Page 43 of Unspoken Words
Ellie
“Ellie, what about your cheesecake?”Mum called out, as I stormed past my family and slammed the door to my bedroom.
“Life doesn’t revolve around cheesecake, Mum,” I shouted back, slumping to the floor, my back pressed to the door.
I wished it did. I wished all problems were nothing more than cream cheese and a biscuit base, but they weren’t. They were jealous boyfriends, slutty neighbours, a super sweet friend who fancied you, and many other things I preferred not to worry about until I had to, like taxes and mortgages. Lifewasn’tcheesecake.
“Stupid, vampire whore.” I kicked off my Chucks and pulled some bobby pins out of my hair, one snagging a few strands as it was removed. “Ow!” I threw them at my vanity desk before dropping my head to my hands, tears springing from my eyes.
I hated when Connor and I fought. I hated when he was right, and I hated that he hated the play. I’d wantedsomuch for him to be proud of me and my song, a song he’d inspired. Instead, he’d been more focussed on Tristan.Stupid, jealous jerk.
So what if Tristan liked me more than he should. He was my friend and nothing more. Tristan hadn’t crossed any lines or painted Connor in a bad light, and he certainly hadn’t touched me like Connor said he had. That was just ridiculous.Ugh!My boyfriend wore green better than The Hulk.
“Elliephant, you all right?”
“Go away,” I snapped.
I heard a thud followed by a scrape, which sounded like Chris’s back sliding down the other side of my bedroom door. “You need me to kick Bourke’s arse?”
“Yes,” I sulked.
“Okay. Done.”
I wiped tears from my nose and sniffed. “Good.”
“You wanna tell me what I’m kicking his arse for?”
“Not really.”
“Okay.”
We fell silent for a few seconds until my brother did what all brothers were good at—he farted.
Scampering away from the door like a spider on roller skates, I couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh my God! You’re so disgusting.”
My door flew open and Chris fell into my room, belly-laughing on the floor.
“Get out!” I half-yelled half-laughed, one hand pointing at the hallway the other covering my nose.
He wouldn’t move, so I grabbed my can of Impulse and sprayed him as if he were an insect, which he kinda was.
Reaching up, he snatched the can from my hands and pulled me down, securing me in his arms. “Breathe in. It will take your mind off your dickhead boyfriend.”
“Let me go.” I tried to wrestle out of his arms but he was too strong. “Chris!”
“Tell me what he did and I’ll release you from my stench.”
I stopped struggling. “He called me a liar.”
Chris let me go, so I edged away and propped myself against the bed.
“Did you lie?”
“No. Not exactly.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t! I just … I just didn’t tell him that Tristan was my boyfriend in the play, let alone a part of the play in the first place.”
