The Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Melanie Meadows. Eli, Joshua, and all related characters/plotlines are property of Stephen King and Children of the Corn III. The song is Full of Grace by Sarah McLachlan. Lemme know what you think.
The Catch: Okay, so I found this fic started in a notebook hidden away in my closet. It's clearly unfiinished, and I have no idea where I was going with it… so help me out! Give me tips, tell me what should happen, or – if you're up for a real challenge – finish it yourself! Leave me tips and ideas in reviews, but if you want to take on the entire end by yourself just email it to me at LetDreamsFly@AOL.com . Well, enjoy, and let me know what should happen at the end!
The winter here's cold
And bitter
It's chilled us to the bone
12:25. Lunchtime. Eli walked slowly out of the classroom as the bell sounded throughout the empty halls. He hated this, absolutely hated it – being herded from place to place like cattle. But the herding wasn't the problem. It was lunchtime itself. The cafeteria loomed before him, presently empty, but he was very aware of the threat it posed. Carefully, Eli took a red plastic tray from a stack beside the water-spotted silverware. He hated lunchtime for a variety of perfectly good reasons: one, the food wasn't fit for farm animals. Two, the line to get this slop was ridiculously long and boring to wait in. Three –
"Outta my way, dweezil," snarled a beefy senior in a lettered jacket, administering a body check from the unsuspecting left side. Eli stumbled, but quickly righted himself, ready to retaliate with a heated retort. The moment he opened his mouth, however, he received a sharp elbow in the side; by the time his breath had returned the moment had passed. The football player was already strutting towards a table full of insipid-looking cheerleaders. Eli scowled, raising a hand to smooth his hair away from his eyes.
"That's not even a real word," he muttered. The comeback was pathetic, but he just told himself real wisdom was not to be wasted on such weak fools. Eli's eyes drifted towards the lunchtray despondently. The football player had knocked it from his hands, and the milk caron he'd planned on purchasing was bleeding diary all over the floor. With a sigh, Eli stepped over the mess and made his way quietly to his lunchtable. As he sat, he told himself he hadn't been hungry anyway.
We haven't seen the sun for weeks
Too long, too far from home
Luckily, he always carried a backup plan. Eli opened his knapsack and carefully pulled out an apple covered in Saran-Wrap. As he opened it absently, his eyes drifted across the cafeteria to another table. Joshua's table. Eli stared for a long moment, willing his brother to raise his head and meet his gaze, but after nearly 30 seconds he had to look away. The city had corrupted his brother. It was the filthy streets, the polluted air, the throngs of sinners all working together to poison Joshua's mind. And to Eli's dismay, his brother hadn't put up much of a fight to keep his purity. It didn't help much that Josh didn't even want to spend time with him anymore. In Gatlin, things were so much different. But now Joshua had new friends, new clothes, and a new life. Eli calmly set aside the Saran-Wrap and tried to pretend the realization didn't hurt. He Who Walks Behind The Rows needed a disciple to spread the word, and he had been chosen. Eli knew what he had been sent to do – He thought it would be easy. He had said the minds of urban children were about as complex as lime jell-O, that everything would go smoothly. But since Eli had arrived in Chicago, he'd been separated from Josh, set aside by his new parents, victimized by the students, patronized by the teachers, and totally isolated from all he knew to be home. It didn't matter that He Who Walks Behind The Rows was evil incarnate living in the cornfields – He'd never been to high school.
I feel just like I'm sinking
And I claw for solid ground
Eli took a bite of his apple and chewed thoughtfully. He Who Walks Behind The Rows would be disgusted with his feelings of rejection and loneliness. Oh, for Christ's sake, he was disgusted by his feelings – he shouldn't be so weak, especially not when in service of the Lord. He had to be strong, strong and smart and cunning enough to crush this urban hellhole and mold it into something useful. He had to –
"Excuse me?" The voice startled him out of his thoughts, and he nearly dropped his apple.
"What?!" Eli snapped, raising his head to see the intruder. A girl. She smiled experimentally and carefully stepped closer.
"I couldn't help but notice that you wee over here all by yourself. Mind if I join you?" Eli looked her over briefly; she had blonde hair that curled into wisps around her face and a tray full of food. She didn't look like she was ready to crack a cruel joke. In fact, the girl looked about as malicious as a pair of bunny slippers. Oh, well – a bit of well-chosen sarcasm was never unnecessary.
"No," Eli said drily, briefly setting aside his apple. "I want you to go away and leave me and my legions of friends to our gourmet lunches." He smiled thinly up at her, and after a moment her grin only widened.
"Sarcasm," she said, her voice not masking a chuckle. "I like that. So –" The girl glanced around the empty table. "—shall I leave you alone with your legions, or may I sit?" Eli frowned, then sighed defeatedly. His mission was, after all, to recruit new soldiers for He Who Walks Behind The Rows. That would never happen if he stayed the smelly kid who no one ate lunch with. All right, he wasn't smelly, but when no one ever came close enough to tell, rumors were bound to spread.
"Sit," he said simply, and she sat.
I'm pulled down by the undertow
Never thought I could feel so low
"I'm Melanie," the girl said, sticking her hand out in greeting. "Melanie Meadows. I know, it's a terrible name. It sounds like some kind of forgotten child star gone psycho." Eli took her hand and shook it stiffly. After a long moment of silence, Melanie laughed a little. "You know, in most societies it's custom to ffer your own name after someone introduces themselves."
"Eli Porter," he mumbled, releasing her hand and retrieving his apple to take a crunchy bite. Maybe he could start recruiting… tomorrow. He felt like he'd been cornered by the perky weathergirl from Hell.
"Nice to meet you, Eli," Melanie said brightly as she lifted her turkey sandwich from the plate. She took a bite, then paused. "I don't mean to sound rude, but with the name and the clothes – are you Amish?"
"Yes," Eli said stiffly, and she grinned.
"How cool is that!" Melanie exclaimed, abandoning her sandwich in the face of this new interest. "I mean, I'm not so hot for the whole 'keep-women-in-their-place' thing, but other than that… so you're not just new in this school, it's a new home too, right?" He inspected his apple carefully, turning it over in his cool palm until he found an area of red shiny skin that hadn't been marred by bite-marks yet. Eli sunk his teeth into it promptly.
"Mm hm," he answered bluntly. Melanie took another small bite of her sandwich, not at all phased by his shortness of speech.
"Cool. Where'd you move from? A farm?" Eli glanced up at her from beneath his brows and chanced a smile. Well, if nothing else, she was persistent.
"Sort of," he murmured.
"Sort of?" Melanie echoed, and went on. "Where at?" Eli paused, turning his apple over again, and continued to pretend he wasn't enjoying this sudden attention at all.
"Gatlin, Nebraska." She tilted her head slightly.
"Never heard of it." Eli's smile twitched into a smirk.
"No, I don't supposed you would have," he murmured. Surprisingly enough, she just returned the stare, eating contentedly. After a minute, Melanie lowered her sandwich.
"Is that all you're eating?" she asked concernedly, indicating his apple. Eli looked down, surprised.
"I – well, I'd planned on eating more, but I ran into a problem."
"Problem?"
"A big, ugly, football-playing problem." His elaboration made her laugh, and Eli couldn't help a smile of his own.
"Here, take these," Melanie said with a grin. He looked at the bag of chips she was offering.
"No, that's –"
"I don't care how may you can eat to keep the doctor away," she said mildly, still shaking the chips at him, "it's not enough for lunch. Besides, if you let those jocks control your eating habits you won't last long." Eli watched her for a long moment, suspecting that all this cheer was only to end in a trick… but when nothing happened, he gingerly took the bag from her outstretched fingers.
'Thanks," he said quietly. Melanie just smiled and went back to her sandwich.
"No problem."
Oh, darkness, I feel like letting go
"What grade are you in?"
"What?" Eli looked up from the bag of chips he'd been struggling with.
"What grade are you in?" Melanie repeated, absently taking the bag from his hands and opening it for him. Eli took it from her grudgingly.
"Ninth."
"Oh." Melanie popped open a Coke. "I'm in tenth. You're doing a fairly good job, because I couldn't even tell you were a freshman."
"And that's a… good thing?" he asked, carefully chewing the crunch out of a potato chip. He'd never admit it, but the pre-packaged snacks tasted worlds better than the slightly bruised apple he'd been gnawing on.
"Oh, yeah!" she said with an emphatic nod. "Freshman are down there at the bottom of the food chain. Avoid being recognized as one at all costs." Another period of silence. Melanie took a sip of her soda. "Are you all alone in school, then?" Eli remained quiet for a moment before daintily eating another chip and nodding. "Oh," she went on brightly. "So, no siblings? No brothers or sisters?" Eli let his eyes drift towards Joshua's table. His brother was laughing, talking with that sinner, Maria. Eli let out a little sigh.
"No, one brother, he said softly. "But I'm still alone."
If all of the strength
And all of the courage
Come and lift me from this place
I know I could love you much better than this
Full of grace, full of grace
"That's a terrible way to think of things," Melanie said sympathetically. Eli shrugged with a dry little smile.
"Ever since we moved here, we've drifted apart. We don't even believe the same things anymore."
"I'm sorry." Before he could react, she was reaching towards him; Melanie's hand fell on his shoulder and gave it a brief, comforting squeeze, then retreated without giving his reflexes a chance to do anything. She moved on cheerfully. "Who's your brother? Is he in the cafeteria?" She began looking around the lunchroom and finally followed Eli's obligingly pointed finger.
"Joshua."
"Him?" She frowned, then made a brief face. "You should've told me sooner. He's in my chem class. The teacher keeps going on about how wonderfully smart he is for someone just going into school again, and frankly, I'm sick of it." Melanie popped a chip testily into her mouth. "Neveryoumind that it's a junior course and I'm one of the only sophomores whose grades allowed her in." Eli smiled a little and calmly fished for another potato chip.
"Glad to see I'm not alone on the matter."
"Well, now you got me, so you're not alone period!" She smiled broadly and made a grand flourish with her hands. "From this moment forth, I am your trusty guide to surviving the terrors of high school!" He couldn't resist a smirk; Eli set aside his chips.
"And am I guaranteed results?" he asked drily. "I mean, how do I know your advice and guidance will work?" Melanie spread her hands in wordless explanation.
"I've made it this far, haven't I?" She grinned. "I have yet to receive a wedgie or be shoved in a locker."
It's better this way
I say
Haven't seen this place before
Eli opened his mouth to counter-attack when the electronic bell sounded. The noise echoed in the cafeteria, but it was still audible, proven by Melanie's wince.
"Warning bell. Gotta dash." She stod and smiled at him, lifting her tray. "I had a nice time today, Eli." He found himself responding with an unexpected smile.
"Yeah," Eli murmured. "Me too." She glanced over her shoulder, presumably at a group of girls by the trashcans.
"My friends are waiting for me. I'll see you around, n'kay?" He nodded his agreement and watched as Melanie discarded her tray to join her friends, most of whom glared at the once-again alone weird Amish new kid. Eli sighed and stood, unable to help feeling a bit disappointed. Chances were he wouldn't eat lunch with her again. It wasn't the will of He Who Walks Behind The Rows, and it wasn't the will of Melanie's friends. But it wasn't as if he were upset. Eli had been through much worse.
Everything we say and do
Hurts us all a little more
He really didn't expect to see her the next day. But by lunchtime, there she was, already sitting at his regular table. Eli raised his eyebrows to hide his surprise as Melanie waved cheerfully, motioning for him to sit.
"Afternoon," she said brightly.
"What are you doing here?" he said abruptly. She raised her eyebrows now.
"Nice to see you too," Melanie muttered, and brightened again. "Want some Cheetos?" Eli shook his head.
"No, I don't want Cheetos." He threw his bookbag into a chair, suddenly angry. Either she was plotting to humiliate him, or it was worse – she pitied him. Eli seethed at the thought. He was powerful, and no one pitied those with power. It was stupid to do so. "Look," Eli began hotly, "yesterday was enough, all right? Go play Mother Teresa with some other lunchroom freak. I'm sure the AV club could use your bleeding heart nonsense." Melanie stared at him, startled.
"Jesus," she snapped. "What crawled up your ass and died? I was trying to be –"
"Pity doesn't do me any good," Eli said coolly. "It's wasted on me. Take it somewhere else." Melanie frowned.
"I'm not – oh, forget it! Why did I even bother?" She grabbed her tray and stood. "You know what? No wonder you think you're all alone. You want to be." A desperate thought suddenly entered his head as she got angrily to her feet. He needed soldiers, for Christ's sake! What good was that field with no one to tend it?
The End: There we go, guys! Finish it for me! Help me out!