Chapter 9: A Girl Long Forgotten


Warning: There is a little about a touchy subject in this(you'll know when you read it).

After our little gathering, we all departed and walked home. I was having fun with all my new friends, but I missed Elli. Elli had been gone for exactly 5 days now, and she was supposed to have been home after 3 days. I didn't worry though. If I was meeting my parents for the first time, I'd want to be with them for a while too. I decided to just wait and she'd come back the next day...

Three weeks passed. No sign of Elli. She hadn't even written a letter to anyone, not even her grandmother Ellen! I was confused, maybe she had gotten into an accident, or what if she wasn't coming back! I walke down the Inn to talk to Ann.
"Hey Ann." I said.
"Oh hey!" she said.
I looked around and the Inn was empty. "So..where'd everyone go?" I asked.
"Um..." replied Ann.
"Um, what?" I asked.
"Well, you see..." she started.
"Ann don't play games just tell me!" I demanded.
"SUPRISE!" said a whole group of people!
I felt someone kiss me on the cheek and I looked down.
"Elli!" I cried in delight.
"Jack, I missed you so much! How are you?" she asked.
"I'm great!" I responded.
"Well Jack, we knew you were so lonely without Elli, so we figured we'd suprise you when she came home!" said Cliff.
"Thanks man, your the best." I said.
"Damn straight!" said Cliff.

The party was very big. It had all the people my age Karen, Maria, Gray, May, Stu, Cliff, Ann, Elli, the Doctor was even there and also Kai.
"Hey Kai! Havn't seen you for a while!" I said to Kai.
"Yeah. I never get to see my friends here since I'm only here in summer!" said Kai.

Suddenly, the door opened. A cool breeze flowed in from the opening, and we saw a figure against the sun. Everyone squinted their eyes to see who it was, but no one could tell.
"Hi, who are you?" I asked the strange person.

The person just stood there. I could tell it was a girl now, she had on a short flowy summer dress. She had hair a little past her shoulders, it was curly. I couldn't tell the color. Her hair was half up. Still, no reply..
"Excuse me, who are you?" I asked again.
"You know who I am." said the girl.
I thought for a little bit, it sounded familiar..
"Please step in, we can't see with the sun." said Cliff, who was just as confused as I.
The girl stepped in and turned around and closed the door. She had pink hair...
"P-Popuri?" I asked. The room had gotten suddenly silent.
"Yes Jack, it's me, Popuri." said the girl.

Her face was emotionless. I guessed the city life had drained all the love and joy from her. I saw now she was holding a small child by the hand. Her face was very pale, and her hands were rough and overworked. She looked like she had been a slave girl.
"Popuri, what happened to you?" said Ann, walking over to Popuri.
"Nothin'" said Popuri.
"Nothin' you say! You are a mess!" insisted Ann.
"Leave me alone," said Popuri, striking Ann in the face.
Ann yelped in pain, then looked at Popuri. Popuri's face had changed so much. It was not full of joy or laughter, it was full of hate and bitterness.
"I'm here on business, not to see you children," said Popuri.
"Popuri, you can't mean that." I said.
"I'll mean whatever I want to mean. Sorry you havn't been introduced to my son, his name is Vince. After my old husband, who I loved" said Popuri.
The way she talked about her husband who she loved, it was a direct attack on me.
"Popuri, get out of here." I said, stepping up.
"Excuse me? I want to talk to Ann." she replied calmly.
"Too bad, isn't going to happen," said Cliff.
"Oh, and what are you? Some type of vagabond?" insulted Popuri.
"Why I oughta...." said Cliff clenching his fists.
"Popuri, just leave, you aren't welcome here anymore." I said.
"Don't you tell me to leave. You must treat me with respect, I'm a guest." she said.
"A guest are you? Well you've overstayed your welcome." said Ann.

I didn't know what had come over us. We had all been so stunned, yet happy when we saw Popuri standing there. Yet when she let us know the real, cold, heartless girl she had become, we all wanted her to leave. Oh, of course I still loved her. She was my first love, and I still thought about her sometimes. I knew she cared for me still, but she was harsh.
"How can you treat me like this. I'm your friend." said Popuri, breaking down.
"Ha, us treat YOU like this? Are you going to have some epiphany now? To tell you the truth, we were happy to see you back Popuri, we really were. But you are so cold and evil now, no one wants to know you. Leave." said Ann softly.
"Momma, why are they being such meanies?" asked Vince.
"Because they hate me," said Popuri in a quiet voice.
"Come Vince, it seems we have overstayed our welcome, let's go." said Popuri.
"Yeah, LEAVE!" I said.

Before she left, I saw a silent tear run down Popuri's cheek. I was hurting myself, treating her like this, but she deserved it after hitting Ann and insulting Cliff. I felt a pang of guilt when she left. She had had such a hard life, and we were beating her up because she had changed. We all would have. Our party ended then, and we all went home.

A few weeks later, something strange happened. I heard a knock at my door and answered it.
"Jack, did you read the front page?!?!?" said Ann. She had been crying because her face was bright red.
"No...just woke up." I said.
Ann shoved the paper in my face, it was very rare there was a paper, only when things concerning Mineral Village happened.
"READ IT." said Ann.

I read it, and felt sick to my stomach. I read the paper slowly, and the headline over and over again. I couldn't believe it. I just couldn't.
"H-how...why?" I asked, I was now trembling. I felt dizzy.
"They said it happened last night, she just...was probably overwhelmed..." said Ann sorrowfully.
"But, but what about Vince?" I asked.
"Probably living with Rick now..." said Ann.
"I just don't understand, let's go to the Inn and sit down." I said.

We walked into the Inn and took a seat at the table. After a little bit, Cliff walked in.
"You guys heard?" he asked.
"Yeah.." said Ann and I.
"That's a shame, she looked like she had been so beautiful." said Cliff.
"She was.." I said.
"Oh Jack, I'm sorry. I know about, you two. I'm really sorry." said Cliff.
"Hey...." I said, totally ignoring Cliff, "Do you guys think...that...that it was my fault?"
"No Jack, what would make you think such a thing?" said Ann.
"Well, I think she still cared for me. When I first realized who it was, we looked each other in the eyes. There was a tiny bit of sparkle in her eyes, and I only saw it when she looked at me..." I explained.
"What does that have to do with it?" asked Cliff, obviously not understanding.
"Everything. I was so cruel to her, telling her to leave like that..." I said.
"No, it's not true." said Ann.

We sat there. Ann gave me a hug, and Cliff patted me on the back. They assured me over and over again that it wasn't my fault. I left the Inn still not believing it. I walked to Elli's house and knocked on the door.
"Hi Jack....what's wrong?" Elli said as she opened the door.
"Didn't you hear?" I said.
"Hear what?" asked Elli.
"About Popuri.." I said.
"No..I havn't heard anything." she said.
"Well..Popuri, she well, committed suicide." I said.
Elli covered her mouth with her hand, "Oh no Jack, I'm so sorry. I know how close you two were.." she said.
She gave me a kiss and told me it'd be ok. We hugged then said goodbye.
"I better go bye Jack." Elli said, running off.

That was weird, I thought. Elli never wanted to leave me, yet here she was running off. She was running to the beach, so I followed. I walked up to the beach...