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Before another person can ask, I take Ellie’s hand and run, leaving behind the bewildered stares and growing clamor. We run to my car, laughing from the rush of our escape as we weave between the lot of parked cars. I have the pizza box held in one hand while I quickly open the car door to the driver’s side. I don’t even try to help Ellie to the passenger seat, as she’s moving quicker than I am.
Once inside, Ellie’s laughs die down, and she exhales deeply. “Does that happen everywhere you go?”
“Pretty much,” I answer, balancing the pizza box in the small space between us.
I drive off and find a place to park my car: a small empty parking lot that overlooks a low hill. Enough privacy for us to be left alone with no one asking me for a picture or impolitely staring.
The steam from the fresh pizza is seeping through the small slits made throughout the lid of the box. I finally open it, and the smell permeates through the car.
“Oh, that smells amazing,” she groans. Her stomach growls again, this time more angrily. She moves her hand to her stomach as if trying to quiet it from the outside.
“Okay! It’s coming. Sheesh!” I answer, speaking directly to her stomach.
“It’s got a mind of its own,” she answers. We both laugh uncontrollably while I pull out a slice using the large napkins supplied by the restaurant. The steam starts to fog the windows, making a temporary shield for us to hide behind.
“Here,” I say, handing her the large slice. “Let’s shut that stomach up.”
She shoves almost half of the slice into her mouth, practically inhaling it without chewing.
“Mmm…” she groans. Her eyes cross as she sinks into the slice. “This is amazing.”
I can’t help but laugh. Watching her eat as if she’s having an out-of-body experience is so cute. She finishes her slice with a couple more bites. I hand her another before grabbing my own, shaking my head and smiling with a suppressed laugh between bites as I eat my own serving a little more reservedly than her.
“What?” she asks, her mouth full.
“Nothing.” I shake my head again. “You just eat like a baby panda that hasn’t been fed all day.”
She covers her mouth and gasps, embarrassed by my observation.
“It’s good!” She defends herself, speaking with all the food in her mouth pushed to one side.
“No, I agree,” I say. “It’s just fascinating. Like watching a wild animal eat pizza for the first time.”
She punches my arm, and I rub the spot where her small fist hit me. “Ow!”
“You know, it’s not polite to comment on someone’s eating habits.” She holds her greasy hand up with a threat to rub it in my face.
My pizza slice drops, hitting the cardboard with a hollow thud. My hands move up to hold her wrists, my strength outmatching hers as she continues to fight me.
“Okay! Okay, I’m sorry,” I exclaim, her wrists loosely wrapped in my hands.
“For…”
“For calling you a baby panda, even though I’m right.”
“That’s it!” She lunges towards me, her butt lifting off the seat, and my hold on her tightens. With my hands occupied, I use the only weapon at my disposal: my own greasy mouth. I pull her arms towards me, her face crashing into mine in the most playful way possible, and rub my face into hers, the oil smearing across her chin and cheeks.
“Oh my God!” she screams between breathless laughs.
My stomach hurts, the muscles tightening between my laughs. I let go of her and grab a napkin to wipe her face. She sits patiently, her body shaking with suppressed laughter while I clean her up. Her eyes are still bright with laughter with the twinkling of tears pooling at the corners.
And then it hits me like a wrecking ball. I’m falling for her.
TWENTY-TWO
ELLIE
We drive in silence, the soft sounds of nineties R&B filling the car. I watch Rhylan mouth along, the occasional words slipping through his lips in whispers. Not knowing the words, I watch with my head resting against the headrest, smiling and letting the wind blow my hair back.
