Chapter twenty-nine: For good? (Ellie's POV)

"Wait, what?" Brett asked. 

"Yeah, she uh- she said that she was walking her dog and there um- there was this truck that was helping unload some stuff back at his place. She thought some new people were moving in so she went to say hello. But James answered the door," I explained, reading the text over and over again. 

"What is he moving back into town for? Didn't he go off to New York?" Brett questioned. 

"Yeah, his entire family left but they're all back," I answered. 

"You're not going to run into him though. I mean, what are the chances," Brett shrugged. 

My eyes met Zach's and we were both just as confused. I think everyone was a little confused. 

Why the hell is he back? 

"I don't know, we'll have to wait and see." 

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I sighed while pulling my seatbelt on, running my hand through my hair. We were late, and even though Zach is suspended, he was determined to come. He says he just won't attend classes. Neither of us woke up on time, Brett didn't wake us up, he just left on his own, so now here we are, rushing to school to get there in time for the second period. 

Zach drove pretty fast, luckily we weren't pulled over and somehow managed to get a parking spot as well. We got out and rushed inside. We both had English with Mr. Prichard right now so that's where we have to go. 

"Mr. Prichard is nice, he won't say anything. He's even letting you attend class. Maybe we could say that-" I stopped rambling when both of us crashed right into someone. I stumbled back a little but Zach grabbed my arm and kept me up while both of us mumbled curses. "Jesus," I mumbled while crouching down and picking up some sheets that I dropped. 

"Sorry, I wasn't looking," the person laughed. 

I knew that voice. 

I glanced up and saw James. He was saying something to Zach. I kept my head down and picked up my stuff, trying to make sure he didn't recognize me. 

"I'm James." He stuck his hand out in front of Zach.

"Zach," he introduced himself while shaking his hand. 

"Hi, I'm-" He turned to me but stopped talking when I looked up at him. 

"James," I nodded. 

"Ellie," he sighed, "Um- can I please talk to you for a moment?" he asked. 

"I'm sorry, not right now. We're late for class," I began walking briskly, not even finishing my sentence. 

"At lunch?" he called out. 

I stopped and mumbled a lot of curses under my breath. Zach shook his head at me slowly. "Fine!" I called back out without turning around. We continued walking until we got to class and walked in, taking our seats. 

"You shouldn't have agreed," he whispered while we started working. 

"What happened?" Ashley asked. 

"James happened," I huffed. 

Lunch rolled around and unlike usual, I was dreading it. And I mean dreading it. 

"Maybe he forgot about it, just sit down. If he comes over then we'll deal with it," Zach shrugged. We reached the cafeteria and I halted upon seeing him standing at the entrance. 

"Oh, my God I'm gonna die," I turned around and rested my head on Zach's chest. 

"You're not going to die, I'll be right around the corner," he said. I looked up at him, unsure of what to do. 

Why did I agree to this? Who likes talking to their ex who cheated on them? Nobody! 

"You'll be fine," he nodded down at me. I whined with my arms around his torso, looking up at him. "Quick question, does it matter if we're seen?" he asked. I slowly shook my head, confused as to why he was asking that. 

Oh, wait. Was he going to do the whole territorial thing? I don't want that. 

He nodded before kissing me softly. "You'll be fine," he repeated. 

So it wasn't just him getting territorial. It was just him being reassuring. 

I sighed while turning around and walking over to James who was staring right at me. I rubbed my palms against my jeans before I stopped in front of him. "You wanted to talk?" I sighed. 

"Can we go to the field?" he asked. I nodded and followed him until he stopped and turned to me. "I just wanted to clear some things up. I know what I did was wrong. And I just made it worse when I never spoke to you and left without telling you. But I had no idea how to talk to you. I'm sorry," he pleaded. 

"You're sorry?" I asked. He nodded. "That doesn't change what you did," I shrugged. 

"I know that. But I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," he said. 

I let out a laugh because this was just unbelievable. "James, I know you. So I know that when you apologize to someone you don't usually mean it and you only apologize to clear your conscience. You don't mean that," I shook my head. 

"Look, with being gone, I had time to think. I know what I did was wrong," he said. 

"You were gone for the summer, James. It hasn't been years, don't act like a saint. You say you know what you did was wrong, that's all I needed to hear, you can move on, so can I," I shrugged. 

"You already did," he scoffed. 

"And you didn't?" I arched an eyebrow at him, "You're telling me you felt so guilty that the whole time you were in New York, you didn't look at one girl, you didn't get with a single girl? Is that what you're telling me?" 

He rolled his eyes, mumbling curses. "That's not what I'm saying. I'm just trying to apologize, can you just accept it?" he asked, getting frustrated already. 

"Why is it so important to you that I accept it?" I asked. I had a point to prove. 

He opened his mouth to argue but closed it back up because he knew I was right. "Because I feel guilty," he shrugged. 

"Doesn't seem like it," I replied, "James, you don't have to apologize if you don't want to. If you don't mean it, it's not worth anything," I explained. 

"Do you think you can deal with me being in this town again? For good?" he asked. For good? That means he's not leaving. Damn it. 

"There are people in this school that I've never spoken to and I never intend to. You can join that club," I shrugged. 

"It's nothing personal, exes just aren't friends. You know that," he shrugged at me. 

It's completely personal. 

"I know that," I nodded before turning around and going to the cafeteria where Zach was standing. 

Exes can be friends, there's nothing wrong or impossible about that. His exes just can't be friends with him because of the way he is. 

"You okay?" Zach asked, pushing himself off the wall. 

"Peachy," I sighed as we walked in and over to our table.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

I sat down on the bleachers, waiting for Brett and Zach's practice to begin. Except for Mr. Prichard, every teacher had a problem with Zach attending. He said he was going to take this suspension as vacation and stay at the apartment but apparently I've changed his mind. 

He had been hanging around the school all day after the second period and while nobody made a move to kick him out, everybody seemed confused. He's allowed to practice, so that was good. 

Halfway through their practice, I noticed that Steven's younger brother, Derek, was staring- no, glaring at me the whole time. I just did my homework and went on my phone to pass time until I looked up and saw Zach kicking the ball at Steven's brother. 

"Focus on the game," he said, bouncing the ball off Derek's head and catching it. Derek rolled his eyes before they all got back to playing. Soon enough, the practice was over and we were going back to the apartment. 

"You know you're not allowed to be at school during the day, you should just stay home and then come by for practice," I said as Zach started driving. 

Brett is going to his parents' and he's staying the night there. 

"Who's gonna drive you here and back?" he asked. 

"You know we live with Brett too, right? Apart from tomorrow, he can drive me here and back and whenever you come by for practice, you can drive me back," I shrugged. 

"No, I'm still gonna drive you here and back. I'll stay at the apartment because Withers almost caught me at school today, but I'll be there to pick you up and drop you off," he said while keeping his eyes on the road. 

"As you wish, just don't complain later about having to wake up in the morning," I sighed. 

"I can wake up early for you, no big deal," he winked. 

"Right," I laughed.

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Chapter twenty-nine

Next chapter: Stick to one story

James is playing games