Snippet #1870601

He had been watching her for the past hour, his brown eyes meeting her green ones in the rearview mirror. She’d pretended not to notice at first, but as the ride continued, it was harder and harder not to return his gaze. He was pretty attractive, really. For a cabbie, anyway. She wondered what he was like: if he had a family, if he was in school. He seemed pretty young to be driving a cab, but then again, the majority of the cab drivers she’d had the pleasure to interact with barely knew English. This one was refreshing.

According to the ID tag that hung from the rearview, his name was Eddie. He’d picked her up at her parents’ house because her parents had simply been ‘too busy’ to take her back to school… just as they were ‘too busy’ to pick her up at the start of this mandatory break… and just as they’d been ‘too busy’ to even have one meal with her while she’d been home. The house didn’t feel like home. It never had. But then again, no place really did. It was a good thing Ellie knew how to call a cab and make macaroni and cheese… it wasn’t like her parents would have the time to do anything for her anyway.

When she’d gotten into the cab, Ellie had put her earbuds in so that she wouldn’t have to make idle chitchat with a complete stranger. On long drives like this, cab drivers seemed to want to talk. Talking was the last thing Ellie wanted to do. Ever. However, this driver… Eddie… the way he was looking at her in the rearview… Well, it just piqued her interest. She caught his eyes in the rearview and held them, a tiny almost flirtatious smirk on her lips, wondering how long it would be before he looked away, keeping his eyes on the road like a good little driver. He held her gaze longer than she expected. When he looked away, she pulled the earbuds from her ears and leaned against the door, bringing her feet onto the back seat, slipping her hand down to pull the hem of her skirt up slightly.

“So, your name is Eddie?” she asked, immediately regretting it. She’d never been good at conversation, and flirtation wasn’t something at which she considered herself particularly skilled.

His eyes met hers again, but then his hand lifted to adjust the rearview mirror slightly so he could see her legs better. “Yeah,” he nodded, shifting his eyes back to the road.

Ellie tried to think of what to say next, but came up blank. Instead, she stared out the far window, watching the world rush past, taking her back to school. She didn’t want to go back. Hell, she didn’t want to go in the first place… but her father had insisted. He insisted on Ellie’s attendance at Archer’s Academy for Accelerated Learners… but mainly because he overheard the Kaplans talking about it being the school to which they were sending their daughter. And, in her father’s circle, one must never be outdone.

“Was that Cage the Elephant?” his voice permeated her thoughts and she looked at him questioningly. “That you were listening to earlier? Cage the Elephant?”

Ellie looked down at the mp3 player in her hand, brows furrowed. He’d heard her music? “Yeah,” she nodded. She glanced back up to him, and judging by the side of his face, he was grinning as he reached for the CD player in the cab and turned the volume up on ‘Always Something.’ She smiled and leaned her head back against the window, closing her eyes and mouthing the lyrics.

’It’s always something, before the late night. Around the corner, there’s always something waiting for you. Can’t hold the hands back, can’t make the sun rise. It’s always something, you know it’s always something.’

And it was always something, wasn’t it? Here she was going back to a school she hated... but then again, was it any better to be invisible at school than it was to be invisible at home?

“I’m digging this song right now,” Eddie offered. “I like the key… it’s different.”

Ellie looked up at him again and nodded. “Yeah, it’s alright.” Why had she wanted to talk to him again? Oh yeah… because for once she didn’t feel invisible. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to look at her. The attention was nice.

Ellie looked down at her phone, wishing someone would call or text her so that she could look like she had friends or something, but the entire ride, there had been nothing but silence from her phone. She didn’t really have any friends that would call her anyway…. At least she could pretend like she was tapping out a text. She moved her thumbs over the screen for a few moments before noting the time. Surely everyone was already at school… not that they’d notice that she wasn’t… But she still hated being late, even if the place she was late to was not someplace she wanted to be.

“So, you go to Archers?”

Ellie nodded, crossing her arms to emphasize her cleavage and inwardly smirked slightly as he adjusted the rearview again. “Yeah,” she nodded. “Not by choice.”

He chuckled, his eyes meeting her chest before lifting to her eyes in the reflection. “Wasn’t there a girl that died there just a few days ago? Did you know her?”

And just like that, Ellie shut down. Once again, Sarah Kaplan had to ruin everything for her. Just when she thought she might have a chance with someone actually being interested in her, up pops Sarah… go figure. Ellie shifted her legs down, pulling down the hem of her skirt as she did so. She also uncrossed her arms and popped her earbuds back in. “She’s dead,” Ellie muttered and turned her music back on, this time flipping on ‘Labyrinth’ by Oomph. Loud German metal filtered through her ears and she looked out the window, ignoring Eddie the cab driver with the roving eyes the rest of the way to the school.

--------------

When they arrived, the cars that had once been in line in front of the gate had since cleared. Eddie hopped out to help Ellie get her suitcase from the trunk. “Hey, listen, I’m sorry if I offended you. You seem like a cool chick… when you need a ride home again, call my company and ask for me…”

But Ellie was already walking toward the school after having pressed a handful of money into his hand. He stood a few moments, watching her walk before shaking his head and getting back into the cab and driving away.

Ellie lugged her suitcase through the courtyard, ignoring everyone she saw. Over by the fountain, she noticed a makeshift shrine set up for the dearly departed and she rolled her eyes. “Jesus,” she whispered to herself. “She killed herself… it’s not like she’s a freaking martyr or anything. God, you people are weak…”

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she looked at it strangely. It didn’t do that often, so she stopped right where she was and flipped open the text message.

I’M STILL HERE!!!

Unknown number.

It was probably meant for someone else… mis-texted to her by accident. Happened all the time. After all, her number was extremely similar to Sarah’s… go figure, right? Definitely a mis-text. She nearly responded back with a 'wrong number' text, but instead, Ellie’s eyes slipped over the pictures and flowers, the students standing around and uttering whispered phrases of sadness. Again, Ellie rolled her eyes and continued toward her assigned room. “Yeah, you sure are,” she muttered to nobody. “You sure are.”