Chapter 11

Elizabeth no longer wore the school uniform. No one noticed; they were only terrified. She went back to the same boutique where she had bought the dress she had worn on that fateful day on the Ides of March, and bought five more just like it. Black didn't clash with her skin, and she was done with trying to fit in. The junior assembly on the first day broke her heart, but then she thought: Eff them. Eff everyone. Her feelings for Fejiro were just a silly crush, and she had to let that go.

As for her home life, she was a ghost daughter and sister. Mr. Thornberg did not attempt to speak to her; she knew what she had to do to keep him civil towards her. Rose, on the other hand, had a running monologue with Elizabeth for a few weeks before finally giving up. Her sister had gone mad, she decided.

This was the status quo until one day in November. Elizabeth was in her room studying out of Wheelock (her City coursework was easy since she wasn't in IB), when suddenly there was a roar from the kitchen. "ELIZABETH THORNBERG! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Elizabeth seriously considered ignoring him, but ultimately she decided that she would not like to die, and she replied, "Yes Dad! I'm coming!" Rose, who was in the kitchen with her father, felt her heart leap at the sound of her elder sister's voice.

When Elizabeth arrived in the kitchen, Mr. Thornberg was fuming. "Look what I got in the mail today!" he shouted with hatred. "A letter, a warning, about YOU! The Twisted Bitch of the Bleachers! Well, you deserve it! Explain! Why would you … humiliate me like this?!"

Elizabeth gathered all her courage. "What have you done for me?" she asked sarcastically. "You've treated me like dog poo my entire life, and I've put up with it! Because I love you! And Rose! So for once, I'd like to be who I truly am, and you do NOT get a say in that!"

For a moment, Mr. Thornberg was speechless. Suddenly, there was something in his life that he could not control! "I-I gave you shelter! Food from my table! Money from my bank! You ungrateful bitch!"

"Daddy," Rose squeaked. "Please! Stop shouting! It scares me!"

"You're right, Rosie." Though his voice was loving, his eyes shot daggers at Elizabeth. "There needs to be no more shouting. Elizabeth! You have twenty minutes to pack your things and get out. Understood?" Rose was crying.

"Rose …" Elizabeth began, making a move towards her sister.

"No!" Mr. Thornberg barked. "Don't come near my daughter! Get out of my sight!"

As she packed, Elizabeth decided that it was better this way. She hated her home, and Rose needed to learn how to live without her. She needed to be alone. Completely alone. That was the only way. But even so, Rose's face as she left cut deep into her soul.

Elizabeth was the Twisted Bitch of the Bleachers, so it was obvious to her where her new home should be. After a quick trip to a nearby locksmith, the bleachers were hers. A loose brick provided a home for Wheelock's Latin, and there was an abandoned equipment closet for her clothes. After a day or two of moving in, Elizabeth felt at home. Sort of.

One night in December, she was eating a dinner of baked beans stolen from the cafeteria, when suddenly she heard a voice. "Eliza! There you are!"

Another voice. "Madam President, I don't think this is safe." Elizabeth looked up. Rose and Ben. Of course.

"I've asked you to call me Rose, remember?" Rose said to Ben.

"Yes, Madam President."

Elizabeth stood up. "What is it, Rose?" she asked. "Does Dad have some awful message for me?"

"Dad's dead," Rose snapped. "He was diagnosed with brain cancer just after you left. He just passed two days ago. Thought you'd want to know."

Elizabeth was silent for a minute. "Good," she finally said. "This is better."

"That's a twisted way of thinking!"

"No, it's true. Because now it's just us. You can help me, Rose!"

Rose shook her head. "No, Eliza, I can't."

"Yes, you can! You're a class president!"

"Hell she is," Ben said suddenly. "I've seen what she's been doing! Taking advantage of the freshmen! She's just as twisted as you are!" He turned to Rose. "If Mom hadn't already built a ramp for you, you would be out in the street!"

"I'm merely using what I have to my advantage," Rose said with pain in her voice. "I have cerebral palsy …"

"Which gives you the right to run everyone's life! Including mine! Look, Libby is going to prom with Fejiro." At that, a little shockwave of hurt went through Elizabeth's body. But she kept silent. This was between Rose and Ben.

"Libby?"

"Yes, Rose, that's right. So, you can stay here with your sister, and I can go be with Libby. I've got to tell her how I feel about her. Rose, I lost my heart to Libby the moment I saw her."

Rose rounded on Ben with an intense look that Elizabeth had never seen before from her. "You lost your heart? You lost your heart?!" Rose slowly backed Ben against the back of the bleachers.

"Rose," Elizabeth started. "Rosie, stop this. You can't run him over!"

"Oh, watch me!" And before Elizabeth could stop her, Rose rammed her Quantum 600 power wheelchair onto Ben's foot. He grimaced in pain.

"My toe! It's shattered!"

"ROSE MICHELLE THORNBERG!" Elizabeth forced Rose's hand off her joystick, and backed the chair off of Ben's foot. He slumped onto the ground in pain. Elizabeth had to do something. She started in on his shoelaces.

He tried to crawl away. "Don't touch me, bitch!"

"Shut up! I have to look at it!" When Ben's foot was exposed, Elizabeth could see a deep cut in the toe, with blood and pieces of bone coming out. "Rose, what have you done?!"

Rose gasped. "Oh God, what have I done? I am what they say: the Twisted Bitch of the Freshmen! Eliza, please, what can you do?"

"His toe is beyond repair. I'll have to cut it off."

"What?! No! I'll call an ambulance!"

"And get me arrested? No thanks! Plus, there's just no time! He's losing blood!" With a quick swipe of Elizabeth's kitchen knife, Ben's toe was off. But Elizabeth was so nervous that her knife slipped, and a second toe was on the ground.

"FUCKING BITCH!" Ben's cry could be heard all throughout the campus.

"Ugh, Elizabeth!" Rose groaned. "Put him in my lap." She drove away with Ben, who was now unconscious. "THE TWISTED BITCH HAS STRUCK! THE TWISTED BITCH OF THE BLEACHERS HAS STRUCK!" Elizabeth was now completely alone for sure.

On the night of January 16, the anniversary of Magister Hirum's firing, the librarian at City College forgot to lock the door as she left for the night. Elizabeth slipped in after her dinner without mishap. After a quick Google search, she found the address that she was looking for. As she wrote it down in a notebook, she smiled to herself. This trip wouldn't fail her.

The next day was a Saturday, so it was easy for Elizabeth to catch a bus to North Charles Street. After getting off the bus, she only had to walk a few blocks before she found Number 323. It was an old, 19th century house, but very much removed from its former glory. When Elizabeth knocked, a young woman in a nurse's uniform answered the door. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"Is this the home of Ahmad Hirum?" Elizabeth inquired. "My name is Elizabeth Thornberg. I'm one of his old students from City."

The nurse raised her eyebrow. "Come into the foyer. I'll see if he seems interested." As she sat down in the foyer, Elizabeth felt a pang of worry. Why did Magister Hirum need a nurse? He was late middle age, not old, not yet. The nurse jolted her back to reality. "He's in the master bedroom. His eyes lit up when I said your name, so I think he really wants to see you."

After a quick thank you, Elizabeth practically ran up the stairs in excitement. In her anticipation, she was going from being worried about her teacher's health to being ecstatic about seeing him again and back. The bedroom door was ajar. "Magister Hirum?" She knocked.

No response. Elizabeth entered the room and saw her French teacher splayed out on a hospital bed, motionless. Books that Elizabeth knew and loved were all around the room, but the time for reading was over. Magister Hirum looked at Elizabeth intensely as she came over to his bed.

"Magister Hirum, it's me, Elizabeth, from City." She took his hand. "I know a little more Latin now. I've been using Wheelock. I'm fighting for it. Magister Hirum, can't you speak? Potesne loqui?"

Magister Hirum looked at the multicolored girl, and saw the vulnerability that was still there despite several betrayals. His nurse had read him all the newsletters about the Twisted Bitch of the Bleachers, and he couldn't disappoint her further. So, with effort, he said the only sound he could still say. "Baaa."

Elizabeth started to cry. "Oh, Magister, I am so sorry! I'm trying my hardest!" She wrapped her arms around him. "I promise you, I will defeat Mr. Oswald!" She thought for a moment. "Prom night. Junior prom night! Mrs. Grufuld will be there! He'll be unguarded. Perfect! It's on a Sunday, isn't it? Sunday, April 26. Yes." Magister Hirum gave Elizabeth the faintest of nods. Encouragement.