Fighting to Be Free (Fighting to Be Free 1)

“This is awesome! I have my own star?”

I nodded, prying my cell phone out of my pocket. “Want to see it?”

She looked at me with wide excited eyes. “Hell yeah I do!”

“Come on then, little girl, I’ll find it for you.” I pushed myself out of the truck, grabbing the spare jacket that I’d bought for her so that she wouldn’t get cold. She climbed out too and walked to the front of the truck, looking up at the clear night sky. I slipped the jacket around her shoulders before gripping her waist and lifting her quickly, sitting her on the hood of my truck.

She squealed and giggled. “What are you doing?”

I smiled and climbed up, settling myself behind her, pulling her close to my chest. I fiddled with my cell phone, finding the star map app that I’d downloaded for tonight, then pointed it in the general direction of her star.

It took a few minutes to find it but finally we had it. Ellie was raving and gushing about how incredible it was, that it was the most thoughtful and special gift that she’d ever had.

We just cuddled on the hood of my truck, looking at the star constellations for a while before talk turned to her school and the fact that she only had two months left of her senior year. Coincidently, she finished high school a week after my last agreed day of working for Brett.

We spoke about colleges and where she was going to attend. She didn’t seem too happy about the thought of college at all; she hadn’t decided on a major and had nothing specific in mind for a career. She didn’t even really want to go to college; she just said that people always expected her to so she just figured that she would.

“So, there’s actually nothing that you want to do? If you could do absolutely anything, what would it be?” I asked. Everyone had a dream, didn’t they? Even if it was just a pipe dream that would never come true, everyone had one. I still wanted to break the land speed record, that was my pipe dream.

She looked at me sheepishly and shook her head. “There’s nothing,” she answered.

I frowned. Her words just didn’t sound right, like she was lying or something. “That’s not true, Ellie. What is it you want to do?”

“You’ll laugh and say it’s stupid,” she protested.

I sighed. I guess she didn’t know me as well as she thought she did if she thought I would be anything other than supportive. “I won’t, I promise,” I assured her.

She closed her eyes, seeming to be gathering her courage or something. Finally, she spoke, “I want to have my own label.”

Label? What did that mean? “Huh? What’s a label?”

“A clothing line,” she explained.

I raised one eyebrow at that. I knew she had an eye for fashion, that much was obvious because of how she looked. “Really? Have you ever designed anything before?” I asked. She nodded sheepishly in response. “Something that I’ve seen?” I prompted, waiting for her to continue.

She nodded again, clearly uncomfortable with this conversation. “Yeah, I designed and made that dress that I wore to my dance.”

My mouth dropped open at her words. “Holy f**k, really?” I gasped, shocked. That dress was incredible, I was sure it was an expensive little number.

“Yep,” she replied, looking like she was bracing herself for something bad.

“Wow, shit, that was dress was amazing, Ellie. I had no idea you were so talented!” I gushed excitedly.

A slow smile crept onto her face; her shoulders seemed to relax a little. “Seriously, you liked it?”

I nodded eagerly. “Hell yeah I liked it. Damn, that dress was beautiful; I can’t believe you made that.”

She blushed furiously. “I made that shirt that I wore today too,” she admitted quietly, as if she was ashamed of it or something.

“The blue one? Wow, that was incredible too, Ellie. You should definitely go to design school or something,” I encouraged.

She frowned and shook her head. “I don’t really like to show people my designs.”

Is she crazy? If I had a proper talent like that I would be showing it off to everyone! “Why not?”

She shrugged, her nose scrunching up. “I don’t know. The only people I’ve ever spoken to about going into fashion was Mark and Stacey.”

“And what did they say about it? That you shouldn’t waste your talent?” I asked.

She nodded weakly, playing with her fingers. “Stacey did,” she replied.

“And Mark?” I prompted.

She sighed, shrugging, looking even more uncomfortable as she squirmed on the spot. “Mark didn’t like the idea much. He didn’t like my designs and said that I’d be wasting my time studying it.” I raised one eyebrow, fighting my anger because the prick had obviously knocked her self-confidence. “He thought they were trashy and classless. One of my dresses he told me would only be worn by people that lived in trailers,” she finished.

“Ellie, for f**k sake the guy was an ass**le, a controlling ass**le who probably didn't want you to make anything of yourself because then you might leave him for someone better!” I cried angrily.

She smiled at that. “Someone better, like you?” she teased.

I couldn't help but laugh. “Someone much better than me, Ellie, someone who could give you the world.”

She smiled and pointed up at the sky. “Who needs the world when I have my own star?” she replied.

“Now who's corny?” I joked. She pressed her lips to mine, kissing me fiercely, when she pulled away we were both a little breathless. “Just think about it for me, okay? I'd love for you to do something that makes you happy, I'll always support you no matter what it is, and you need to know that.”