Page 46 of When Ellie Falls in Love

“I’m a nineties baby, thank you.”

“Well, regardless, I’ve never seen it.”

“Wow, our parents really failed you there.” Mason shook her head as she laughed. “Okay, it’s settled. We’re having a movie night. I need to educate you.”

“What are you educating her on?” Chase walked into the apartment carrying a few blankets from the main house. Her service dog, Scout, was by her side as usual.

“Ellie’s never seenMystic Pizza.”

“Well, it came out before her time.”

“By about thirty years,” Ellie added.

“Eighteen,” Mason corrected. “But I get the point. She’s a baby. I keep forgetting.”

“I’m not a baby.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s right.”

Ellie could tell by the playful tone in Mason’s voice that she was about to tease her.

“Chase, did you know our musings over Ellie and Sadie are true?”

“Oh, God.” Ellie buried her face into a pillow as Chase walked over to the bed.

She was Sadie’scousin. Ellie didn’t need her to know that information. Granted, if what Mason said was true, Chase already knew it by their hug after the play.

“Aww, Ellie,” Chase sat down on the opposite side of the bed, “that’s sweet. You two would make a cute couple. We all thought so.”

“Geez, thanks.” Slowly, Ellie pulled the pillow away from her face and looked up at Chase. “Was it really as obvious as Mason said?”

“Oh honey,” Chase laughed, “even Everleigh mentioned it.”

Ellie shot a glare at Mason, who held up her hands in response. “What? I told youeveryonenoticed?”

“But I didn’t know it was so obvious that a twelve-year-old noticed. Ugh!” Standing, Ellie began to pace the floor in front of the bed. “Oh, my God. If Everleigh noticed, that means Delaney and Charlie probably noticed, too.”

“They did,” Chase interjected.

“Great, so noweveryoneknows I like Sadie, butSadie.Wonderful.”

Dramatically falling onto the end, Ellie stared up at the ceiling.Is this what having a crush feels like? Is your family always supposed to embarrass you?Ellie didn’t know.

Nor did she know how she was ever going to be able to look Sadie in the eyes again. What if she didn’t like Ellie? Not the way Ellie liked her at least. What if the reason they hadn’t kissed the other night was because Sadie didn’t want to and not because Everleigh showed up. Her mind was racing.

“El, for what it’s worth,” Chase’s voice was soft as she spoke, “I think Sadie feels the same way.”

Chase winked, making Ellie suddenly nervous. And yet she couldn’t stop the smile from spreading widely on her face.

Chapter 16

Sadie

Softball had been Sadie’s safe space since the moment she’d first picked up a bat and stepped up to the tee at four-years-old. Sadie felt she had been chosen to play the sport by some god-like creature. There was no other way she could describe how at home she felt on the field, especially on the pitcher’s mound.

Even if Abigail had been trying to take her solace from her the last few weeks. It seemed as if neither Abigail nor the rest of the team cared that they were one game away from heading to the state playoff for the last time. Most of their teammates were seniors, and Sadie wasn’t about to let Abigail ruin their chances of winning. Again. The Moonflower Cove High School softball team had been to the state semi-finals for the last two years, and Sadie was determined to make it a third time.

She just needed her teammates to stop being dicks.

---