Post by mac on Jan 31, 2017 20:14:57 GMT
The game last night had been amazing. The stands were packed, the crowd was wild, and the game was tight. Elle and the rest of the cheerleaders for Salem High were hollering and doing their best to impress the players and crowd, especially during their halftime show. Elle loved doing halftime shows. They were always so much fun, so loud and vibrant, and being in a squad to cheer together was so empowering. On top of a strong and solid performance, Salem High had won. By halftime, they were suffering, but the second half yielded better results. Elle was so pleased by that. After the game there were several parties. At one of these parties, Elle’s on-and-off again boyfriend, Jett, had asked her out on a date. Prior to the game, they had been in an ‘off’ stage of their relationship, so Elle thought it was fate that after such a wonderful night, he asked her out for the next day.
So, rather than drinking, Elle had just danced and laughed with her friends until she drove home. Her brother did his typical ‘check for drunken-ness’ and when he was satisfied she was not drunk, she was allowed to go upstairs peacefully. But before that, she told him the wonderful news: Jett was coming to pick her up tomorrow for a date!
Mitchell fell silent at that, and Elle danced upstairs to go to bed. Malcolm was already dozing off somewhere, in in his room. Elle entered her room, flopped backwards on her princess bed, and giggled to herself until she fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke at 8 AM. She got herself dressed in a cute outfit and sprayed some of the perfume she knew Jett liked best on her on her neck and wrists. She styled her hair, letting her curls fall proudly to her mid-back. The sunlight filtered in on the room, which was pink and white in color. Her walls were a pale pink, her curtains a white, and her carpet a darker magenta hue. Her bedsheets were baby pink and white, the curtains surrounding it white like her window curtains. Elle hummed to herself and took about an hour and a half to get ready with her clothes and makeup. By 10, she heard clamoring downstairs.
”Come on and eat!” Tyler’s familiar voice yelled from downstairs. Elle blinked and stared at the door. Tyler was here? Odd, she didn’t see him last night! He must have already been in Mitchell’s room when she came home.
Elle walked downstairs, her pink earrings glittering against the sunlight that came in through open windows. ”Tyler! Hiiii!” she chirped. Tyler turned around from the stove, a spatula in one hand and a wide smile on his face. He was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a white tank top.
”Elle! Hey!” He said. ”One pancake or two?”
”Only one! I’m going out on a date with Jett, I don’t want to get maple syrup breath!” She said. She sat down at the table, where her medicine sat. Mitchell was getting things out of the fridge and seemed to pause at the mention of Jett. Elle grabbed her medicine and checked her blood sugar. She didn’t like to go on dinner dates. It was something Jett already knew about her. She didn’t eat in front of other people, even Jett. She always took her medicine with her, of course, but she never liked to do it in public.
”Oh, a date? I’m jealous!” Tyler said. ”How was the game? Did you guys win?”
”Oh we so won! The ending score was 13-11. It was so tough, but the team made a comeback at the very end. I bet it was the halftime show that did it!” Elle said.
”Oh, I bet! Sorry I couldn’t make it, but my mom needed me to watch my siblings. They’re so ridiculous, I don’t know how you can stand them.” Tyler made a face. At the head of the table, Mitchell flipped through the newspaper. Malcolm was there, half on his laptop, half eating the food. Elle accepted the plate of food from Tyler, who sat down with his own plate, digging into it.
This was a typical morning for Elle. Most of the time, if Tyler wasn’t there, the three Ullmann siblings would fend for themselves. Tyler would come over and cook them food and engage in conversation with Elle, usually at least three times a week. She loved having him over! He was the only one who actually had conversations with her.
After they were done, Elle helped Tyler do the dishes and continued to talk about her plans for the day with Jett with him, oblivious to the way Mitchell’s fist clenched the paper with every mention of the boy. As the hours ticked on, Elle began to grow impatient. She glanced at her phone all the time, re-applied some makeup, bounced around the living room, and even reorganized her shelves. Finally, it was 1, and she heard the doorbell.
Unfortunately for her, she was upstairs at the time. The one to open the door was Mitchell, looming over the boy outside. He stood at his full height of 6’7”, wearing a button-down shirt with a tie and a frown. Mitchell very much had a ‘resting bitch face’, and always looked angry.
”Jett?! Is that Jett? HI!” Elle said, from the stairwell. Mitchell loomed, until Elle wiggled her way under her brother’s arm and grabbed Jett’s hand. Mitchell’s eyebrow twitched. ”Are you ready for our date? Oh, Tyler’s here too. Come say hi!”
”Hi, Jett!” Tyler approached the couple at the door, whapping his hand against Mitchell’s chest to get him to clear some room for Jett to breathe. ”Heard the game went well last night. Congrats, bro!”