The annual winter dance was meant to be fun. She was supposed to let loose and hang out with Dina and Jesse. She was supposed to laugh and joke around. Instead, a fight almost started, and shouting interrupted the once joyful occasion. After Seth had called Dina a slur, Ellie was about to go off on him when Joel stepped in, shoving him away from the two young women before Tommy and Maria led Seth outside. Joel didn't expect Ellie to snap at him, to treat him as if what he did was wrong. He was embarrassed. She yelled at him in front of everyone who stood in that room and cursed him out. Leaving him to guiltily go home out of fear of angering her more than he already had.

Ellie clenched her fists, watching the doorway Joel had walked out of just a moment ago, embarrassment suddenly hitting her after her outburst. She sighed, deciding it would be better to just go home for the night, but just as she was about to leave, she saw none other than Joel's wife. A woman she once looked at like a mother. You. Telling by the look on your face, she already knew you weren't about to ask if she was alright.