No Happily Ever After

Ella stepped out of the bathroom, tying her mane of honey coloured hair back.
'Ella?' Her mom yelled, almost angrily.
'What?' She was agitated. Just an hour left.
'Get down here.'
Ella grabbed a shirt and shoved it over her head before appearing in the kitchen. 'What is it?'
'Your report card came in the mail.' Her mom waved something around and then slammed it into the tabletop. 'You're not doing too well.' She glanced at it and winced. 'I'm finding you a tutor.'
'Is that such a good idea?' She snarled back.
'Your highest grade is a D! Why don't you work anymore, Ella?'
'Because school is a waste. I don't need it.' She untied her hair and stared back at her mother. 'Mary didn't need it, I don't either.'
'Don't discuss Mary.' She sank into her chair. 'I'm finding you a tutor, and you'll come home and study all night if you have to until your next report card. End of discussion.'
'It's not a discussion without dad.' Ella paused. 'Is it?' She sighed, slammed the fridge door shut and ran up the steps.
Ella Dawson was the prettiest girl at school with a honey coloured mane, hazel eyes, a slender quaint frame and a pair of full, almost perfect, lips. She'd maintained perfect grades until this year, when her father was sent to fight in the war, had gone missing and just like that, Ella stopped trying. Her sister Mary had left in a state of annoyance with their mother, and she'd never come back. As far as they knew, she could be dead.
It was only 7, but Ella didn't care. She snapped off the lights, climbed into bed and tried to fall into what could only be described as a dreamless, horrible sleep.

'Hey, Ella!' Cris Addison, Ella's best friend, walked in step. 'How did things with your mom go?'
'Absolutely great. I need a tutor apparently.'
'To be fair, you can do better this year, El.'
'Right. Hopefully it's a male tutor...' She trailed off, applying lip liner in the mirror she'd always had in her locker. 'If not, I am screwed. She's not letting me out, Cris.' Ella threw her a withered look and sighed.
'Things could be worse, girl. Your mom isn't frantically scanning the news for a job. She thinks if I get one, I can sort out her addiction.'
Cris had met Ella at a counselling session, where they'd bumped into each other and become best friends. They knew each other too well.
'Cris?' Rory wrapped an arm around Cris' shoulders and smiled. 'Hey, beautiful.'
'Hello, there.' She giggled and reached up to kiss him.
'Oh, brother.' Ella sighed. It was the end of a long, boring, school day and things could not get any worse.

Ella POV
'Walk home with me?' I tapped Cris' shoulder, and she whirled around.
'Sorry, Ella. I'm going to Rory's.' She smiled weakly. 'Maybe tomorrow, yeah?'
'Yeah, sure.' I let out a breath and sighed. If you couldn't count on your best friend, who could you count on.
I stalked out of school, pausing only to look at my reflection. With a mane of hair, and soft slightly tanned skin, I was easily one of the prettiest girls here. But I'd become an avoidable figure, ever since Dad had...
No. Don't think about that.
I was almost home when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
'Hello?'
'Ella! I've found you a tutor.' Mom declared, her voice so excited I couldn't even decipher her words.
'A tutor?'
'Today! After school! The library!'
'Mom, I'm outside our house.' I shoved open the door and hung up.
'Drop me off?'
'Drop you off?' She paused, and put the phone down. 'Fine. Let's go.'
The drive there was awkward, too long and filled with a wretched silence. I got out the car without even looking at her.
'I'll be here at 9.' She promised, not meeting my eyes. Before I could protest, she was gone. I swore.
'You Ella?' I whipped around.
'Who're you?'
'Jack Barakat. Your new tutor.' He grinned. 'You're actually kinda cute.'
'Shut up.'
'Fiesty, too?'
'Shut. Up. Let's get this over with.' I snapped angrily, pushing open the library doors.
Contrary to popular belief, our library didn't have a silence rule. We could be as loud as we liked here. Perfect.
'So, you have trouble in science?' His finger trailed the list in front of him and paused. 'And music! Sweet, I'm a guitarist. In a band.' He didn't look up. 'Pretty much every subject except art. Cool.'
He was still talking, but something struck me as odd. Wasn't he going to sneer at how superior his intellect was? Wasn't he going to ask me why I was so stupid? But he was in a sort of rant, waving his arms around about his band.
'Aren't you going to call me stupid?' The words were out as soon as I said them. I clapped a hand to my mouth.
'Stupid?' He frowned. 'But you're not...'
'But I'm failing everything...'
'That doesn't mean you're stupid.' He laughed, but not at me. 'Your mom told me you were the smartest girl at school, so I guess my job is to get you back into learning and teach you what you've missed... Besides, you sure as hell don't look stupid.'
'Thanks.' I smiled gingerly, and grabbed a pencil and my notebook.
'Wait, I thought before... We learn, we should know each other properly. 'Cause, like... I can't teach you if I don't know anything about you.'
'Oh. Right.'
'I'm Jack. Jack Barakat... And I'm 17. I have 3 best friends, but one of them is my soulmate.' He got a look of my face and grinned. 'I'm kidding. I'm sort of famous, but hey. I'm home schooled but my mom doesn't care anymore. That's it really.'
'I'm Ella... And uh, I'm 16. I like daisies.' I shrugged. 'I sing too...' I smiled. 'I'm also obsessed with zombies and video games. Or I was.' I smiled.
'Zombies, video games and you're kinda cute?' His mouth dropped. 'You are divine.'
To say that Jack Barakat was the nicest guy I'd come across was an understatement; he was perfect.