How I Fall

by Anne Eliot

“Oh, no,” Ellen practically melts into the lockers, her expression in full panic now as her gaze goes frantically over to Laura. Suddenly, she uncrosses her arms and pushes me in Laura’s direction. “Do something. She’s a sitting duck in that outfit. Go. Save at least one of us.” Her voice is so cryptic and defeated I do a double take on her outfit. That’s when I read the two words she’d been carefully hiding under her crossed arms that are positioned vertically on Ellen’s borrowed shirt: FAE MUCH?

  Fae much? What does that mean?

  I read the words again and again. Of course, just like Laura, the T-shirt is over the top and makes no sense at all. I take in the fact that it’s sparkling with actual painted-on glitter, and then I realize the phrase is written vertically in the center of giant sparkle butterfly wings.

  “I don’t get it. Is this some sort of Irish thing?”

  When Ellen turns to show me the back, I see about twenty freakish little flying, doll-faced fairy creatures crisscrossing the front of the shirt, each holding a letter that makes up the floating line: I HEART FAERIES! She quickly shoves the back of the shirt against the locker and looks up at me with a little shrug. I’d been staring at Ellen’s beautiful face so much, I’d totally missed this thing.

  “Fae means...mythical, winged creatures.”

  “And you’re worried Laura London’s the sitting duck? Holy crap! That shirt—that skirt—why—”

  Ellen plucks at the shirt front, wrinkles her nose and folds the wings back into hiding under her arms. “It’s kind of cute…like Laura. And…it’s obvious what the girl likes.” She shrugs helplessly.

  “What the PLEASE-NO! She’s a fairy fangirl? Is that what the glitter make-up is all about, too?”

  “It’s pixie dust. She told me it’s meant to fall off as she walks so we can all have a ‘bit-o-the-magic’.” Ellen glances worriedly at Laura again. “So…yeah. Before she talks to anyone and commits social suicide, would you go? Get Laura out of the line of fire. I can handle any stares this outfit might bring. I’m used to it.”

  I’m suddenly angry because I can’t think of a way I can protect her and Laura at the same time.

  “I can’t leave you here, wearing a fairy shirt and rainbow skirt. Not while everyone is talking about how you fell down at the bus stop. What made you think wearing any of this was a good idea for the rest of the day?”

  Ellen flips the length of her braid to the side as her eyes spit fire at me. “As if I had any other choice. That Irish girl dragged me to the bathroom and stole my wet outfit when she ran out to ‘help me more’. And in case you didn’t catch on, that girl does not understand the word no.” She frowns back at Laura and deepens her glare. “And I did not fall this morning, okay? I was knocked over. Huge difference. To me, anyhow.” Her mask slips a little and her voice wavers as she eyes the increasing crowd. “Are they all really talking about me? About what happened?”

  My heart clenches and I try to make what I’ve just said sound better. “I’m only assuming because what happened was pretty…epic. And people talk, but I’m sure it’s not that much.”

  So much for making it sound better. Crap…even I can hear the lies in my voice.

  “I don’t care.” She sighs and squares her shoulders but doesn’t meet my gaze like before. “I just don’t want anyone to hurt Laura’s feelings. She’s really far from home. Please. Try to reel her in. Laura doesn’t know what it’s like here. Maybe she doesn’t have to know if we explain things and she tries again tomorrow.”

  My heart thumps against my chest with unasked questions. What is it like for you in our town? Who’s hurt your feelings? How can I make it better for you?

  I shake my head, trying to clear it, then shake it again, trying to distract myself from the weighted pain of worry that’s settled deep inside my chest. It takes only seconds to assess that Tanner’s about to ramp in and start taunting Laura London along with his crew. He’s only holding quiet because he’s not sure where to direct his attention. Does he approach me, standing with the newly re-dressed rainbow Ellen so he can crack jokes here first, or should he go for the easier, more obvious target of new-girl, Laura London, jumping up and down in a tiger suit in the middle of the hall?

  Worse, the football team groupies, anyone who’s got a class near this spot, plus a few teachers have just crowded in and are also tracking both situations. I pull in a breath, and switch to speaking without moving my lips, “I know what to do. I’m an expert at tense situations and damage control.”

  She looks up. “You are?”

  “Yes. A Campbell family survival skill. I’m trained by the best. You first. Can you find a way to balance yourself so we can hide your shirt with my jacket?”

  She nods and grabs onto a locker while I move to block the glitter shirt from view, keeping one eye on anyone approaching Laura. I’ve stripped off my team track jacket and, for the second time, today I’ve shoved my clothing onto Ellen Foster’s slight frame.

  She’s not angry or annoyed like she should be, because I’ve knocked her around a bit just like I did back on the bus. But this girl is lighter than a bird and that’s hard to get used to. She leans one shoulder on the closed lockers and quickly adds her other arm into the jacket. Her cheeks fire really red when she whispers, “I…I can’t close the zipper because my one of my hands doesn’t—”

  “Of course.” I step forward and handle it in record time.

  My jacket’s so long on her that it goes almost to her knees, covering almost all of the horrible outfit. “Thanks.” She looks up at me like I’ve just pulled a miracle.

  “Head to class. I won’t let anyone mess with our wee-little Laura. It’s a promise.” I shove on the extra black and gold striped tiger beanie like I’m suiting up for war. It’s a move that at least serves to wipe the dark and desperate look off her face and makes her almost smile again. “We’ll have to keep the little nut under observation until we can talk some sense into her. If there’s a way to swap seats in digi-photo, make sure she’s stuck between us,” I say with more confidence than I feel. I shake my head to make the google-eyes on the hat wiggle a bunch, hoping she’s going to keep that little smile on her face until I see her again.

  “I’ll try.” She pales a bit as we both see a small crowd forming tighter around Laura. “Just, go. Hurry.”

  As Ellen turns to make her way carefully across the hallway, I get over to Laura as fast as possible and scoot up next to her. Before anyone knows what’s happening, I make a show of placing my hands on each side of Laura’s shoulders, pausing to smile and stare up at the school bell as though she and I are in on some sort of private joke. I whisper in her ear, “It’s the latest in Canadian bell-ringing technology. I can see why you’re in love with it.”

  Laura raises her brows like I’ve startled her and says, “In Limerick, some of our school bells are still made out of metal hitting against metal. The schools are only now getting proper technology budgets. I’m really into micro-tech. The smaller the better.”

  “Wait till you see the computers we get to use here, and the sound stage set-up is something else!”

  “I can’t wait.” She peels my arm off her shoulder and backs away from me like I’ve just hit on her, but she’s trying to be all nice and let me down easy. In the same clinical voice she goes on, “The nurse already let me mess around with your PA system. Simply marvelous that it was made only a few years ago. Ours was after World War II. Maybe it’s not going to be so bad spending a year here! Even without my boyfriend.” She shoots me a look. “Canada’s just…awesome. So friendly—for friends.” She wraps her arms around herself and does a little spin, grinning at the crowd.

  I’m trying not to crack up when I catch the eye of Patrick, Ellen’s friend, watching us. He’s easy to spot thanks to his height and size. He’s stopped dead in his tracks along with everyone else to watch Laura doing her
whacked self-hug dance. But unlike the others, he’s staring at Laura like he’s not surprised at all by her antics, rather he’s mesmerized and can’t wait for her to do more!

  Like she’s the first girl he’s ever seen.

  He raises his brows high and holds up his thumb as if he approves of her somehow. Since he seems to be the only non-hostile or dangerous person in this hallway, I shoot him a little shrug and a smile that I hope says, help me!

  I stop Laura from spinning by putting my hands on her upper arms as one of her spins turns her in my direction. “It’s going to be awesome. You’ll see. Fate wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re about to become a tiger trendsetter. You and me…go tigers!”

  She’s trying to focus her dizzy-spinning eyes on my face. “It’s all lining up right now. Isn’t it—the universe and fate—just so grand that you understood me right away. Isn’t friendship the most curious thing?”

  “Heck, yes,” I agree, even though I’ve got no idea what she’s talking about and I think I never will. I’m terrified she’s going to jet off somewhere and do something even crazier so I quickly loop her tiger scarf around both of our necks. Then I drag her under my arm again to make sure no one misses that this new girl and I are definitely friends, close friends. As soon as Laura’s secured, I quickly look up to check Ellen’s progress toward the classroom.

  As if Patrick can read my thoughts, he turns just as I do to track Ellen’s slow progress across the hall. She’d paused, I think to watch and make sure Laura was okay, and from the looks of things has moved on now that things seem fine.

  Patrick tenses for a minute as I do when Ellen releases her hold on the lockers and moves away from the wall. He seems to be holding his breath—as am I—until Ellen crosses through the widest part of the hallway where there’s nothing for her to grip. When she disappears inside the classroom without any problems, his gaze meets mine again. This time, he’s swapped his smile with a threatening glare.

  It’s pretty obvious that he and half of the crowd—heck even I had to stare at it— just noted, that while I’m here snuggled up with our new girl, Ellen’s entire back, thanks to my zip jacket, now reads: CAMPBELL!

  And I couldn’t be happier about that fact!

  Evading Patrick’s gaze, I try to urge Laura through the crowd and into the classroom, but she’s squirming and trying to get away from me. “Don’t want to be late to class, Miss Laura.” I’m almost pleading.

  As usual, Laura is not listening. Instead of working her way free of the scarf logically, she’s tangled us both up even worse.

  “Hold still, would you?” I ask, working the knot she’s made in the center of the scarf that now has us tied together!

  She freezes and shoots me this look that says she feels sorry for me. Well she should. I feel really darn sorry for myself right now. I hate being stared at, and because of this girl it’s happened twice!

  “Cam, I know what you’re feeling,” she whispers.

  “You do?” A surge of panic goes through me as I wonder if she’s read my mind about Ellen.

  “I’m driving you crazy?”

  “Yes?” I blink down at her.

  Her face gets all dramatic, and her eyes go from round saucers to giant plates of eye-water sadness.

  My head starts throbbing again. Is she going to cry or something even more bizarre right now? “No! Wait. That came out all wrong. I mean of course you aren’t driving me crazy.” I try to distract her from any more public displays of insanity. “See—I—kind of like—”

  “I know!” She leans closer so only I can hear while she pulls my cap down lower on my forehead, making my head bend toward her face so she can reach my ear to whisper, “I don’t know why but I have this affect over some guys that makes them act crazy--in-love with me. But, I’m not a cheater. No matter that I’m flattered by your attentions. And no matter how beautiful you might be with the wicked gorgeous eyes and all, your tall handsomeness. You’re sadly just too clean cut to be my type. So don’t be depressed about it, okay? No sonnets. No songs. Please. I can tell that you and I are really only meant to be best friends so try to get used to the idea quickly, okay? Destiny is destiny. Friends are better than those long term relationships anyhow because friends last longer than relationships. Think of it—of us—for the long term. Okay?”

  I nod and bite my lower lip to clamp my mouth into a solid, serious line as I glance around wildly, finally getting us both free of the scarf, wondering if anyone around us overheard the madness she just spit out.

  “Don’t be embarrassed. You’re not the first to insta-love me, and you won’t be the last. We shall show this crowd a united, trendsetting tiger-friend front, just like you suggested, yeah? And it won’t be awkward between us. I won’t let it.”

  “Good. Thanks.” I shake my head, wishing I could follow her train of thought let alone her funny, word-stretching accent, but there’s no way I can, so I just work to repeat whatever she says so I can get her out of this hallway. I struggle for anything to get her moving and say, “Because that’s what we are. You and I…tiger trendsetters, best friends and all that. Now, let’s go.” I tug on her arm, but she’s still going on.

  “And you’re going to hear us ROAR!”

  I gulp because this girl has just sung the Katy Perry roar song in front of half the school and she’s beaming at me like it was the right thing to do.

  I’m now dragging her across the hall when she adds in, “Roar! Roar! Go Tigers! Roar!” I wince because she did that last part with some epic tiger-claw hand motions!

  “Did I sound like one of your cheerleaders? We haven’t got them where I’m from so you’ll have to be my judge if you think I should try to go out for cheerleading.”

  “Mhmm. Yeah. Maybe.”

  Glancing back, it’s not hard to see that Tanner and Bella-Jane’s mouths have dropped so wide open you could drive dump trucks down their throats. Some of the crowd is starting to laugh and point, while my only possible allies—Patrick and the teachers—have cracked up and are grinning as they head off to classes totally unaware that the rest of the staring, pit vipers still lurking around look as though they mean to squash Laura London like a bug.

  I kind of want to cry because I already know what I’ve got to do next to save the kid. Whatever. I don’t care. I’ll do anything it takes. Ellen’s counting on me.

  I grin like it doesn’t hurt to do so, and using my own over-loud voice I shout out, “You said it!” Then, just to make sure no one mocks Laura for the public tiger roar thing, I copy her voice and go for it. “Roar! Tigers, roar!” I realize the entire hallway’s gone quiet, watching me as I finish my cheer-off with some epic tiger-claw hand motions of my very own. The whole thing’s so ridiculous I don’t even have to fake my burst of insane laughter.

  And then to turn the whole thing upside down, Laura is dragging me into the digi-photo classroom like she’s the one on the rescue mission.

  “That was just a bit too much there,” she scolds, pausing outside the classroom door and gives me this concerned once over. “You’ve got to tone yourself down some, laddie. Or are you always the type of person who creates spectacles?”

  “Me? You roared first!”

  “Yeah…but yours was completely unrealistic. So awkward.” She shrugs. “I spent my childhood reading about warrior cats and various shape-shifting wolves, all of which inspired me to practice hours and hours of animal mimicry. It’s obvious you are not as connected as I am to pack or any of the clan mentalities.”

  “What?”

  She sighs solemnly. “I hardly know you but I think your childhood was utterly lacking.”

  I’m trying to sort the words she’s said underneath that impossible accent, but as usual with her, I already know I can’t relate. I actually wonder if I need to save my whole town from this person, but I squelch
my urge to strangle her when I peer over her tiger-beanie and into the classroom.

  Ellen’s managed to secure a table with three seats. Better, Ellen seems to be waiting for the two of us to sit with her! A feat I could never have achieved this quickly on my own.

  My heart swells with gratitude. Instead of murder and prison time, I decide I will have to be friends with Laura London forever.

  ellen

  Miss Brown calls out to the class without looking up from her desk, “I’m giving you the first twenty minutes of class to finish and turn in the Light and Shapes photo assignment. If they aren’t in my drop box by the time my lecture begins, you will automatically lose one letter grade for the project. Everyone who’s already finished can relax. Quietly.”

  Miss Brown is my favorite teacher and normally I would relax in here because to me, she’s more of a friend than a teacher, but I’m wound so tight my jaw hurts from clenching it. Everyone knows she’s the coolest teacher, and that she would never drop anyone’s grade without giving them a third, fourth—even fifth chance—if needed. Because my Light and Shapes assignment was turned in a week early, I drag out my phone and tuck it under the table so I can read the latest barrage of texts firing in from Patrick.

  Patrick: You should have seen what just went down.

  And I’M IN LOVE.

  Laura London is all that you mentioned, but so much more. Why didn’t you say she was also beautiful?

  Is Cam into her? They were pretty whisper-close in the hallway.

  Don’t let it happen. Put in a good word for me.

  PLEASE. She’s THE ONE.

  Mine.

  Mine.

  Mine.

  Did she really go into the principal’s office in her underwear?

  Me: Yes.