Much Better.

Ella waded through the hordes of girls on her way to the bathroom mirror. The first coed assembly of the year began, in a few short minutes, and the girls of St. Cecilia's were in a tizzy. They clustered around the mirrors in the bathroom, talking excitedly and trying desperately to adapt the uniform from a frumpy disaster, into Catholic schoolgirl-chic.

Once a week, the guys' and girls' sections of the school gathered as one in the big auditorium in the center of the private school campus. Most girls spent hours agonizing over these all-too-brief moments of coeducation. They worked hard to shine and sparkle every time there was a possibility of seeing the boys.

A goal Ella knew about personally, since she's the queen of primping to impress. Even though she never needed to try too hard to get the attention that all the girls were jealous of. Ella pushed her way towards an open mirror, where she smiled at her reflection.

She rolled the waistline of her plaid skirt exactly twice, the better to show off her long legs, which were still nicely tan from her summer on the beach in Long Island. Her wavy, sun-kissed blonde hair had that almost tousled look that made the boys drool, while not being quite messy enough to incur the wrath of the Nuns.

But Ella didn't believe in working too hard for boys' attention. She merely sauntered about and let the boys worry about impressing her. Ella had taken pride in being unable to choose between the numerous hot boys who vied for her attention. She always loved the all-school assemblies. Because - and she'd be the first to admit - Ella Tuttle loved boys.

St. Cecilia's boys were particularly delicious, with their navy blazers and ties. Ella though so every September, when a summer at the beach had ended and she was back in Dix Hills, New York. They might not be as delicious as the shirtless boys from Mantuawk, but there were pretty close.

Ella tucked her white oxford shirt tight into her waistband, the better to invite a closer inspection of her curves. She assured herself that her clear MAC lip gloss accentuated her lips, which she applied around the strict no make-up rule of St. Cecilia's.

The bell rang and the bathroom erupted into squeals and cruses, and Ella joined her classmates as they all raced outside and onto the quad. The autumn sunshine was bright, through there was a slight snap in the air. Once inside, Ella slowed to her natural saunter and headed down the aisle. Ella couldn't help smiling at all the girls licking their lips and tossing their hair, desperately trying to wins some male attention. A number of male eyes skipped over her classmates and landed on her, and she wasn't even trying.

Stifling her laughter, Ella slid into the place her friend Ashlyn had saved for her at the end of the row. Marilee smiled and gossiped about who seemed to get suddenly hotter over the brief two months of summer. Ella glanced over at the boys side, and her gaze landed on one person.

There was a new face sitting among the other senior boys, most of whom Ella has known for years. This guy was lounging on the wooden pew, all smoldering brown eyes and mouth to die for. His collar was flipped high up, and his striped tie knotted lose and askew, and his chocolate-brown hair was the very definition of bed-head.

Anyone could look like a rebel in a leather jacket and blue jeans, but it took a special guy to look badass in a school blazer and tie. Ella inched forward and squinted, picking out a set of colorful band pins that the new boy used as cuff links.
"That," Ashlyn murmured in Ella's ear, "is Joseph Jonas, completely drool worthy. His parents weren't psyched abut his grades and excessive partying, so boom! St. Cecilia's. It could have been a military school, right?"

"It wouldn't suck to see him in a military uniform," Ella observed, biting her glossed lip. "He plays lacrosse, and doesn't have a girlfriend," Ashlyn continued. She shrugged, "And claims that he never settles down with one," Her voice was playful, "Sounds familiar." Ella giggled and rolled her eyes at her friend, "Why have one when you can have them all?" Ella joked.

After the assembly began, Ella glanced across the aisle again at Joe, and instantly recognized the way he stood in the midst of his new classmates, like he expected all to pay attention to him. Because Ella was good at it herself, she knew that if he kept up that easy, confident vide, they all would pay attention to him. More than that, she liked his messy hair and the sexy smirk he wore when he looked up and caught her staring at him.

Other girls might have blushed or giggled. Which was why they weren't Ella. She held his gaze, his smirk kicking up a few notches, and only if Ella were dead would she not notice the heat he was sending her across the aisle. She broke his stare, glancing over at her friend, and trying to ignore the urge to look back over at him. Ella looked across the aisle once again, to find Joe still watching her with a challenging expression on his face.

Ella knew that look. She'd given and received that look a million times. There were times when looks like that had made her burn right up, and this was one of those times.

After weeks in time, Ella had spoken to Joe briefly. She knew all too well, to get his attention, you had to act like you didn't want it. He had already hooked up with ten girls in the short three weeks he was the new boy at school, and Ella had her fair share in guys as well. But the way he transitioned from one to another, seemed to be almost flawless. He'd gone from one bestfriend to another, and then another, and quickly, he wound up hooking up with Ashlyn. They all seemed to come together, just to try to hurt Joe's reputation among the school. But Joe wouldn't let that happen, he knew better.

Ella wasn't jealous, per say. Ella didn't get jealous, because she clearly saw his smooth plan. He jumped from his current fling, to their best friend. And it was just clear as day, that his next jump would be Ella. She didn't sweat it, she didn't need to. She had him in the palm of her hand.

----------

Ella pretended she was far too engrosses in her copy of Us Weekly to notice that Joe has just walked through the door of the boys' building and out into the sharp sun of the quad. She subtly adjusted the way she was sitting on her bench, and began, ever-so-slightly, to wind a strand of her hair around her finger.

"Hey, Ella." Joe drawled, coming to a stop in front of her. Ella looked up slowly, as if it was hard to tear her eyes away from the latest Lindsay Lohan Goes Wild story. The wind brought the smell and feel of winter with it, and it kicked up the color in Joe's cheeks. Today he'd managed to mess around with his uniform a little bit, so everything sat just outside of school guidelines, right down the messed-up hair and loosely knotted tie. Even though Ella knew he probably did it himself - deliberately - she couldn't help but admire the careless sort of vibe it gave him.

"Hey," she said after a moment, as if she was thinking of other things. He smiled. "What are yo doing out here?" he asked. "Waiting for me?"

Ella gave him her patented you wish look. "I had to get outside," she said, "Sometimes school fells like it's suffocating me."

"I hear you," Joe said, dropping down next to her on the bench. "So, friend," he said raising his eyebrows and looking at her. "I think it's time that I cement my reputation as the coolest kid at St. Cecilia's"

"I didn't know that was your repuatation." Ella murmured teasingly, "I thought you were just the new kid." He chuckled, "At the moment, yeah." He gave her a sly look, indicating that he knew exactly how cool everyone though he was. "Which obviously, needs to change."

"Aw, poor baby." Ella laughed. She reached over and patted his hand. "Not getting enough attention?" Joe shot her a look as if to say that no amount of attention would be enough.

It was moment like this what made Ella think she and Joe were two halves of the same whole. Or something else lame and poetic. She just knew that she got him.

"So I've decided to throw the Halloween to end all Halloween parties this weekend." Joe leaned forward and fastened his gaze on Ella's. "I'm thinking you should come over early on Saturday and help me dress."

"You don't know how to dress yourself?" Ella asked felling her cheeks - what the hell? - flush. Ella never blushed.

"I think you could do a better job," Joe replied with a smirk. "And who knows? We might have fun." His tone was completely suggesttive and he made absolutely no attempt to hide it.

He was just so naughty. And Ella wanted to lap it up. It was almost too bad that she couldn't go. She wouldn't go. That was the point, if she just showed up and played along with his plan, she'd be giving him what he wanted the whole time. That's no fun. That wasn't Ella.

Joe sent her a little flirtatious smirk, in which she bit her lip at. "I'll think about it." She whispered, looking up into his deep brown eyes for a second, "I might be busy." A sly look was on her face, as Joe sighed and leaned back.

"This part is going to be epic. I guarantee it. We're talking DJ, light show --" Ella cut him off with her smooth voice, "It might be a great party," She paused, as his eyes washed over her face, "But since I might not be going, it obviously can't be that epic. By, like, definition."

"You make a good point." Joe looked at her, slowly and carefully, as if he could read her every thought. "You know you want to come Ella." His voice was flawless, as he ran a hand through his hair.

"What I know," she told him with a dazzling smile, " Is that this halloween is going to be amazing."