Chapter Twelve
The Winter Ball
My dad had to park down the block from the school because it was so crowded. It was amazing that a town with, like, twelve residents would have this big of a turnout. Maybe it was because everyone had huge SUV's- more specifically, pick-up trucks- in this town. And they were all lined up to get into the school. So instead of taking pictures outside the school, my mom took them in front of a snow covered hillside (which was much prettier than anything I had ever seen), and we decided to walk to the school.
Just as we were about to walk away, my mom pulled me aside.
"Ellie, I want to give you something I forgot to give you at the house," she said.
"I didn't forget anything, did I?" I asked, looking around.
"No, I want to give you something," she said. "Here. Wear this, it'll match your dress. It was- given to me in high school."
My mom then handed me what appeared to be a ring. Upon closer inspection, it was- yes, a ring! A school ring of some kind. It was the same color blue as my eyes and dress. I looked at the inscription inside.
"Who's Wes?" I said.
"For goodness sake, can't anyone hold it right!" my mom burst. I was a little scared for a moment as she turned it around and pointed at the inscription. "See, SAM! It says SAM!" She closed her eyes for a second, realizing what she just said.
"Sorry, it's just that people have been doing that for years," she said. "But I want you to have it. It matches, and it'll look nice."
"Who gave it to you?" I said.
"Well… he didn't necessarily give it to me…" she said. "But it looks fantastic on you." She was obviously trying to change the subject. "But it's yours now."
"Thanks Mom," I said. She smiled at me. "See you later." I began walking up the road with Kaylie and Eric.
My feet started to gradually kill me about halfway down the road. My feet were freezing in the winter weather, and the high heels were painful. And everyone was now walking, so we were getting pushed and shoved by every student in the school.
Three-fourths of the way down the road, a voice called out. "Hey, Kaylie!"
Every one of us turned to see Roger Woods, racing up the crowded sidewalk to meet us.
"Roger!" Kaylie exclaimed as he reached us. Roger glowed in the moonlight, looking almost like the moon itself, his face was so pale and his hair so white. Roger ran up and Kaylie hugged him (he obviously wasn't expecting it) and kissed him on the cheek, which he obviously wasn't expecting either. He obviously had never been kissed before by a girl, especially one as pretty as Kaylie. Eric and I couldn't help but stifle laughter.
"Shall we all go then?" Kaylie said, totally unfazed by Roger's shock.
We finally reached the school just as my feet were about to fall off. And I finally realized why the street was so backed up.
Someone had ordered a limo- which, by the way, is against the rules- and it was blocking the entire parking lot entrance. It was huge, and was Hummer-style all the way.
"Someone felt the need to make an entrance," Eric said.
"Ugliest thing I've ever seen," Kaylie said. "That can't be good for the environment."
"I guess we should just... go around?" I continued.
Eric, Kaylie, Roger and I went around the back of the limo. Kaylie stared at the exhaust pipe like it was her mortal enemy, and even Roger couldn't get her to stop ranting about the trees. But what made me mad was who stepped out of the huge gas-guzzling thing.
Lianna Baxter. That- really shouldn't put that in here.
She stepped out, looking all fantastic in her new expensive dress. I don't know how she got that rich, I heard her parents are as dumb as doornails. She was wearing pink, of course, her favorite. I hated the fact that she actually looked nice. I looked over at Kaylie, who looked just as mad as me. Eric looked confused, and Roger looked frightened.
"Ellie?" Eric said nervously. "Are you okay? Are you cold? You're bright red."
Roger looked too scared of Kaylie to say anything to her.
"Lianna Baxter," I said scornfully. But I was unlucky in that moment that she heard me.
"Hello!" Lianna said, trying to sound as fake nice as she could. She was even more fake than Danielle. "Lily, right? And your friend Maylie, right?"
"You know what our names are, Lianna," I said. "You're only making yourself look dumber than you already are."
Her face fell. "And I see you brought the captain of the computer club too! Oh, it's so nice to see him out of the tech room. How did you do it?"
Roger turned pink but said nothing. He was obviously used to being pushed around by people like Lianna. He looked away into the night sky. Kaylie reached over and squeezed his hand. Kaylie wouldn't sit and let Roger be made fun of. I had the feeling the reason she asked him to come was to get him out of the tech room.
"But who's your other friend?" Lianna said. She eyed Eric with interest, not recognizing him in his suit and contacts. "He must not go here. He isn't here with you, is he, Ellie?"
"You know who Eric is," I said. "And yes, he's my date. Go back to your own stupid jock date, Lianna. If he's as dumb as you, he'll probably need help reading the sign on the door. Let's go."
I couldn't believe I just said that! Me, who hates confrontation! I stood up for my friends! I need to breathe…
And with that, Eric, Kaylie, Roger, and I walked up the steps and into the school. After we were out of sight of Lianna, I broke down and took a deep breath. I couldn't seem to breathe.
"Ellie, you okay?" Eric said, putting his hand on my shoulder.
"I can't- believe- I just- did that!" I gasped, breathing in harder.
"Lianna really freaks you out that much?" Roger asked. "She makes fun of me all the time. I've just gotten used to it."
I gasped and gasped. Everyone stepped back to give me room, and Eric clung to my shoulder. I began to calm down, my chest loosening.
"No, Roger," I said. "I can't believe I just stood up to someone. I hate confronting people, but I actually stood up to Lianna!" I took one last deep breath.
"You better?" Eric asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "But, wow, that was weird. I just like left myself behind and said what I wanted to say…"
"You did good, Ellie," Kaylie said. "I think we're all proud of you."
I grinned. "Let's go," I said.
We all stepped inside the auditorium, which had been decorated for the Winter Ball. It wasn't fantastic, but it was still kind of cool. I had never been to a dance before… I didn't know there would be this much crepe paper. The disco ball made it look like it was snowing in the auditorium.
"Whoa… doesn't look like the cafeteria, does it?" Eric asked.
"Nope," Kaylie said.
I had never seen so many dancing people in one place. Wow, I've lived in a shell my whole life…
I watched the people dancing in their dresses and suits, but then my eyes fell on Lianna and her jock date, who I believed was captain of the football team.
I hated her soo much…
"Erm, Ellie, you wanna go get something to eat?" Eric asked me, trying to distract me.
It worked. I couldn't get worked up over Lianna now. "Sure."
"Madam?" Eric said, trying to be a gentleman like from the 1800's. He offered his arm. I played along.
"Let us go forth, good Sir," I said, taking his arm, and making him laugh. I sounded more like I was talking to a knight, but it was the thought that counted.
"You're terrible at that, you know?" Eric said as we crossed the room to the tables.
"I know," I replied. We both laughed. "Hey, where are Kaylie and Roger?"
"I don't know," Eric replied, and we both stopped out little act and looked for them.
"Ellie, look!" Eric laughed.
"What?" I followed the direction he was pointing, and I was soon laughing too.
Kaylie was trying to teach Roger to dance. He looked like he was totally shocked that she would even want to dance, and was promptly stepping on her feet. She flinched every time, but looked back up with a smile on her face, and corrected him.
"I can't believe she got Roger to dance!" I whispered to Eric.
"I can't believe she even got Roger to come TO the dance," Eric replied.
"Well, I can't believe any of you got dates!" a voice said behind me. It was Lianna, with her dumb date on her arm staring at her as if she was the most wonderful thing in the world. "Your friends and you are so pathetic that you asked each other to go to the ball, and the last of you asked a tech nerd that hasn't seen sunlight in four years! You should all just get married now, no one's going to take you later!"
I couldn't talk. I was so scared. I couldn't confront her twice in one night. But just as I was about to pull Eric away to the other side of the room, he spoke up.
"Shut up, Lianna," Eric said, staring right into her eyes. He seemed much taller, even though he wasn't much taller than Lianna or me. "You shouldn't talk anyway. All you did was go out onto the football field and pick the dumbest guy you saw. Then you came in here and started flirting with everyone else. At least my friends and I have some dignity. And what do you care if I brought Ellie to the dance? I asked her, and she said yes. And at least Kaylie has a date that's smarter than the gum on the bottom of his shoes."
Eric's eyes blazed. I had never seen him like that. Lianna looked shocked, but looked straight into his eyes blazingly as well.
"You'll pay for that, Cannon. Mark my words, you will," she whispered threateningly.
"Yeah, sure, call me when your little mind can comprehend that," Eric said, taking my arm again and marching off.
It took me a second, but I then turned and looked at him. Eric looked back at me with his perfect green eyes, filled with sympathy. I found myself staring back.
"Come on, Ellie," he said nicely. "I can't stay in here with her."
He then opened one of the back doors, leading onto a side yard of the school. It was totally empty, with only a sidewalk and a few lonely benches. But the most perfect part was the scenery- the moon was full that night, and the sky was a perfect midnight blue. The delicate lace branches of the trees were black against the sky, adding a small lace border to the bottom of the sky. The moonlight shone on the perfectly white snow, absolutely untouched, stretching out over a field. As Eric closed the door, you could only hear the music from inside. I couldn't breathe for a moment. I had never seen anything so perfect.
I exhaled. I now felt winded.
Eric knew what was going on. "Never seen anything like it," he said, taking a deep breath.
"Me neither," I whispered. I suddenly realized I was cold, and wrapped my shawl tighter around my shoulders.
"If your cold, we can go back inside," Eric said. I never wanted to leave this place.
"No!" I yelped. "Let's stay out here. Fancy crepe paper has nothing on this."
Eric laughed and grinned, showing off his newly straightened teeth. It made me smile too. We both walked along the pathway, and sat on the cold bench. But a cold butt was nowhere near as nice as the view, so I stayed put.
"Does it look like this every winter?" I asked.
"The fields always look fantastic in winter," Eric replied. "Especially the old Fairway Farm. That always looks like it's straight out of a storybook. But this- I have never seen anything like this in my life."
We sat there, sitting on that really cold park bench, looking at the view for a minute. I could still hear the dance music from inside, and I couldn't help but smile at the thought of Kaylie teaching Roger how to dance. I looked at Eric, and then I don't know what compelled me to do it, but I asked, "You want to dance?"
Eric's looked absolutely taken aback. His eyes were huge. "What?" he yelped.
"I didn't agree to come to the ball with you if I wasn't expecting to get at least one dance in," I said, trying to sound like I had least a little sense.
"It's just… I didn't really expect you to be the one to ask, I guess," Eric said, still a little surprised.
"Well, I just did," I responded.
Eric seemed to come to his senses a little. "But yeah, if you want to dance then I do too," he said, still a little unsure but now kind of confident.
"O-Okay then." I hadn't expected him to say yes.
He stood up. I did too.
"Erm…" I didn't know what to do. How do you slow dance with your best friend?
Eric made the first move, putting his hands on my waist. My stomach did several cartwheels and landed with a bang somewhere near my spleen. I put my arms around his neck, and he smiled. I did too. Eric just stood there.
"Eric… erm, you're supposed to lead," I said shyly.
"Oh, yeah!" he remembered, and began to lead the dance. "Sorry, I forgot."
"O-kay…" I said nervously.
I couldn't believe it. When I stood in front of the mirror earlier tonight, I had never imagined anything like this. I never, ever thought I would see something this beautiful, or be dancing with Eric by moonlight. This was the stuff I only read about in romance books. And it usually doesn't end well… usually the girl or the guy dies and the other one is all sad. But I couldn't think about that now… This was perfect…
I was cold. It had to be in the twenties that night, and I was wearing a dress and a shawl. I moved closer to Eric, who seemed to squirm slightly.
"W-what are you doing?" he asked.
"You're warm," I replied curtly.
"Oh." Eric relaxed. "Okay."
We stood there for a long time, or just what felt like a long time. Eric looked into my eyes, and I looked into his perfect green ones. For some odd reason, I felt warmer. It was like electricity flowing between Eric and I. It kind of scared me- but in a good way.
All of a sudden, a strange thing happened. I felt myself leaning in towards Eric, who leaned in as well. We both leaned closer and closer, and Eric leaned his head to one side. We were just millimeters apart now, and I could feel his warm breath on my nose. Our lips just barely brushed when-
"BEWARE!" a loud shrill voice came from behind us.
"What the-" I shouted another word after that, but I really shouldn't repeat it because my mom would kill me.
"Holy-" Eric shouted another word after that, too, which I also shouldn't repeat because his mom would kill him.
A small girl with pigtails was floating near the door of the school kitchens. She was in overalls, and a hairnet, and had bright blue skin. My mind immediately went to the "ghost" I had dreamed up on the first day of school. Had that really been an illusion? I didn't think this was. I looked at Eric. He looked as shocked as me.
"Do you see what I see?" Eric asked.
"If you're seeing a small girl with blue skin floating near the cafeteria, then yes."
"Then yeah, you're seeing what I'm seeing," he said. But before we could turn and run, the whatever-it-was started talking again.
"I am Boxed Lunch!" the small floating blue girl screamed. "Daughter of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady!"
"Pardon me," Eric interrupted. "But who are the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady?"
"If you hadn't been off in dreamland, you would know that they are my parents! They are some of the most feared ghosts in the GhostZone!"
"GhostZone?" I asked. I was utterly confused. There was not only a ghost in front of me, but a whole zone of them somewhere?
"It's where I come from!" Boxed Lunch screeched. "And I know exactly who you are! My parents have always talked of your family!"
I was confused. I knew my grandparents were into ghost hunting, but I didn't know there was actually anything for them to hunt… I always thought they were just a little senile in their old age.
"You're the halfa's daughter!" Boxed Lunch yelled.
I looked at Eric, who didn't know what Boxed Lunch was talking about either. "Daughter of the what-a?" I dared.
"The halfa!" Boxed Lunch said as if I didn't know a thing, which I didn't. "He's infamous in the GhostZone! Danny Phantom!"
The name rung in my head like a bell. Danny Phantom? As in Daniel Fenton, my own father? It couldn't be… it just didn't make sense… my dad was a person, not a ghost or a halfa or whatever Boxed Lunch was talking about.
"What exactly is a halfa?" I asked nervously, trying to get my facts straight.
"For the daughter of one, you sure don't know a lot about it," Boxed Lunch said, now confused as well. I wasn't sure what she was here to do, but I listened as she went on in her shrill little voice. "A halfa is a person who is half human, half ghost. The legend I heard about Danny Phantom was that he was the son of ghost hunters, but one day he bravely went into a GhostZone portal and turned it on. From that point on, he wasn't a human, and he wasn't a ghost. He could be whatever he wanted, and as he grew older, all the ghosts feared him. But no one's seen him in years. From what I've heard from my mom and dad is that he married one of his human accomplices, and they had their own halfa child. And that's all I've heard… But everyone still wonders when he's coming back."
That was a lot to absorb in thirty seconds. My dad a ghost, my mom his accomplice? My dad a ghost hunter, my grandparents not as senile as I thought? I looked at Eric, who looked as if he was about to faint. I clutched his arm tighter so that he wouldn't fall over.
"So you're saying…" I tried to speak, but everything was coming out a little high-pitched, but I continued, "that my dad is a kind of ghost-human hybrid type whatever, and that I am too? That doesn't even make any sense!"
"Whether it makes sense to you or not, that's what I've heard, and my parents swear it's true," Boxed Lunch replied. "I bet you have ghost powers just like your dad. But I don't really care, because you don't seem like you know a thing! So if you'll excuse me- I have work to do. Oh, and one last thing-BEWARE!" And with that, she swooped through the cafeteria door, where a lot of crashing boxes could be heard.
All of a sudden I felt light-headed, and I didn't even realize I was cold. All my blood was rushing to my head and everything was kind of spinning…
"Ellie, are you okay?" Eric asked, helping me to sit down on the park bench.
I held my head in my hands for a moment. I looked at Eric, shocked. "No, I'm not okay!" Everything came out high pitched, but I didn't care. "I was just told that my father is a human-ghost thing, I saw a small blue-girl ghost thing, I was told there is a whole zone of ghosts, and then I was told that I was a ghost too! So, no, Eric, I'm sorry, but I'm not okay!"
Eric's eyes were the size of half-dollars. He was totally shocked. "Well, it wasn't exactly old news to me either, you know," he replied.
"I don't care!" I said. "Now all I can think is wondering whether what th-that ghost thing said was true! Because it kind of fits, really, my dad is always gone for so long, he doesn't work, my grandparents do have a ghost portal… I-I guess I just never believed any of it was true. I always thought ghost-hunters were on a wild goose chase, but you know, I guess I was wrong."
"Alright then…" Eric said. "What do you say we go back inside then?"
I looked at Eric, appalled. "How can you just snap back to normal after just seeing a ghost?" I asked.
"I'm not snapping back to normal," he said. "I'm going to go get Kaylie. She's a lot better at this than I am."
"Than go!" I yelled. I was dearly sorry for snapping at Eric, but I just couldn't deal with this right now…
Had all that really just happened? Was I really about to kiss Eric, did I really just have my father's big mystery revealed to me? My head felt about to explode…
And it's not like I could just walk up to my dad and ask, "Hi Dad! Are you some sort of ghost-human? Because some floating illusion at the school dance told me you were!" Because what if it wasn't true? What if Eric and I were imagining things?
All of a sudden, Kaylie came running through the back door, leaving Roger behind, but with Eric on her heals.
"What happened, Ellie?" she asked. "Tell me everything." And I did. From the story of the ghost in my bedroom all the way up until now.
"And you're saying there's a ghost in our school, right now?" she asked. "Where?"
"Kitchens," I said. It had quieted down since Boxed Lunch had gone in there. Kaylie stood up and tiptoed over to the door. She carefully opened the door, and looked in. She turned back to me, her face pale. She slammed the door.
"There's a blue little person in there!" she whispered as if not to wake it up.
"Now you're about where I am right now," I said.
"You weren't lying!" she said. "You're right!"
"Yeah, I know," I said.
Kaylie sat down on the bench too. "What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," I responded. And I really didn't.
