2 comments

Drama Romance

My name is Ella Barnes. I'm in seventh grade. I have two brothers, and we all live with my mom.

Right now, I'm waiting for my boyfriend at my locker so we can go to our last class.

I still can't believe I'm dating Beckett Crall. I've had a huge crush on him since third grade. I finally befriended him in sixth grade. About a month ago, he asked me to the dance. Later, he asked me out. I couldn't believe he really liked me.

"El!" Someone shouts. I turn to see my twin brother, Craig, running towards me. We have the same dirty blond hair and tan skin as our older brother. Craig is skinner then all of us.

I smile at him. "Hey, Craig."

"Guess what?" He shouts.

"What?"

"Mom said I can go with Jackson for winter break!" He yells.

I grin. Jackson is his best friend. Every year, he throws a huge party at his cabin by the lake. There's a guest list, so you've got to be his friend to get in. Mom never lets him go.

"Really?" I ask.

He nods, bouncing on his heels. "Yeah!"

"Nice. You'll send pictures, right?"

He grins. "Obviously."

He runs off as Beckett walks up.

"Hey." I say, smiling at him.

"Hey." He replies.

He has short black hair, and black glasses. He's taller than me, but I'm definitely stronger.

"How was the basketball game last night?" I ask.

We walk down the hallway as he tells me about his game. When we get to my class, he hugs me, then walks down the hallway.

I go inside the classroom, and go to my friends.

"Hey, Ella!" Jacky says. She's my best friend. She has curly brown hair that stops at her shoulders, and light skin. She's really smart, and has the biggest crush on Craig.

I sit in the seat beside her. "Hey, Jack."

"I saw you with Beckett." She teases.

I smile. "I still can't believe it."

"He really likes you." She promises.

I nod. "I know."

Mr. Ponell, the teacher, starts talking, so we pull out our notebooks to start taking notes.

Out of nowhere, someone whispers, "Hey, Barnes!"

It's Izzy Lionelly. We've hated each other for years. She's always messing with me, and even though everyone tells me to ignore her, I can't.

We're sitting in the back, and I know Mr. Ponell can't hear me.

"What?" I hiss.

I glance at her. She has short black hair, and peach skin. She has a smug look on her face.

"I heard you were dating Crall." She says. She calls everyone by their last names.

"Everyone knows that." I say. Jacky shakes her head, telling me not to listen to her. I ignore that.

"I bet everyone doesn't know he asked you out on a dare." She says right before the bell rings.

What? Is she serious? No, he would have told me. Right?

Jacky looks worried, but I wave her off as I head out the door. I'm trying not to cry. I walk outside, where my older brother, Mason, is waiting.

"Hey, El- what happened?" He says. He can always tell when somethings wrong.

Mason is in ninth grade, and on the football team. He has lots of friends, but him and his twin, Jason, always make time for me.

I shake my head, not wanting to talk about it. He'll probably go and kill Beckett, or something.

He doesn't push it, he just turns, and we walk towards the house. He's talking about something, but I'm not listening. I'm thinking about how the best night of my life might have been a lie.

                                                         🖤

Our school takes dances seriously. I think it's because the principal's daughter loves dances and plans them all.

Jacky and I had gone to all of the dances, but unlike her, I never had a date. It was still fun, though.

The day of the Fall dance we still had school. I came inside with Craig and Jacky. I had finally gotten on speaking terms with Beckett. We passed him in the hallway, and Jacky told me to go talk to him, so I did.

"Hey, Beckett!" I said. He was standing at his locker, and his friends weren't there.

He looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey, Ella."

"Are you going to the dance?" I asked. I already knew he was. All of the basketball players had to.

He nodded as he shut his locker. "I have to. Are you?"

"Yeah. No date, though." I replied.

He bit his lip. "I, uh, actually have a question. About the dance."

"Okay...."

He hesitated, then said, "Will you go to the dance with me?"

"Oh, well then, yeah, sure."

He grinned. "Okay, meet you here?"

"Yeah." I was shocked.

He walked off, and I stood there until Jacky came and dragged me towards class.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"He asked me to the dance."

"WHAT?" She shouted.

I slapped a hand over her mouth. "Shh!"

"Fine." She mumbled. I moved my hand. "Did he really?"

I nodded. "Yes!"

"Finally!" She squealed.

 The rest of the day I barely paid attention. When Jason came to pick me up I told him what happened, and he was happy for me.

When we got home I realized something.

"Jason, I don't have anything to wear!" I said.

He thought about that. "Cat might have something."

Cat was one of his friends. I don't think she owned anything fancy, though. He seemed to realize that, too.

"Well, Sylvia might." He corrected. "I'll call her."

I loved hanging out with his friends. Especially Sylvia and Cat. They were like sisters to me.

When they got there, I was freaking out. Sylvia had brought some dresses for me to try on, and I ended up wearing a short blue one.

I drove with Cat, Mason, Jason, and Sylvia as they went to pick up their other friends for the high school dance.

I was extremely nervous as I walked in, but I met Jacky at the door, and we went inside.

"Do you think he's here yet?" I asked Jacky, biting my nails.

She nodded and pointed at the crowd of people. "I think he's over there."

We went to go and find him, and when we did, he was relieved to see me.

Jacky went off with her date, and we talked most of the time. We did end up dancing, and before I left, he asked me out.

I said yes. Then, he kissed me, quickly, and went back inside.

That's why it was the best night of my life. My first date, boyfriend, and kiss, were the boy of my dreams.

                                                          🖤

"Ella!" Jason shouts.

I won't open my door, and they're getting worried. Mason, Jason, and Ryan, Jason's boyfriend, are all trying to talk to me.

Finally, I open my door. "Yes?"

"What's wrong?" Mason demanded.

I force a smile. "Nothing..."

"You're lying." They all say.

I roll my eyes, and let them in my room.

Jason looks like Mason, except way less built. Ryan has frizzy black hair, and dark brown skin.

I collapse on my bed, and tell them what Izzy said.

"Don't listen to her, she's just trying to make you mad." Ryan says.

I sigh. "I know, but what if she's right?"

"Ask him." Jason suggests.

I shrug. "But what if it was a dare?"

"Then you'll know." Mason says.

I cover my face. "But I don't want to know!"

"Why?" Ryan asks.

I look at them through my fingers. "Because then I'll get my heart broken!"

"Oh..." Jason says softly.

Mason cracks his knuckles. "If he breaks your heart, I'll kill him."

"No." Jason and I say together.

He rolls his eyes. "Fine."

"I don't know what to do." I say.

Mason's about to say something, but I hear mom calling him and Jason.

"We'll be right back." Jason assures me.

I sigh, and cover my face as they leave.

"Do you think he likes you?" Ryan asks.

I nod. "If he didn't, he would've broken up with me a month ago."

"Then just talk to him. He'll understand."

I smile. "Is that what you did with Jason?"

"Actually, I was so nervous, I couldn't say it." He laughs.

I sit up. "Then how'd you ask him?"

"He figured out what I was trying to say." He explains.

I nod. "Oh. Huh. Jason never told us that."

"Just talk to him. Ask him if it's true or not."

"Okay."

My phone rings. I pick it up.

"It's him!" I say, dropping the phone. Ryan hands it back to me.

"Just talk to him." He reminds me as he walks out.

I press answer. "Hi, Beckett."

"Hey, Ella. What are you doing right now?" He asks.

I blink. That's kind of random. "Just hanging out at my house."

"Do you want to go on a date?"

Really? "Uh, sure?"

"Okay, where do you want to go?" He asks.

We make plans to meet at a diner in thirty minutes. I decide to ask him then.

"Guys, I'm going out!" I yell as I go downstairs.

They're all in the living room playing video games.

"Where are you going?" Mason shouts back.

I tug on my boots. "None of your business!"

"What did Beckett say?" Ryan asks.

I smile. "He asked me on a date."

"Did you ask about the dare?" Jason asks.

I shake my head. "I will."

"Okay, don't forget. You need to be home by eight." Mason says.

I roll my eyes and open the door. "Whatever, mom."

I walk out before he yells something back.

We live really close to the diner we decided to meet at, so I walk there. He’s  waiting for me inside, and when I tap his shoulder, he grin at me.

“Ella! How are you?” Why is he acting so weird? He usually says ‘what's up’.

I smile. “I’m fine, you?”

“Great!” He says loudly.

I raise my eyebrows. “Are you  okay?”

“Yeah, why?”

I bite my lip. “You’re acting really weird. Did something happen?”

“No, no, I’m fine. Don’t worry.” He assures me.

I’m not sure, but I decide to let it go. “Okay. If you say so.”

A waitress with short brown hair gets us a table, and we order some food. We talk, but it’s weird. I’m pretty sure somethings wrong, but he puts a forced smile on. But I’m doing the same thing. Finally, I can’t stand it. 

After the food comes, I say, “Beckett, I need to ask you something.”

He looks worried. “So do I.”

“You first.” 

He looks really nervous. “ I don’t want you to hear this from anyone else.”

“Okay?” 

“I asked you to the dance on a dare.” He says quietly.

My eyes widen. “You…”

“Wait. Please let me explain.” 

I nod, trying not to cry.

“Micheal dared me to ask you to the dance. I agreed to. I was trying to find a way to ask you out, and I figured that would be a good way. I had an amazing time at the dance, and I realized how much I liked you. So I asked you out. That wasn’t a dare.”

Wait. I thought Izzy meant asking me out was the dare. Not asking me to the dance! 

“Oh, thank god.” I say, and he looks relieved. 

“I’m glad you heard it from me.”

I smile. “Me too.”

“So what did you want to tell me?” He asks.

“It’s nothing.”

🖤

September 30, 2020 14:04

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

2 comments

02:27 Feb 28, 2021

this was such a stupendous read! how you build up the tension is 'unbelievable'! and i almost thought that it was another part of before you go, silly me! XD (cause of the emoji, you know)

Reply

Ari Berri
14:50 Feb 28, 2021

Thank you! Oh, I'll change the emoji color. Glad you liked it!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
RBE | Illustration — We made a writing app for you | 2023-02

We made a writing app for you

Yes, you! Write. Format. Export for ebook and print. 100% free, always.