Blue Violet

chapter 15



Griffin deliberately made himself scarce, heading back to his own bedroom before she opened the door. It was just easier not to have to try to defend their relationship until they had to, despite having had years to rehearse the plausible story they used when questioned.

“I’d invite you in,” Ellie greeted Brian, “but no one else is home, and I’m not allowed to have friends here on my own.”

Brian smiled and held out a hand. “That’s okay,” he said, taking her arm. “We need to get going anyway.”

He acted the perfect gentleman, escorting her to the car and opening the door for her. Ellie hadn’t been on many dates, but knew that she did like old-fashioned manners, and appreciated Brian’s attempts at chivalry.

Almost as soon as they started driving, he turned to Ellie and said, “Maybe sometime, just the two of us? Like a date?”

“Wow, Brian,” she stammered, trying to sound both surprised and sincere. “That’s so nice of you to ask me. I’m really flattered. Really.”

“I hear a ‘but’…” He sounded resigned but somewhat amused. Ellie felt relieved. Brian seemed to be a very confident guy. Her rejection was not likely to do much damage to his ego or his feelings.

“Well, there’s someone else…” she trailed off suggestively. As she said it, an image of Alex worked its way into her mind. She mentally shooed it away.

“In Texas?” Brian asked, hitting his turn signal as they came up to a stop sign.

“Mmmm…” He could take that as confirmation if he wanted to. She wouldn’t correct him.

“He’s a lucky guy,” Brian finally muttered after a long moment of silence.

Ellie gave a little laugh. “Well it’s nice of you to say so.” She gave him a sideways look. “Friends?”

“Of course!” He’d taken her rejection so well, if Ellie hadn’t known better, she would’ve been a little miffed.

“Cool.” She nodded, satisfied. “You’re a good guy Brian.”

“I won’t argue with you,” he agreed with a wink.

She rolled her eyes. “You might want to work on that ego, though,” she teased back.

“I’ll think about it.” He cocked an eyebrow and Ellie laughed again. They couldn’t find any space in the movie lot, so they parked in the larger lot up by the grocery store and walked down to the theater. The rest of their friends were already there, waiting outside despite the cold. Most of the people from their lunch table plus a few others had come. Adelaide, Lila, and Nate included.

Ellie noticed a few raised eyebrows among the group as she and Brian walked up together. High school drama could be really fun when you didn’t take it too seriously. Kayla was clearly pea green with envy.

“Hey!” Ellie greeted Adelaide, Lila, and Nate all with her usual careful hugs.

“Are you on a date?” Nate asked bluntly, never shy about asking what everyone else wanted to know. Ellie considered it to be one of his more endearing qualities, even if it rubbed some people the wrong way.

“No,” she said. “We’re friends. We live in the same neighborhood. He gave me a ride. That’s all there is to it.”

“Are you sure?” Nate teased, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Ellie chuckled. “Positive.”

“Hey, who was that guy at the pizza place the other night?” asked Lila.

“Griffin’s my brother,” Ellie answered, aware of Adelaide’s power. Hoping to head off additional questions about him, she added, “He… takes care of me.”

She saw Lila and Adelaide exchange a meaningful look. Once again, she resisted using Griffin’s power on the sisters. She’d also avoided using her own power on them, making sure to limit any physical contact. They were already suspicious. What if one of her powers caused Adelaide or Lila to find out her true identity before she was ready to tell them? Griffin still maintained that it was too early to share that secret. And she respected her brother’s wishes. Although her patience really was wearing thin.

“Everything okay?” Adelaide asked her quietly.

“Oh!” Ellie had forgotten to think of an appropriate emergency. She stuck as close to the truth as she could.

“We thought there might be an intruder, but we didn’t end up finding anyone or anything.”

“That’s scary!” Lila exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Ellie agreed. “We checked everything though, and so it looks like we’re okay.” …For now.

Brian held out his arm. “Ready to go in?”

While they were buying tickets, Ellie noticed that Brian actually blushed when he talked to the girl behind the counter. Feeling slightly guilty, but too curious to resist, Ellie tapped into Griffin’s power and tried to see what the connection was.

“Damn, she is so hot. I should just man-up and ask her out, but she’s not interested in me,” Brian’s thoughts came through loud and clear.

The girl, named Juliette, was a bit harder to read, keeping her thoughts close in to her heart. But after poking around a bit, Ellie heard, “Why do I act like such a clumsy moron when he’s around. I should just get over this stupid crush. He is soooo not interested in me.”

Juliette was adorable, with silky pale blond hair that fell to her shoulders and pretty green eyes. Ellie offered her a friendly smile, and despite the fact that Juliette seemed to be under the impression Ellie was Brian’s date, she returned it.

Nice, too. A thought began to form in Ellie’s mind…a little matchmaking could be a fun distraction from all the drama.

She was just figuring all of this out when she noticed Adelaide giving Juliette and Brian a speculative look. The same curious glance that she herself had received just the other night, right after Griffin had showed up at the pizza place. Not the time to worry about that. Shake it off, she scolded herself. But maybe Adelaide can help me with my matchmaking idea.

The movie was really good, but Ellie spent most of it trying to come up with ways to throw Juliette and Brian together. The only plan she could come up with was befriending Juliette herself. They didn’t share any classes, but there had to be some way.

When the movie finished, they all decided to head to the Dairy Queen downtown. As they were leaving the theater, Ellie noticed Juliette leaving as well. “Adelaide,” Ellie called her friend over. Nodding toward Juliette she said, “Do you know her?”

“Juliette?” Adelaide seemed a little surprised by the question. “Sure! She’s in my English class.”

“Why don’t you ask her to join us at the Dairy Queen?” Ellie suggested.

“Alright,” Adelaide drew out the word. “What’re you up to?”

“Just following a hunch. Trust me. I think it could end well.”

Adelaide remained inquisitive, but shrugged it off. She went over to Juliette who was headed to her own car. They had a short conversation and Juliette walked over to the larger group, clearly having agreed to join in.

“Juliette, this is Ellie Aubrey,” Adelaide introduced them.

“Hi,” Ellie said, offering her hand to shake. “I’ve seen you around school.”

“I’ve seen you too,” Juliette shook the proffered hand. “You’re new here right?”

Ellie grimaced, shifting on her feet. “Yeah,” she pretended to look around as the others headed for their cars. “Hey, why don’t you ride over with me and Brian,” she offered. “We can drop you back at your car on the way back.”

Juliette looked somewhat reluctant. “Okay,” she finally agreed.

When they got to the car, Ellie insisted that Juliette ride in front. “But you’re his date!” Juliette protested.

“Oh!” Ellie widened her eyes in feigned surprise. “No. Brian and I are just friends. He lives in my neighborhood and offered me a ride… He’s really the nicest guy. If I wasn’t already interested in someone else, I’d definitely go for him.”

She flashed a guileless smile and hopped in the back seat. The ride to the Dairy Queen was very short; they could’ve walked if it hadn’t been so cold outside. Ellie started chatting about this and that and then sat back as Juliette and Brian took up the conversation and talked between themselves. Ellie crossed her arms, feeling a little smug. They seemed to have a lot in common. Ellie muffled a small giggle. And was that a bit of flirting going on? Who knew that matchmaking could be so fun in an oddly satisfying sort of way?

After hanging out at the Dairy Queen, the group broke up to head to their respective homes. They got back to the theater only to discover that Juliette had a flat tire, and Ellie knew immediately who had been responsible. Nate could barely contain himself, to the point that his mental laughter was loud enough for Ellie to pick up on with very little effort to tap into Griffin’s power. Apparently Adelaide had put him up to it, doing a little matchmaking herself.

“It’s too late for you to bother dealing with it now,” Brian insisted to Juliette. “I’ll bring you back for your car in the morning if you’d like.”

A shy blush stained Juliette’s cheeks. “Thanks.”

“Where do you live, Juliette?” Ellie asked. After hearing her reply she said, “Drop me off first Brian. I’m on the way.”

When Ellie unlocked her front door and walked in, she immediately met Griffin’s disgusted glare.

“You seriously used my powers to set those two kids up?” He looked so disgruntled Ellie had a hard time not laughing.

“What’s wrong with that?” Ellie brushed past him and headed to the kitchen.

Griffin just shook his head, clearly baffled. “Do you want first shift?” he asked, changing the subject. After Griffin’s sighting of the wolves, they’d agreed to take turns watching the Jenner and Pierce properties through the night. Even Griffin agreed that the danger the Vyusher presented was too great to ignore.

“Sure,” she replied, patting him on the shoulder as she walked by. “I’m still fairly wide-eyed and bushy-tailed.” With that she headed upstairs to change and then took off to man her post. She kept her inner-most thoughts hidden from Griffin as she left. Somehow watching the byplay between Brian and Juliette tonight had brought to mind what wasn’t happening, what she wanted to happen but knew was impossible, between her and Alex. And what really sucked was now she got to spend hours watching over him. So close, yet not close enough. It was going to be a long night.