Somewhere in Between (11 page)

"I love you too, daddy," Gemma cried.

Before leaving, Caroline and Leighanna hugged both Gemma and Elliot. Leighanna even stopped to thank Elliot for finding her sister and bringing her home. To say he was shocked by that would be an understatement. He knew Leighanna didn't care for him because of the Trisha debacle, so for her to thank him, it was too much. He didn't deserve her thanks any more than any others.

But Leighanna was adamant, and refused to leave until he accepted it.

As he helped Gemma into the car, rushing to the driver's side, Elliot felt worn out after sitting in his seat. He'd slept the day away, but this meeting had broken him down. He knew he'd have to talk, tell what he'd seen, but listening to Gemma tell her story again, listening to the agony in her voice and seeing the tears stream down her face as she recounted her terror, it ripped him apart further. It wasn't right; she had to go through this. It wasn't right for her to be forced, again, to face this horror. But she had, and he was so proud of her strength.

"Are you hungry?" he asked after several minutes of silence. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he hadn't had anything to eat for two days now and he knew Gemma most likely hadn't eaten either. More than anything, after the torment her body had suffered, he knew she needed food to sustain any energy she had left.

"Not particularly, no."

"Me either," he shrugged, but then thought against it. "Still, you should eat something," Elliot decided. "I know you haven't eaten, and I haven't either. It'll be good to get some food in you." He didn't wait for her to reject his question again; he just started his car and headed to the nearest fast food restaurant.

Pulling into a Sonic, Elliot parked and placed a quick order, before waiting for their roller-skating waiter to bring out the food.

They barely ate. Elliot ordered a hamburger that he cut in half and they shared the fries. After a half an hour of nibbling, Gemma finally finished her dinner. She felt sick from the grease, and the food felt weighted in her belly. It had no taste but still made her feel ill. She hoped she could keep it down, since nausea seemed to have decided to permanently reside in her stomach. She knew the pill she’d taken at the hospital, the morning after pill, was prone to making some who took it experience flu-like symptoms, so she hoped that was all this was.

Back in his Honda after tossing their trash, Elliot checked the time. It was nearing eight o'clock. He could see how tired Gemma was, could feel how tired
he
was. But he didn't want to part from her. They needed to get home, but he couldn't bear the thought of leaving her side.

"Do you think it would be okay if I stayed over for a little?"

Gemma turned her head to look at her friend, a grateful expression filling her eyes. "Really?"

The corner of his mouth lifted, a slight blush tinting his cheeks. "Yeah, I mean as long as you're okay with it and your dad is. I just… I don't really want to go home just yet. I don't want… I don't wanna leave you just yet." He finished his thoughts on a whisper. After watching her have to relive her nightmare, and telling his own, Elliot felt the need to be as close as possible to Gemma. But there was also something else at play, something he didn't quite understand. And it was in the way his body felt the need to be in her orbit, to have his presence joined with hers. It was unnerving, really. But he couldn't say anything more on it because everything was still raw and fragile and scary.

"I think it would be okay," Gemma answered with a small smile. She didn't want Elliot to leave her side yet, either. It had barely even been two days; she was still too terrified to be on her own. But it was more than that. She trusted him with her life, and she needed his closeness to keep her sane.

"Okay," he smiled full on that time. Starting his car, Elliot drove them back to her house.

Andrew was surprisingly calm about Elliot visiting. As were his own parents. In fact, his parents were so at ease with him staying with Gemma for a little while, that Dalton even allowed Elliot to miss another day of school. He knew the magnitude of what was done to Gemma, what he’d had to witness, and the fact they'd met with the police, was the only reason.

Gemma seemed to feel less panicked when he was nearby, which Caroline attributed to Elliot being the one to find her and help her. It didn't matter what the reason, Elliot was happy to be by Gemma's side, though he strongly wished it was for different reasons.

Once in her room, Gemma sat down on her bed, back against her headboard. She patted the space beside her, inviting Elliot to join her. He did, but not before being ridiculously cautious, at least according to Gemma. She knew she was fragile, but she also knew Elliot wouldn't be the one to break her. She needed him to treat her like he always had, as someone he didn't have to be careful around because he was afraid of making her afraid.

They sat side by side for several minutes, staring at the dark television, before Leighanna knocked and entered. She took a seat in the rocking chair, scooting it close to the bed and handed her phone over to Elliot. "Your sister is not pleased you get another day out of school. She knows you're not sick, so she thinks you're faking something. That or you have manipulated your parents into falling for some kind of bullshit."

"What is her problem?" Gemma asked as she and Elliot read through the massive amount of text messages Leighanna had received starting just before ten that morning and ending right before school let out.

*T says ur sick today. You coming 2morrow?
Christie ~ 9:49am

*Cassie and Penny want to hit up Flatirons for shop, you in?
Christie ~ 10:05am

*Rents giving me stink eye, know E's talking shit about me.
Christie ~ 10:56am

*Can you believe jackass gets another day home? Probably lied to get out of school. Douche.
Christie ~ 12:16pm

*He's so fake. G probably rejected him now he knows he likes her so he's sulking & rents fell for it.
Christie ~ 12:17pm

*G's not talking either. Bet she feels dumb for liking him? She come cryin to u yet? Lol!
Christie ~ 12:33pm

*Cas and Pen think she's a fool. Starting to agree.
Christie 12:36pm

*Anyone there? WTF?
Christie ~ 1:03pm

*Penny said she told Trisha @lunch & he's laughing stock of school now. Wish I coulda seen. Epic.
Christie ~ 1:21pm

*Ugh, Ryan Matthews and Janey are back 2gether. Cas and Pen laughed cause I said G likes him. Pathetic.
Christie ~ 1:44pm

*She's not the prettiest, don't tell her I said that lol, but yea. Ryan and Janey 4ever! Lol.
Christie ~ 1:44pm

*LMAO, they just fought in the quad. And now they're kissy-faced again. Blech!
Christie ~ 2:01pm

*Cas says G mousy. Lookin at phone pics, she may be right. Def know u guys are steps.
Christie ~ 2:11pm

*Thinking of t-ping Mags house. Freaking preacher kid. You down?
Christie ~ 2:19pm

*Leighanna!
Christie ~ 2:23pm

*Guess we'll go to mall w/o. Don't hate when we look better than you.

Christie ~ 2:27pm

Gemma wrinkled her nose in distaste. She had never seen Christie talk like that. Every text they'd ever sent each other had always been full words, since Gemma despised text abbreviations, and was friendly. But now she could see how Christie really felt about her. As if the horror of Saturday wasn't bad enough, she now had to contend with someone who smiled to her face, and talked behind her back. "I don't understand." She looked at her sister and then at Elliot. "Why would she talk like that?"

Leighanna sighed. "I'm betting it has something to do with "Cas and Pen" as she calls them. Christie is a cheerleader; they're cheerleaders and are not known for being the nice ones. She's probably spent too much time with them for anyone's good and they've seriously rubbed off on her."

"I fucking hate those girls," Elliot commented, his mouth twisted in disgust. "For the longest time last year they tried to convince Christie that in order to make varsity, even though they themselves were on junior varsity, she'd have to dump Josh because he wasn't "cool enough" to be on the arm of a cheerleader. They'd kept on her until you guys moved here."

"I remember that," Leighanna nodded. "It was like, Christie became friends with Gemma and she was the sister of an upperclassman and suddenly it didn't matter who Christie's boyfriend was because she apparently had some type of "in" to popularity. All Cassie and Penny wanted was someone to make them look cooler. Their personalities alone made that impossible." She looked at Elliot then, speaking directly to him. "I doubt they said anything to Trisha. She's not the type to listen to gossip, especially underclassman gossip, or make fun of people. If anything, they're just trying to sound cool while being cruel and Christie is eating it up for some dumbass reason."

Elliot smiled. "Thanks but I really don't care if they did or didn't." He looked at Gemma, and taking her hand, shrugged his shoulders. "Gemma’s the only thing that matters. Christie can be as big of a bitch as she wants, as long as she stays away from Gemma. She's all I care about." She just smiled shyly back at him.

*Hello? Why is everyone ignoring me?

Christie ~ 9:05pm

The last message came through as the phone was being handed back to Leighanna, who just laughed. If Christie thought she was being cool hanging out with Penny and Cassie, no one in the room agreed with her.

The room grew silent again, each lost in their thoughts.

Gemma chose to skip the message about Elliot having feelings for her. And Elliot chose to play ignorant to what Christie was talking about in regards to his feelings. It was hardly the time to discuss anything of the sort. Instead they focused on the part where Leighanna hadn't responded.

"You haven't talked to her yet?" Elliot asked, bewildered since he knew there was only so much he would be able to take of Christie's constant texting. And he remembered asking Gemma to tell Leighanna his sister wanted to speak with her.

"I love Christie, I do. She was a great friend when Gem and I got here. But Elliot, my man, your sister is driving me fucking crazy!" Leighanna declared with a sigh and a shake of her head. "Just because I'm a senior doesn't mean I think it's okay to talk shit like her other friends do. They're like "Mean Girl" wannabes or something. I don't know why she lets herself get caught up with them since it's very obvious that no one really likes them with the way they treat people; I just know I don't care to know her while she's on good terms with them."

Gemma nodded, grateful to hear her sister say that. She knew she was plain while Leigh was gorgeous, she didn't need a supposed friend trying to cut her down and point it out too. "I know. She talked to me nonstop last year and through the summer, but since this year started, she barely has time for anyone but Josh."

Elliot remembered back to his conversation with his friend from the day before. "He's not all too happy with her either right now, I don't think."

"No?"

He shook his head. "He called me yesterday, complaining about Christie complaining. Guess she didn't get the response she wanted out of our parents in regards to me and called him to rant. He didn't approve of her tone or some of the things she was saying. He said it sounded like she was hanging out with the twits again, though he hadn't seen it since he's not with her
all
the time this year, different classes and basketball and all."

"Interesting," Leighanna commented, but didn't add anything else to the conversation. "Alright, lovelies, I have school tomorrow. I will see you both later." With that, she hit dial on her phone, presumably to call Trent and left the room, pulling the door shut behind her. "Hi, baby. Yeah, I'll be in school tomorrow. Yeah, I'm feeling much better, think it was just…."

With her door closed, Gemma took in a deep breath. She didn't really know what to say to Elliot about his sister. On one hand, she was so angry at Christie for her thoughts, but on the other, she was so saddened for Elliot that Christie was acting this way. And on top of that, she felt guilty for being relieved that she had something like Christie losing her mind to focus on so she wasn't thinking about what happened to her.

"I should have asked her to text me those messages so I can show my parents," Elliot said after a moment of thought.

"What for?"

"So I can show my parents what their precious daughter is up to." He looked at her, his face serious. He remembered all too well the nightmare from not even a year earlier. "My parents were really upset over what happened before you guys showed up, with the way things were with Josh," he started to explain. "Christie and Josh started dating in sixth grade, well, as much as twelve year olds can date at least, and she always said he was the boy she would marry one day. It's sickening, really, but she'd never been unsure about them." He shrugs because that's his sister, and Josh had been his best friend first, seeing the two of them all lovey-dovey was a lot to take in for the brother and friend.

"And then Cassie and Penny come into her life because she becomes a cheerleader. Christie is peppy enough on her own; she could have been the whole squad if that was allowed. But whatever. Anyhow, all of a sudden she's spending time with these two, they're her age, and Christie has always been nearly too much to handle for most, so she doesn't have a lot of friends, so it didn't seem that bad. But one day, things are different. Maybe Josh isn't the one for her. Maybe he really isn't "cool" enough because he's a lanky kid who was a little awkward. Maybe she should try to get one of the older boy's attentions, because that would make her popular, and everyone wants to be popular, right?" Gemma disagreed, but she could see what Elliot meant. "But Josh was who Christie liked, and my parents like him too. There was never a disagreement until Cassie and Penny."