Two Thousand Miles Away

Chapter 24

Ella

Halloween, the night of college parties, sluty outfits and scary movies. Becca and I were planning on doing all three. Becca stood behind me as she dyed my hair with that spray dye. Jacob and I were going as a skeleton bride and groom.

I was wearing a short and low cut Day of the Dead dress. There were black high heels on my feet. My face was painted in the skeleton style. Becca convinced me to highlight my hair pink and green. I was going to put it in a bun.

Becca was going as a somewhat slutty Dorthy.

There was a knock on the door. Becca abandoned my hair to see who was there. I finished putting it into a bun. "El, the boys are here."

I quickly cleaned up all of our stuff and brought it into the room. "Hey guys," I said, already exhausted. Parties always exhausted me. But I will say that parties have improved since high school. It was clearly the people that made it better.

Jacob quickly gravitated towards me and wrapped his arm around my waist. Once he was next to me, he glanced over my outfit. "You look...wow."

Caleb laughed and quickly said, "I'll translate. He means you two look hot."

Jacob quickly went wide-eyed at someone - even his best friend - calling me hot. Becca and I burst out laughing. I wrapped my arms around Jacob, somewhat pulling him into a side hug. He was warm but not as cozy as normal. It was probably the somewhat plastic suit he got from the halloween store. "Becca are you gonna do my face paint?" he asked.

Becca squealed and clapped her hands. "Oh my God, yes! Duh." She then grabbed his arm and yanked him away to the bathroom. He shot me a scared look.

I turned to Caleb. He was dressed as the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. And Becca was Dorthy... Were they dressed in a couples costume? I knew that at first Becca liked Caleb but I kind of thought that was over. But was it? "Can I ask a kinda awkward question?" I asked Caleb.

Caleb, who was sitting at Becca's desk and spinning the office chair, came to an abrupt stop. "Yeah. What?"

"Are you and Becca together?"

Caleb started to spin around. After two spins he said, "I think you should ask Becca that."

I frowned, unhappy with that answer. Becca's makeup transformation would take a little while. So I sat down on my bed and folded my legs under my dress. As I scrolled through my phone I landed on R2-D2's messages. I didn't know why I kept coming back to this.

Maybe it was the rejection. I was so happy with Jacob and so thankful that I had him. But why didn't R2-D2 want to meet? Was there something he wasn't telling me?

I opened the message and wrote down everything I was thinking.

R2-D2,

I really just don't understand you. We were great friends for a year and then you just randomly stopped messaging me. Then when I message you again, you turn into a jerk. But guess what? I'm really over this. For the first time, I don't need you. I"ve gone to college and found people who for the first time actually care about me. So go be a jerk and never talk to me again. I'm fine with that. Bye.

Cinder

Jacob

Ella's best friend Becca was in the bathroom with me putting a skeleton face on my face. I didn't really know Becca all that well but I was glad Ella had her. During high school she was so alone and insecure because she was alone. Over the past few months I've seen that girl grow into a strong, powerful women.

On the counter my phone buzzed, making me jump. A black line went across my cheek. "Jacob," Becca complained. "You're lucky I'm almost done."

I chuckled. "Could you tell me who texted?" I asked since I was sitting on the bathroom counter.

Becca nodded and walked over to my phone. She picked it up and looked at the name. "Somebody named..." Becca slowly looked up at me, her eyes going from friendly to accusing. "Cinder."

My eyes widened. She knew about the penpal thing. Becca's voice was ice cold as she slowly stepped closer to me. "You're this Jacob. The asshole Jacob who's been an asshole to Ella. And that also means you've been lying to her. This whole time."

I shook my head. Becca didn't understand. I knew I couldn't lie my way out of this. "Look I'll admit, I am that Jacob."

Becca's scowl grew more firm. She tried to push past me to Ella. "Becca let me explain."

"What?" she shouted. "You're lying to my best friend. And I've read the messages you've sent to her. You're hurting her."
I took a deep breath. "I lied to Ella at first about who I was. When I met her here I didn't want to ruin my chance at a relationship with her. Now it's too late to tell her without ruining everything."

Even though I was attempting to explain, Becca's eyes had only gone from anger to confusion. "I just don't understand why?"

"I don't either," I admitted throwing my hands up. "All I know is that Ella and I are happy. Happier than both of us had been in a long time. And I love her."

Becca looked at the ceiling confused. "Please," I begged, "don't tell her. I can't lose her."

"Fine," Becca stated. "But if you so much as breathe wrong. I'm telling her."

I let out a shaky laugh. "Thank you Becca. Thank you."

Becca shook her head. "Don't thank me. Just don't hurt Ella."