Page 13 of Stuck Behind Her

The car is dark blue with black tinted windows. One of the windows is down and Aurora walks to it and speaks to the person inside.

“Hey, Elias. Is it okay if someone comes with us? She needs a ride home,” she asks him.

“Of course. Who?” I hear him say from inside the car. Is kindness suddenly in the air? Is no one rude anymore? This is when I need it the most.

“Remember Violet? From school today? She’s the girl I ditched you for. Well, turns out she’s Ellie’s sister.”

“Ellie? The friend Elaina doesn’t stop talking about?”

“Yes. And she needs a ride home,” she tells him. I wish I didn’t. I wish Lorenzo waited for me, or that he hadn’t put me in this mess from the beginning. I wish it wasn’t a thirty-minute wait for the bus. He leans to the side, his head popping out of the window slightly.

“Hey, Violet,” he says.

“Hey,” I reply. If they won’t be rude, I won’t be rude either.

“Are you coming willingly or did Aurora force you to?” he asks. Aurora turns and glares at him. She isn’t forcing me, I came willingly, though my sanity begs otherwise.

“She didn’t force me,” I answer. He smiles.

“If you want to go back home, I don’t mind taking you. I have nothing to do anyway,” he says. I frown internally. At this point, the world is picking favorites. First Lorenzo and Elias are in the school, then Ellie is known as my sister, which is still stressing me, and now I have to be driven back by Elias Miller. You know, I never really was planning on truly hating him, but it seems impossible not to now.

I walk toward the car, giving in. You win, Lorenzo. But you’re not passing by so easily. He then leans back in and opens the car door. Aurora enters the car with me.

“You really didn’t have to. I don’t want to waste your time.” He didn’t. I mean, I needed a ride, but definitely not with Roland’s son.

“Don’t worry about it,” he replies. I wish I couldn’t.

The car starts moving and then we’re on the road again. We sit in silence until Aurora asks me a question. “So, how come you’ve changed school mid-year?” My original idea was to say I moved, however that’s now not an option because they know Ellie. I need another excuse.

“There were some problems in my old school,” I tell her.Please don’t ask what school. Please don’t ask what school.

“Well, I hope you end up liking this school. Though it is a school, so I can’t really guarantee that.” Thank God.

“Thanks,” I smile, although I don’t know if she sees me. Just because I despise Elias right now, doesn’t mean I hate her. I can at least show my gratitude to her.

After a few minutes, I tell him where to stop, making sure I’m at least a block away from my house. It’s for the same reason as everything else I’m doing: to keep my personal info secret. Eliasparks on the side of the road, in front of some brick red and white houses and opens the car door opens.

“Again, thank you,” I say, getting out of the car.

“No problem. See you tomorrow,” Elias says before closing the door and driving off. Tomorrow. It’s still the first day. I don’t want to imagine how the other days will be.

Chapter 6 – Settantanove

Val

“You’re going to pick her up. I don’t care where you are or what you are doing. If she’s not back home in thirty minutes, Lorenzo, I’m not going to be happy, I swear to God,” I demand, pacing around the living room.

“But I’m in the middle of nowhere, Val. Why do I have to go?” Lorenzo protests from the other side of the phone.

“Because I feel like making you,” I tell him. For one, he doesn’t get to put me in such an awkward and uncomfortable situation with no consequence. I’m also not going to risk running into the same situation again. So, he’s going to get her whether he likes it or not.

“Come on. Nothing bad happened. You’re alive and intact, which proves my point that they don’t suck. Now you know them better.” He continues to protest.

“Lorenzo,” I warn him.

“Thirty minutes. Got it,” he quickly says before cutting off the call.

I place my phone on the coffee table in the middle of the living room and take a deep breath. I’m going to go insane someday.

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