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Ella

"I take it that’s Micha?" Lila wanders around htens a loose ribbon on the waist of her floral dress "He’s even cuter than in the picture"

"Yep, that would be Micha" I kick a box across the stained linoleuht on It looks the salass table, and yellow and brown countertops

"So just your dad lives here?" Lila circles the sers on the countertop next to the kitchen sink where e the wall

"Yeah My older brother raduated" I adjust the handle ofand head for the stairway The house sed plaid sofa is vacant, and the ash tray on the coffee table is spilling over with cigarette butts The television is on so I shut it off

"So where’s your dad?" Lila wonders as we climb up the stairs

"I’m not sure," I avoid the truth, because he’s probably at the bar

"Okay, where’s your mom?" she probes "You never told me where she lives"

Lila doesn’t knowher in the dark, about my mom, my brother - everyone in this aspect of my life - has allowed me to transform into someone who doesn’t have to deal with hts," I o She lives up on Cherry hill"

She leans forward to study a portrait of my mother displayed on the wall; the sareen eyes as me Her smile was just as fake as mine, too "Is this your mom?" She asks and I nod "She looks just like you"

My chest tightens and I quickly trot to the top of the stairway At the end of the hall, the bathroom door is wide open The corner of the porcelain tub and the stain on the tile floor is in hter as thewith panic

"Baby girl," she said "I’o take a nap, just for a little while I’ll be back in just a bit"

My knees treen flows through ain

"So where does your brother live?" Lila peers inside uitar picks, CDs, and records There’s a bunch of band posters taped to the wall and a guitar up on a o"

"You think?"

I shrug "We don’t have the best relationship

She nods, like she understands "So is he in a band?"

"I’ since his stuff’s here, probably not," I say "He only played because he was friends with Micha and he’s in a band Or was I have no idea what he does anymore"

"Ella, did you lose touch with everyone in your life?" Lila accuses, tucking the pillow under her ar confrontation, I turn on ht It’s like a museum of my past Sheets of my artwork are tacked to the walls, trimmed with a black skeleton border Micha put up ere twelve to uitar picks line the far dresser and there is a pile of my boots in the corner My bed is made with the same purple comforter and there’s a plate with a half-eaten cookie on it, which is growing mold

I toss the cookie into the trash Hasn’t my dad been in here since I left?

Lila picks up a guitar and plops down on the bed "I didn’t know you played" She positions the guitar on her lap and strus "I alanted to learn how to play, but my mom would never let me take lessons You should teachon the floor "That’s Micha’s guitar His initials are on the back"

She turns it over and looks at the initials "So the hot guy from next door is also a musician God, I’ over anyone in this neighborhood," I advise "And since when are you intoabout liking guys who can play the guitar"

"Since they look like him" She points over her shoulder toward Micha’s house, which is visible through theofwith sexiness"

Jealousy growls in my chest and I mentally whisper for it to shut up I pick up a photo of my , and the sun is bright against our squinting eyes It rips at my heart and I let the photo fall back onto the desk "There’s a trundle under the bed that you can sleep on if you want"

"Sounds good" She slides the guitar off her lap and goes over to the , drawing the curtain back "Maybe we should go to the party It looks kind of fun"

I gatherthe trundle out from under the bed "No offense, Lila, but I don’t think you can handle one of Micha’s parties Things can get a little bit crazy"

She narrows her eyes at me, insulted "I can handle parties It’s you that never wanted to go to any of the to, you just stood in the corner, drinking water and sulking"

I flop down on the bed withlike a college frat party They’re the kind of parties you wake up from the next day on a park bench with no shoes on and a tattoo on your back, with no recollection of what happened the night before"

"Oh ot that tattoo on your back - the one you refuse to tell me what it means" She lies on the bed next to

"Itthe tattoo on my lower back, and drape my arm over my forehead "And I don’t refuse to talk about it I just can’t reivesface and bats her eyelashes "Pretty please, with a cherry on top This o to a party like this The ones at hborhood consist of line" When I don’t respond, she adds, "You owe iving you a ride here"

"Please don’t ether "Please"

She rolls onto her stomach and props up on her elbows "He’s an old boyfriend, isn’t he? You were lying I knew it No one can draw a picture like that of someone they’ve never loved"

"Micha and I have never dated" I insist with a heavy sigh "If you really want to go see what these parties are all about, I’ll take you down there, but I’ive in because deep down I’m curious to check up on the world I left behind

She claps her hands ani out theone last ti on the roof"

They say curiosity killed the cat "Coet this over with"

About fifteen years ago, this town used to be a decent place to live Then the factory that supplied jobs to almost the entire town shut down People were laid off and slowly it began to dwindle into the bottomless pit that it is now The houses across the street are painted in graffiti and I’arage, or at least he did before I left

Inside Micha’s house, there are people loitering in the entryway I push h them and into the kitchen, which is crah bottles of alcohol to open a liquor store The at with the scent of sweat and there are a few girls dancing on the kitchen counters People areroom where the sofas are shoved to the side, so the band can flare on their instru at the top of their lungs I’

"Holy crap This is" Lila’s blue eyes are round as she gawks at the people ju their bodies and thrashing their heads

"Like a irl with bleached hair out of irl whines as her drink spills down the front of her leather dress "You did that on purpose"

For a split second, I forget who I alare But then I remember that I’et into fights and beat other girls up

"What, preppy girl?" She pats her chest, ready to thron "You think you scare me"

Lila bites her thumbnail "We’re sorry She didn’troo y and squeeze between her and the wall

She snickers at hter as they sashay to the back door It takes everything I have not to turn around and tackle her to the floor

Lila makes a beeline for the bar set up on the counter, dumps a drop of vodka into a cup, and e juice "Okay, that was intense I thought she was going to kick your ass"

"Welcome to Star Grove" I shout over the music "The Land of the Intense and Poverty-stricken, where the adolescents roahts wherever they can"

She laughs, takes a gulp of her drink, and her face pinches at the bitterness "Try - " She starts, then coughs She pounds her hand against her chest

"Are you going todrinker

She nods and clears her throat "I was going to say try growing up where you have to get perive her a mystified look and she adds, "If it wasn’t up to my mother’s stylish fashion standards I wasn’t allowed to wear it"

I edge out of the way of a guy with blotchy skin and a beanie covering his head, who doesn’t seem to mind that he knocks his shoulder intoup where you did I mean, at least there was some control"

"Yeah, there was," she says uneasily and her eyes quickly scan the room "I can’t believe there’s a live band It’s like being at an outside concert"