“So you’ll be joining us for senior year,” I said, hoping small talk would relax her after the rubdown Cole had given. Judging by how stiffly she sat, she looked ready to pounce out of the car as soon as we got home.
Hesitantly, her big, ocean blue eyes looked up at me. “Yes, I will be. Hope people there don’t bite.” It was meant to be a joke, I was sure, but Cole snorted and her smile quickly turned into a frown. A bite is the least of your worries, princess. But she didn’t need to know that. I leveled a look at Cole as a thinly-veiled warning.
“You don’t have to worry. Once they know you’re with us, they’ll leave you alone,” I reassured her smoothly. Her eyebrow cocked up but she didn’t ask the inevitable question my words led to. I sighed inwardly. We would have to loosen her up further then. I was the more patient of the two of us, but even then not by much more.
Give her time.
I felt Cole’s reproachful look before I saw it, and glanced up in mild surprise. He was playing the patient one now?
“I’ll take a look at your schedule and see which classes we share,” I offered. “Cole and I can tell you which ones require pre-reading, and who is easy enough to impress.”
Those big eyes widened in surprise. I liked pulling the we’re-smart-jocks card – it always impressed the nerdy ones. And Ella definitely fit the mold. Her floral librarian blouse was buttoned all the way to her neck, and she had big black-rimmed glasses that made her big eyes look even wider. Her blond hair was pulled up into a severe updo. All in all, she looked exactly like the girl Marcus had described to us, except way hotter. I glanced at Cole, who was doing a piss-poor job of acting nonchalant, his curiosity getting the better of him. Touching her like that - I wonder if he found out whatever it was he was looking for. And Ella took it without much resistance, too - I sure hoped she would toughen up soon. I liked my girls feisty.
We arrived at the house – a too-large, formidable-looking mansion made in the Regency style favored by our predecessors that we once called home. Susan, our housekeeper, stood at the entrance waiting for us, and, seeing her, I rushed to open the car door and ran to give her a bear hug. “Susannn! I missed you!” I lifted her clean off the ground and ignored her squeals. Susan’s matronly ways were a definite reason the house even seemed close to being welcoming. The scent of freshly baked cookies drifted my way and I put her down to head towards the kitchen instead. The table was laden with my favorites – Sloppy Joes with Susan’s signature hot sauce, a batch of chocolate chip cookies - and on the other side of the table were Cole’s favorites – sweet potato chips and fish with tartar sauce. Yeah, I know. Who on earth ate that stuff? But as different as Cole and I were, we were alike in many ways.
Eyeing the new girl who hesitantly circled the table and put her hands into Cole’s chips – I was gonna let her and watch his reaction to having to share his food for the first time, ever – I knew we were going to have a fun, eventful year. I knew Cole would, for the first time in ages, have something to look forward to. And so would I. Watching the little mouse naively walk into our territory, thinking it was a safe place, I wondered how far we could make this one play before it crumbled. I hoped it wouldn’t give up too soon. Oh, little mouse. Ella had perched herself onto a stool and was happily munching away on the fish now. We’re going to have so much fun with you.
***
“What. The. Fuck.”
I lazily glanced up to see Cole’s livid expression leveled at Ella, who had by then eaten about a third of his welcome-home meal. She looked up, and as understanding dawned on her face, she shot up from her seat and clapped her hand onto her mouth which stayed open. I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize...”
Susan strolled in, carrying with her some of our bags. The moment her eyes landed on the half-eaten food and Cole’s murderous look, she placed the stuff down quickly on the floor and tried to salvage the situation.
“I’ve got more of those chips...”
Cole had started to stalk towards Ella, crowding her. Ella’s panicked look must have flipped a switch in his brain, because he turned on his heel when he got about a foot away from her and stormed out of the kitchen, slamming the door behind him. Where’s the popcorn when you need it?
As Susan fussed over Ella and started to gather ingredients to make another meal for Cole, Dad and Ella’s mom entered the kitchen, oblivious to what had just transpired. I made it my mission to rescue Ella from her nerves, and slung an arm around her petite form. “Don’t worry about him,” I whispered in her ear. “It’ll blow over. He’s just not used to sharing.”
It was half true. It would blow over after a few...days, maybe. Cole definitely wasn’t about to learn to share. I wondered if I could use Ella’s presence to my advantage. I was going to have to ponder upon that.
“Come, why don’t I show you around the house. Have you seen the games room in the basement?”
She merely shook her head, almost absently, her mind obviously elsewhere. That was okay. The Little Mouse was going to have to get used to the attention we were going to show her. And I hoped she would come out okay.
Chapter 3
Ella
I was a nervous wreck. Tiptoeing around the house over the weekend didn’t help. Between avoiding Cole and his dark looks after
