(I've finally cast an Ella I'm happy with!)

Hey guys! As you may have noticed, I've entirely revamped this story. Tall, Dark and Target is now known as Till We Pretend and the blurb has been changed as well. I would highly recommend reading this story from the beginning, starting with this chapter. I have privatised the other chapters while I edit them. I know the previous story was unrealistic and I hope you guys enjoy the new turn it has taken. Please remember to vote/comment and let me know your thoughts!

Chapter One

It started out with a dress.

It was a pretty little red dress that I thought would be nice to wear to my best friend's birthday party next week. Said best friend was standing next to me in line to pay at a popular clothing store and couldn't stop talking about said party. I half listened to her, half wondered if I should have left those shoes behind. Granted they were fifty dollars but they went so nicely with this dress and it's not like I was swimming in heel. Maybe I should just go back and...

Too late, the saleswoman glared at me as I'd held up the line in my musings and I promptly walked towards her with my haul. I'd bought the dress and some cute earrings to match. I'd also bought my mom a pair of comfortable slippers since her old ones were practically falling apart and God forbid she actually left her office to buy herself a new pair of reading glasses let alone shoes. I sighed and took out my card to pay and reminded myself that I still needed to pick up some groceries before heading home. I was staying with Ree this weekend and had to make sure that Mom had enough food in the fridge to remind her to eat. Maybe I could make lasagne since it froze well but then again, Mom said she didn't want carbs so maybe I could...

"Declined." The saleswoman I'd previously made upset loudly chewed her gum and gave me a look before drawling, "Would you like to use cash instead?"

It was that look you get in stores when you out thinking it's perfectly acceptable to wear your sweatpants and massive hoodie to the mall? Of course she thinks I'm a homeless little truant, wasting her time.

"Could you please check again?" I felt my cheeks burning as the people behind me in line began making those impatient little sounds that always got on my nerves. What was that horrible about waiting in queues? The humiliation was bad enough until someone shouted that I needed to go back to shopping at Goodwill and I was immediately reminded of why online shopping at four in the morning was my preferred form of retail therapy. The fact that my best friend told the guy where he could put his grand ideas did not help the situation. The more disgruntled they got, the more I wanted to leave the things at the counter and flee.

"Declined. It says insufficient funds." I was subjected to the look again and felt my palms get clammy and beads of sweat formed on my forehead. What on earth?

I did not deal well with unplanned situations or being put on the spot. It wasn't a big deal, I probably had enough cash on me to get just the dress and that was why I was here. I didn't need to splurge on the rest of the stuff but it was the fact that I wasn't prepared for it that really did it for me. Of course there must be some mistake where the bank was concerned and I was sure that it'd be sorted out when we reached out to them but that still didn't lessen my embarrassment.Ree, bless her knew how mortified I tended to get and took charge.

"We'll pay by cash." She nudged me slightly and I took my wallet out of my bag and there went all of my tips from the past three days. I knew that I'd be wearing this stupid dress for Easter,Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and any other government declared holidays in the near future.

I didn't miss the stink eye I got from the saleswoman and quickly grabbed my shopping bag before making a run for it. Given that I'd been waitressing at the same diner for the past two years, I knew that jobs were hard to come by in Arlington. But it was especially hard right now,during the summer with all the college students on break. Surely whenever I'd make the terrible decision to return to this mall and to this particular store, I would run into this cranky saleswoman who'd witnessed my embarrassment.

So, looks like I'll be shopping online only for a while.

"What was that about?" Ree asked as we left the store. My face had started to cool off a little, cheeks no longer on fire and palms no long sweaty. I hated that just a little setback like that could trigger a reaction like this in me but deep down I knew the reason why. I was a creature of habit, I liked things to work a certain way and I always, always wanted to be prepared. So when I was out shopping to my heart's content, I didn't obviously expect to have my card declined.

"I don't know. I guess I'll have Mom call the bank." I shrugged it off in front of her but I think I knew even then that something wasn't right.

***

Ree tossed her flame red hair over one shoulder and settled her shopping bags down on the floor. We took a seat at our favourite cafe and ordered some food, clearly starving after all that shopping. Well, Ree shopped and I just had an anxiety attack when I tried to buy the one thing I cam here to get. My best friend told me that lunch was on her because she'd dragged me here in the first place, causing me to miss a shift at work but I knew what she was doing. I'd run out of cash and couldn't really even pay for a bottle of water right now.

"So here's what I'm thinking, remember how my mom said I couldn't have any boys staying over past midnight?"

I slurped my chocolate milkshake, "You're obviously not going to listen to her are you?"

"Obviously." She took a dainty bite of her salad and that pretty much explained why people thought Ree McPherson and Ella Nichols becoming best friends was the perhaps the weirdest thing to have happened this side of town.

"Do I even want to know what you're planning?"

"I can't reveal my master plan but you need to know the basics since you'll be helping me with Operation Sneak Carter In and everything." She grinned deviously, forcing me to roll my eyes. If I had a penny for every time Ree roped me into helping her with one of her many escapades, which usually involved pissing off her parents then I would've been able to afford those shoes I didn't buy earlier.

I raised my palms, "Oh no, I'm not getting involved this time. Your mom already thinks I'm the bad influence in this relationship."

She pouted,"But you have to help me Elle, do you know how long it's taken me to get Carter to notice that I existed? I've just spent the entire summer golfing at the country club and I don't even know the first thing about golf. If I have to tolerate one more sixty year old leering at my butt, I think I might attack the sleaze ball with his own club."

My friend was in an age old dilemma and I really did feel for her. Towards the end of our junior year in high school, she'd developed a crush on Carter Watson from our American History class. To her utter disappointment however, he was perhaps the only guy in school who didn't acknowledge Valerie 'Ree' McPherson's existence. Trust Ree to fall for that one guy who had his head buried in books and didn't notice that a redheaded bombshell was crushing hard on him.

"That sounds...violent."

"You know I've only been doing there because he's a golf instructor. It's taken me six weeks of small talk to slip him an invite to my party. You have to help me Elle."

"Okay, okay. I'll do it, it's not like your parents could hate me more."

She scoffed, "Oh please. My parents don't hate, nobody in this town actually hates you. They think you walk on water. Sweet, perfect little Ella Nichols who's going to go to an Ivy League college next year and make us all proud." She reached out and patted my head.

She was right, kind of. It wasn't that I went out of my way to be a people pleaser but somehow I'd ended up being our town's resident helper. Needed a babysitter at the last minute? I was your girl. Needed someone to be the designated driver? No problem, I hated alcohol anyway. Your kid wasn't doing too well at school? Sure, I'd tutor them for free? Oh, your hurt your back again and needed someone to do your groceries? Yup, I could make another trip to the super market.

You got the picture, I liked to help people and had somehow fallen into the habit of doing it regularly. I wasn't sure where and how it started but somehow my life now revolved around school, my job and being the good samaritan. And that was great, really it was. I liked that the first thing that guys thought of when they saw me was how much their mothers or grandmothers loved me and what a nice girl I was. That totally didn't send them running in the opposite direction.

Yeah right.

So I lived vicariously through Ree's love life and if she needed my help to land the coveted Cater then I would help, because that's kind of what I do.

***

"Mom are you in there?"

I walked into the living room of our two storey country style house only to find it empty. I'd had a strange feeling in my gut the entire day and it grew stronger as I struggled to place my mom. The house had started to feel too big for the two of us about a year ago and now more than ever, I felt like I was the lone survivor in a zombie apocalypse as the silence only seemed to get louder.

"Mom?" I called out for her again but still no answer. I wouldn't be getting worried if I had the kind of parent who liked to go out with her friends or colleagues during the weekend. But my mother, much like me was a homebody and her job as an author meant that she never really had a reason to leave the house except to run errands. But those days were few and far between when she had a deadline and I knew that there was one in the next couple of weeks.

I slowly treaded to her office and gently twisted the doorknob and smiled at the sight before me. As expected, she'd fallen asleep at her desk, one hand still resting on the keyboard and her glasses still on. As I rounded her desk, I saw the various energy bar wrappers scattered on the floor and mugs of coffee that had accumulated on her workspace. Making a note to clean up when she was up, I took off her glasses and turned off the lights before walking away. Yes, her neck would hurt when she woke up but there was little point in dragging her to her bedroom. She wouldn't be able to fall asleep again and would only spend the rest of the night writing away instead of actually sleeping.

In the kitchen, I warmed some soup for myself and ate it alone on the counter. The pile of unopened bills on the counter reminded me that I had to ask Mom to let the bank know that there had been a mistake with our accounts. Between the two of us, we weren't the best at dealing with anything that remotely involved finances and accounts but even I knew that had my mother been in the situation I was today, it would've led her to have a bit of a hysterical outburst and I didn't want that for her. She was a little eccentric and a little strange but she was the only parent I had and I did what I could to make sure that she stayed happy. After the year we'd had, she deserved it.

***

"Hear me out."

"No. I know that look on your face and it never leads to anything but trouble."

Ree followed me around as I gathered the dishes from the table that had just been vacated. I had the breakfast shift today which meant that I was tired and groggy from being unable to sleep the previous night and had little to no patience for the Ree and Carter saga.

"You don't even know what I'm going to say."

"Whatever it is, it needs to wait until I've had my coffee."

I took the dishes back to the kitchen and took the chance to grab myself some quick breakfast. The diner was mostly empty and there was nobody seated in my section right now so I was able to get through my protein bar and coffee. Although Ree wasn't technically allowed in the kitchen, my boss Dee had known us since we were ten and came here after school so she pretended not to note my many faults. Currently, Ree was helping herself to a slice of our famous carrot cake and my boss didn't even bat an eye at the frequent freeloader.

"Now can I say it?" She watched me gulp down my coffee like it was fruit juice and didn't even wait for an answer before going full speed. "Carter texted me yesterday, I mean he had to because I accidentally left my bracelet in his golf cart the other day." She made comma signs before the words accidentally and I shook my head. "So anyway, he texted me and one thing led to another and now he wants to know if we want to hang out at a party his friend's throwing tonight."

I felt both my eyebrows rising, "We? What do you mean we?"

She bit her lip like she knew I wasn't going to like what she was going to say. "So Carter's friend..."

"Oh no, you are not setting me up and I am not going on a double date with you."

"But Ella," She whined, "maybe this will be good for you. Maybe it's the break you need. How long has it been since you went on a date? Or you know talked to a guy who didn't need your help with homework?"

I frowned as I did the math. It'd been a long time.

Any other girl would be drowning in insecurities by this point but I was never one to feel sorry for myself. I knew I wasn't completely unfortunate looking and that I didn't repel the male population. I had lucked out and inherited my mom's thick, long brown hair and olive skin. I didn't unfortunately inherit her blue eyes and had dark brown ones instead which were framed by a thick set of lashes.I wasn't incredibly tall or had the longest legs but at 5'5, I liked to think I was average height and given that I liked to run in the mornings meant that I had a somewhat slim figure, save for my thighs that refused to have a gap. So I knew I wasn't a complete looker but I also never felt sorry for myself so my reluctance in the romance department came from something other than a lack of self-esteem.

"Have you stopped to consider that maybe I'm not interested in dating anyone right now?"

"Then don't date him, just go out with us and maybe have some fun like a normal seventeen year old should on a Friday night. What is this, the fifth shift you've picked up this week?"

"Sixth!" My boss shouted from outside and I narrowed my eyes at her. Apparently now the universe was conspiring to make sure I didn't have lonely cat lady in my future.

"See! Come on Ells, it's summer. I get that you want to save money and everything but what harm could one night do?"What harm indeed.

Little did I know that, that one decision to give in to Ree would forever change my life.

***

"You look nice sweetie, going somewhere?" I'd come back from work, tired and groggy and taken a quick nap before getting ready. Ree and I were meeting Carter and his friend at the party and she'd be picking me up in half an hour. I'd been too antsy to wait and as seemed to be the story of my life, was ready early. But it was good, it gave me time to catch up with Mom.

"Yeah." I sat next to her on the couch and she paused the TV. "Ree insisted that I needed a night out."

She laughed, "I'd say she has a point. You've been working too much Elle." She looked guilty and I hated that. Mom didn't ask me to work as much as I did and she never would, even when our finances weren't that great. Speaking of which...
"Hey mom, could you call the bank and tell them that there's something wrong with our cards? I tried to buy something the other day and it got declined." I'd tried mine again at the diner just to see if it would work and it'd been declined again.

"Oh." Her normally olive hued skin paled and she averted her gaze immediately telling me that something wasn't right.

"And I opened up our bills since they'd been sitting on the counter for so long. You know how much they overcharge if you past the due date. I can pay them after work tomorrow if you want."

I was pushing her, goading her into telling me something I already suspected.

"Ella, honey you don't need to worry about that stuff. You're all dressed up and going out after such a long time." She fixed an errant piece of hair on my head, "I'll take care of it."

"But mom..."

"But nothing, you can use my other card while I get this sorted out okay? There's nothing to worry about."

She was lying and I was sure of it but I didn't push her further. I'd also never take the card for her joint account since it meant spending my father's money and I'd sworn not to touch it. I'd saved up enough from work that if I had to dip into my savings account for the summer, I'd be fine. It would mean working even harder to ensure I scored a full scholarship for college but I'd do it.

Now I just had to figure out what was going on here.

***

"Damn you look hot. I would kill to have your legs Ells." Ree backed up her car from my driveway and I attempted to not look like I was afraid my mother was going bankrupt.

I smiled, "It's the jeans. You forced me into getting them remember?"

"Best thirty dollars you'll ever spend. Those legs are getting so much attention tonight." She nodded and continued to talk for the next twenty minutes, not picking up on my mood. Ree was dressed to kill tonight in her tight black dress and boots. Of course as always, what stood out the most about her was her crazy red hair that you could never get from a box. It was bright and bold and she'd curled it so that it looked nothing short of the famous Victoria's Secret 'do. I hadn't been as brave with my black skinny jeans but had a nude silk camisole on top which looked pretty innocent on the first glance but the only thing holding it together were the ties at both sides. I'd paired the outfit with some sneakers and called it a day before throwing on some light makeup.

The party was taking place in a neighbourhood that I considered the blue blood part of town. It housed people who had generations worth of money passed down to them and who weren't afraid to show it. We passed gated mansion after gated mansion and Ree whistled. "This friend must be some kind of an oil tycoon."

"Or a diamond smuggler ." I shrugged

We finally reached the address that Ree had been given and she actually had to give her details at an intercom system in front of the gates. Once we'd been cleared by the security cameras, the gates opened and all hell broke loose. Car after car, the kinds that cost enough to feed a small country for a month filled the driveway and music blared from the mansion behind them. Ree and I stared slack jawed at the sight before us. There were people everywhere, outside dunking into the huge fountain that took up half the driveway, walking out through the massive entryway doors and wait, was that someone on the roof?

"Uh, Ree I think we should..."

"No way! We have to see what's inside." She squealed, clearly giddy because we'd been expecting the standard red solo cup and cheap beer house party not this, never this.

Still, I refused to take off my seatbelt and gripped Ree's arm. "We have no idea who these people are. I'm not letting you walk into the unknown."

"The unknown?" She laughed, "They look our age. They're probably the prep school kids and those are the ones with the good beer on them. We need to check this out."

I shook my head, "Are you sure this is where we're supposed to meet Carter? Why don't you just text him and..."

"Ladies, can I help you?"

The velvety, deep and husky voice of a man distracted me from convincing my best friend that we needed to cut and run. As I turned my head to tell him no thank you, I found myself staring into the most gorgeous pair of blue eyes I'd seen in my life.

And that, ladies and gentlemen was when everything went to hell.

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