„Why are you doing this to her? You know she won't survive out there for a minute." "Oh, but she will. I know how she thinks, how she feels, and she's the best there is. Might be even better than her father." "But she's just a little girl!" "Not anymore she's not."
As I heard the door open next to me, I was ready for the next day. "Get up!" I heard Ace yell at me, as I was the only person in this room. I got up as fast as I could and stood still. "At ease," he said and I stood freely. "Good morning, girl," he said, still not looking me in the face. "Morning, Ace, how's your day going?" I asked him, not caring at all. "You will speak when you are allowed to speak, do you understand?" he yelled for at least the billionth of time. "I said do you understand?" he yelled louder this time. "Yes sir," I answered.
"Good. Today you will go to the nurse. I have gotten a message from General Graff to let you off from your lessons, is that clear? You will go to the nurse right after the first lesson starts and take no detours, is that understood?" he said. "Yes sir," I said back. "Then get ready," he said and left.
That happens every morning. The waking up part with Ace yelling at me. Not the going to the nurse part with direct orders from General Graff. I must have messed up bad. Let me explain if you didn't quite understand who I am. My name is Valentine Ella Wiggins. No, not Valentine, Ender's sister. Ella, his daughter. It has been a little confusing. I'm currently 10 years old. I don't live with my parents for half a year and the other six months I spend in here. "Here" is at school. Normally, people don't live in school. I'm the only one. The answer is simple.
When I was born, the government saw me as a weapon. I was twice as smart as a genius. And as my parents, Ender Wiggins and Petra Arkanian, were both super smart, the government thought I was going to be too smart. So, they took me away when I was six months old, having me for half a year, and letting my parents have me for the other half. I don't mind it much. I've gotten used to it.
As I had gotten dressed and gotten ready, I heard the school bell go off. I heard all the students run off to their classes and decided to go to the nurse. As I was walking through the empty hallway, I started panicking. What had I done to upset them? I had straight A's in all my lessons, I didn't even talk to people, and I didn't go out of school boundaries. What do they want with me? They would probably take of my monitor.
"Hello! , are you? Just lie face-down," the assistant said and pointed to a chair. I did as she said, lying down on it. "Are you taking my monitor away?" I asked them. "Yes, we are. It won't hurt a bit if you don't move," the doctor said. "But I didn't do anything wrong," I said to them. "We don't know why they're taking it away, we just do it," the doctor said. "Know, stay still," she added. I did as she said, hoping for the worst. As I felt them take it away, I cried out in pain. It was the most pain I had ever been in. As I looked to my left, I saw my monitor, covered in my blood. "There you go, everything is OK," the assistant said, putting a bandage on the back of my neck.
I went out, seeing the other kids around me. One of them, Aston, noticed my bandage. "Got your monitor out, bugger? What are you going to do know? You don't have help know," he said and pushed me on the floor. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks. "Stop crying and grown up, bugger," he said as the others started chanting "Bugger, bugger" around me. I felt my cheeks heat up and my mind going full of options. I could see what would happen whatever direction I would choose to go.
I snapped out of my mind and got up. As Aston turned to me I kicked him in his stomach. The others stopped chanting and stared. "Never get me angry, Aston, or you'll be dead," I said as I kicked him more. And as I realised what I had done, I ran.
When I finally got to my room, I broke down crying. How could I do that to him? As I wiped away my tears, I heard Ace call my name. "What do you want?" I cried. "You have to report to the principal's office and I'm here to escort you there," I heard his voice from behind the bathroom door. As I came out, he grabbed me by my hand and we went to the principal.
"Ella Wiggins?" he asked as we came into the room. "Yes sir," I said in a small voice. "Please sit down." I did and he faced me. "What I want to know is why you almost killed that boy?" he roared. "I... I didn't mean to. I just..." I couldn't get the words out of me as I started sobbing again. "Tell me now, girl," the principal said. "He pushed me on the floor and the others started calling me names. So I got up, kicked him in the stomach," I said between sobs. "But why not stop after one kick?" he asked in a scary calm voice. "I guess, I wanted the others to see what I could do. And if I only did it once, he would come back again, even stronger. I guess I wanted to hurt him so much that he wouldn't bother me again," I said.
I heard a door slam open. A big man came in and started to talk to the principal. I looked up at Ace, but he was gone. "Ella, I want to talk to you in private, please," I heard the big man say. I nodded and followed him to an empty classroom. "I'm General Graff," he started. "And we think that it's best If you return home right now," he said. My eyes went huge. "But sir, I'm not supposed to be home in a month," I said. "I know, but we think it's for the best," he said. "Go pack your stuff, you're going home, kid," he said and left. I stared after him. I was going home! I could see my parents again. But somehow, that didn't excite me like it should have.