Ella

Prologue (Lela)

There was a girl I met when I was only twelve who I fell in love with. I would never be able to forget her because she was the one who changed my life. I never knew I’d meet her again; she lived across the country from me, in New Jersey. I lived in California, in LA. And we met in Chicago, IL at a summer camp.

   Her name was Ella. 

   She was the one who stole my heart and then broke it.

   Ella had blonde hair that rolled like waves to halfway down her back. She had blue eyes and freckles. Those blue eyes were the prettiest things, when you looked at them you felt like you were being pulled into a beautiful, deep ocean.

   Her voice was the thing that led me to fall for her, though. When she sang, her voice was prettier and sweeter than the dark golden glow of sunlight in honey. She took requests and knew every song better than anyone there. And she was so innocent that when you told her her voice was beautiful, she’d blush and say thank you in the kindest way that you wouldn’t be jealous or disapproving of the attention she got at all.

   Everyone loved her; no one the way I did, though. I had no one to be jealous of except for her girlfriend who didn’t go to the same camp. Ella texted Sara every night. When she did, I felt an ache in my chest that needed her to be mine. I wanted to kiss her, at least. I wanted her to feel the same way about me as I did her. 

   One night, our cabin of five girls and five boys were out late. We wanted to stay up playing games and eating s’mores as all kids do. Ella and I were two of the girls.

   We played truth or dare, and soon everyone was paired with their boyfriend or girlfriend, chatting about everything from chess to atomic bombs.

   Ella and I were left. I didn’t have a girlfriend and Ella’s wasn’t there.

   “Lela,” she had said hesitantly, “can I tell you something?”

   “Yes,” I replied.

   She sighed. I had never seen those sparkling eyes look so sad. “I broke up with Sara.”

   “When?” I blurted, and then covered my mouth. No! Now she’ll think I’m an idiot… 

   “Before camp, a couple of weeks ago,” she says. I hear her voice quivering. I had told her I was sorry and she told me it was fine. And then she asked if she could kiss me, to which I said yes. She kissed me on the cheek, and I loved  her even more. But we didn’t interact for the rest of the camp.

Chapter One: Ella

I can’t believe I remembered her when I saw her again - I was thirteen and had had crushes on other people, but she was always on my mind.

   I saw her in a restaurant.

   The restaurant was busy and we - me, my mother, and my father - were seated right in the middle of everything.

   “Richard,” said my mother, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. She didn’t like crowds, even small ones, and she always said, I have never liked them and I never will like them. But that was a lie. Me and my father and my mother’s parents, who adopted her, are the only ones who know the truth. The truth was that when my mother was four, she was at a market and got separated from her birth parents. She was lost and wandered far from the market before someone noticed her and called an orphanage.

   My father patted her on the back. “Let’s just order and then we can focus on eating, alright?”

   She nodded.

   It was after we began eating that Ella came into the restaurant. She was walking with an old woman.

   I almost raised my hand to wave to her, but then… what if she doesn’t remember me? The doubts overpowered my wishes, and I clenched my hands in my lap. I can’t risk it.

   My father cleared his throat, piercing the cloud of silence hovering over our table.

   “Lela,” he says, “Has anyone at your school announced yet that there’s going to be a new student arriving tomorrow - Monday?”

   “Is she supposed to know that?” mutters my mother.

   We ignore her. “No, I haven’t heard that.”

   “I don’t think she was supposed to know that, Richard,” says my mother, louder.

   “Why would they keep that a secret, then? No reason to,” he replies.

   “I don’t know, but schools have their ways and if they don’t tell a student something, it might really be a secret!”

   I sigh. I know that this is how the rest of dinner will go, and the car ride home will be quiet.

Chapter Two: Don’t You Remember Me?

Monday came too fast. I had barely been able to finish all my homework, being the procrastinator that I was. And I wanted to welcome the new student kindly, so I was writing a short story for them, but I wasn’t able to finish that. Which kind of sucked.

  When I got to school, I rushed into my classroom - I was late - and sat down hurriedly. There was a new desk next to mine, where a small bookshelf used to be. The bookshelf was now at the front of the room, next to my teacher’s desk. Just after I sat down, the new student burst into the room.

   “Forgive me, Mrs. Elliot,” she cried, throwing her bags onto the floor under her desk and then running to stand next to my teacher. “The bus I usually take was running late, so I biked.”

   “That’s alright,” said Mrs. Elliot. “As long as you aren’t late again. It’s your first day, after all.”

   The girl thanked her.

   And through all this, my mouth was slightly open and my eyes were wide because I knew this girl. I had met her one year ago and seen her again just yesterday.

   “Ella!” I whispered. She glanced at me and waved. She seemed confused, but she probably just didn’t recognize me yet. She’ll know it’s me, I told myself, she’ll have to.

   “Hello, I’m Ella Rogers,” said Ella, waving at the class. “Like the actor, except I’m not an actor.”

   I didn’t know there was an actor named Ella Rogers, which made me feel stupid. My father was an actor, so I knew lots of them. Except for Ella Rogers.

   “Thank you, Ella,” said Mrs. Elliot. “Would you like to share about New Jersey and why you moved here?”

   “No,” replied Ella, which surprised all of us - including the teacher, who shrugged and pointed her to her seat.

   I had convinced myself  99.9% that Ella remembered me. What made me even more sure was that a week later, my best friend Margaret - who knew I liked Ella - told me that she heard Ella talking about me, talking good things about me, and that if I asked her out she’d definitely say yes.

  Which led to the change in my life, when I ended up asking Ella out. It was… well, it went like this:

   I was walking down the hall to my next class and I saw her walking, too. “Ella!” I called, and she paused to wait for me. “I have something to ask you.”

   “Go ahead,” she said, smiling.

   Before I lost my courage, I whispered, “will you be my girlfriend - will you go out with me?”

   I will never forget that moment, that specific moment, where her eyes widened and she bit her lip. She looked away. “I don’t know who you are,” she whispered back, not daring to make eye contact with me.

   “I’m Cora,” I said, my heart sinking. “Don’t you remember me?”

   She shook her head regretfully. “I’m sorry.”

   “No,” my voice trembles, and I cover my eyes so she can’t see the tears building up. “I’m sorry.”

   I could feel her eyes on me as I walked away.