Page 8 of The Boy I Once Loved

I shrug and return my eyes to the view outside the car. I hear him chuckle and look over and he gestures to my leg, which is bobbing up and down to the beat of the song. Frowning at him, I cross my legs in an attempt to stop my body from responding to the music. A few minutes later, we pull up outside Connor's house. The door opens and Connor bounds down the drive and he smiles widely when he sees me sitting in the front.

“Ella, girl. You came!” The surprise is obvious in his voice.

"He bullied me into it," I tell him and I see Dylan smirk at my words.

Connor playfully pats both my shoulders from where he sits behind me. “This is like the good old days. Remember when we made that den on the back field?”

I laugh. "Err when who made the den? If I remember rightly, Dyl and I made it and you and Luke Bennett gate crashed."

“Hey! I helped put the tyre swing up,” he protests. That summer had been fun. We spent weeks making a den in a circular area between some trees on the field at the back of our houses. We had argued for days about the name of the den. I had wanted to call it Hogmeade because I was obsessed with the HP books. Dylan had wanted to call it Isengard in reference to Lord of Rings, and Connor had wanted us to call it Asgard because he loved the marvel world and Thor.

We arrive at the house and I can hear loud music coming from inside. This looks like a house party to me.

“I thought this was a quiet thing?”

Dylan shrugs his shoulders and grins at me. “Your mum wouldn’t have let you come if she knew it was a party.”

I follow behind them up the steep driveway. He doesn't knock he just opens the door and heads inside. As soon as I'm inside, I veer off to the room on my immediate right. I see Dylan turn around and look confused when he can't see me. I duck behind a tall guy and push my way through the crowd. The place is packed. Girls look at me in my leggings and hoody and they give me disapproving looks. I weave my way through the main living room and out to an open plan room that backs out onto the back garden. The full back wall has glass sliding doors that are open. I stand on my tiptoes to glance around the room, seeing if I can spot Dylan. Sighing with relief that he doesn't seem to be in this part of the house, I head over to where I can see the drinks. I pour myself a coke and lean against the kitchen counter and people watch. I love people watching.

“Well, well, it’s pretty girl.” A deep voice whispers in my ear, making me jump. I turn and find the boy with the copper-coloured hair from my class today. He wears black ripped jeans and an eighties rock band t-shirt.

"Actually, my name is Ella, not pretty girl," I tell him, a brow cocked. I hope he doesn't think his smooth lines will work on me.

He grins at my response and holds out a hand. “I’m Danny.”

I look at his hand and I reluctantly shake it.

“So new girl, you arrived with Dylan.”

I roll my eyes. “Unfortunately for me, I did.”

He furrows his brows. “You don’t sound happy about that?”

I snigger and I bury my face in my cup as I take another drink. “Dylan’s not somebody I want to spend my time with. We hate each other.”

“That so?” He gestures with his head out at the crowd. “In that case, I should probably warn you he is on his way over.”

I follow his eyes and see Dylan pushing through the crowd, his eyes on me. Luckily, he’s stopped by everyone he passes.

"Thanks for the heads-up Danny." I offer him a quick smile before I disappear into the crowd. I worm my way through to the outside and wander around outside for a while. Eventually, I get bored and head back inside. I make my way through to the lounge area and hesitate when I see Dylan and Connor sitting on the sofa. A pretty blonde with bobbed hair sits on his lap and I roll my eyes.

“Ella. Over here!” Connor stands up and shouts to me, smiling and beckoning me over with his hand. Realising I have no choice but to go over, I weave my way through to them. The girl in Dylan’s lap scrutinises me as I walk over.

“Where did you disappear to, girl?” Connor asks me.

“Here and there,” I reply with a shrug of my shoulders.

Connor shakes his head, smiling. “Anyone would think you were avoiding us.”

“Who, me?” I ask, feigning innocence. Dylan has deposited the girl off his lap and he’s sitting there looking at me with an irritated look on his face. His stare makes me feel uncomfortable. I gesture over my shoulder. “Anyway, I’m going to go mingle.” I turn to scarper off, but a hand grabs me by the waist and pulls me down on to the sofa.

“What the?” I find myself sandwiched between Dylan and Connor. Connor chuckles and takes a sip of his beer. I turn to scowl at Dylan. “Did you just manhandle me?”

Dylan’s eyes meet mine, and he leans into my ear. “Stop running from me, El.”

I turn sideways so I can better look at him. “When are you going to accept that I don’t want us to be friends?”

He leans in, his face is inches from mine, and I gulp. “Never.”

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