“What were you doing with it?” Calvin questioned.
“What do you mean?” Ellen asked while acting oblivious to what he was asking.
“It seemed as though you were trying to look at people through it,” Calvin pointed out.
“Oh, uh… no,” Ellen said while acting as if what he was getting at had suddenly registered. “I thought I had an eyelash in my eye and I was just trying to get the best lighting, but there’s not… an eyelash in my eye I mean.”
Calvin politely nodded while saying, “Okay. So, Ellen, did you leave any broken hearts in Kansas City when you left?”
Ellen gave Calvin a curious look before shrugging and saying, “I didn’t have or don’t have a boyfriend in Kansas City if that’s what you mean.” When she saw a pleasant grin coming across Calvin’s face she added, “Which is good, considering that I have a date this Friday with Everett Delaney.”
“Everett?” Calvin questioned in a surprised tone. Ellen nodded with a polite grin. “Since you’re new to this school, I should warn you that Everett has superstitious beliefs.”
“What kind of superstitious beliefs?” Ellen prompted.
“His grandma had committed suicide and that’s a fact, but he swears that witchcraft had made her do it,” Calvin informed. “And to top that, he believes that Jessica’s grandfather was the warlock that made it happen. Now, because of his idiotic beliefs over certain people being warlocks and witches, Ted and Andy are his only friends. And I think that is due to the fact that all three of them knew each other since preschool.”
“Ted and Andy aren’t his only friends,” Ellen corrected.
“Okay, fine, there may be a few people who will tolerate him, but Ted and Andy are his only real friends,” Calvin insisted.
“No, they’re not,” Ellen countered.
“Who else then?” Calvin questioned in a tone as if it was a hard challenge.
“Me,” Ellen said smugly.
“You’re going to claim him as a friend after hearing about his superstitious beliefs?” Calvin questioned.
“Sure,” Ellen assured him. “His superstitious beliefs don’t bother me.”
“Okay… but don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Calvin retorted as the class bell rang for the class to begin.
“Consider me warned,” Ellen said politely.
“Okay, quiet down,” Mr. Guilford ordered the class. He then waited for all eyes to turn towards him before continuing.
Mr. Guildford went right into his lecture without taking roll, and several seconds into it, the final two students dashed in. Mr. Guildford just gave them cross looks without interrupting what he was saying.
After class, as Ellen was walking out into the hall, Jessica caught up with her and questioned, “Everett? Really?” Ellen shot her a confused look. “You’re really going to go to the movies with him?”
“Yes. I know he’s superstitious, but he’s also a nice person,” Ellen defended.
“He accuses my sister and me of being witches,” Jessica pointed out as she studied Ellen’s reaction.
“Yes; that has been mentioned to me,” Ellen agreed. “But until I see you or Karla on a broomstick and threatening a small terrier I can’t care less about his accusations.”
Jessica stared skeptically at Ellen for a moment before questioning, “You said that you saw your grandfather’s birthmark?”
“From a photo,” Ellen said. “He died before I was born.”
“Okay, well, did you notice which of the three freckles was the darkest?” Jessica questioned.
Ellen pretended to think about it for a brief moment before asking, “What does that matter?”
“Please just humor me,” Jessica quickly requested.
Ellen sighed before pretending to think about it some more. After a few seconds she confessed, “The top freckle. So what does that mean?”
“Nothing important,” Jessica answered quickly.
“Okay,” Ellen skeptically said before letting it drop.
“So what movie are you and Everett going to go see?” Jessica asked while changing the subject to a casual one. Ellen grinned before answering her.
Once Ellen and Jessica reached their lockers, Ellen began rubbing her eye as if there was an eyelash in it. She rubbed her eye for a short time before pulling out her compact mirror and pretending to check her eye for an eyelash.
Jessica’s and Karla’s reflections were close enough to be captured in the mirror, and after seeing what she needed to see, she slightly huffed in disappointment when she saw that their reflections were normal.
“Are you okay there, Ellen?” Karla asked while seeing her with the mirror.
“Yeah… I’m fine,” Ellen answered politely as she put the mirror away. “I thought I had an eyelash in my eye, but there’s not.”
“Okay,” Karla politely said before starting a casual conversation.
In Saint Louis, the school nurse at Tony’s school had called Wendi to inform her that Tony was running a fever and was being sent home.
Minutes later, on a cot not far from the nurse, Tony had drifted off to sleep and began dreaming that he was accompanying Ellen as Ellen moved from place to place during the daylight hours.
“What are we looking for again?” Tony asked as they entered a building.
“Geppetto’s ghost,” Ellen replied. “It’s around here somewhere.”
“And who’s Geppetto again?”
“He’s Pinocchio’s father,” Ellen replied as they were walking towards a puppet-looking man behind a courtesy desk.
As they moved closer to the man, the man’s appearance had changed from a puppet to a person.
As Ellen and Tony stepped up, the man asked, “Can I help you?”
“Where did he go?” Ellen demanded.
“Where did who go?” the man politely asked.
“Geppetto,” Ellen supplied before gesturing towards the man. “He was just standing right where you are now.”
“You’re wrong,” the man said while noticing the view out the window. “Hey! When did the sun sneak out?”
Ellen followed the man’s gaze before saying, “It’s been out for hours.” She then faced the man again before continuing. “You don’t know because you were just turned into a real boy.”
“You’re wrong,” the man insisted. “I had always been a real boy, but sometimes at night my mind will be attacked by invisible bees. When the invisible bees attack is when the sun sneaks out.”
“What you hear at night aren’t invisible bees, Pinocchio’s brother,” Ellen informed. “Geppetto’s ghost whispers a prayer in your ear and then he takes control of you.”
“You’re wrong,” the man insisted. “I’m not Pinocchio’s brother.”
“Okay, I’m wrong, but when the invisible bees return say this prayer,” Ellen told him before whispering into his ear. “That prayer won’t stop Geppetto’s ghost from controlling you, but it will help you to see the truth. And when you do see the truth, call me.”
“Why should I call you?” the man asked.
“I want to stop Geppetto’s ghost from turning you back into a puppet,” Ellen told the man.
“But I’m no puppet,” the man insisted.
“No, not right now,” Ellen told him. “But soon Geppetto’s ghost will turn you… or perhaps another person into a puppet. I want to stop him from turning people into puppets. So call me when you see Geppetto’s ghost.”
“Fine, I’ll call you,” the man finally agreed.
Ellen faced Tony before saying, “Tony. Tony…”
“Tony, wake up,” Wendi uttered while shaking Tony awake.
Tony shot up into a sitting position while uttering, “Ellen!”
Wendi amusingly grinned before brushing his hair back and asking, “Were you dreaming of Ellen, Sweetie?”
Tony relaxed when he realized that he was in the nurse’s office. He then nodded while saying, “I was dreaming that I was with her and we were looking for Geppetto’s ghost
.”
“Looking for ghosts,” the nurse said. “It sounds as though you had a nightmare.”
“We weren’t looking for just any ghost,” Tony corrected as he remained sitting on the cot. “We were looking for Geppetto’s ghost.”
“Okay,” Wendi said in a tone as if to play along. “Why were you and Ellen looking for Geppetto’s ghost?”
“Ellen wanted to stop Geppetto’s ghost from turning people into puppets,” Tony said.
“I never heard of Pinocchio giving kids nightmares before,” the nurse said.
“Pinocchio?” Wendi questioned in a confused tone.
“The show ‘Pinocchio’,” the nurse confirmed while nodding.
“I saw Pinocchio as a kid, and the only thing I really remember of it is that there’s a donkey and a whale in the story and that Pinocchio’s nose grew,” Wendi supplied. “At least I think that there’s a donkey and a whale.”
The nurse grinned before saying, “Geppetto was the woodcarver who carved out Pinocchio from a talking pinewood log and for all intents and purposes Geppetto was Pinocchio’s father.”
“Okay, I understand that Tony’s dream characters are from Pinocchio,” Wendi began. “But here’s the thing. Tony has never seen Pinocchio.”
“Perhaps he’d seen it at a friend’s house,” the nurse guessed.
“No, he tells me every movie he watches and Pinocchio wasn’t one of them,” Wendi said.
“Then how do you explain Tony’s dream?” the nurse questioned.
“I can’t and right now my only concern is getting Tony home and to get his fever down,” Wendi said.
“Of course,” the nurse said with a polite nod.
“Tony, let’s go,” Wendi ordered.
“Okay,” Tony said while getting down from the cot.
“I hope you feel better soon, Tony,” the nurse told him.
“Me too,” Tony said.
Wendi grinned before saying, “The proper response is ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you’, and then you can add ‘me too’.”
“Thanks,” Tony replied.
“Bye,” Wendi told the nurse.
“Bye,” the nurse echoed before Wendi and Tony could leave the nurse’s office.
During the walk to Wendi’s Jeep, Wendi had Tony to tell her about his dream in detail. Once Wendi and Tony got comfortable in the Jeep, Wendi pulled out her cell phone and called Harris and Allyson’s number.
When the answering machine came on, Wendi left the message, “Harry. Allyson. It’s Wendi. Call me.” She then left her number.
Chapter Nineteen
At the beginning of the second lunch period at school, Ellen went through the food-line with Everett, Andy and Ted.
After leaving the food-line, Ellen, Everett, Andy and Ted— while carrying their food trays—were walking in the direction of Karla’s table. Karla’s normal lunch buddies—Dawn, Gary and Derek—were sitting with her.
Ellen saw Karla and Dawn whispering to each other before Karla called out, “Ellen… and friends!”
“What do you want, Karla?” Everett quickly asked in an unpleasant tone.
“Be nice,” Ellen ordered as she, Everett, Andy and Ted stopped next to Karla’s table.
“I’m trying another time to bury the hatchet,” Karla said while looking at Everett. “And I’m inviting all four of you to sit with us.”
Everett gestured towards another table, but before he could respond with more than that, Ellen shot him a warning look while saying, “We’d love to, and we will.”
“Yes,” Everett agreed in a tone as if any other answer would be unpleasant for him with Ellen. Everett turned away from Ellen and looked at Karla while continuing with, “We’ll join you.”
“Excellent,” Karla said before she and the others shifted to make room.
Ellen sat next to Karla with her food while Everett sat down on Ellen’s other side with his food. Andy and Ted sat between Dawn and Gary with their food.
“So how is everyone?” Gary asked.
“I’m good,” Ellen said followed by the others.
“So what was everyone discussing before we came?” Ellen continued.
Karla, Dawn, Gary and Derek hesitated before Derek volunteered, “We were discussing to get a group together this Friday evening and go to the movies… we haven’t decided on the movie though.”
“Oh,” Ellen began. “Everett and I are going to see ‘The Devil’s Final Seal’ this Friday.”
“I saw the trailer for that and it’s too scary for me,” Dawn quickly said as Ellen took a bite of food. “So I won’t be going to that.”
“Well, it’s also rated ‘R’,” Derek pointed out. “And no offence, Ellen, but you barely look old enough to pass for sixteen.”
Ellen shot Derek a smirk as Everett said, “We can get in with an adult supervision and my mom has agreed to be the adult.”
“So your mom is giving you permission to see it?” Dawn questioned rhetorically.
“Ooh, that reminds me!” Ellen quickly uttered. Everyone gave Ellen a curious look. “Does anyone have a cell phone that I can borrow? I need to call Allyson and tell her that I’ll be eating dinner with Everett tonight.”
“Wow,” Karla let out. “Movies Friday and dinner tonight.”
“What’s your point?” Everett snapped.
“Everett,” Ellen began in a patient tone, “I’m sure Karla didn’t make note of that to start anything.”
“I didn’t,” Karla quickly agreed. “I’m just a little surprised as to how fast you two are moving.”
“It’s just a couple of dates,” Everett pointed out.
“Okay,” Karla said in a tone as if to appease Everett.
“So ‘no’ on the cell phone?” Ellen questioned before Everett could respond.
“Wait, I have one you can use,” Karla volunteered before going into her purse.
Karla pulled out her phone and as she was handing it to Ellen, Ellen said, “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Karla said.
Ellen turned on the phone and dialed the daycare number. After Stacie answered with her name and the name of the daycare, Ellen said, “Stacie, it’s Ellen.”
“Ellen, what’s wrong?” Stacie demanded.
“There’s nothing wrong,” Ellen quickly assured her. “Everett has invited me to his house for dinner. I’m going home with him after school, so I won’t need a ride after school today.”
“Oh,” Stacie let out in a slightly relieved tone.
“So where’s Allyson? I need to tell her what I had just told you.”
“She’s running an errand right now,” Stacie informed Ellen. “When she gets back, I’ll let her know.”
“Okay, thanks,” Ellen said. “Bye.” After hanging up, she held out the phone for Karla to take. “Thanks again.”
“Again no problem,” Karla told her.
“So what other movies do you like other than horror movies?” Derek prompted.
“As long as the plot looks interesting enough, I’ll watch any genre,” Ellen replied.
“I know a few good movies for you to watch then,” Gary said before naming off a list of movies.
Dawn, Karla, Derek, Andy and Ted named off several movies as well, and in spite of how casual the conversation became, Ellen saw that Everett had remained tense.
Allyson got home with Sonya around 2:00 P.M. She placed Sonya in the swing, turned on the stereo and then checked the messages on the answering machine. When she heard Wendi’s message she called her back.
Just after Wendi answered, she told Allyson about Tony’s dream first and then their conversation turned casual. They talked for an hour before hanging up.
At the end of Ellen’s school day, Ellen and Everett left the school building together while having a casual conversation. Everett was the one doing the talking when the two exited the building, and when Everett saw his dad talking to one of the teachers not far from him, he abruptly stopped speaking, along with stopping in his tracks and
staring curiously.
Ellen had stopped walking when Everett did and followed his gaze before asking, “What’s wrong?”
“My dad is talking to Mr. Weber.”
“That would be helpful information if I knew who Mr. Weber is,” Ellen pointed out.
Everett slightly grunted in annoyance before saying, “My dad is in the blue suit and Mr. Weber is in the gray suit.”
“Gotcha,” Ellen said while giving him the thumbs-up sign.
“Let’s go find out why my dad’s here,” Everett suggested before walking towards him. Ellen walked at his side.
Mr. Weber was facing in Ellen and Everett’s direction as they approached while Lance was facing in the other direction.
“Here comes your boy now,” Mr. Weber supplied. As Lance turned to look, Mr. Weber spoke loud enough for Everett to hear. “How are you doing in science this year, Everett?”
Everett shrugged before saying, “B’s mainly and one C.”
“Well, that’s a slight improvement from last year,” Mr. Weber said as Ellen and Everett were stepping up.
“It is,” Everett agreed.
“I knew you could do it and that’s why I had stayed on you about it,” Mr. Weber said.
“Yes,” Everett said in a tone as if he didn’t know what else to say. He then turned his attention towards his dad. “So, Dad. Why are you here?”
“I thought I’d give you and Ellen a ride home,” Lance said while looking at Ellen. “You are Ellen, correct?”
“Correct,” Ellen confirmed with a polite grin.
“You usually don’t get off duty until after six,” Everett pointed out.
“I’m still on duty, and my captain doesn’t mind that I run personal errands as long as they are short and they don’t interfere with my duties.”
“Okay,” Everett said.
“Plus I wasn’t sure if Ellen was going to be at the house once I got off duty and I had wanted to get to know her a little,” Lance added.
“Super,” Everett said in an unenthusiastic tone.
“Lance, it was nice seeing you, but I need to get going,” Mr. Weber said.
Everett gave Mr. Weber a curious look just before his dad said, “Okay, Bob. Nice seeing you.”
Mr. Weber nodded with a wave. As he was walking away, Everett pointed out, “You and Mr. Weber talk as if you two are old friends.”
Legacy Page 32
