Chapter 9: CHAPTER 8

'Cause it's my life

Better stand tall when they're calling you out

Don't bend, don't break, baby, don't back down

- It's my Life, Bon Jovi

At exactly half past ten, Ellie walked up the driveway to the café with two books clammed under her arm, her hands shoved into the pockets of her jacket. Jodie was already outside, shoveling the fresh snow away to clear the driveway.

"Good morning!" Ellie greeted her and quickly brought the books inside to save them from the snow before she came back outside, "Do you have a second shovel so that I can help you?"

"Yeah, it should be in the shed."

Ellie nodded and went to work herself. For a few minutes, Jodie and her worked in silence until there was a wide passage through the masses of snow in the driveway.

"Let's head inside," Jodie leaned her shovel against the wall of the house, "my hands are freezing."

The two women headed inside and took off their jackets. Ellie shook the melting snowflakes out of her curly hair and quickly took off her shoes.

"Do you have anything I can eat? I haven't had breakfast yet."

"Sure, you can just take something out of the fridge," Jodie smiled her typical wide smile at the younger girl, "tea?"

"I'd love to."

When the water was boiling in the kettle and Ellie was chewing on some toast, she finally told Jodie all about the previous evening.

"It was awful!" She confessed, "I mean, Quinn's friends are nice and all but I felt so uncomfortable the whole time, like an intruder who had snuck into a stranger's house."

She paused for a moment.

"That's probably how Quinn sees me, anyway."

"Don't let her get to you," Jodie advised her kindly, "people that are rude to you are not worth your time."

"Thank you... — I'm really glad I can come here everyday. I wouldn't know what else to do, stuck at home all alone. Or worse, together with Quinn."

Ellie giggled about the words she had said but Jodie suddenly seemed flustered.

"Speaking of which..." Jodie sheepishly ran a hand through her carrot-colored hair that was partially wet from the snow, "I'm afraid you won't be able to visit for a little while."

Ellie let her continue without interruption, anxious yet curious to hear what Jodie had to say.

"Liana gifted me a three-week road trip to Australia yesterday!" Jodie beamed and could not help the wide smile that spread on her lips, "We're going to leave in a couple of days and then we'll rent a van and travel through the country. Neither of us have been to Australia before so we're really excited."

Seeing how happy Jodie was about her upcoming vacation, Ellie could not bring herself to be mad or truly disappointed. She smiled back at Jodie, even though there was a small voice in the back of her head, quietly whispering 'but what will you do when the café is closed?'.

"That's awesome!" Ellie said, "When is your departure day?"

"On Friday," Jodie replied happily, "we plan on flying to Vancouver to spend two days over there. Our flight to Australia leaves on Sunday evening."

As it was Tuesday this very day, Jodie's departure was only a couple of days away.

"And when will you be back?"

"Probably around the beginning of march. We haven't booked our flights back yet."

The two got to work and Jodie got all the cakes from the fridge while Ellie prepared the tables. The day went on without any notable events but below the surface, Ellie's mind was racing.

Where in the world would she go while Jodie was on vacation? After an initial wave of disappointment about the new information, Ellie knew in her rational mind that no one really could be blamed for this. Still, staying home the whole time and being bored out of her mind did not seem too fun. At least she would not have to deal with Quinn since the latter was gone the whole day, skiing in the morning and working as a waitress in the evening.

"Can I come Friday morning to say goodbye?" Ellie asked all of a sudden, startled by her own bluntness.

"Sure," Jodie smiled back at her, "actually, I was going to ask you to. I need to give the leftover cakes to someone."

"You really want me to gain more weight, don't you?" Ellie chuckled.

"If that's what it takes to be able to enjoy my cakes, then yes."

Ellie came home relatively early, approximately around half past two. Normally, she would've stayed at the café longer than that, especially since she only had two fulls days and Friday morning 'left' but Jodie had decided to close the café a little earlier this day. Quinn probably was not home yet and Ellie felt happy and relaxed as she opened the front door. It was not even locked — either, Quinn was not afraid of burglars or she just forgot to lock the door again.

Ellie immediately noticed the extra pair of jackets on the coat hooks. Puzzled, she took off her shoes and added her jacket to the others.

In the living room, Quinn was sitting on the couch and an unknown man in a white dress shirt was kneeling in front of her, his back turned on Ellie. Quinn's friends were huddled around the couch and observed the scene. When Ellie audibly entered the room, all of the people present turned around to look at her. The man in front of the couch had the exact same face as Collin, just a little older and greeted Ellie with a nod before he turned back around to Quinn.

"As I said, it's probably just a light sprain," he said to her, "if it doesn't get better within the next few days, I'd like to see you again, yeah?"

Ellie would've liked to go up to her room but the others were blocking the path to the stairs. So she stayed, awkwardly standing next to the dining table. The man — probably Collin's dad as well as the village's doctor — moved a little to the side to get more space and Ellie could see that he was carefully wrapping Quinn's foot with white bandages.

"I guess that means I won't be able to ski for the next few days, right?" The blonde girl asked, disappointment visible on her pretty face.

"I'm afraid it does," the man nodded, "I would recommend not to walk too much on your foot for at least a week. That means no skiing, no working at the restaurant and, if possible, no walking at all."

"I will not stay in my bed all week," Quinn replied in disbelief but there was a small smile on her lips.

"Oh, I know you won't," the doctor patted Quinn's other leg in a friendly manner when he was done wrapping her right foot and stood up, gathering all the utensils he had brought with him, "just go a little easy on it, okay? No jumping or running for a week. And try to keep it dry while showering. You can cool it if it hurts."

"Will do, Sir" Quinn jokingly saluted with a grin.

As the doctor got ready to leave, there was some movement in the group. Dash took a look at the clock and kissed Quinn goodbye while the others moved to sit next to her. Ellie quickly took her opportunity and walked up the stairs to her room. She was not sure Quinn had even noticed her.

She, on the other hand, had not only noticed the other girl but also the misery that had been brought onto her but also another thing: with the café closed and Quinn injured, she would have no place to 'escape' from her. Sure, she could visit the bookshop and Mister Saunders shop but none of those places were suitable for staying there all day. Quinn was going to be at home for at least a week and Ellie really did not want to spend more time with her than absolutely necessary.

Could she just lock herself in her room all day? She was sure Quinn would even purposefully go up to her room and start a fight just for the sake of it.

This was awful!

Oh if only Quinn had not injured her foot the very day that Jodie announced her vacation! If only Ellie had managed to somehow befriend Quinn or anyone else in that village. If only she had never come here in the first place!

Ellie heard laughter downstairs and decided to leave the house again. If she would have to spend more time with Quinn during the next weeks, she wanted to enjoy her last days of 'freedom' to the fullest. She went down the stairs again and met all of Quinn's friends still in the living room. Quinn had the small couch to herself while the other three sat on the bigger couch. They were snacking and drinking tea and hot chocolate, sharing stories with each other and laughing. Ellie snuck past them and since Quinn had her back turnt on her, she did not notice the smaller girl walking by. The others paid little attention to her, too busy listening to something Lillian was saying.

As Ellie got dressed to go outside, she felt a sudden wave of envy engulf her heart. It would be great to have some friends out here that she could spend her time with. Giggle and chat together, just like Quinn and her friends did. If it was not for Quinn's behavior towards her, even being part of her group of friends seemed great.

Outside, it was snowing heavily again and Ellie ditched her plan to take a walk around town. Instead, she made her way across the driveway to Mister Saunders antique shop. Light filled the windows and painted the snow on the ground outside a soft yellow. The little bell rang as Ellie pushed open the door and stepped into the warmth. Mister Saunders shop was always heated very well as he got cold easily — at least, he had told Ellie so.

The elderly man greeted her with a smile and asked her about the little clay dog and Ellie felt herself relax a little. At least she would have a few chances of escaping. It did not seem like Quinn liked antiques or reading that much and with her sprained foot, she certainly would not intrude the only two places Ellie could go.

She stayed with Mister Saunders for more than an hour, only returning home when she saw Janet's car rolling up the driveway. So this was how she would spent the days after Jodie's departure: leaving the house and only coming back when it was 'safe' and Quinn would not lash out at her. At least she had Wednesday and Thursday left to go to the café.

Her and Jodie had continued to bake together and so far, it was going quite good. On Wednesday, she made a chocolate cake and on Thursday, she helped Jodie decorate some cupcakes. The days went by very quickly and when Ellie returned home on Thursday afternoon, she realized with horror that from tomorrow on, she would have to deal with Quinn again.

Ellie left the house before her host got up and came home after at least one of the adults was back to avoid being alone with Quinn. The latter slept longer now that she could not go skiing and stayed home, spending most of the day in the living room. The only good news were that her foot was healing quite nicely and the doctor — who had introduced himself as Dr. King to Ellie — had told her she would probably be able to go skiing again in a week. So even if Ellie had to her time with Quinn, she would only have to do so for a few days.

Friday came by way too fast and Ellie found herself getting dressed at nine in the morning to collect some leftover cupcakes from Jodie. Usually, she would have left the house by now but since the café was already closed and Jodie said she still had to pack, she had told Ellie to come over around ten. That left Ellie enough time to eat breakfast and hopefully, Quinn was not awake yet.

Ellie's hopes were crushed when she went down to the kitchen as quietly as possible and sat down to have breakfast. She had just eaten her second spoonful of cereal when there were uneven steps on the stairs. Quinn entered the living area, still walking with a noticeable limp because she was supposed to go easy on her foot.

"Morning," Ellie said not unkindly. She was not in the mood to fight and tried her best to smile at the other girl. Quinn just gave her the side-eye and made herself some toast but did not say anything. Ellie finished her breakfast as quickly as she could and decided to take a little walk before she would visit Jodie. Anything to get out of this house. As she got up to put her bowl into the dishwasher, Quinn looked up from her phone.

"Where are you going?" She asked casually.

"Um... to the kitchen?"

"No, stupid, I mean where are you going? You leave the house every single day and don't come back until the afternoon."

Contrary to her normal behavior, Quinn did not even sound snarky. Even the insult sounded almost... nice? What in the world was wrong with her? Ellie contemplated not telling Quinn where she went but ultimately decided to just spit it out. She did not want to cause a fight and the other girl seemed to be in a rather good mood. Also, there was no harm in telling Quinn. She had not been to the café since Ellie started going there and even if she decided to show up there, there were always customers and Jodie around.

So, Ellie said: "Just to the café."

"The café? The one here in Frostfields?"

"Yep," Ellie paused for a second, "why? Is that a problem?"

"No, no, not at all," Quinn did not look up when she continued, "it's just... you know who the owner is, don't you?"

"Yes...?" Ellie dragged out the word and looked up at Quinn while she put on her shoes, "And?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Quinn quickly shook her head, "we just kinda stopped going there after we found out the owner was a lesbian."

The world around Ellie seemed to stop spinning for a second before it came back with full force. What? Given that Ellie had already suspected that Quinns's dislike for her might stem from the fact that she somehow found out about Ellie's sexuality, Quinn's words surprised her more than they should have. Here she had it; here she had proof that Quinn was, in fact, homophobic. Very unlike her usually calm nature, Ellie felt anger well up inside of her. And while she normally chose to keep her head down if it came to a situation like this, she decided that now would not be one of those times.

"Oh Wow!" She said sarcastically and was a little startled by how cold her voice suddenly sounded, "I thought you were better than that."

"Better than what?"

Of all the possible situations, Quinn decided to play dumb right now.

"You just told me you stopped going to the café because the owner is a lesbian!"

"And?"

It was a mystery to Ellie how Quinn could still be so calm when she herself was trembling with anger.

"Do you have a fucking problem with that?" She said, loud and clear but not yet yelling, "I like girls, too, is that why you hate me so much?"

"I..."

"Nevermind."

Without giving Quinn a second chance to answer, Ellie grabbed her jacket and stormed out of the house. She did not even notice the cold at first, the heat of rage was boiling inside of her. Strangely, she did not even care that she had just now officially come out to Quinn. Apparently, the blonde had known before so it did not come as a surprise to her. And second of all, Ellie really could not care less about Quinn's opinion. The girl had hated her from day one and being able to project her homophobic views onto Ellie would not make a huge difference after all.

Ellie shook her head to get rid of the thoughts clouding her mind. Why did she even care about Quinn and her opinion so much? The other girl could go to hell for all Ellie cared. Luckily, the walk to Jodie's house gave her some much needed time to calm down and by the time she arrived, she had come up with a 'plan'.

Every time Quinn had treated her badly, she had cowered and gave in — but not anymore. She would not mention the conversation to Quinn in any way or imitate a conversation. But she was done backing down. If Quinn wanted to pick a fight, she had picked the wrong person.