The Secret of Ella and Micha Read Free Page A

darts to me. “Ella, what’s going on?”
    Grantford tucks his hands into his pockets, staring at the hood of the car. “This ain’t your car, is it?”
    “No, we just stole it and took it for a joy ride.” Shit. Ten minutes back and my old attitude is slipping out. “I mean, yes it is—her car anyway.” I nod my head at Lila.
    “Well, I was just wondering how fast it goes?” He gives me a fox smile that makes me want to gag.
    I was never a fan of Grantford. He always had a sleazebag attitude, which was part of the reason why I had him drive me to the bridge that night—he was the only one I knew who would leave me there alone.
    I can’t help myself. “Probably a lot faster than your pick up over there.”
    He has a shit-eating grin on his face. “Is that a challenge?”
    I shake my head and motion for Lila to get in the car “Nope, that wasn’t a challenge. Just a mere observation.”
    Recollection fills his eyes. “Wait a minute. Do I know you?” Ignoring him, I start to shut the door, but he catches it. “Holy crap! I do know you. You’re Ella Daniels.” His eyes mosey up my legs, cutoff jeans, lacy white tank top, and land on my eyes lined with frosty pink eyeliner. “You look… different.”
    “College will do that to you.” I scale up his scuffed cowboy boots, his torn jeans, and stained shirt. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
    “I see your mouth hasn’t changed at all,” he snaps. “And besides, you didn’t change for the better. In fact, you look like you could be friends with Stacy Harris.”
    “Don’t exaggerate the situation,” I say. Stacy Harris was a popular girl in our grade; head cheerleader, homecoming queen, wore a lot of pink.
    His face scrunches. “You didn’t just change on the outside either. If anybody would have compared you to Stacy Harris, you’d have punched them in the face.”
    “Violence solves nothing.” I begin to shut the door again. “I have to go.”
    He complements my move and seizes the door, prying it back open. “You ain’t going anywhere until I get something out of you.”
    “Like a kick to the balls,” I threaten, but my insides churn. I can talk tough, but when it all comes down to it he’s a really big guy who could easily hurt me.
    His grey eyes turn black as the sun sets behind the shallow hills. “I heard you bailed. Packed up your stuff one night and took off. Pissed off a lot of people, too. The ones that were always protecting you when that mouth of yours got you into trouble. Especially that one guy you were always with.”
    “Don’t pretend like you don’t know his name.” My voice is slightly uneven. I feel out-of-control of the situation and I’m starting to panic. “You don’t forget the names of the people whose fist have slammed into your face.”
    A vein bulges in his thick neck as he punches the window. “That night I was wasted and Micha was completely sober. And it was total bull shit that he sucker punched me for leaving you on the bridge. I mean, you asked me to take you there. How the hell was it my fault?”
    Apparently, Micha hit him more than once because it’s not the instance I’m referring to.
    I tug at the door handle. “I’m going to close the door now and you’re going to walk away.”
    “Who are you?” His eyes are all over me.
    “I’m who I always was,” I mutter. “Just without all the baggage.” Calmly, I close the door. “You can drive away now, Lila.”
    She floors the car backwards and skids it onto the asphalt. I don’t look back at Grantford or the bridge. I breathe through my nose, trying to stay composed and in possession of my feelings.
    “What was that about?” Lila asks. “Who was that creep?”
    I buckle my seatbelt and turn up the air conditioning. “Just some guy I used to know from high school.”
    “I thought he was going to kill you or something... Maybe we should call the police.”
    Flashbacks of my old life resurface. “That’s just how things are around