on a night when a 1000 or so other things could have happened

"I heard your Valentines day was awful," Ellie said into her cell to Amanda.

"Yeah, it was sick," she said. "I was sick."

"What are you doing?" Ellie was in her room, hiding perhaps. She hadn't taken any of Elliot's phone calls. It was just a matter of time before he showed up. She supposed.

"Dylan." Amanda sighed. "He's trying to fix my uniform with a T-shirt. I don't think its possible, but he's taking one of my favorite stretchy T's I can't wear anymore, and he's putting it in my skirt so it can expand. Did you know he majored in drama?"

"No."

"Yeah, costuming." She sounded unexcited about it. Like she might stomp his fingers if he got too close to her. "So what's up?"

"Nothing."

"You had a good Valentines day, didn't you?" Amanda asked.

"Sort of." It felt like an invitation to tell her everything. But could she? "God, I don't know what I'm doing with Elliot." Ellie winced then.

"What did you do?"

"Why? Why am I like this?" She bit her lips together then. Still she felt every nerve tense when she thought about it. The whole carriage ride. It felt like an out of body experience now. Like something stupid and coarse and..and it was all her doing.

"I do crazy things too." Amanda sighed. "I think maybe its to escape other things, but then its just one more thing you want to escape from, in the end."

"No, no you're a good girl." Ellie told her.

"Of course I am, ha, I'm pregnant, aren't I?" Amanda laughed.

"But you really really want to be with Kyle, don't you?"

There was a silence then.

"Yeah," Amanda told her. "Sorry, Dylan almost got me with a pin there."

"I don't think I want to be with Elliot," Ellie told her, "but its kind of too late."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You didn't?"

"I did."

"When?" There was a shock in Amanda's voice that made Ellie cringe.

"The carriage ride."

"You, are serious! right?" Ellie would have thought Joe Jonas was on a drinking binge in Vegas by the sound of Amanda's voice. Or maybe it had been Joe Jonas she'd been with.

"Maybe it was just," Ellie didn't know how to explain it. "Revenge sex."

"What's that like?" She could hear Amanda telling Dylan to let go then and the pin pricked her.

"Its really not that great," Ellie sighed. "I kept thinking of somebody else because I know he always said he wanted to do it in a carriage."

"That is totally freaky." Amanda almost laughed. "Are you OK? Are you sure Elliot, didn't-"

"Lets not talk about it." Ellie then said.

"Sure."

Ellie wished she was there helping her with the uniform.