Coincidences

Chapter 18: No longer strangers

Ella was sketching in her sketchbook, when Thomas barged into her room, Mike and Jake behind him.

She tried closing the sketchbook but not before Thomas had snatched it out of her hands. His eyes widened as he saw what was on the page.

Mike stuck his head in the book too, but Thomas closed it, his reflexes being faster than Ella's, and tossed it to her quickly. She shoved it in her drawer embarrassed, as Thomas looked at her with concealed surprise.

Jake, unaware of the interaction, jumped on Ella's bed, groaning.

"I'm so bored! Are your parents gonna be home today?" He asked Mike.

"Nah. They're in DC, I think." Huh. Ella didn't know that.

"We should have a party, for Thomas." Jake said, excitedly.

"It's Monday." Thomas said. "No one would come."

Ella snorted, thinking about how many parties Fincher had had in the past 3 months alone.

"No." She said. "There's been so many parties, I'm bored of them."

"Just stay in your room." Jake begged. "Please Ella. I love partying."

She rolled her eyes, "We know."

"I'm down!" Mike said, gleefully. Now that he knew Ella didn't want to have a party, he wanted to. He loved teasing her.

She exhaled. "Fine. Do what you want, I'm gonna stay in my room." They both cheered and left her room, probably to spread the news, leaving her alone with Thomas.

She stared down at her hands. "El." She looked up. "That's Luke, isn't it?" He questioned, referring to the multiple abstract drawings of eyes, lips and random body parts in her sketchbook.

"Yeah." She sighed. "I can't stop drawing him. He's always on my mind. But he's so hot and cold, always changing his moods and actions around me, I don't know what to do."

Thomas sat next to her, throwing his arm over her shoulder. "I know you. You always want to fix people. You did it with Mike when he almost quit football because of his injury, until you forced him to go to physical therapy. You did it for Jake when his dad left and you supported him through it. And you did it for me when I came out and got all that hate from my family, until you cornered my mom and gave her your 'he's still your son speech'. I can see this trend continuing with Luke."

She rested her head on his chest. "I like him." She admitted.

"I know." Thomas rubbed her back.

Her and Thomas spent the rest of the day together, he helped her with her homework, then people started arriving at her house at 9pm.

He went down to say hi to everyone, while Jake left to get alcohol with his fake ID. Ella changed into a tank top and sweatpants, locking her bedroom door, trying to drown out the loud music.

She was in the middle of painting her toenails dark red, when her phone lit up.

sam: where r u?

ella: i dont feel like drinking

sam: oh ok! come say hi we're all sitting in the back

ella: ill come in a few

sam: 😘

Ella finished her nails, and left her room, stalking downstairs past all the people littered through her house. A few people said hi as she passed them.

She went to the backyard, where Jess, and Sam were smoking a joint.

"Hi!" Jess squealed. Sam ran to hug Ella.

She talked to them for a while, until they heard that people were playing beer pong inside, they ran in to join.

Ella stayed outside for a minute, staring up at the starry sky, and the rest of the people smoking in her backyard. She felt a shiver run through her, in her thin, worn-out tank top. She turned to go back inside when she saw someone open the sliding door, and come outside. Luke.

He glanced down at her attire, and how her cheeks were red from the cold, and wordlessly lifted his black hoodie over his head, leaving him in a white t shirt. He handed the hoodie to her.

She shook her head, biting her lip. "It's okay."

"Just take it, Ella." He threw it over her. She saw no point in arguing, and pushed her head out of the collar, shoving her arms through the sleeves and pulling it down her stomach. The sleeves were super long so she cuffed them up while he watched.

They stood there for a minute, staring at each other, until she finally spoke.

"Why did you kiss me?" She spoke in a soft voice, straightforwardly.

"Why did you let me?" He shot back.

She shrugged. "We've kissed before. Why is it so different this time?"

He looked down, and slowly brought his eyes back up to meet her eyes, sweeping them up her body.

"Because you're not a stranger anymore." He muttered, glancing back down.

Her mouth dropped open slightly.

He briefly looked at the rest of the people in her yard. "Can we walk somewhere else?"

"Yeah, sure. Let's go to my room."

His eyebrows raised, and she could see him hold back a snarky comment.

She slipped past him, and led him through the people in her house until they reached the stairs. As she climbed up, Luke following close behind, she made eye contact with Thomas, who was in the living room.

He looked between her and Luke, then winked at her. She felt her face heat up, as she sped up, praying Mike and Jake didn't see her.

a/n next chapter is set in her room ;)