Chapter Sixteen:

Ella:

The party was exactly two hours away and Ella was looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was curled and she had makeup on that she usually didn't like to wear.

The tube top she had bought along with the skirt was already on her, hanging loosely around her chest and stomach. The skirt still lay sprawled across her bed. She turned towards it and shuddered as she heard a knock on her door.

"Ella, Lana and Kristen are here." Her mother's voice shouted from down the stairs.

Before she could answer her, however, Lana and Kristen pushed her door open and burst inside.

Both girls were wearing their skirts and heels. Lana's hair was curly while Kristen kept hers long and straight. They looked absolutely stunning, standing in Ella's doorway.

Lana's smile faded as she realized that Ella had yet to get completely dressed.

"Why is the skirt on the bed and not on you?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest.

Ella shrugged.

"I'll get it on, don't worry." She assured her. "I was just running late, that's all."

"Well you better hurry up and get it on." Kristen said. "You've got two minutes; Antonio is already waiting at the park."

Ella smiled and nodded as she grabbed the skirt off her bed and walked into her bathroom to put it on.

She slowly pulled it on, avoiding looking at herself in the mirror. Once she was done, she turned around and walked out of the bathroom, not bothering to look and see if she looked at all decent for a college party.

As soon as she walked out, Lana and Kristen greeted her with cat whistles.

"Looking good!" Lana exclaimed as she laughed.

"Yeah, you just might upstage us!" Kristen stated, and she laughed too.

Ella felt her cheeks burning and she knew that they were turning red. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed her jeans jacket and headed towards the stairs.

"Whatever." She said, smiling.

Lana and Kristen both smiled as they followed Ella through the door. Their excitement made Ella feel less self conscious and far happier to be going with them, since it acted as a distraction.

As soon as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Ella was actually laughing with her friends and all her worries seemed to have faded.

"Well, don't you all look dashing?" Ella's dad exclaimed as soon as the girls arrived into the living room.

He was sitting on the couch, watching the sports network with Andrew. At the sound of the girls' heels hitting the floor, Andrew looked away from the TV and smiled as soon as he saw Ella smiling and laughing with her friends.

To him, it had seemed like it had been a while since he saw his older sister laughing, and he wasn't sure why.

"You look beautiful!" Andrew exclaimed, and Ella giggled as she blushed.

"Thanks, bro." She said, as she ruffled his hair.

"Indeed, she does. How about a picture? Your first party… this is worth capturing." Her dad said as he went into the cupboards and fished out the camera.

Just then, Erica and her mom walked into the living room and stopped when they saw the three girls standing in the middle of the living room all dressed up.

"Where are you guys going?" Erica asked snidely.

"A party." Ella answered, annoyed.

"Dressed like that?" Erica asked.

"Yeah, what's wrong with what we're wearing?" Ella asked.

"There's nothing wrong with what they're wearing." She replied. "But what you're wearing is a whole other story…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ella asked, hurt.

"Nothing." She answered, smiling coldly. "Take it how you will."

"Enough Erica." Ella's father said sternly as he wrapped the camera sash around his neck and motioned for the girls to stand together in the centre of the room. "Ella, come on. The picture is supposed to be of the three best friends', not just two of them!"

Ella looked away from her sister and turned back to where her two friends stood. She forced a smile and positioned herself in between them.

"Perfect!" Ella's dad said.

"No, wait. Ella, suck in your stomach and push your legs closer together to make them look thinner." Her mother said.

Ella's smile faded as she realized what her mother was saying. She was implying that next to Lana and Kristen, Ella looked as fat as a cow.

"Morgan…" Ella's dad said, but her mother just shrugged.

"It was just a suggestion, Rob." She said. "It would make her look better in the picture."

"Well I think she looks great." Lana said, and Ella felt her friends hand squeeze her shoulder reassuringly.

"Agreed." Kristen said. "Now, no offence, but can you please take the picture? These heels are killing me and we seriously need to get going."

"Alright." Ella's dad said. "Smile!"

The girls squeezed in closer together and smiled as big as they could. Ella stared at the camera intensely, faking a smile as best as she could.

As soon as it flashed, Ella felt a tear escape from her eye. She quickly wiped it off and turned to follow her friends out the door.

"Stay safe!" Ella's dad shouted from the doorway. "You're staying at Kristen's tonight after the party, right Ella?" He asked.

"Yeah." Kristen answered for her. "Don't worry, she's in good hands."

Lana and Kristen laughed as they got into the front of Kristen's car, but Ella couldn't seem to find the strength to join them.

She thought that she would be able to forget about her body image issues for at least that night, but her sister and her mother had ruined it for her.

She got into the back seat of the car and buckled her seat belt as Kristen pulled out of the driveway. She didn't bother waving goodbye to her family; she didn't think they minded either.

Ella's worries disappeared, however, as soon as Kristen pulled up at the park's parking lot. She watched as a tall, handsome boy dressed in dark black jeans and a tight black short sleeved shirt walked towards them.

Antonio.

He was smiling as he walked towards the car, but the smile faded as soon as he saw Ella sitting in the back seat. That was when the realization hit.

Ella wasn't stupid. She knew why his smile had faded at the sight of her. She knew that the idea of sitting next to her for a good half hour was probably too much for him. It was then that she realized she probably grossed him out that night when he caught her in the alley. He probably really did hate her after all.

"Get in." Kristen told him. "We don't have all night."

Antonio smiled at this and did as he was told. He shut the car door and avoided eye contact with Ella as he buckled his seat belt.

"Ready?" Kristen asked him.

"Yeah, let's go." He said.

Kristen pulled out of the parking lot and Lana began some small talk to make the car ride less awkward for all of them.

Lana wasn't stupid and she knew that something was wrong between Antonio and Ella. Ella was grateful that she wasn't the type to pry, though. She didn't know if she could handle explaining, or even lying if the truth became too hard to tell.

"You know the party requires you to be shirtless, right?" Lana asked Antonio jokingly.

He smiled over at her and laughed.

"Don't worry, the shirt comes off as soon as we enter the party." He explained.

"Good." Lana said as she winked at him from the front seat. "Can't wait to see what you're hiding under there!"

Ella couldn't help but feel jealous and furious with her friend. She knew that Lana's flirting was harmless, but it still seemed to annoy her.

After about ten minutes, Kristen decided she needed to stop for some gas.

"Lana, can you come with me? Walking alone so dressed up is probably the most awkward thing anyone could ever do." Kristen asked as she pulled up to one of the gas tanks.

"Sure." Lana agreed and she got out of the car, leaving just Ella and Antonio by themselves.

As soon as Kristen closed her door, Ella turned towards Antonio to see if he would start a conversation.

He didn't.

Ella didn't bother anymore. She shook her head and stared out the window again, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm not mad." Antonio suddenly said.

Ella turned her head in his direction, shocked. Had he really just said something to her?

"Sorry?" Ella asked, and this time he turned his head towards her.

"I'm not mad at you, if that's what you're thinking." He said again.

"Then why are you giving me the silent treatment?" She asked him.

"I'm not." He replied.

"Then how come you wouldn't look at me the other day when you came over to us at lunch? Or just now, ten minutes ago, when you got into the car and saw that I was sitting here?"

"Because." He said. "You're the one that made it clear that there was never going to be anything between us that night at the diner. I'm not going to go waste my time on someone who seems to be so keen on the idea that trying is pointless."

"When did I ever say that?" Ella asked, confused and angry.

She was starting to lose her patience with him. Her mood swings were already a problem, but his ignoring her made them even worst.

"You didn't have to say it." He explained. "You showed me when I caught you… you know, in the alley that night? I offered to help you and you didn't want me to. That was enough to tell me that you didn't think of me in that way."

"That's it?" Ella asked. "Because of one stupid thing, you think I don't like you?"

Antonio nodded.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" Ella shouted, furiously.

She knew that angry tears were about to stream from her eyes, but she didn't care. Antonio's stupidity was making her cry, and she wanted him to feel bad about it.

He looked away again, not bothering to look at her or her tears. She blinked them away and inhaled deeply.

"Look." She said. "There's a lot going on in my life right now, things I don't even know how to handle on my own…"

"So then don't handle them on your own. You can tell me, Ella, I can help you!" He said. "Whatever it is, you can trust me with it."

Ella shook her head.

"I don't even know you, and you're asking me to trust you?" She exclaimed.

She knew that she was probably shouting for no reason. Antonio was just trying to help and she knew he meant well, but she was sick of him acting like he knew her better than she knew herself.

"You do know me, Ella! You've known me for a long time; you just didn't bother opening your eyes to figure that out!" He shouted.

Ella's eyes widened at this. What did he mean? How could she have known him for a long time if she had just met him at school when he walked in? He was from Europe for Christ's sake and Ella had never even left her little town!

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ella asked, exasperated.

Antonio leaned over to her this time and took her wrists in his hands, that way she was looking him straight in the eye.

"You know what it means, Ella. You just need to remember." He said, and then he let her go and went back to staring out his window.

Ella sat there, shocked. She looked down at her wrists and felt a tingling sensation where he had touched her. She looked up at Antonio again before leaning back against her seat and staring back out at her own window.

This was the second time that Antonio was insisting she knew who he was, but she still wasn't sure what he meant.

Before she had any more time to think about it, Kristen and Lana had come back into the car. Lana was holding two smoothies, and she handed one to Ella.

"Here…" She said.

Ella shook her head. She was too upset to take the smoothie, and besides, it had a bunch of unwanted calories in it.

Lana shrugged and handed it to Antonio instead. He accepted gratefully and Kristen pulled out of the gas station.

"Did you guys have a good time alone?" Kristen asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Ella said, sarcastically. "The best."

With that she turned to see if Antonio had heard her snide comment. He had, since he was looking at her with blank eyes.

Before he could say anything, however, Ella decided to be the person to give him the silent treatment this time. She gave him one last look before turning her back on him and leaning her forehead against the cool glass of the window.

She had decided that she was done with Antonio and she didn't care that he kept on insisting she knew him.

It was probably some weird way to pick up chicks back where he was from, but Ella wasn't going to be the one to fall for it.

She would show him tonight at the party that she didn't need him and he could stop pretending he knew who she was.

Besides, nobody knew who Ella was these days. Not even herself.