Gabriella Ch. 09

A bitter divorcee...

Patricia pushed Myra's words away. "I did in the beginning, but it can drive you insane if you let it. It was making me miserable and I was making him miserable. So now, no, I don't wonder anymore. She was a mistake and I know he loves me and that's all that matters."

Several moments of silence passed before Ella slid off the banister.

"I should get to bed," she said and walked inside.

Patricia followed behind, her nose burning as the heat from the condo filtered through her lungs. "I know that was a lot to take in tonight, but I was thinking maybe we could do this again?" She smiled. "Although a little less heavy conversation next time."

Ella picked at the bottom of her shirt. "I'm not there yet, mom. I mean, I appreciate you being honest with me, but I just...it would be fake to pretend that things are okay."

"I don't want you to pretend. I just want us to be able to take baby steps until one day things really are okay. That's all I want. And if that means just a two minute phone call every now and then, then I'll take it. I'd love to hear about school and your job."

"Just a phone call? No more visits, right?"

Patricia laughed. "Yes, just a call. I promise not to show up unannounced again."

Ella gave a small nod and turned away.

Patricia pulled her keys from her bag as a thought occurred to her. "Oh, Ella?"

She stopped and looked back.

"There is one thing I...well, a while back, as awful as this sounds, I couldn't remember if you had gone to prom or not. I don't remember seeing you go and Simon couldn't remember either."

"I didn't."

"Why not?"

Ella stayed quiet for a moment as she leaned against the wall and Patricia braced herself for the inevitable brush off.

"No one asked me."

Patricia opened her mouth but then closed it. That was not the answer she was expecting. 'Because it's fucking lame' or 'I forgot about it' were the more Ella-like responses she normally received. She could have handled those responses, but this one broke her heart.

"Oh God, Ella...I'm so sorry. I can't imagine that none of those guys asked you."

She shrugged. "It's all about pictures and meeting parents and I wasn't really the right type of girl for that stuff."

"Yes you are. And don't ever let them make you feel like you're not."

Ella studied her for a long while then rolled back from the wall and disappeared down the hallway.

"Tell Steven I said hi and I'll call you next week, okay?" Patricia yelled after her.

"Yeah," Ella said before closing her bedroom door.

The 'yeah' could have been for Steven or the fact that she'd call her, but either way, it felt promising. She closed her eyes and exhaled. It was going to be an uphill obstacle filled trek to repair the damage done, but she felt more ready than ever and for the first time she was ready to take it on alone, without Simon's guidance.

She wrapped her scarf around her neck and made her way out into the cold night air feeling a tad warmer inside.

**********

Gabriella

Ella winced at the piercing blare from the buzzer. She stood against the back wall of the brightly lit gym and watched the two basketball teams race back and forth, sweat dripping and sneakers squeaking across the polished wood. Students, faculty, families and fans were crammed into the bleachers, chanting and cheering as time marched off the scoreboard. Plastic smiles were plastered on the cheerleaders' faces while they roamed up and down the sidelines in their skimpy red and white strategically cut ensembles, kicking their legs high and pumping their fists.

Sporting events were not her scene, but having the night off while Steven was on a date was the prerequisite for a shitty boring evening. A fate she hoped to avoid even if it meant bumping into Terrence again. He had finally stopped bothering her after several of his midnight texts and calls went unanswered. She just couldn't fake one more night of orgasms and feigned interest in watching him resume a video game while she was left completely unsatisfied.

Terrence stole the ball and tossed it down the court to a teammate who scored sending the roaring crowd to their feet in applause before the deafening buzzer sounded again.

She pulled her eyes from the players and scanned the bleachers. The emerald scoop neck shirt, dark jeans and boots she sported were a stark contrast to the sea of red and white surrounding her. She briefly skimmed the row behind the goal and did a double take when she spotted Nolan.

He was seated in the middle of a large animated group, but was the only one not watching the game. Instead his eyes remained on her.

For a moment she was unsure what to do as they stared at each other. She never really saw him around campus and on the rare occasion when she did, he looked as though he didn't want to be bothered, least of all by her. She had heard whispers that he'd started dating a girl named Whitney. Ella wondered if it was the brunette with Rebecca that night at the movie theater, but her suspicions were confirmed as the girl sitting behind him wrapped her arms around his neck. He turned his glare back to the court and now the brunette's eyes were focused on her.

Ella rolled away from the wall and walked back into the empty hallway.

Her fingers lightly grazed the glass encasements that housed the crowning achievements of Darby's elite. Moments of glory throughout the years captured in the form of tarnished silver and gold trophies.

She stopped in front of a team photo of the class of 1990. Her father's smile caught her attention as he stared back at her from the weathered picture. She read the list of names engraved in the plaque. Rodney Foster. He was positioned in the center on one knee holding a basketball. This had been taken right before the injury that caused him to bow out of their lives even before she was born.

"Here to support your new boyfriend?"

She spun around to find Nolan leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. Unlike Simon, Nolan wore every emotion on his face and she knew to tread carefully with the way he was staring at her now.

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"Oh, sorry," he responded dryly. "Let me rephrase. Are you here to support your new fuck buddy?" He took a step toward her. "You know, for a girl who hates sports, you sure do screw your way up the rosters pretty quickly."

"Did you come out here just to throw in my face how much of a whore you think I am? Because I think I get it." She turned back to the trophy case. "So have a goodnight."

"You know, Bryan may be an asshole, but he was right. I never should have tried to be serious with the campus—"

She turned around, pinning him with her glare, daring him to finish his sentence. He was hurt but she had her limits. "What I do and who I do it with is none of your business anymore. You lost that privilege when you dumped me, remember?"

"Was that not the correct response after finding out my girlfriend fucked my best friend?"

"And now you have a new girlfriend, so why don't you get back to her and leave me the hell alone?"

His eyes burned through her while his solid chest rose and fell rapidly. He opened his mouth to speak when the gym doors cracked open, letting the noisy crowd filter through as a head with long brunette hair poked out.

"Nolan?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose before turning to the girl Ella had seen wrap a protective arm around him just a few minutes earlier. "I'll meet you back inside in a minute, okay?"

Ella kept her eyes on the girl as she stepped through the door and approached cautiously, her eyes darting back and forth between them. She was a cute girl with accessible girl-next-door looks.

She grabbed Nolan's hand, locking their fingers together. "But you're missing the game. We're winning." She turned to Ella with a perky smile. "Hi, I'm Whitney."

"I'm Ella."

"Nice to meet you." She looked back up at Nolan with longing. "Can we go?"

He pulled out of her embrace. "Yeah, in a minute. But I need to take care of something, so I'll meet you inside."

She stood there nervously as she glanced at Ella and then back to him. "Okay, but—"

"Whitney, seriously!" Nolan snapped. "I said I need a moment."

The brunette's eyes widened as she stammered over a few incoherent words.

"It's fine, I'm leaving anyway," Ella said, turning away. "Enjoy the rest of the game."

Nolan gripped her wrist. "Wait, I'm not done talking to you."

She stared up at him incredulously before looking to Whitney, whose wide eyes shifted from Nolan's face to his large hand wrapped around his ex's wrist. He quickly removed it, as if she'd burned him and shoved them into his pockets.

But not quick enough to gloss over the damage done as the three of them stood in an awkward cloud of tension.

Had this been any other day and any other girl, Ella might have gloated at the look of defeat in her ex's new girlfriend's eyes, but she couldn't. This particular girl had done nothing to her. No doubt hearing her tales of whoredom from Rebecca and God knows who else, she had only wanted to pull her boyfriend far away from a girl who was a threat to their relationship like she had been to so many others.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to yell," Nolan said in a softer tone. "But I'll be done here in a moment, okay? And then I'll come find you."

Whitney gave a small nod, though she looked close to tears. She headed toward the gym doors, and glanced back for a second before walking through.

"You shouldn't have done that," Ella said when the door closed.

"Are you really going to give me advice on what I should or shouldn't do in a relationship?"

"I'm just saying she seems nice."

"Yeah, she is. And she doesn't cheat on me which is always a plus."

"Well then, I'd say you've traded up. Goodnight Nolan." She turned to leave.

"He doesn't even care about you. Terrence. That's his name, right?" he called after her.

Ella kept walking. "Then we're even because I don't care about him either."

"Well I did care about you. But now I don't know what the hell I ever saw in you because it's pretty obvious that you don't give a shit about anyone, including yourself."

She looked back at him. His eyes didn't match the hardness of his face. They were soft and unsure, remnants of the guy she hoped was still there. A guy she hoped her callous decisions hadn't destroyed. The past few months had given her a lot of time to put things into perspective, and she hated that Nolan had been caught in the crosshairs of her relationship with Simon.

"I know you may not believe it, but I did care a lot about you too."

"Fuck you." He turned to leave.

"Nolan."

He continued his quick strides toward the gym doors when she called after him again.

"I'm sorry."

He slowed, then stopped but he didn't turn around. She made her way to him, but stopped a few feet short.

"I know you don't think very highly of me, but if we never get a chance to talk after tonight, then I just want you to know how truly sorry I am for hurting you. It was never my intention and if I could take it all back, I would in a second."

Nolan turned around but his expression remained shadowed by the dim florescent lights.

"And you were right that night at the theater. I wasn't the only one affected by my careless choices. I know a lot of people said things about me that hurt you and it was hard to take my word at face value, especially after I hid what happened from you. But I am being completely honest with you when I say I am so sorry and I hope one day you can forgive me."

Seconds seemed like minutes as they stood quietly staring at each other. Soon the gym doors burst open and people spilled out into the hallway. Ella kept her eyes on him, but the rowdy crowd surged forward, pushing her back further and further until she turned and walked with the flow. She made it to a side door when someone grabbed her hand.

Nolan didn't look at her while he maneuvered them through the cramped hallway to an empty employee break room. He closed the door but kept the lights off.

"How were you just going to say all that to me then leave?"

"What else should I say?"

He crossed his arms. "Well, you can start by telling me what happened that night. Since we're admitting mistakes, I realized I never really gave you a chance to explain."

Rehashing everything that led up to her rape didn't seem like a fun way to end her night. "Nolan, you know what happened."

He raised a brow. "So you did sleep with him?"

She sighed. "It doesn't matter. I've already apologized."

"It matters to me. He said you were all over him and Josh backed that story, but now I want you to tell me. And look, if you did sleep with him, just be honest. I've already moved on and besides, there isn't shit I can do about it now. But I'm giving you a chance to tell me in your words exactly what happened. No interruptions. No fights. I won't say a word, but I'm not leaving...and neither are you, until I know once and for all."

His eyes weren't bluffing as he stood between her and the door.

"Okay, but I won't go into details, because despite what you say, you don't really want to hear that." Her palms tingled as the sights and sounds from that blurry night engulfed her. "I was wasted and made stupid decision after stupid decision and I can see how Josh assumed what could have happened. Everything was hazy. But after we got back to your place, I told him no, Nolan. I really did try to push him off, but he..." Bryan's smirk had brutally stabbed her insides almost as painfully as his uninvited hardened flesh had stabbed between her legs, "...he wouldn't stop."

Nolan stared down at her, searching her eyes back and forth for what she hoped was signs of the truth.

"And I know I haven't given you much of a reason to believe me, but that's what happened and I'm sorry."

"If he raped you, why are you sorry?" he asked tightly.

"Because I got myself into the situation."

"Why didn't you call the police?"

"If my own boyfriend didn't believe me, why would anyone else? Besides, I didn't want it getting back to..." chills rippled her skin at the thought of Simon finding out, "...my mom."

He turned away and rested his hands atop his head, the gesture similar to Simon when he was thinking. Simon was everywhere. Nolan blew noisily before turning back to her.

"You know, until that night at the theater, I believed him. Best friends since elementary. Sure, he could be an asshole, but he never was with me. But when he went after you like he did that night, for a split second I thought, 'if he's doing this in front of me, what could he have done to her without me around'. But we were so pissed at each other, that I pushed that thought aside. But now..."

He exhaled again and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay." He quickly turned and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked, anxiety whipping through her stomach.

"Across campus to drag that motherfucker outside and beat the shit out of him."

"No!" She raced in front of him and blocked the door. "Nolan, don't do that!"

"No? He hurt you!"

"But if you fight him on school property, you can be expelled."

"I don't care." He gripped the door knob behind her.

"Yes, you do." Ella placed her hands against his chest. "And so do I. I don't want to cause another problem for you. Besides, you've already gotten him once. Twice actually. Three times would just be overkill, don't you think?" She forced a smile, hoping to alleviate the tension, but Nolan didn't smile back.

"Look, it's okay," she whispered, pulling his hand from the door. "He didn't break me."

"But he broke us! We'd still be together if it weren't for what he did."

"But he didn't break us, Nolan. We did. Me getting wasted and you for not believing me. That's what broke us."

He shook his head. "I can't let him get away with this."

"Just you believing me now means more than you trying to avenge me. So promise me that you'll let it go."

Several seconds past as he stared over her head, nostrils red and flaring.

"Please?" she implored.

After a few more moments, he gave a quick nod.

"Thank you," she whispered, rising to her toes and wrapping her arms around his neck.

When he didn't return the hug, she pulled back and searched his eyes. The burning fires of rage had died down leaving behind an intense hunger in his gaze. His stare was unmistakable but nothing good could come of her staying. So she quickly turned and pulled on the door, but it didn't budge. She looked up and found his hand flat against it, barring her exit.

She slowly turned around and craned her neck, bumping her head against the door to look at his face.

"Nolan..."

"I hate that you were with him," he ground out tightly.

She wasn't sure if he meant Bryan or Terrence, but before she could say anything his large hand snaked around the back of her neck, forcing a gasp from her as his lips descended on hers. Their teeth clicked against one another as his tongue filled her mouth, dancing with hers, drawing a unison of moans from deep within their throats.

His grip tightened around her waist and her feet left the ground momentarily before her rear hit the table and he pushed her back flat against it.

She turned her head to the side, gasping for air, while his mouth latched onto her neck.

"Nolan, wait...we can't..."

His hands tugged at her shirt before pulling it over her head. Her back arched against the chilled polish wood table, serving her chest up for Nolan. He quickly pulled the cups of her bra below her breasts and attacked her tightened nipples.

"Oh, God..."

Her resolve was melting as his fingers fumbled with the buttons on her jeans. She pushed at his chest in another effort to slow down what was happening.

"What about your girlfriend?"

He tugged her left boot off, ignoring her question, as he quickly peeled her jeans from one leg. When he discarded his shirt, his toned hard body made her pussy tingle in anticipation. He moved back between her legs, his hardness pressing through his jeans, teasing her slick folds through the damp thin lavender barrier of her panties.

"What about Whitney?" Ella panted out.

"I don't want to talk about her."

She closed her eyes against the familiar metallic hum of a zipper unfastening. His fingers pushed aside the flimsy material of her panties and she felt the dull tip of his cock at her entrance.

"Nolan, we should—"

"I don't want to talk," he bit out brusquely before he drove his entire length inside her.

She inhaled sharply, clawing at the tight muscles of his back. Her eyes rolled back from the physical sensation as he began to hammer quickly into her again and again, burying himself deeper with each thrust.

She vaguely heard the crowd as they emptied out into the hallway, and hoped their celebratory cheers had drowned out the noises of her and Nolan's reunion. He fucked her with an unrestrained urgency that excited Ella. At this pace, neither of them would last long and she began to see the tightening in his jawline and neck as he squeezed his eyes shut.

A prickling sensation slowly crawled up the inside of her thighs and connected simultaneously with her pussy and brain, producing a low shrill that erupted from her as she shattered into a haze of ecstasy. She quickly squeezed her lips together, biting back the evidence of her powerful orgasm.

"Oh, shit...oohh...fuck!" Nolan's hips jerked several times before his body stilled above her. She closed her eyes to the warmth of his release as he continued to fill her.

The shuffling in the hallway had died down and now all was quiet with the exception of his heavy breaths against her chest as they remained locked, heartbeat to heartbeat. She could still feel him pulsing inside her while she ran her hands through his dirty blonde locks.