AatC Summer Story Part 17

--Eleanor--
I put on my swimsuit, then looked in the mirror and sighed, pinching at the loose fat on my thighs. I turned around and looked at my butt. I clicked my toungue and shook my head, muttering, "It's amazing. I lose fifty pounds and I still have an ass like an elephant."
Jeanette looked in the mirror next to mine, replying in a snappy voice, "At least you HAVE a butt, Eleanor. I have all of the shape of a ruler."
I shook my head. "Don't complain about your skinny little body. I'll have to kill you."
She crossed her arms and sighed, muttering, "Whatever."
"Don't 'whatever' me. You look great," I said, patting her shoulder.
Suddenly someone banged on the bathroom door and yelled, "I KNOW IT DOESN'T REALLY TAKE ANYONE THIS LONG TO PUT ON A SWIMSUIT!"
I turned back to Jeanette and said, "Now we'd better get a move on before Alvin craps his pants."
She laughed and nodded. We went out into the hall, where Alvin and Theodore were sitting. Alvin looked impatient. Theodore was eating the last bits of a cupcake and reading a magazine.
"Finally!" Alvin exclaimed, throwing his hands up.
Theodore looked up, swallowed and dropped his magazine, and his eyebrows shot up. "Wow, El. You look great."
I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."
"No really," he said, walking over and still looking at me. "You look amazing."

--Jeanette--
Eleanor snapped two times in front of his face, then pointed to her head. "Theodore. My face is up here."
He blushed, and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."
Alvin clapped his hands. "So! Eleanor's kickin' body aside, let's move along, shall we?"
We all went out the door together, then began walking down the street.
"Should we try to get Brittany?" Alvin asked, looking like he was truly worried about her. I was too. I didn't even know why she was upset at that point.
"Amazingly enough, in light of recent events I doubt she wants to go anywhere with you, Alvin," Eleanor replied in a suprisingly cold voice.
"Recent events?" Alvin repeated. "I'm not aware of these 'recent events'."
Eleanor glared at him, then stopped at the walk to our front door and said, "I'm going to go check on her."

--Brittany--
I was sitting on the couch in my pajamas, watching "Moulin Rouge!" and thinking about what had happened.
"You know," i said aloud to myself, "Maybe he's not cheating on me. Maybe she's just another crazed ex. She never really said she wasn't- of course, she never said she was, either..." I sighed, and ate a handful of popcorn before thinking, "Maybe this is all just a huge misunderstanding. What I need right now is clarification... I need evidence that he is cheating on me... or that he's not."
As if on cue, the doorbell rang. I peeked through the window, and saw that it was Eleanor, wearing the new swimsuit we had gotten at the mall yesterday.
I sighed, and got up. I walked to the door. I opened it, and let her in. As she walked in, I said, "I know I look awful, I hate even you seeing me like this, no makeup, messy hair, baggy pajamas-"
"You're fine," she interrupted. "You look fine."

--Eleanor--
THAT was a lie! She looked awful. If people saw Brittany without makeup and with her hair unbrushed, they would never ever see her the same. I think she knows that, which was why she went into that big ol' explanation.
Brittany sighed, and went to sit down on the couch, pausing what she was watching. "I suppose you want to know what happened," she said quietly.
I nodded, and sat down. I had to wait for her to say it. I couldn't break the news to her if all this were about something else.
After a pause, she said in an even quieter, vulnerable-sounding voice, "This may come as a shock to you, Eleanor, because we're so great together, and I'm just so beautiful..." I tried to hold in a snicker. What a Brittany way to go about this. "...but... I think Alvin is cheating on me." I opened my mouth to reply, but she cut me off, saying, "But before you go and kick him in the balls, i want you to know that I'm not sure, it's just a suspicion. This could be just a huge misunderstanding, she could just be a crazed ex, and..." Brittany trailed off. You could tell these were the things she really wanted to believe. After a minute of quiet thinking, she looked at me. She analyzed my face, then asked, "Why don't you look shocked?"
I sighed. Here's the hard part. I bit my lip, then said to her, "Brittany, I know. I've known."
"What do you mean, you've known?" she asked, her voice suddenly sounding horrified and angry.
"I mean, Brittany..." I paused. "I knew that he was cheating on you."
Her mouth fell open. After a minute, she fumed and yelled, "I don't know who to be angrier at, Eleanor! Him, because it's true, or YOU, because YOU were never going to tell me! What the hell is that about?" I opened my mouth to explain, but she suddenly stood up and grabbed my arm, her manicured nails digging in and scratching me. She dragged me to the door, saying, "Get OUT."
I yanked my arm away, "You can't tell me to get out, Brit, this is my house too. Now if you'll just-"
"No! You don't live here anymore! You live over there!" she pointed in teh direction of the boys' house. "Now get OUT, and don't you EVER talk to me again!"
And so Brittany Miller, my older sister, shoved me out of my own house and slammed my own front door in my face.

--Theodore--'
The door slammed loudly, and we immediately stopped the conversation we were having and looked. Eleanor was standing on the porch. I walked over. "What happened?"
She ignored me, and banged on the door, yelling, "Brittany, it's not what it sounds like! If you'd just listen to me, you'd see..." she trailed off.
The door locked with a loud click.
Eleanor turned to me, her face red. She looked like she might cry.
"El..." I asked again, "What happened?"
She just pulled me into a hug and buried her face into my t-shirt. I slowly hugged her back.

--Jeanette--
Alvin looked over at me, and asked urgently, "What's going on?"
"I don't have any clue," I replied. He started toward Theodore and Eleanor, but I stopped him. "Alvin, no. Give them a minute."
He grimaced, but stayed put.

--Theodore--
After a couple minutes of silent hugging, she pulled away and sniffled, avoiding eye contact with me.
"What happened?" I asked for the thrid time.
She shook her head, and replied quietly, "I'll tell you later, Theodore."
I opened my mouth to protest and demand an explanation, but she looked so hurt that I changed my mind and shut my mouth.
Eleanor walked back to the other two and I followed. Right away, Alvin started asking questions:
"What happened? Is she okay? Is she mad at me? Is she mad at you? Is she mad? Is she sad? What's she doing? Is she coming back? Is she crying? Is she wearing makeup? What's wrong with her? Is she coming with us?"
"Gee, Alvin, I don't know, she SLAMMED THE DOOR IN MY FACE, I'm not sure if she's COMING WITH US," Eleanor replied, her voice drenched in sarcasm.
I looked over at Alvin, and said, before he could reply, "Alvin, don't bug her about it right now, okay?"
So we walked on to the pool.