As Ellie lay staring at her ceiling, she listed in her head, all the reasons why he wouldnt want her. He had other friends. Friends who werent addicted to his smell. Who didnt long for his arms every second they're not with him. Friends who, if they were attracted to him, he would date. He would take them on a picnic under the stars. All the same, she couldnt stop thinking about him. How his hair turned a strange shade of red when the sun hit it. How his laugh was always mysteriously evil and yet so comforting. How there was always something more to him. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her IM. She hadnt sent anything to him in half an hour so most likely, he was saying goodbye. This thought brought tears to her eyes. She bought up the conversation screen on her computer. The last message recieved was:

sorry, i gotta go. Cya!

He hadnt given a reason so if she had asked, he probably would have stayed. They hadnt had the most interesting conversation so it probably would have been a punishment for him. It would have prevented him from doing something particularly awesome. so she typed her reply.

bye! xoxoxoxox

She closed down the screen and signed out. There was no one else that she particularly wanted to talk to at this moment. She went back to her bed, to do some more thinking.



In Ellies opinion Xavier Wilson was as close to perfect as anyone could get. He was attractive, sensitive and outrageously funny. No matter how bad a mood she was in, Xavier always seemed to make her laugh. She could never hate him, or anyone else for more than 10 minutes in his presence. She considered him her best friend, although she never let that slip. She always had to pretend to be interested in her other friends' conversations although that was becoming increasingly difficult these days. She often just tuned out and did something else, like count how many minutes until school ended. She was getting good at knowing when to nod or add in a few 'mmm's without even trying. She was usually off with the fairies. daydreaming about him.

That's what she was doing now. Thinking of a way that she could secretly tell him she was insanely in love with him, without him finding out. She wanted to tell him in a way that wasnt obvious, but if he looked hard enough, he would see it very clearly. The age difference didnt mean a thing to Ellie, it was only three years, but she was sure it would for Xavier. He always dated girls his age. Hardly ever younger. And certainly not three years younger. But what Ellie didnt know was that there was a much larger age difference than she bargained for.