with him. I think that since you had sex you should at least give it a try.

Jacob

I sat back and read the small message once again. How was I supposed to make my relationship work if I can't see the guy.

Jacob,

I really want to give this relationship a chance but my freakin dad just banned me from seeing him. I have no clue what to do. I know that I have to try because... I just have to.

Ella

A few seconds later my phone beeped.

Ella,

You have to give this a chance. Even if you can only see him at school. I can tell this is very important to you.

Jacob

***

When my alarm went off the next morning I was gonna kill somebody. I knew that when I told Ben our situation he'd either break up with me or stay. Knowing Ben we'd be broken up by third period.

Then, once I arrive at school, I found the same group of stupid jocks by my locker. One catcalled as I pushed through the group. The captain pulled on a strand of my hair as I opened my locker and put my books away. "I heard you made that baseball player lucky this weekend," the captain said.

I froze on the spot. It was normal for me to be picked on when it comes to these guys but they weren't supposed to know about my real life. Let alone the most embarrassing thing that has happened to me. I took a deep breath and turned to look at him. He smirked. "Can I get some of that action?"

Lucila, who was still clinging onto that guy laughed and said, "Only if you want an STD."

My hands balled into a fist as I tried to restrain myself from doing something I knew I'd regret. I tried not to let my eyes show the anger I was feeling. She used to be my best friend. How could she do this? It was like all those sleepovers, al the secrets we shared, they were just gone from her memory."

"Dude," a familiar voice complained, "get out of here." Ben pushed through the group of jocks and grabbed my hand. After pulling me to his locker.

I was able to breathe a sigh of relief once I was away from that stupid group of idiots. I shifted the books in my hands as I stated, "Thanks for that."

Ben shrugged. Then he pushed back a piece of my hair and stared at me with a look that was almost sad. "So what happened with your dad?"

I looked away from him. I didn't want to tell him this. Instead I looked at the ground as I mumbled, "According to him, we can't see each other anymore."

"What?" Ben exclaimed, sounding shocked. He shook his head and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "Look, I get it. I should have taken you home but it's not like you protested."

I leaned against his locker and frowned. I glared at him for a second. I distinctly remember saying no and being a little too drunk to stop everything. I needed to say the inevitable. "Whatever," I stated, running my hand through my hair nervously. "We have two choices. Do you wanna still date or break up?"
"What?" Ben said again. "Why would we break up?"
I shrugged. It seemed obvious. A part of me wanted to shrink back into a corner and hide. "We've been dating a month and it'll just be complicated now."

Ben grabbed my hands and stepped closer. "El, I really like you. Can we please just give this a try?" My heart melted with the words he said. I gave a quick head bob before he took a step and kissed me.