Juliette glanced at me with one raised eyebrow, but went back to her textbook without saying anything.It’s been almost a year since eighteen-year-old Ella Rodriguez was in a car accident that left her crippled, scarred, and without a mother. Does that mean if we ever meet in person, we’ll have to get married?” Surprised, I burst into laughter. “Cinder? Are you still there?” “I didn’t realize upping our relationship to phone buddies would come with a boyfriend title. I doubted she could hear me, but I spoke softly anyway, just in case. She was bobbing her head along with her music as she read out of a textbook. Juliette was already doing what she did best-ignoring me. Once Dad and Jennifer were gone, I glanced over at the couch. I rolled my eyes and made my way over to the armchair my father had been lounging in. “I’ll turn the volume up.” My dad and Jennifer both gave me such hopeful looks that I couldn’t argue anymore. What if she tries to throw herself off the balcony or something?” Was there anyone in the world that didn’t feel the need to humiliate me? I glared at Juliette, and she just waved a pair of earbuds at me and shoved them in her ears. Besides, she’s not supposed to be alone, anyway. “There’s no way I’m going anywhere near the upstairs with Ana in the mood she’s in, and I really don’t care about Ella’s love life. “I was here first,” Juliette said in response to their expectant looks. As they started up the steps, they both turned back to Juliette, who had sprawled out on the couch instead of getting up. She hurried to catch up to my dad, seeming more than happy to finish her workout early.

I have to get dinner started anyway.” While I was busy dying from her use of the word boyfriend, she hopped off the elliptical. “We can keep an eye on you from the kitchen. “Of course! You go ahead and talk to your boyfriend, Ella,” she squealed. “Won’t we, ladies?” His blatant desperation for me to talk to someone-even a stranger from the Internet-was as embarrassing as Anastasia’s outburst. We’ll give you some privacy.” He glanced at both Jennifer and Juliette. “Look, thanks for giving me your phone number, but maybe this is a bad time.” My dad scrambled to his feet, waving his hands at me. I think that was only because I was still in so much shock.

“Sorry about that.” “It’s okay.” It was definitely not okay. “Welcome to my life,” I said with a sigh of defeat. “Ella?” Cinder asked when things got quiet.

Kelly oram cinder ella