Robbers

six

// six //

        Ella only discovered that she did, in fact, have plans for Wednesday night just an hour before she was supposed to leave for Ryan’s house. She’d been lying spread-eagled on the couch, watching some mindless MTV show that involved an excessive amount of crying girls and yelling boys, when her mom had come home from work and immediately reminded Ella that both she and her father were going out that evening.

            “So your father and I are going to that dinner tonight,” her mom called from the kitchen, the sound of the refrigerator door shutting echoing out into the living room. “There’s some leftover pasta in the fridge for you and Rosie.”

            “That’s tonight?” Ella asked, sitting up so quickly that the TV remote slipped from the couch cushions to the floor. It couldn’t be tonight.

            Her mom sighed as she entered the living room, drying her hands on a pale dish towel. “Ella, I told you about this two weeks ago. Dad’s coworker got that promotion, remember? I need you to watch Rosie because we promised we would go to this dinner.”

            “But…” Ella trailed off, completely forgetting about the dramatic events on the television screen behind her. “What time are you leaving?”

            “In twenty minutes. I’m meeting dad there.”

            “You can’t go out, mom,” Ella blurted. “I can’t babysit Rosie tonight.”

            Her mom’s eyes widened, one eyebrow raised as she asked incredulously, “And why is that?”

            Ryan’s words from yesterday echoed inside her mind when Ella opened her mouth to respond, so she quickly made up the first lie she could think of. “I told Mindy I’d go to her house and help her study bio.”

            “Well, then, tell her to come here instead.” Ella’s mom had already turned around and started for the stairs beside the kitchen’s entrance, tossing the dish towel back onto the counter as she went. She made her way up the first few steps, saying over her shoulder, “Rosie will just watch TV. You’ve known about this dinner for weeks, I don’t understand what the problem is.”

            Ella groaned and flopped back down onto the couch as her mom disappeared up the staircase to finish getting dressed, impossibly annoyed with herself for forgetting that both her parents would be going out that evening. She had told Ryan she would be at his house by seven, and there was no way she could call him to cancel with the excuse that she needed to babysit her younger sister. Ella had finally gotten Ryan to accept her help, and she wasn’t going to give him the opportunity to change his mind.

            So when her mom left less than twenty minutes later, Ella quickly began to reheat the leftover pasta and called Rosie down for dinner. She poured out two servings into separate bowls, stirring in the marinara sauce and getting parmesan cheese from the fridge. They sat at the table to eat, and as Rosie launched into a ramble about her class guinea pig’s latest escape, Ella nervously glanced at the grandfather clock to see that it was nearly 6:30. She pretended to be very interested in Rosie’s story, but when both their bowls were clear, Ella jumped from her seat to put them in the dishwasher.