Chapter 14 It Was Him...

Ellie wasn't about to hang around in that scene for long. She nibbled on some food, mumbled a few words to her folks, and slipped out quietly.
With all those guests buzzing around her cousin, her parents still mingling, and her having made her appearance, so no one would notice her leaving.

But, just as she stepped out of the restaurant, there was her cousin, right at the entrance, chatting on the phone. And, of course, her cousin spotted her too. No way to dodge this one.

What threw her off even more was that her cousin just gave a kinda awkward smile and kept talking on the phone.

"Yeah, I just stepped out. Waiting for you at the entrance. Alright, talk later."

Ellie felt a wave of relief. Looked like she wasn't the only one bailing early; her cousin had beat her to it.

She strolled over with a grin, "Hey, Allie."

Allie chuckled, "Heh... You heading out too?"

"Yeah," Ellie nodded. "Caught a cold, feeling kinda crappy. Just wanna crash."

"Cold? You take anything for it?"
"I already did."

"Oh, gotcha," Allie said, "I gotta dash to class, and a friend's swinging by to pick me up. If you're heading back now, we can totally drop you off. It's on the way."

Allie was clearly trying to be helpful while hinting she had her own stuff to handle.

Ellie got the message and quickly waved it off, "Nah, no need, really."

"It's no biggie, seriously, it's on the way."

"No, really, it's cool. By the way, you mentioned class? What class are you taking?" Ellie deflected, changing the topic.

"I joined a Latin dance class, been at it for over a month now. Didn't you know?"

Ellie chuckled and shook her head.

She was about to say she needed to catch the bus when Allie suddenly launched into a spiel about how awesome Latin dance was, how hot their teacher was, going on like she was getting paid to promote it.

Watching her cousin ramble on, Ellie felt stuck, unable to get a word in edgewise, not even to say she had to leave.

She just stood there, nodding and throwing in the occasional surprised look to show she was still tuned in.
While Ellie was wondering why her cousin's friend hadn't shown up yet, a silver-gray sedan suddenly pulled up in front of them.

Allie finally cut her sales pitch short, and a woman popped her head out of the car window.

"Allie—"

"Hey, my ride's here!" Allie said, tugging Ellie towards the car. "This is my cousin, Ellie."

"Oh... hey there," the woman said, smiling warmly at Ellie.

Ellie quickly nodded back, forcing a polite smile. "Hey."

"Linda, my cousin needs a lift home, her place is—"

"Allie," Ellie interrupted, "Seriously, you don't need to give me a ride."

Seeing Ellie's furrowed brow and serious expression, and glancing at her friend, Allie finally backed off. After all, it wasn't her car, and pushing it would just make things awkward.

"Alright then, I'll get going."

"Yeah, hurry up, don't be late."

Allie smiled, opened the back door, and Ellie let out a sigh of relief, stepping back a couple of steps.

As she turned her head, she noticed the woman driving was still looking at her.
Their eyes met, and the woman gave a small smile. "Really, it's no trouble to give you a lift."

"No, seriously, I appreciate it. Thanks, though."

The woman just nodded and started the car.

Watching the silver-gray sedan roll away, Ellie let out a heavy sigh and headed towards the bus stop.
It wasn't that she didn't appreciate the offer; she just needed some alone time today... some peace and quiet without any fuss.

Ellie waited at the bus stop for about five minutes before the bus finally showed up. It was 6:30 in the evening, prime dinner time, so the bus was pretty empty.

Out of habit, she walked in and snagged a window seat near the back door. Her mind kept replaying the events of last night.

She didn't know how long she'd been lost in thought when the bus slowed down and stopped at a station. A black figure zipped past her view, looking both unfamiliar and oddly familiar, making her heart skip a beat.

She had this instinct to look back and chase after that figure. When the bus stopped, the tall, thin man dressed in black clothes and black pants jogged to catch the bus, passing right in front of her.