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Ella

"I swear to God if we don’t find a bathroo to piss in my pants" Lila bounces up and down in the driver’s seat The air conditioner is turned up as high as it will go and "Shake it Out" by Florence + The Machine plays frohway stretched out in front of us, weaving over the hills spotted with trees, sage brush, and the pale pink glow of the sunset

My cell phone is in hs a hundred pounds "You can always pull over and pee behind a bush" I prop my bare feet up on the dash and pull"Besides, we’re like five minutes away from the off-ramp"

"I can’t hold it for five s together "You’re not going to think it’s so funny when the car sh and search the GPS for the nearest restrooht off the exit, but I think it’s more of an outhouse"

"Does it have a toilet?"

"Yes"

"Then it works" Sheoff a silver Honda The Honda lays on its horn and she turns in her seat to flip hier "What a jerk Doesn’t he understand that I have to pee?"

I shake my head I love Lila to death, but sometimes she can be a little self-centered It’s part of what drew me to her; she was so different from my old friends back in Star Grove

My phone beeps again for thefor me Finally, I shut it off

Lila turns down theweird ever since we left Who called you?"

I shrug, gazing out at the grassy field "No one I want to talk to right now"

Five e of town It’s n The field behind it is spotted with corroded cars and trucks and in front of it is a lake

"Oh thank God!" She claps her hands and parks the car "I’ll be right back" She jumps out and shuffles inside the bathroos, trying not to look at the lake or the bridge going over it, butoverhead and out froht I almost jumped If I squint one eye and tilt my head, I can spot it

An old Chevy pickup co up a cloud of dust As it nears, my nose twitches because I knoho it is and he’s one of the last people I want to see The truck stops just outside the peri a tight t-shirt, a snug pair of jeans, and cowboy boots co out

Grantford Davis, town pothead, infauy who dropped o

I bang on the bathroom door "Come on Lila, hurry up"

Grantford looks nition in his eyes, which isn’t surprising I’ve changed since the last tiothic clothes, heavy eyeliner, and tough-girl attitude for a hter and pleasant look, so I blend in with the crowd

"You can’t rush nature, Ella," Lila hisses through the door "Now let me pee in peace"

I watch Grantford like a hawk as he rolls a tire across the field toward his pickup

The bathroo "Gross, it was so disgusting in there I think Iat the toilet" She shivers, wiping her hands on the side of her dress "And there were no paper towels"

Grantford has disappeared, although his truck is still there

I grab Lila’s aro"

Lila elevates her eyebrows questioningly as she tries to keep up with ," I say "There was just this guy over in the field that I really don’t want to talk to"

"Is he an old boyfriend?"

"No, not even close" I trail off as Grantford rounds the bathroorass stains on his jeans "I need to talk to you for athe car door open Please don’t bring up that night Please

Lila freezes as she’s opening the door and her gaze darts toon?"

Grantford tucks his hands into his pockets, staring at the hood of the car "This ain’t your car, is it?"

"No, we just stole it and took it for a joy ride" Shit Tenout "I mean, yes it is - her car anyway" I nodhow fast it goes?" He gives

I was never a fan of Grantford He always had a sleazebag attitude, which was part of the reason why I had hiht - he was the only one I kneould leave me there alone

I can’t help myself "Probably a lot faster than your pick up over there"

He has a shit-eating grin on his face "Is that a challenge?"

I shake et in the car "Nope, that wasn’t a challenge Just a mere observation"

Recollection fills his eyes "Wait ahim, I start to shut the door, but he catches it "Holy crap! I do know you You’re Ella Daniels" His eyes s, cutoff jeans, lacy white tank top, and land on my eyes lined with frosty pink eyeliner "You look different"

"College will do that to you" I scale up his scuffed cowboy boots, his torn jeans, and stained shirt "You haven’t changed a bit"

"I see your ed at all," he snaps "And besides, you didn’t change for the better In fact, you look like you could be friends with Stacy Harris"

"Don’t exaggerate the situation," I say Stacy Harris was a popular girl in our grade; head cheerleader, ho queen, wore a lot of pink

His face scrunches "You didn’t just change on the outside either If anybody would have compared you to Stacy Harris, you’d have punched thein to shut the door again "I have to go"

He co it back open "You ain’t going anywhere until I get so out of you"

"Like a kick to the balls," I threaten, but h, but when it all couy who could easily hurt rey eyes turn black as the sun sets behind the shallow hills "I heard you bailed Packed up your stuff one night and took off Pissed off a lot of people, too The ones that were always protecting you when that uy you were alith"

"Don’t pretend like you don’t know his nahtly uneven I feel out-of-control of the situation and I’et the names of the people whose fist have slaes in his thick neck as he punches the"That night I asted and Micha was completely sober And it was total bull shit that he sucker punched e I mean, you asked me to take you there How the hell was it my fault?"

Apparently, Micha hit him more than once because it’s not the instance I’ at the door handle "I’ to walk away"

"Who are you?" His eyes are all over me

"I’e" Calmly, I close the door "You can drive away now, Lila"

She floors the car backwards and skids it onto the asphalt I don’t look back at Grantford or the bridge I breathe throughto stay cos

"What was that about?" Lila asks "Who was that creep?"

I buckle uy I used to know fro to kill you or so Maybe we should call the police"

Flashbacks of s are around here Besides, he was all bark and no bite TrustI did"

Her eyes enlarge and she grips the steering wheel "What did you do?"