The Elf Girl (5 page)

I hated awkward silences. This was definitely an awkward silence.

“So, which class do you have right now?” I finally asked, trying not to sound too stupid.

“I have Orchestra.”

“What instrument do you play?’ I asked. I was glad my attempt at small talk was working.

“I play the fiddle.”

“You play the fiddle? I didn’t think anyone called violins by that name anymore.”

“Where I come from they do,” she said.

“Where
do
you come from?”

Addison looked to the side for one split second and shook her head. What was with her? She always gave the weirdest looks.

“I have to get back to class. I’ll see you around, Ramsey,” she said, and briskly walked away.

“Bye, Addison!” I called. I didn’t think she had heard me.

My last class of the day was Honors Choir. It was my all-time favorite class. I loved to sing so much that I probably sang in my sleep. Singing was another way for me to relieve stress, and when I sang a chord with the rest of the choir, I felt like I belonged. Like I was a part of something wonderful.

We practiced a new piece today, a beautiful song about roses. By the end of class, we had gotten pretty far. When the bell rang, I had only one goal: get out before Katie saw me.

Katie. How could I describe someone like her? I didn’t think I could even think of the right words to form an accurate description. She was evil smacked between two buns of cruel.
Katie
. I
really
disliked Katie.

She had despised me since the first day of freshman year. Why? I had no idea. What was there to hate? I didn’t even talk to her. I never talked to anyone unless he or she approached me first. When I
did
try to talk with new people, they couldn’t stop staring at my ears and asking why I was so strange. I finally got tired of it and gave up trying to make friends. I chose to stick with Carmen and the few others in school who weren’t embarrassed to be seen carrying on a conversation with me.

Even worse was that Katie and her millions of minion friends liked targeting me as their punching bag – not literally, but mentally. They were the only ones in school who made fun of my strange looks every single day without fail. Others did it once in a while and I didn’t notice as much. However, these girls did it all of the time.

Lost in thought, I ran right into the witch I had hoped to avoid.

“Hi, Ramsey, you did a great job in class today,” she said, speaking in her sarcastic tone.

“Just leave me alone, Katie,” I muttered.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. I don’t have big pointy ears like you do, so you’ll have to speak up,” she shouted.

What a slimy little creep!
I thought to myself. How could she say it repeatedly and still have it get to me?

“It doesn’t seem like you have any ears at all. If you did, you would have heard how off-key you sounded today,” I retorted.

Okay, so she was never off-key. Nevertheless, I had to say something back to her.

“You should bring that little attitude to the ball on Saturday. I bet the guys will be scared enough to ask you to dance…for once.”

That was it. I was about ready to slap this chick.

“Katie, get out of my way,” I said, brushing past her as she started to laugh.

“Okay, see you at the ball, freak,” she called as I walked away.

Now I knew freak wasn’t necessarily that bad of an insult, but that word always stung me. I think it was because I knew she was right. I was a freak.

Brushing away the tears that started streaming down my face, I ran to catch the bus before it left. It would really suck if I was stuck here, crying, with Katie, and my throat still sore from almost drowning.

***

I thought Addison would be on the bus home. I wanted to talk to her again. She seemed nice enough. Maybe I could finally make another friend. She hadn’t said a thing about my ears, even though she had to have noticed them at some point during our conversations. Maybe she was different from the rest. Maybe talking with her could get my mind off Katie and the accident.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t there.

***

That afternoon at home, I did my best to keep my mind off the accident. I tried to forget the water, the dirt, the bridge, the man…but to no avail. I couldn’t focus on homework or studying. I couldn’t focus on anything but last night.

Maybe I needed to see the bridge again, go back to where the accident took place. Have some closure. That was it. I needed closure, to convince myself that I hadn’t dreamt it all. That it was real. What proof would I find there? I had no idea. I just had to go back, so I told Dina I would return by the time our parents got home for dinner at seven and left the house.

***

I arrived at the bridge a little before six, and the sun was just starting to set, its orange and red hues making the area seem peaceful and serene. Today, though, I didn’t feel the calm. It was a scene of remembrance, panic, and danger. I felt uneasy being here, despite how badly I had wanted to come.

But now that I was here, I could just turn around and go home. However, I knew closure wasn’t that easy, so I stepped onto the bridge and walked slowly and nervously toward the railing where I was pulled into the lake. I grabbed hold of the wood tightly and curled my fingers over the edge. I was shaking. I felt my eyes closing tightly, afraid and waiting for something bad to happen, but nothing did.

I knew I was acting paranoid. Whatever was here the night before was now gone. Everything was fine, but I was still panicking.

Then I saw a hand grab the edge of the bridge beneath my feet. I screamed and jumped backward, falling down in the process, my butt hitting the ground hard. I scooted backward and over to the other side of the bridge and waited, my backside throbbing and my head spinning. I wanted to scream again, but no sound came. Why was it that no one could ever scream when it was really necessary? Seeing a spider last week got a bigger shriek from me.

I waited.

Soon the hand was two hands, then a head.

It was Addison.

“What…are…you…doing here?” I cried, breathing heavily from both relief and shock.

“I…I….was….”

I stared at her, wide-eyed, waiting for an explanation. What was she doing at the exact spot where I had almost drowned? This couldn’t be a coincidence, I knew, but seeing her didn’t make me want to believe it.

“I was just sightseeing.”

I stared at her blankly, wishing I had the guts to go over and push her into the lake. Sightseeing, what kind of lame excuse was that?

“You see, because I’m new here, I don’t know much about the town. So I thought I would go for a walk and look around.”

“So you go under a bridge?” I said, raising an eyebrow disbelievingly.

She nodded. “Yes. I like water. I wanted to check it out.”

“That makes one of us,” I murmured.

She seemed to have heard me because of her next words. “Why, did something happen to you here?”

“Why would you ask that?” I asked.

“Just wondering,” she replied.

“Yeah, uh-huh,” I said. “Addison, want to tell me what’s really going on here?”

“Nothing, really, I was just looking around. Honest. Anyway, I have to get home. See you later, Ramsey.”

Then, just as the man had done the night before, Addison ran off, away from the bridge, and away from me.

***

I looked for Addison on the way to school the next day. I wanted a better explanation as to why she was “sightseeing” near that bridge. It was strange and a little “out there” to think so, but I had this weird feeling she was in some way connected to the bridge accident. Just thinking about these coincidences and connections made me shiver.

When I looked for her on the bus the next morning, my shoulders fell when I realized she wasn’t there again. I saw her during lunch and called out to her, but she slipped away before I could catch up to her. The following two days were the same. By Friday, I was getting annoyed.

I didn’t know why, but there was something about the way Addison carried herself, the way she presented herself to me, that drew me to her. It was as if I was looking for an answer only she could give, but had no clue as to what it or the question was. All I knew was that I wanted and needed to talk with her again, at least about the bridge. Maybe then, I could figure out why she unsettled me so.

I had tried to keep busy studying. Carmen came over almost every day so we could help each other, but I could never get my mind off Addison. I replayed our conversations in my head, but no ideas came to mind as to why I was so determined to speak with her again. Her actions had been strange, but that wasn’t all of it. For some reason, she was
important
. She became more of a mystery to me every day that I wanted to solve.

I finally got my chance to talk to her that Friday morning. She was back in the same bus seat she had been in on Monday, so I sat down across from her again.

“Hi, Addison,” I said.

“Hello, Ramsey,” she replied.

“You haven’t been on the bus for a while.”

“Oh, well, my mother had off of work, so she drove me.”

Her mom took days off already after just moving here? I quickly dismissed the thought, though. Her personal life wasn’t any of my business.

“That’s cool,” I said.

“Yes…cool,” she said, a little awkwardly.

“So, do any more sightseeing lately?” I asked suspiciously.

She simply shrugged and looked away. Addison didn’t seem to be her cheery self today. She definitely didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about the bridge. Instead, she was giving off a vibe that was tense and serious.

“Is something bothering you?” I wondered.

“Why?” she asked, her eyes flickering from me to her lap.

“You just seem, I don’t know…tense. Different.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just new school issues.”

“I understand,” I said, nodding slowly. “School can be tough.”

“Is it tough for you?” she asked.

“What?”

I thought she had seen my ears. Hadn’t she guessed it was tough?

“Is school tough for you?” she repeated.

“Well, yes, because of my looks.”

“What’s wrong with them?”

“You haven’t noticed my ears?” I wondered.

Then it hit me. Maybe she hadn’t noticed and that was why she was so nice. Now she would probably go all Katie on me and call me a freak.
Nice going, Ramsey
, I criticized myself.

“Yes, you have pointy ears. So what?” she asked, not at all getting the point I was trying to put across.

“Yeah, people usually react by calling me some kind of name.”

“That’s the most disgusting thing I have ever heard!” This time Addison looked like there was fire in her forest green eyes.

“Yeah, well, it’s true.”

“Humans can be so cruel,” she muttered.

“What did you say?” I asked, completely dumbfounded.

“I said people can be so cruel,” she said, too quickly to be a normal statement.

“No…you said ‘humans’ can be so cruel. Why would you say that? We are all humans. You sound as if you are some kind of other creature.”

I had meant the comment to be taken lightly, but apparently, Addison hadn’t seen it the same way. Her eyes snapped shut and her lips formed into a tight line.

For a while, she didn’t say a word. It wasn’t until we were almost at school that she finally spoke again.

“Ramsey, you are an elf,” she said quietly.

“What?” I gasped.

I hadn’t expected such a weird remark from her. She said it so seriously….

“You are an elf,” she said again.

“Are you kidding me? Is this because you are mad about me making a big deal about the bridge? Is this a way to get back at me?”

What kind of a girl said things like that? Was she out of her mind?

“No. It’s the truth, Ramsey,” she said. “I know it sounds a little absurd, especially coming from a stranger like me, but I can’t keep it from you any longer. You deserve to know the truth. The reason I’m here is –”

“Did Katie put you up to this?” I asked, ignoring the sincerity in her tone.

“Katie?” Her brow furrowed in confusion.

“Are you trying to mess with me like everyone else?”

“No!” she cried.

“I can’t believe this. I didn’t think you would be the same as all the other jerks in this school,” I snapped. “Sure, you acted a little strange, but I didn’t mind because I thought you were different.”

The bus pulled to a halt. I shook my head and got up from my seat.

“Unfortunately, I’m only one thing, Addison, and it is spelled F-R-E-A-K.”

I ran off the bus without waiting for her reply. I had a feeling this was going to be a long and difficult day.

***

Carmen was with her Geometry study group during lunch, so I had to sit alone. It was a great day to be upset. Nothing was going the way I wanted. Actually, most days didn’t go the way I wanted, but today was exceptionally worse. At least I wouldn’t ruin Carmen’s day with my sour mood.

I sat alone until Addison walked into the lunchroom. I grabbed my tray to join her and hoped she would be ready to explain herself for what had happened on the bus. I wanted to confront her, give her a piece of my mind. The stunt she had pulled wasn’t funny and wasn’t right. She had played so nice, as if trying to be my friend. Then she had turned. It was probably my ears again, considering she had called me an elf. Elf, like I hadn’t heard that one before. Yet still, it hurt, just like all the other insults.

I didn’t notice Katie’s leg sticking out from under her table. I tripped, and my tray went up into the air, landing with a
smack
on the floor. I tried to regain my balance, but the pasta now covering the floor was slippery and I found myself falling backward. I screamed and desperately tried to brace myself for the impact even with what little time I had to do so.