spazms and other conflicts of interest

"Why would you do that!" Eric didn't like it. "You told her that!" He winced.

They were leaving the pool, and Ellie made a point to have on her yellow cotton jumper with the ruffles and flip-flops while Eric carried the towels along with a huge yellow crocheted bag of Ellie's.

"I just hate her, sometimes," Ellie said about her sister on their walk home. She'd waited until afterwards. After laying around a good part of the afternoon out of the sun at the pool. After a good long swim. She was thinking they should have done laps now. Maybe he would be tired, they might be dragging themselves home, but instead it had been more of game of splashing and giggling, and of course kissing. Even the life guard caught them once. She really wished she hadn't brought up her sister, after all. It had been fun until now. Maybe there were some things she wasn't suppose to tell him.

He was still sorting it out while she went to get ice cream. Of course, to anyone else, it might look like a small spazm of some kind.

"You should have said nothing." Eric took the strawberry soft serve from her.

"I'm sorry. I just coudn't stop myself," Ellie said as she licked on the vanilla cone.

"It was just one, " he looked around not wanting to broadcast it, "guy.... And I didn't even kiss him. Its not like I'm going around being Michael Pitt, you know."

"He's Bi?" Ellie had to think about that, but knew she shouldn't have asked. "I won't do it again. I promise." Really, she'd never bring up anything like that ever again. Especially, to her sister or anyone else in the family.

"OK, can we not have this conversation, anymore?" He slid on his shades then.

She squinted in the sun. He reached in the bag and got hers out, even slid hers on her face.

"Thanks, I thought I left them at the pool," she said.

"You did." They walked then holding hands, ate on the waffle cones before they melted completely into a sticky mess.

"I'm not so sure I want to go to this dinner, now," Eric told her.

"You have to," she nudged him. "My Mom is expecting you."

"I don't suppose Kyle will be there." Eric wiped his sticky hand on the towel and then offered it to her.

"I don't think so. Why would he be there?" Ellie was pretty sure it was just going to be the four of them. Pretty much a grownup thing. Actually, she was feeling good about it. At least at the moment. Or she was until she mentioned her conversation about Lisa to Eric.

"Because he's always there." Eric had a point. Kyle was, but he might as well be a million miles away from Ellie. Kyle didn't talk to her anymore. And she did her best not to be around when Kyle was there.