Ellen (Ellie) Sandoval's Story

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.

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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.”

Ok, so, realistically, what was the likelihood of all of this?

She read the message over a couple of times, looking between it and the number, and attempting to place any kind of familiarity. She noticed that Alex had flipped open his phone, acquiring a look of surprise that wasn't unlike her own. She saw confusion, and what looked like a spark of hope. She stared.

What was the honest likelihood of them receiving the same text message? Lo and behold, he flipped the phone around, showing her the message that mirrored the one on her phone. She was about to say something when he took her arm and drew her off to the side.

"Someone's playing a sick joke." she told him, understanding the look in his eyes almost immediately. "Really. Sarah..." her voice choked off, cheeks flushing for just a moment as a flash of Sarah as Cassidy had last seen her fluttered before her mind's eye. "Someone got a hold of all of our numbers and decided to send this out. It isn't funny, and I'm not going to give it any stock."

She said all of this even as another student, a girl that Cassidy vaguely recognized came walking up to the pair.

"Did one of you send this to me?" she asked with a lifted brow, her gum cracking between every other word. Cassidy shook her head, idly gesturing to her own phone.

"I got the same message. So did Alex." she replied with a shrug. The girl gave them both a look that said she didn't quite believe them, before lifting her shoulder in a shrug, deleting the message in the same motion, and turning to walk away. When Cassidy turned to look back to Alex, she thought she caught sight of another girl walking in the distance, someone Cassidy knew from a few classes they'd taken together.

She also knew that the other girl was her new room-mate.

"Tonight," she told Alex. "I'll meet you back here? After hours? We can just kind of..talk?" She searched his eyes for a moment before slipping her arms around his waist in a hug, then went off to go meet up with Ellie.

"Hey!" she called, slowing her jog and beginning to walk apace with the other girl. "I'm Cassidy. I think we're going to be rooming together, so I just...wanted to introduce myself before-hand..."

Headphones. Ellie was wearing them. Cassidy smiled a bit nervously and hoped that she wouldn't have to repeat herself.

After leaving Mrs. Rushing’s office, Jonathan meandered through the halls, taking up shop at a window in a stairwell. From this vantage point, he could observe the other students milling around the makeshift memorial set up for Sarah. Specifically, he had his eye on Cassidy. As he watched her, his mind began to wander.

She hadn’t been half bad in the sack. Granted, she wasn’t the best. Inexperience and uncertainty did not lend themselves to the confidence he generally preferred. But she’d been so damn eager to please him, and that made it very worth it for him. Very worth it indeed. He looked over the memorial dispassionately for a moment before looking back to Cassidy. Seeing her hug another guy, he leaned closer, narrowing his eyes. Oh ho! Competition in this game? Fabulous.

Trying to ignore the lingering scent of Mrs. Rushing’s unique perfume, he contemplated his game plan until the buzzing of his phone drew him from his reverie. Annoyed, figuring Dierdre was texting him to apologize, he pulled the phone from his pocket disinterestedly and stared down at the message. ‘I’M STILL HERE.’ Unknown number. Interesting. Which past conquest was this? Deciding it didn’t matter, he locked his phone and slid it back into his pocket, looking back out the window to notice that Cassidy and the guy she was standing with were also looking to their phones. Curious, he looked closer and noticed that a few people in the crowd were doing the same. The brunette chick he’d slept with last year. And that redhead weirdo.

Noticing that Cassidy was on the move, he decided that now was probably a very good time to intercept her. Especially after spending so long at Sarah’s memorial. Surely she’d need a compassionate shoulder to cry on. Straightening his collar, he made his way out to intercept her, only to find her in conversation with the aforementioned redhead. Great.

“Ladies,” he greeted, affixing his most winning (yet sincere) smile.

It was that awkward moment where she knew that the person she was talking to was merely humoring her for no other reason than to humor her. When Cassidy looked at Ellie, all she could see was this stern, guarded look behind her eyes. It made the other girl nervous, especially since she didn’t know Ellie all that well.

Then, when it became really apparent that Ellie knew who she was, Cassidy felt that familiar surge of embarrassment for not having recognized this girl. Strike one, it seemed. She was about to open her mouth to speak, to say something to rectify her major social blunder, when Ellie suddenly asked her about the paper in English Comp.

“I did, actually.” She said with a slight lift to her brows. “And if I know Ms. Sweeney, it’d take hell and high water for her to decide to give us some kind of lee-way on homework.

It was true that she was Sarah Kaplan’s best friend at one point, but the last thing she wanted to do was talk about the dead girl too. There was so much drama behind the pair of them, stuff that the vast majority of people didn’t even know about. It made her nervous to dwell on it for too long. So, she didn’t. Her hand fished into her pocket when she remembered that text, flipping it open and scanning over the words.

Almost angrily, she hit the ‘delete’ button.

“Well, since I was an idiot and didn’t remember your name, can I make it up to you by getting you coffee before class starts?” Cassidy asked, giving Ellie a small, but genuine smile.

”Ladies.”

Oh, there was a voice she knew she wasn’t ready to hear.

Turning slightly, she watched as Johnathan approached, all self-important and confident like everyone knew he was. She licked her lips, her steps slowing as he approached, and lifted her hand in a slight wave.

“Hey John.” She said, offering him a nervous smile. “Um…Ellie and I were just heading off to class. Maybe..we could catch up later?”

Or never.

She looked around for Alex, realizing he’d disappeared to talk to someone else, and then shifted to look at Ellie. “Coffee then?”

Lifting an eyebrow, Ellie looked at Cassidy. Coffee? Ellie glanced back toward the room she would be sharing with Cassidy and shrugged. “Sure,” she agreed. Her agreement was not because she actually wanted to have coffee with the girl… but more because she didn’t want to go into their shared room just yet. There was nothing that made her feel more trapped than the small shared dormitory rooms… and always with a roommate that wanted to talk… or that pretended that Ellie didn’t even exist. Always that. No middle ground.

As Ellie’s eyes moved over to Jonathan, she considered him for a moment. Despite the fact that he seemed to only have eyes for Cassidy, he had included Ellie in that plural greeting, hadn’t he? She looked between the two of them for a moment before taking a step back. “If you’d rather have coffee with him, it’s okay,” she muttered, tugging her sleeves down.

Blown him off. She’d blown him off. That was unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. Hiding his frown behind a confident grin, Jonathan positioned himself between Cassidy and the mostly empty hallway, resting a hand against the wall and leaning, taking up most of the corridor and effectively blocking her path. “Ah, Cassidy, I was wanting to speak with you.” His eyes never left her face. Instead, they bored into her own eyes, ignoring Ellie completely. “I wanted to offer my condolences. Nasty business, this stuff with Sarah. It just doesn’t make sense. You know, that night, I was walking through campus, and I swear I saw—“ He trailed off, shifting his eyes to Ellie before clearing his throat. “Well, I’ll tell you later what I saw.” His eyes lingered on the awkward redhead for a few moments before he straightened and removed his arm, allowing the two access to the corridor again, once more staring intently at Cassidy. “Please, come see me when you have a moment. There is something I would like to discuss with you.” One more pointed look to Ellie. “Alone.”

Cassidy nodded, but not necessarily because she wanted to go. She was willing to agree to just about anything if it meant getting Jonathan away from the pair of them. "You have my number." she told him, stepping back and glancing to Ellie.

"Uh, later."

She started to walk away, glancing at Ellie to make sure she was still following. As they walked, side-by-side, Cassidy kept her thoughts to herself, if only for a moment.

"Look...this isn't easy for either of us, but since we're sharing a dorm room we're going to have to establish a couple of things so we don't end up wanting to kill each other by the end of the semester." It wasn't hard to tell that Ellie was uncomfortable. Cassidy wasn't all that eager either. She would have preferred to be in a private room. "I mean, I'd like for us to be amiable, at least, but I won't bother you if you don't want to be."

She knew Ellie was the loner type, from what she'd gleaned from Sarah. In fact, Sarah hadn't much liked the girl, something that surprised Cassidy.

She couldn't help sensing that there had been mutual dislike.

Jonathan chuckled quietly. “Yes, I have your number,” he muttered, allowing his eyes to roam over Cassidy’s body as she walked away. “I definitely have your number.” As they disappeared around a corner, Jonathan ran a hand through his hair and turned to walk the other way, whistling to himself as he began planning.

Ellie fell into step beside Cassidy and dug her hands deep into her pockets, her shoulders hunched up as she listened. “Amiable,” she repeated, falling silent for a few steps. “Look, I’m not the type that enjoys slumber parties and gossiping and telling secrets and pillow fights and whatever else you normal girls do. It’s not my scene. I’m not looking for a friend, so don’t feel like you need to try to force yourself to like me. Previous roommates have found that pretending I don’t exist seems to work pretty well for them.”

"Well, I'm not going to ignore you, but I'm not going to paint your fingernails and play dress-up either."

She swallowed.

"Sometimes, it feels better knowing that there's someone out there to be lonely with."

She shifted her gaze to the ground, picking up a hand and running it through her hair. "But, like I said, wont' force anything on you."

A small snort escaped Ellie and she stared straight ahead as they walked. “Yeah. Like you’re lonely.” The scoff and disbelief was impossible to ignore.

A sudden flare of barely suppressed anger made her breath cut off in her throat.

"Oh, thank God. I thought I was going to have a boring room-mate who couldn't read my thoughts."

Rolling her jaw, she wordlessly stalked past Ellie, disappearing around the corner and on out of sight.

So much for the coffee date.

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Later on, Cassidy had her phone in-hand during class, shooting off a text to Alex that she felt was a necessary one to send.

Meeting up with Jon later since he asked. Going to the run down building. Meet us there around midnight so I don't have to suffer him by myself?

She breathed a sigh, sending the message and snapping the phone shut before tilting her head back against the back of her chair.