The sound of someone banging on her door, shouting at her to wake up, came too soon for Ella. “Are you awake! Don’t make me come in there!” the servant shouted.
“Yes, I’m awake!” Her voice sounded much more clear than it actually was. Ella got up and remembered she was still wearing the clothes she’d tossed on the night before. Footsteps started to echo away from the door, so she darted out of bed. “Wait! I need to go to the bathroom!”
The phone was ringing, but Ella wasn’t answering, and Rome started to get nervous. He had gotten to Mark’s apartment just after sun up because he hadn’t been able to sleep anyway. Mark was passed out in bed in his underwear. Rome only knew that because he went into his room to find his phone.Finally, he heard her sweet voice in his ear. It was a whisper, as if she was trying not to be discovered, when she said, “Hello?”
Even though it was Saturday, Ella still had work to do. She had work to do every single day, for that matter. Not long ago, her father had sent an email saying how proud he was of her for working even on the weekends, but he didn’t know that her stepmom insisted that she stay in the attic on the computer even on the weekends.That was about to change, though, if Ella had anything to say about it. Talking to Rome on the phone had invigorated her and given her reason to escape what she now saw as a prison. Before, r
Listening to Ella admit that she was essentially a prisoner in her own home broke Rome’s heart. He didn’t know what to do about it. He needed to figure out a way to get her out of there, but the only person who could help him was Tim Bolt, and he knew there was no chance the actor would want to have anything to do with him, let alone find out that his cousin had been speaking to the enemy.He wished he could drive over to Tim’s place and tell him that he would do whatever it took to win his approval. Ella had said the night before when Rome was stand
No sleep was to be had for Ella as she tossed and turned on her little, dirty mattress, waiting for 3:00. She had no clock in her room, save the one on her computer. In order to know the time, she had to check Rome’s phone, which was tucked beneath her pillow. She tried to stop pulling it out to look at it because she didn’t want to wear the battery down, but it was difficult. She couldn’t wait to see him.At 2:35, the phone was at less than ten percent, so she decided to try to think about something e
Rome couldn’t see himself leaving Ella’s room--ever. As dangerous as it was for him to stay there with her, the idea of going back out the window seemed crippling, especially when she was in his arms the way she was right now.Whenever she’d touched him, at first, she’d seemed so unsure of herself, as if she wasn’t quite sure where to put her hands. He didn’t mind her inexperience, though. The longer they were together, the more at ease she seemed.
Sunday afternoon, Ella rushed through the work she had to get done that day so that she could call Tim. She wished Mary worked on weekends so she could run her plans by her friend, and say goodbye, in case she was actually able to get out of the house that night. The idea had her stomach tied in knots. Would Teresa let her go, or would she cause an uproar? Would she send someone after her?She’d hidden her new phone in the back of the attic in the same place where she’d hidden the one she’d stolen from Rome. Once the work was done, she listened to ma
Everything important to Ella was in a small backpack she wore beneath three layers of shirts and the only jacket she still had that she even remotely liked, a jean jacket with a rip in the sleeve she’d brought with her from France. The rip looked cool now, but that hadn’t been the way it’d looked when she bought it. She’d been wearing it one day when Anna and Drew were in an even more foul mood than usual and had taken it out on her, knocking her down and ripping her jacket. The pants she’d been wearing also got ripped and had ended up in the trash.
“Ella, honey, what’s going on?” Her dad sounded concerned. Ella’s natural instinct was to try to blow it off, to make it seem like it wasn’t a big deal, so he wouldn’t be so upset. But that wouldn’t help her situation any either. She needed to be honest with him.“Listen, Dad, I haven’t said anything to you because Teresa said she’d call her friends at Pleasant Hills and have me taken away. I also didn’t want to upset you. But, yes, I’ve been living