Retarded In Love

Maria trotted down the stairs happily, and I slowly followed her trying to plan out what I would say if the subject was brought up. As much as I didn't want to tell my mom, I knew I'd have to. So if it was brought up for some reason, I could handle it. And if it wasn't brought up... I'd have to tell her tomorrow. Hopefully, she would get over it soon.

I turned the corner and sighed happily when I saw all of Bam and I's friends sitting at the table. Mom would be so distracted by trying to keep her dishes in one piece I could eat and get out quickly. All that had to happen was for the guys to wreak havoc as usual, and I was in the clear for the night.

"Ellie!" Ryan exclaimed and jumped from his chair to pull me into a hug so tight and with so much force, I reeled backward down the hall a few steps.

"Dunn?" I replied, wrapping my arms around him lightly.

"You're out of school!" he said, pulling away.

"...I know." I said, smiling. Bam must have told him I agreed. He winked at me and we walked back to the dining room. I sat at the only open chair between Maria and Bam and poured myself a glass of water as the conversations started.

It was loud as usual, with about four conversations going on at once. Girls, music, skateboarding, the usual. The only unusual thing is; I was quiet. I was trying a hard as I could to stay silent and eat my food so I could get out. Then it happened.

"So, Bam..." Uncle Vito said, "You lookin' forward to leavin'? I can't want for you ta go."

Bam smirked and threw food at him. "Yeah, and you'll be glad to hear that Ellie is coming with me as planned."

My eyes darted quickly to my mother, and she dropped her fork. It got silent. Too silent. Totally and completely awkward. "Elanore..." She stated calmly. "What is Brandon talking about?" It stayed silent. "Answer me, Elanore Marie."

"I'm going to California to be on the show with Bam. The producers wanted me."

"You're not going."

"You can't control me! I'm eight-teen!" I said, my voice growing louder.

"As long as you live in my house, you live by my rules. End of story."

"Fine!" I shouted, pushing my chair away from the table quickly, knocking it over. "I'm moving out. As of now, I no longer live in your house!"

Then Bam stood up. "Whoa, whoa, Ellie. Chill."

And that's when I lost it. I turned and took a swing at him, connecting to his nose. He stumbled backward as blood started to trickle down his face. My hand hurt. He snarled and ran at me, tackling me to the ground, though he never hit me. Only held down my hands so I wouldn't hit him, but he lost grip when I brought my knees up, hitting him in the kidney.

"This is all your fault, Bam." I straddled his waist to hold him down and hit him again. The kitchen had somewhat cleared out except for Ryan and my dad, trying to break things up. While I was looking around, Bam had sat up quickly, knocking me off of him. I hit my head on the floor and everything went black.