Ellis continued to shake her head, just slightly, like it had become a tic. “I just…I don’t know.” And then she stood up. Again, she didn’t look at Cherry, and that really started to sting. “I think I need some time, Cherry.”
And that was it.
She sat there as Ellis rounded the bench and walked away. Just walked away.
Get up. Get. Up. Chase her. Don’t let her leave.
The thoughts shot through her brain like bullets, but her body remained still. Seated. Because she knew this was on her.
The best thing that had ever happened to her, and she’d blown it.
She’d blown it.
Story of her life.
She was used to this. Used to finishing at the end of the pack. Used to being overlooked. Used to having an average—sometimes less than average—life. This was just par for the course.
All of that ran through her head, train cars of negative thoughts, chugging away like they always had. But it wasn’t the same as always because she knew that this was on her.
Her eyes welled up and the tears spilled over, rolling silently down her cheeks as she sat there looking out over the water, wanting to scream at the people who were laughing and enjoying their day while she sat there, her world crumbling.
This was on her.
Chapter Twenty
Shea somehow managed not to sayI told you so. Not when Cherry initially told her what had happened. Not when she told her she’d texted Ellis several times and had gotten no response. Not at all. Cherry had no idea how she wasn’t bursting at the seams to say it—it was certainly warranted. But she didn’t, and for that, Cherry was grateful. She knew Shea had been right all along. She just didn’t need to be reminded of it.
She had texted. She knew it was risky, but it was better than stomping right into Sunny Side Up and demanding to talk to Ellis. She’d said she needed some time, and Cherry had no choice but to respect that.
But she’d texted.
Three times.
All apologies.
Zero responses.
Now she sat in her room, flopped back on her bed, her phone in her hands, scrolling through her own stuff, then Andi’s stuff, then her own, then Andi’s, then toThe 11th Commandment. She found three articles written by an E. Conrad. Mystery solved. She wanted to click off, but she was curious and ended up reading all three articles.
Ellis could write.
It was another thing she’d had yet to learn about her, and that only served to remind her how very new they were and how much there was left to get to know. And how she’d likely blown her chance.
The articles were good. Very well-written. Neutral and not at alljudgy, which was surprising for the type of site it was, but not surprising given what she knew about Ellis’s mind and, now, her ability to write.
She hatedThe 11th Commandmentand all similar ilk. It was one thing to expose a company’s lies to the public, but shining a spotlight on somebody’s personal life was just not cool. And with that thought, she clicked over to Andi’s Instagram, scrolled her photos, especially the ones that featured Julianne prominently. She knew Andi was on her trip to the Adirondacks, not due back for another couple days, and this was certainly going to change things if she was having a good time. She wondered if she should call her. Warn her.
Shea chose that moment to rap on the doorjamb and come in with a plate of cheese and crackers, and a glass of ice water. “Hey,” she said as she took a seat on the bed next to Cherry’s hip.
“Hey.”
“I know you’re probably not hungry, but I need you to eat a little something, okay?”
Instead of answering, she asked a question. “Should I tell Andi?”
Shea set the plate and glass down on the nightstand and then met her gaze. “Would you want to know?”
Cherry sighed.
