Unfinished

Nine

Soren stared dismally into his locker, wondering if it was possible to die from homework overlaod. He wasn't a bad student, he just didn't see the point of a lot of what he was taught. When he was interested in something he was actually a very motivated person. It wasn't his fault that school didn't teach interesting subjects.

"Hey!" Ella said, startling Soren as she materialized beside him.

"Hi." He was always being surprised by Ella. She appeared out of thin air seemingly at random, and he was still unsure of how she did it. The appearing out of thin air part, that was. The randomness was a part of Ella's nature.

"Josh is outside waiting for us. He's my ride, and he gets impatient quickly. So, unless you feel like walking to my house, we need to get going."

Soren frowned, remembering something. "Isn't Josh in college?"

"Yeah, but it's only a few hours drive away. He couldn't come to Becca's funeral because of a really important test he had to take, so he and his boyfriend decided to come down now for a few days to lend moral support," Ella said as she pulled him down the hall towards the front doors.

"Okay."

Soren vaguely remembered hearing Ella and Becca talk about Josh, but he'd never met Ella's older brother. He had never been to Ella's house before, never met any of her family. He wasn't really a people person, he preffered to hole up in his room and listen to music or mess around on the piano his mother had inherited from her Great Aunt Raisa when she died. He had taught himself to play the music in the bench, but he preffered to make up his own.

"There he is," Ella said, pulling him both from his thoughts and down the steps. They made their way toward a blue car that could have been any brand and whose driver was unmistakably related to Ella.

"Sister," the young man greeted cheerfully. "And boy who I have never met before."

"Josh, this is Soren, Soren, Josh. If he says something idiotic to you, ignore him. It's what I always do," Ella said as she slid into the passenger's seat.

"Um, okay," Soren said awkwardly as he slipped into the back.

"Hello Soren, Ella's friend. Nice to meet you." Soren muttered a reply and studied Josh as they pulled out of the schools parking lot. He was tall, well built, and muscular. His skin was tanned from the summer, setting off his curly dark hair and humorous blue eyes. Soren thought that Josh looked remarkably like his favourite cousin, Phillip, who was also at college.

"He's cute, Ella, where'd you find him?" Josh asked, winking at Soren in the rearview mirror.

"Shut up, you idiot. You already have a boyfriend. Besides, you aren't allowed to hit on my friends. That's just weird," Ella said half laughing, and rolling her eyes.

"Relax. I'm just teasing. He isn't really my type," Josh said pleasantly. "No offense or anything," he added to Soren.

"None taken. I'm straight anyway."

"Well, that's good, because you most definitely are Ella's type, so -" That was all Josh managed to say before Ella smacked him, her cheeks flushed dark pink.

"I will seriously kill you if you bring that up again," she warned her brother. He nodded mutely, his eyes dancing.

"Oh, look. We're home," Josh said cheerfully a minute later, pulling into a driveway.

"Thank God. Come on, Soren. Let's go," Ella said, sliding out of the car.

The Ross's house was large, but it seemed smaller inside because of all the people. Josh and his boyfriend Quinn were playing video games in the living room, Mrs. Ross was in the kitchen making some kind of deliciouse smelling food, Mr. Ross was in his office doing something related to his work, and Ella's younger siblings Drew and Grace, who were twins, were in Grace's room playing music loudly and, theoretically at least, doing homework. When Soren and Ella passed by the room, it looked more like they were playing War, but he wasn't sure because they went by too fast for him to get a good look.