Lillian and Adam could have argued for ten minutes or ten seconds. Maybe even not at all. It didn't matter either way--Ellery was too upset by Adam's actions that night to care about her sister's dissolving friendship. Call it shallow, but the hot tears that stormed down her face fought the guilt.
If Adam hadn't said what he said and done what he did, Ellery would have gushed to Lillian about James and their date. She would have ignored Adam's presence on her sister's bed and blushed and smiled and acted like a girl, too enveloped by her post-date haze to care about the roll of his silent eyes or the amused expression on his face. If Adam hadn't been at the Klayton house that night, Ellery would have noticed how much potential she had to liking James earlier on. Ellery would have been embarrassed and nervous and still quiet, but she would have laughed at his comments during the film or wished that James would hold her hand or wonder what he was thinking when he'd turn to her, smiling.
But Adam was Adam, and instead she sat alone in her room, the deafening silence in the wake of her outburst only magnifying the sound of her tears. Instead, she could hear the almost silent click of the front door and the roar of Adam's truck as he drove off. Adam was Adam, and instead, Ellery had spent too much of her date with her mind on another boy--ignoring James. Instead, she was at a loss of words when Lillian crept beside her onto her bed and waited patiently for Ellery to meet her gaze.
"I hate him," Ellery mumbled, wiping her eyes.
"I know you do," Lillian agreed softly; she knew better than to defend her best friend after the stunts he'd pulled the last couple of days. She was running out of excuses, reasons why Ellery shouldn't ban him from her life. "Right now, I hate him, too."
That was all it took for Ellery to crawl into her sister's arms, her tears lessening as the minutes increased. She knew Lillian's mind raced with words to replenish the hurt Adam had caused, and was thankful her sister said nothing as she listened the catch of Lillian's breathing each time she tried to gather the courage.
Until finally, Ellery's sister was replaced by Adam's best friend. Ellery pulled away, her eyes glossy and red as she took a deep breath. Lillian only gave her sister an apologetic look in advance.
"He's only acting this way because he loves you," Lillian whispered. "He thinks he knows what's best for you, is all"--at Ellery's exhausted silence, she continued--"I mean, he's not used to you...dating."
It was the same excuse Ellery had told James earlier that night, but it wasn't until she heard it from her sister's lips that she realized just how weak of an excuse it was.
"He can't freak out every time I go on a date," she mumbled.
Lillian shrugged, clearly not sure how to respond; Ellery realized then that, even if Lillian was Adam's best friend, there were things he may not even tell her. "I think..." she tried. "I think Adam is just...so used to you being in awe of him, that now that there's someone else..." Lillian took a breath. "Maybe he just doesn't want to give up his spot yet."
Ellery paused, in thought. "He needs to stop thinking I'm his."
Lillian didn't try to argue this point. "I agree," she said simply; a small smile flashed across her lips as Ellery met her eyes. "But," she added, amused. "It's Adam. And in some weird, mixed up way, I think he likes to think that you are his."
"Well...I'm...not," Ellery frowned defiantly.
"He knows that," Lillian said softly, tucking a strand of Ellery's hair from her face behind her ear. "But that doesn't mean he'd like to think otherwise."
Ellery's shot up to meet her sister's eyes, confusion written in the lines of her furrowed brow. "Adam's not over Monica, you said," she mused to her sister. "One minute he's, like, pining over her or whatever. Next he's acting like he's...like he's jealous!"
Something flashed in Lillian's eyes, but it left as quickly as it came. She only gave Ellery a small smile before taking a deep breath, her forehead knotted in concentration as she plucked her words onto her tongue.
"Adam's confused, right now," she said, careful to say too much, Ellery could tell. "I mean...it's no excuse, but--but he's trying to figure some stuff out."
"I went out with James McVey," Ellery confided at the two curious faces before her. One smiled, the other was too shocked to keep one expression on his face.
"How was the date?" Josie asked happily. Sam remained quiet, only staring at Ellery knowingly.
"Not as eventful as his welcoming party," Ellery muttered darkly. "Or afterward."
Josie frowned, but Sam took that as is cue to cut in. "Adam was there," he guessed.
Ellery nodded. "He was obnoxious," she raved. "He was rude and arrogant and threatened him, even!"
Sam and Josie exchanged a careful glance. "And after?" Sam muttered.
"I yelled at him. We got in a fight. I told him I hated him--"
"You don't hate him, Elle," Josie argued. "You couldn't hate Adam if your life depended on it--"
"He completely ruined my date--"
"Even then, you couldn't hate him"--she glanced away from Sam, looking at her hands--"I mean, he could just be jealous--"
"Why would he be jealous?" Sam exasperated, knowing his next words would hurt her, but saying them anyway. "He hasn't shown any interest in Elle other than when he's drunk!"
Ellery frowned, a guilty expression across her face. Josie caught it, Sam didn't.
"Did he...did you...?" Josie asked, unable to form the right words.
"We, um..." Ellery was just as incapable of words. "We kind of...made out. I mean, it was...after the thing at the diner. Before the date with James...we were both drunk and..."
She stopped at the expressions on her friends' faces. Shock and disgust and awe and disappointment rushed across Sam's face at Ellery's words. Josie didn't look as appalled, too shocked and confused to fit disappointment onto her expression. For half a moment, Ellery regretted telling her while Sam was in the room, but shrugged herself of the thought, knowing Sam would find out through the grapevine anyway. After all, Adam was never one to keep quiet.
"You...you...what?" Sam asked hopelessly.
Josie shook her head at him with a tired look in her eyes. Curiosity burned through her eyes when they met Ellery's flushed face.
"How far did you two go?" she inquired. "I mean, it must have been pretty...far"--at this, Sam cringed, shaking his head--"since Lily was pretty worked up about it when she came over to talk to Matt--"
"Wait, Matt knows?" Ellery asked, feeling slightly embarrassed; Matt was like an older brother to Ellery, had been since the seventh grade when she first met Josie.
Josie nodded. "Adam came over after Lily left his house with you, I guess. They were talking for at least an hour, then he left"--she shrugged--"A while later Lily was over."
Ellery let her face fall into her hands before she ran them through her hair restlessly. Sam was staring at her curiously.
"You said he was still in love with his ex," he stated.
"He is."
Sam frowned. "Then...then he's was using you," he murmured; it seemed he had a plan that night to say the words that would hurt his best friend most, because it seemed to be working.
"Not anymore," Ellery said abruptly, meeting Sam's eyes with a hardened expression.
"I'm not letting Adam ruin me anymore," she declared. "I'm...I'm moving on, now. I'm dating James."
