[37] A Thousand Miles

B A D

B O Y ' S

G A M E

*Ellie's pov*

I tie my blue apron around my waist one last time and situate myself behind the diner's bar, ready to wait my last customers.

After today's shift, I can mark 'working as a waitress at a diner' off my bucket list.

The whole bucket list thing is a fairly recent invention of mine.

The list includes waitressing, traveling to at least fifteen states, cycling around Central Park, backpacking across Europe, graduating both college and high school, falling in love, and etc.

Let's just say that I've accomplished two things on my bucket list.

Archer and I are doing well, we are spending as much time together as possible. Neither of us has said the three little words though and it's just two weeks before graduation. It's been awhile since I told him that I was accepted to the New York college. Time has passed quickly, a little too quickly.

The diner door chime interrupts my train of thought and a boy in a button up causes my eyes to widen.

I blink a couple of times as if I'm unsure if I'm dreaming.

"I heard that it's your last day," he says with a crooked grin.

Ryder says, Ryder my ex-boyfriend.

I nod slowly and hold onto the counter tightly, the counter could surely protect me from whatever is to come.

"El, you look like you've seen a ghost," he says in response to my cautious actions.

El

He never once called me by that nickname when we were dating, why would he now?

It's what Archer calls me when he isn't referring to me by my last name. Why is he of all people tarnishing the nickname?

"I've seen you, close enough," I reply with an ounce of hostility.

He opens his mouth to say something in response to my remark but stops himself. He bites his lip for a few seconds before speaking again.

"I can't believe that you're dating Archer West, him out of all people," he ends up saying, taking a seat at the bar.

I back up a few steps, wary of any close contact.

"So you came here to slander my boyfriend?" I question with a raised eyebrow.

He shakes his head before replying, "no, that's not why I'm here."

"Then what are you here for? A Cherry Coke?" I ask, ready to show him the door.

I know that you're supposed to forgive and forget, but Ryder Cheating Nilsen makes it very hard to even think about doing either of those things.

"No, I'm not here for a Cherry Coke," he says in response, his voice a lot less confident than usual.

"If you don't buy anything you're not allowed to be in here, this isn't some freeloader's paradise," I state, not sure on as to why he was sitting here.

"I need to tell you something, it's about the girl I went to the Sadie Hawkin's dance wit-" he begins just to be cut off by me.

"I don't need to hear about how great she is in bed or how much better of a kisser she is. I honestly don't care for what you have to say because you're full of cra-" I begin to respond, just to be cut off by him.

"I'm full of crap, I know. Just hear me out, Elliot," he says in a serious tone.

I keep quiet and let him speak.

"She ended up finding out why my car got keyed, she ended up finding out that the necklace I gave her was the necklace I gave you, and she ended up slapping me like you did awhile back. I really liked her but because of my dumb mistakes, I ended up losing her. I don't want what I did wrong during our relationship to screw up all my future ones. I don't want to be labeled as a cheater forever. I don't want to carry guilt and unease at the sight of you," he explains.

"What are you saying?" I question quietly.

"I'm sorry," he begins before pausing in hope of a positive reaction, resuming once he realizes it's something I'm not quite ready to give, "I know that an apology won't fix everything, but it's worth a shot. I want to try and make things better, I think this is going to help both of us move forward."

I don't hesitate to give him a follow-up response, to my surprise.

"Thank you for the apology, it's a little late but better than nothing I suppose. Consider things between us finished, our chapter is closed now and you're free to go," I reply, saying the words that I never anticipated on saying.

The thing with words is that you can't always control them, sometimes your heart speaks before you even get the chance to consider the implications.

The void that he left me with has been filled up, I can't help but let him go. Ryder and I are finished, there's no point in dwelling on the past.

I would have to try to forgive and forget, I know that I just said it was hard to think about but Ryder's mistake shouldn't always weigh me down or weigh him down. I deserve to move on in peace and perhaps he does too.

Ryder gives a confused expression and says, "I'm free? What?"

I nod. "If it weren't for you being a filthy cheater, I wouldn't have had the chance to fall for Archer. You're off the hook."

He mouths a 'thank you' and gives a small smile. He gets up from the seat and puts a hand on the back of the barstool.

"I really did like you."

"I know," I reply.

Ryder did like me, even if it was just a little bit. Our relationship consisted of genuine feelings but it wasn't made to last. The timing was wrong and the people in the relationship were wrong.

"Good luck with West," he says, walking out the diner right after.

"Good luck finding a girlfriend better than me," I murmur, getting back to work.

* * *

"Your boyfriend goes to school in New York right?" I ask my coworker Gemma, the diner nearly empty due to the fact that it was just past three.

The lunch rush ends a little after two, the diner only has a few customers up until five.

"Yeah, he goes to school in New York City," she replies as she works on the diner's bulletin board.

"Does the long distance thing work with you two?" I question, passing her flyers to put up on the board.

"Yeah, it does. We manage to work with the distance, it's hard but we manage. We've been dating for three years so we find ways to make it work," she answers.

I nod my head and pin a few photos to the cork board.

"I'm a little sad to be leaving this place, I can't believe that today is my last day," I say with a sigh.

She gives me a confused look, showing that she wasn't aware of my plans.

"Today's your last day? What do you mean it's your last day, Ellie?" she questions, unaware that I'm planning to move for college.

I guess I never did get the chance to inform her about everything, things have been crazy recently and we hardly worked the same shifts.

"I'm going to college in New York, surprise?"

She stops working and just stares at me, giving a sigh a second later.

"I can't believe that you're going to college. You've grown up right before my eyes, I still remember the first time I met you. You were so young and I took you under my wing. I remember the very first time you spilled drinks on a customer by accident. And to think that you're leaving me, unbelievable. I'm going to miss you, Ellie," Gemma says in a mockingly sad voice as she wipes fake tears with her apron.

The exaggeration is real but so are the sentiments attached with her exaggeration.

She puts down the stuff she is holding and gives me a hug.

"I'm serious about the missing you part, I'm going to really freaking miss you," she says.

I smile and begin to feel more sad about leaving the diner. This was my first job after all.

"I'll miss you more," I tell her.

"No, I'll miss you more!" she replies loudly.

The door chimes.

"Gemma may miss you but I'll miss you most," I hear a very familiar voice say.

I look towards the door and see Archer, he's standing there with a bittersweet smile and a single white rose.

I give a glance at Gemma just to see her get back to her bulletin boarding.

I walk over to Archer and wrap my arms around his neck, not even caring if I get pricked with the rose's thorns.

"Grey, I'm going to really fucking miss you," he says into my ear.

He holds me tight, afraid to let go.

"It's not like I'm vanishing forever, I'm just going to college," I tell him, a small smile on my face.

"Do you know how many miles will be in between us?" he asks me, removing my arms from around his neck.

I nod my head but he still answers as if I shook my head 'no.'

"About three thousand, three thousand miles will separate us," he states.

I frown.

"Are you trying to make me feel guilty again? Trying to make me stay?" I ask jokingly.

He immediately shakes his head.

"Of course not, I'm just saying that I'm going to miss you here in California. I'm going to miss you being a mere car ride away," he replies, dispelling any possible confusion.

I give a large smile.

"I'm going to miss you too. We still have time though because I'm not moving for awhile, I still have two months."

He walks over to a bar stool and takes a seat, I get behind the counter.

"What would you like?" I ask him, a smile perched on my face.

He gives a smirk.

"You."

I roll my eyes.

"You already have me, what would you like that is edible and available in the kitchen?" I specify.

He thinks for a second, playing with the flower he brought with him.

"Chocolate shake with fries."

I write down his order and tell the kitchen what it is.

When I walk back to Archer he has furrowed eyebrows, his expression is anything but happy.

"Gemma said that you were talking to some guy earlier," he tells me, gesturing to Gemma.

I look over at her and she gives an innocent smile.

"Who was it, Grey?" he asks.

Gemma must have left out some crucial details...

"Are you trying to get me into trouble?" I ask her.

She shakes her head before replying, "no, Archer asked me what's been going on here today and I just told him that you talked to some guy for a little bit earlier."

I give a nod and look back at Archer, he still has the furrowed eyebrows.

"It's nothing really," I say to him.

"Grey, tell me."

I sigh before explaining, "Ryder came by earlier, I simply talked to him for a bit. Nothing else. We just talked, he wanted to smooth things over."

His expression softens.

"Good, it was just your cheating ex-boyfriend and not some guy trying to steal you away."

I give a sigh, was he really worried that I would be swept away?

"Nobody is going to steal me away, no need to be jealous. If anything, I should be the one worried about their significant other being stolen away. After all, you're quite something Archer West," I tell him, he gives me a smile.

"A good type of something?" he questions.

"Of course, you're the best type of something," I reply, not wanting to inflate his ego with an extended proper response.

He holds the rose up and places it right in front of me, pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear with his right hand.

"El, you're truly beautiful. Inside and out. Thank you for liking somebody like me."