"You know what you need? A friend." said Sammie, "You need someone who you trust, with anything and that you never think that you'll fight over stupid boys and break apart." Ellie silently chuckled, although she wasn't sure whether or not such an action was appropriate.
"There's no way you can screw anything up, Ellie. I promise. Now, I want to be your friend. Maybe best friend one day. But, I want to be there when you have some panic attack. I can help you. I promise." Sammie then smiled beautifully, and hugged her again. Ellie could see that she was crying. She was surprised how direct Sammie was. Sometimes stating things simply was better than sugarcoating everything, and right now, Gabriella Wicks wasn't in the mood to be elaborate. "We've both when there other is, so let me help you. Alright?"
Ellie turned her head to Sammie, smiled, and nodded. "Alright."
"First of all, I don't care who he is, but he's obviously not good enough for you if he's no begging you to be back in his life. I learned that the hard way."
Ellie could feel her throat go dry. Sammie didn't understand. The man who she had been crying over had no life. In fact, Ellie had taken it from him. She did not want him back in her life...in fact, she wanted to forget about him. But would she tell that to Sammie? No. If there was one thing she had learned in the past two years, it was that innocence, something that most people she knew took for granted, was indeed bliss. She didn't tell Sammie not because she disliked her, but on the contrary, she wanted to protect her spirit.
"Second, you're perfect just the way you are. We all have our downfalls. For you it would be the PTSD. But you can overcome it. " She smiled again, and Ellie gave a genuine smile back.
"You know what? You're right. You are absolutely right." she said. She opened up her noteback, turning to the page she had covered in black sharpie marker. She ripped the 'YOU SUCK' in half, and crumpled the paper in her hand, and threw it in the garbage beside her. Ellie then pulled out her phone, sending a new text to Khloe.
To: Khloe
From: Ellie
Disregard that last text. I'm not leaving. Sorry for the trouble.
She then looked at Sammie, contentment sparkling in her eyes. "You're a really good person, y'know that?" she said, "You're amazing Sammie. C'mon, let's go back."
She put her heels back on, and tread the sidewalk like she had done before. Only this time, she walked more slowly and steadily. Something in Ellie's mind had clicked. Jokingly, she put the flower crown from her bag on Sammie's head, and began to think to herself. Had she come to terms with the events that had happened two years ago? Possibly. But the unexplainable happiness bubbling from inside of her came from something else. After living each day feeling mortal and weak, she finally knew that people cared about her. There were people in her life who actually hated to see her hurt. In her past life, she was brainwashed to believe that such a statement wasn't true. And now she felt free from this curse that had binded her, and she knew that if trouble came again, a helping hand would come.
She wasn't alone, and she wouldn't make herself alone anymore. And she made a promise to herself that this moment inbetween childhood and young adulthood, whatever it was, would be a new chapter. Not a moving on, but a fresh start. Like she had done after middle school, Ellie would just have to run away. She'd embrace the change, as well as this last time with her friends.