Chapter 47: Bad News
"You have to figure something out Zac. Soon." said Taylor.
Zac nodded.
"I know Tay, I just don't know what to do. I don't want to ask Ellie out because it might hurt the friendship if something were to happen between us."
"Zac, you cant worry about that. You just have to decide what you want. You can't be that cautious. It makes you paranoid."
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Ellie sat on the floor of Lindsay's basement with Lindsay, Leigh, Isaac, Josh, Chris, Amy and August. They were having so much fun. Everyone had a plate of pizza and a pop in front of them, they were all enjoying themselves. Ellie glanced at the clock. It read 11:25.
"Whoa, hey, I gotta go. Jen told me to be home at 11:30. We're having some sort of ‘family meeting'. I'll see you all later!" Ellie said with a smile.
"Hey Ell, why not ask to spend the night?"
Ellie grinned.
"Ok, I'll do that. I'll either call or show up here, ok?" Ellie said, heading for the stairs.
"Ok, cool. Cya!" Lindsay called after her.
A chorus of goodbye's followed Ellie up the stairs. She trudged up the stairs and threw her plate away. She walked to the front door and opened it, stepped out and shut it. She glanced around and sighed. All she wanted was for Zac to be there. He didn't have to ask her out or even talk to her, she just wanted him there. She shrugged and started walking thru the neighborhood en route to her house.
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"Zac, we should probably head back to Lindsay's. Our stuff's still there."
Zac looked up at Taylor.
"I can't Tay. I can't go back there. Not right now."
"Why not Zac?" asked Taylor.
Zac sighed and threw another stone into the lake.
"I can't face Ellie.
It was Taylor's turn to sigh.
"Ok Zac, how about this. You head home, and I'll go back to Lindsay's, get Ike and what stuff I can, and then we can talk about this at home."
Zac nodded and got up.
"Thanks Tay. I owe you one."
Taylor chuckled.
"Zac, you owe me a million!"
The two brothers laughed and went their separate ways.
Zac walked slowly down his street, his hands in his pockets and his head down. He glanced up every so often, so not to run into anything. Once, he glanced up and saw Ellie headed to her house. She saw him too and stopped. They stood and watched each other, silently. Their eyes were locked, wondering and asking questions. Questions that neither could answer. Zac regretfully bowed his head again and headed into his house.
Ellie sighed and opened the door. She stepped in and shut and locked the door behind her. The light in the back room was on, and she headed towards it. She entered the room, and found Brad, Jen and her dad sitting in there silently. Brad looked unhappy.
"Whats going on?" she asked.
Three heads turned towards her.
"Sit down honey." said Jen gently.
Ellie obeyed, sitting down next to Brad quickly.
"Ok, now Ellie, honey, I have some bad news." her dad began.
Ellie drew in a sharp breath and prepared herself to hear the news. Her dad continued.
"Honey, I'm being transferred."
Ellie looked as if the wind had just been knocked out of her and the color drained from her face. She cleared her throat and blinked back tears. She felt Brad's strong hand on her shoulder.
"Transferred?" she whispered hoarsely.
Tears began to slide down her cheeks. She tried to speak but was unable to.
"We just got here......we can't move!"
"Honey, the company needs me to move. I have no choice. Its either go or lose my job. We have to go."
"Daddy! We just got here! I'm supposed to start school here! This always happens! Always!"
The tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking.
"Honey, its me job. I'm sorry. We have to leave next week. You'll be going to school once we get settled."
"Next week!? Well thanks for giving me some notice Dad. I would've liked to know earlier!!"
"I'm sorry Ellie, I just found out this morning."
Ellie wiped her eyes.
"Where exactly are we moving this time!? Can I know that or are you not going to tell me that until the last minute either?!"
Her dad stood up.
"Elizabeth Marie, you will cut the attitude right this minute. It stops now, do you understand me? You will not yell at me. Now I'm sorry about that, but theres nothing I can do." he demanded.
Ellie pursed her lips as the tears fell harder.
"We're moving to Cleveland, Ohio."
"Ohio! It has to be that far, doesn't. It always has to be far away from my friends!"
"Elizabeth!! Its not that far away, and you can come back to visit!" he yelled.
Ellie stood up and shook her head. She laughed.
"You always say that Daddy. But I never get to visit. I'm going back to Lindsay's. I don't want to be here right now."
"No Elizabeth, you're staying right here."
"Daddy. I'm going to Lindsay's. My name is Ellie. I will be back tomorrow."
With that, she turned on her heal and walked out of the house. Her dad sunk down in his chair, stunned.
"Mike, just let her go. She needs to blow off some steam." insisted Jen. "All this moving is hard on her, you know that."
Mike nodded. Brad got up and left the room silently.
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Ellie ran as fast as she could through the neighborhood. She wanted to see her friends as soon as she could. She was still crying, so hard that she could hardly see. It was dark, she was crying, and she was just running. She realized that she was running in no specific direction. She stopped and looked around. All of the sudden, someone bumped into her from behind. She screamed and jumped.
Chapter Fourty-Eight
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