The day went on and Ellie and Emma got to know each other. The
bulldozers never showed up as they were supposed to. As the day dragged
some of the less tenacious people left. About forty or fifty more resolute
tree-huggers made a human chain around the base of Aunt Susan, only
breaking for hunger or restroom breaks. A few never left. The less stubborn
but still determined, including Ellie and Emma, sat about the old tree
conversing about various topics.
Emma and Ellie became fast friends. They talked about life, animals, and
stuff in general. However, Ellie carefully avoided the topic of boyfriends,
until Emma brought up the topic directly by saying, "So how's your
boyfriend, I haven't seen you two together in a while. What's his name,
Marco?"
For a second time seem to stand still. The only sounds were the wind rustling through Aunt Susan's leaves and a man, no doubt the one who had put this protest together, speaking to the remaining eighty of the multitude.
"WOULD YOU LAY OFF IT!" Ellie screamed. All the pain, sorrow, anger, and hurt that had welled up inside her for the past couple weeks now was exploding from her. A few people looked at her for a second and turned back to the speaker. It was Emma who was hit directly by this blow. "HE'S GAY, ALRIGHT? G-A-Y-GAY! HE BROKE UP WITH ME BECUASE HE WAS GAY."
Emma just stood there aghast. Ellie started rambling on to herself, "I KISSED HIM! HE DIDN"T KISS BACK! HE SAID I WAS TRYING TO MAKE HIM SOMETHING HE WASN'T! HE..."
Ellie stopped when she realized not only was everybody looking at Emma and her, they were clapping too. Ellie examined herself. Her arms, which had been flailing wildly in the air moments before, were still in the air, but gripped by Emma to avoid any danger.
Emma and Ellie looked at each other, confusion on both of their faces, and then stared in the direction everyone was looking. When they saw nothing they looked at each other and mouthed the word, "Uh-------oh!"
"Ashley!" Jimmy called out as he and Spinner dodged and darted through
the crowd to Ashley and Terri. He reached just in time to hear her
say, "Go away, Jimmy!" "Ashley, it was a mistake!" he pleaded. "I'm sure you were," she returned. "No the note." Ashley stopped and spun around, "So you didn't mean to send it?" "No I meant to send it. It's just that I put "killed" in...." "Yeah, I noticed. I read your letter, Jimmy, and it seemed genuine." "It was," he persisted "You made me think there was a chance," she continued paying him no attention. "There is," he added but she ignored him again. "And then you ended your letter acting like a b-" She couldn't get herself to finish remembering this was a PG-rated story. "ASHLEY!" he said exasperatedly finally getting a chance to speak, "It was a mistake. I put killed instead of kissed. It was a mistake," He pronounced each word of the last sentence with inflection. Ashley stopped to think about the possibility, but then she shook her head and said in a more rationalized tone, "Jimmy Brooks, I've done some stupid things. I took that pill." She shuddered at the thought, but continued, "Then with Sean." She shuddered again. "I know you never really forgave me, and I've accepted that, I lived with that. Then, all these months, almost a year, later you do this. I thought you were more mature." Tears were now streaming down her face. Jimmy stood there just stuttering and stammering. He never had been good dealing with an emotional Ashley, even when they had been going out. "Now, I'm missing my lunch break, Mr. Brooks. Ter?" As Ashley walked away alone down the almost deserted hallway, Jimmy sighed. "Spin?" he said, and for the time he realized that his best friend and Ashley's best friend were missing. Together? He didn't know. He just knew they had ditched him and Ashley.
Midnight vigilante. That's what they called it. More exact, that's what they called them. Them being the people who sat up in the tree. Since the bulldozers hadn't come as they were supposed to stay there overnight to make sure they didn't come in the dead of night. Emma and Ellie. Frozen. Had accidentally volunteered for this job. "Crap," Emma thought as they were pushed forward through the crowd, "thanks to Ellie. I'm going to be stuck in a tree all night. I mean I always thought of trying this, just now while I'm 14! And I have that history test tomorrow." Time seemed to freeze as Emma remembered her test. She hadn't studied. She had hoped coming to the protest would give her an extra day, and now she was stuck in a tree. Ellie mumbled something. "What?!" Emma asked sounding irritable. "I said I'm sorry," Ellie clarified. She sounded truly apologetic and thoroughly depressed. "It's okay," Emma lied, but Ellie still hung her head in shame. After a few minutes of silence Emma said, "It's not healthy to keep stuff like that to yourself." The only response was silence as Ellie stared at the remaining fifty or so people on the ground. Emma took a deep breath and continued, "Do you want to tell me?" Ellie shook her head. Her long hair quivered on her back. She never took her eyes off the ground, which was a good distance away. They sat in silence for what seem like forever, but were, in reality, about ten minutes. Emma sighed, after all, she had tried. "Why didn't you notice anything earlier," Emma chided herself. "Now you're stuck in a tree with an emotionally-distressed teen..." "I heard her that day," Ellie started talking disrupting Emma's train of thought. "She was with Paige, Terri, and Hazel. She didn't think I had heard her, but I did." "Who said what?" asked Emma calmly. She was trying to sound understanding and to be patience, but there is only so much patience you can have with someone who got you stuck in a tree. But Ellie sounded truly disturbed, so Emma did her best. "Ashley. Ashley said it. My friend, Ashley." Tears trickled down Ellie's face. "She said, she said, she said, 'Ellie isn't that great'. She said, 'Ellie isn't that great'. Emma patted her friend on the back saying, "It's okay, I'm here." Emma would have hugged her, but she was too scared to move around in a tree. She didn't have a phobia of heights, after all she wasn't hyperventilating, she was just deathly afraid of them. Deathly afraid. Phobia. There's a fine line of difference in them. Even though the tree was extremely large and undeniably sturdy and they had shabby, but comfortable tree house. Ellie was hiccuping and taking short breaths. Tears now poured from her face, the only blemish on her otherwise perfect complexion. "And what about Marco?" Emma asked coolly. She figured it would be best if Ellie got everything out in the open, after all she had felt the same way when her mom and Mr. Simpson had been dating. "He...he...he..he...*hiccup*...he..he...he." That's as far as Ellie got in her explanation. And she kept repeating it until Emma said, "He dumped you?" Ellie nodded and answered, "He dumped me." Ellie took a deep breath interrupted by chokes and sob and continued, "He told me he wasn't sure. He didn't tell anyone but me. I pretended. I pretended for him. Because...because I loved him. I still do love him. But doesn't love me, not the way I do." She paused and sobbed, and cried. Emma felt rather awkward. She wanted to comfort Ellie, she really did, but she couldn't, she just couldn't. She could move her arms, just not much, but she couldn't move entire body. Ellie drew in an enormous breath and released it. She took a couple more. Emma looked off into the horizon and brought her eyes back slowly from there to the base the tree. Part of the way, she noticed a TV van. As her eyes came back towards the trunk, she noticed a woman holding a microphone and a man holding a camera. They were walking about interviewing people. They then pointed the camera up toward her and Ellie. Emma almost fell out of the tree. Partially, she was embarrassed for Ellie, who would be seen crying across the province. "At least, school's not out yet," Emma thought to herself. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Partially because she thought of what her mother would think if she saw her on TV. In a tree. For the first time, she realized she could barely hear the people on the ground. The only sounds, besides the muffled voices of those on the ground, were the wind playing amongst the leaves and Ellie's frequent sobs. The camera turned away from them. Almost as if on cue, Ellie continued. "And then...he said it...that he was g-g-g-g-g," Ellie couldn't bring herself to say it. "Gay," Emma whispered and Ellie nodded. "I k-k-kissed him and he stood there. Our report. He said that I was trying to change him. He-he-he was...right. I-I didn't mean t-t-to, but I was. I wanted to. Selfish." Emma wasn't sure what "Our project" had to do with anything, but wisely said nothing about. Without thinking Emma moved over near Ellie and hugged her and smiled. She was connecting with Ellie in ways she had never connected with anyone, not even Manny.
"I read that note, and it really seemed heart-felt." Terri asked Spinner. "Even for Jimmy?" Spinner asked. "Especially for Jimmy," she corrected him. Terri had pulled Spinner away from Jimmy and Ashley during the argument to interrogate him about the note. "Ter, can we hurry this up? I'm hungry," Spinner asked impatiently. "Just a minute. I just want to know did he mean 'killed' or 'kissed'" There was a note of disgust in her voice when she said "killed" and a lighter note when she said "kissed". "He meant 'kissed'", said Spinner sounding exasperated. "You should have heard him earlier, going on about her, and this dream he had of KISSING her. Come on, Ter. You know spelling isn't his best subject." She nodded. Her face lit up. She knew Spinner was telling the truth, for some reason, she just knew. Now she had to make sure Ashley knew. Before it was too late.
"It's over, Spin," Jimmy said as Spinner sat down across from him. They were the only ones at the table, which was in the corner of the room. "You still have a chance," Spinner said referring to his chat with Terri. They ate in silence for about ten minutes. Finally curiosity got the best of Jimmy. He put down his fork and asked, "What do you mean I still have a ch..." "Why can't you just accept that something good has happened to you, no strings attached," a voice exploded from across the room. They turned to see Terri standing up looking down at the person sitting next to her. The person next to her, who was Ashley, stood up in a voice much calmer but still audible, answered, "Because it never does." "He's the best thing that ever happened to you, and you screwed that up. Now he's given you a second chance. Don't ruin it!" Mrs. Kwan stormed up behind them and said, sternly and loudly, "Girls! Detention! Three o' clock! Today!"
Jimmy came out of the soccer locker room. The halls were empty. The rest of the team had already left. "Jimmy!" came a voice from behind him. It was Ashley. "We need to talk," she said. "Look, Ash..." "No, wait, let me talk. Terri was right. You were and are the best thing to happen to me. I'm sorry I ever messed that up. I really did mess things up. You're the best. I'm sorry, but I don't deserve a boyfriend like you. I sor..." No, you wait. You're wrong," He held his hand up to her mouth. "You're wrong. You're the best thing to happen to me. Ash, I love. I really love." And they kissed. They kissed a kiss that meant so much. More then it had ever meant before. The room disappeared. The only thing she saw was him. The only thing he saw was her. It was magical. That is until, "Mr. Brooks, Ms. Kerwin! Detention! Tomorrow!" Mrs. Kwan's voice practically shook the hall, but it didn't matter. They'd be in detention. They'd be together.
"Ellie, I love you." "And I you, Marco" With that they kissed. Locked in a truly heart-felt kiss until... Ellie shot bolt up right. Had it all been a dream. Her kiss with Marco? Her friendship with Emma? She looked around her room and noticed a Polaroid of her and Emma. "No." She said. The whole day flashed before her eyes. Her late morning. The tree, the beginning of it all. A tear trickled down her cheek. Not of sadness, but not of happiness either. It was somewhere in between. A combination of the two. She remembered her crying and narration of the worse couple days of her life. She remembered how Emma hugged her. She could tell Emma was a afraid of heights, and yet, she had been there for her, Ellie. Ellie smiled as she remembered seeing her mother, as well as Emma's, shouting at some guy on the ground to get them down. In retrospect it seemed pretty funny. Then it had just seemed sad. Now as she lay in bed, she thought about the dream. She seemed satisfied with herself. She may have lost Marco. She may have lost Ashley, but she gained a friend. A good friend. An "Emma" friend.
For a second time seem to stand still. The only sounds were the wind rustling through Aunt Susan's leaves and a man, no doubt the one who had put this protest together, speaking to the remaining eighty of the multitude.
"WOULD YOU LAY OFF IT!" Ellie screamed. All the pain, sorrow, anger, and hurt that had welled up inside her for the past couple weeks now was exploding from her. A few people looked at her for a second and turned back to the speaker. It was Emma who was hit directly by this blow. "HE'S GAY, ALRIGHT? G-A-Y-GAY! HE BROKE UP WITH ME BECUASE HE WAS GAY."
Emma just stood there aghast. Ellie started rambling on to herself, "I KISSED HIM! HE DIDN"T KISS BACK! HE SAID I WAS TRYING TO MAKE HIM SOMETHING HE WASN'T! HE..."
Ellie stopped when she realized not only was everybody looking at Emma and her, they were clapping too. Ellie examined herself. Her arms, which had been flailing wildly in the air moments before, were still in the air, but gripped by Emma to avoid any danger.
Emma and Ellie looked at each other, confusion on both of their faces, and then stared in the direction everyone was looking. When they saw nothing they looked at each other and mouthed the word, "Uh-------oh!"
"Ashley!" Jimmy called out as he and Spinner dodged and darted through
the crowd to Ashley and Terri. He reached just in time to hear her
say, "Go away, Jimmy!" "Ashley, it was a mistake!" he pleaded. "I'm sure you were," she returned. "No the note." Ashley stopped and spun around, "So you didn't mean to send it?" "No I meant to send it. It's just that I put "killed" in...." "Yeah, I noticed. I read your letter, Jimmy, and it seemed genuine." "It was," he persisted "You made me think there was a chance," she continued paying him no attention. "There is," he added but she ignored him again. "And then you ended your letter acting like a b-" She couldn't get herself to finish remembering this was a PG-rated story. "ASHLEY!" he said exasperatedly finally getting a chance to speak, "It was a mistake. I put killed instead of kissed. It was a mistake," He pronounced each word of the last sentence with inflection. Ashley stopped to think about the possibility, but then she shook her head and said in a more rationalized tone, "Jimmy Brooks, I've done some stupid things. I took that pill." She shuddered at the thought, but continued, "Then with Sean." She shuddered again. "I know you never really forgave me, and I've accepted that, I lived with that. Then, all these months, almost a year, later you do this. I thought you were more mature." Tears were now streaming down her face. Jimmy stood there just stuttering and stammering. He never had been good dealing with an emotional Ashley, even when they had been going out. "Now, I'm missing my lunch break, Mr. Brooks. Ter?" As Ashley walked away alone down the almost deserted hallway, Jimmy sighed. "Spin?" he said, and for the time he realized that his best friend and Ashley's best friend were missing. Together? He didn't know. He just knew they had ditched him and Ashley.
Midnight vigilante. That's what they called it. More exact, that's what they called them. Them being the people who sat up in the tree. Since the bulldozers hadn't come as they were supposed to stay there overnight to make sure they didn't come in the dead of night. Emma and Ellie. Frozen. Had accidentally volunteered for this job. "Crap," Emma thought as they were pushed forward through the crowd, "thanks to Ellie. I'm going to be stuck in a tree all night. I mean I always thought of trying this, just now while I'm 14! And I have that history test tomorrow." Time seemed to freeze as Emma remembered her test. She hadn't studied. She had hoped coming to the protest would give her an extra day, and now she was stuck in a tree. Ellie mumbled something. "What?!" Emma asked sounding irritable. "I said I'm sorry," Ellie clarified. She sounded truly apologetic and thoroughly depressed. "It's okay," Emma lied, but Ellie still hung her head in shame. After a few minutes of silence Emma said, "It's not healthy to keep stuff like that to yourself." The only response was silence as Ellie stared at the remaining fifty or so people on the ground. Emma took a deep breath and continued, "Do you want to tell me?" Ellie shook her head. Her long hair quivered on her back. She never took her eyes off the ground, which was a good distance away. They sat in silence for what seem like forever, but were, in reality, about ten minutes. Emma sighed, after all, she had tried. "Why didn't you notice anything earlier," Emma chided herself. "Now you're stuck in a tree with an emotionally-distressed teen..." "I heard her that day," Ellie started talking disrupting Emma's train of thought. "She was with Paige, Terri, and Hazel. She didn't think I had heard her, but I did." "Who said what?" asked Emma calmly. She was trying to sound understanding and to be patience, but there is only so much patience you can have with someone who got you stuck in a tree. But Ellie sounded truly disturbed, so Emma did her best. "Ashley. Ashley said it. My friend, Ashley." Tears trickled down Ellie's face. "She said, she said, she said, 'Ellie isn't that great'. She said, 'Ellie isn't that great'. Emma patted her friend on the back saying, "It's okay, I'm here." Emma would have hugged her, but she was too scared to move around in a tree. She didn't have a phobia of heights, after all she wasn't hyperventilating, she was just deathly afraid of them. Deathly afraid. Phobia. There's a fine line of difference in them. Even though the tree was extremely large and undeniably sturdy and they had shabby, but comfortable tree house. Ellie was hiccuping and taking short breaths. Tears now poured from her face, the only blemish on her otherwise perfect complexion. "And what about Marco?" Emma asked coolly. She figured it would be best if Ellie got everything out in the open, after all she had felt the same way when her mom and Mr. Simpson had been dating. "He...he...he..he...*hiccup*...he..he...he." That's as far as Ellie got in her explanation. And she kept repeating it until Emma said, "He dumped you?" Ellie nodded and answered, "He dumped me." Ellie took a deep breath interrupted by chokes and sob and continued, "He told me he wasn't sure. He didn't tell anyone but me. I pretended. I pretended for him. Because...because I loved him. I still do love him. But doesn't love me, not the way I do." She paused and sobbed, and cried. Emma felt rather awkward. She wanted to comfort Ellie, she really did, but she couldn't, she just couldn't. She could move her arms, just not much, but she couldn't move entire body. Ellie drew in an enormous breath and released it. She took a couple more. Emma looked off into the horizon and brought her eyes back slowly from there to the base the tree. Part of the way, she noticed a TV van. As her eyes came back towards the trunk, she noticed a woman holding a microphone and a man holding a camera. They were walking about interviewing people. They then pointed the camera up toward her and Ellie. Emma almost fell out of the tree. Partially, she was embarrassed for Ellie, who would be seen crying across the province. "At least, school's not out yet," Emma thought to herself. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Partially because she thought of what her mother would think if she saw her on TV. In a tree. For the first time, she realized she could barely hear the people on the ground. The only sounds, besides the muffled voices of those on the ground, were the wind playing amongst the leaves and Ellie's frequent sobs. The camera turned away from them. Almost as if on cue, Ellie continued. "And then...he said it...that he was g-g-g-g-g," Ellie couldn't bring herself to say it. "Gay," Emma whispered and Ellie nodded. "I k-k-kissed him and he stood there. Our report. He said that I was trying to change him. He-he-he was...right. I-I didn't mean t-t-to, but I was. I wanted to. Selfish." Emma wasn't sure what "Our project" had to do with anything, but wisely said nothing about. Without thinking Emma moved over near Ellie and hugged her and smiled. She was connecting with Ellie in ways she had never connected with anyone, not even Manny.
"I read that note, and it really seemed heart-felt." Terri asked Spinner. "Even for Jimmy?" Spinner asked. "Especially for Jimmy," she corrected him. Terri had pulled Spinner away from Jimmy and Ashley during the argument to interrogate him about the note. "Ter, can we hurry this up? I'm hungry," Spinner asked impatiently. "Just a minute. I just want to know did he mean 'killed' or 'kissed'" There was a note of disgust in her voice when she said "killed" and a lighter note when she said "kissed". "He meant 'kissed'", said Spinner sounding exasperated. "You should have heard him earlier, going on about her, and this dream he had of KISSING her. Come on, Ter. You know spelling isn't his best subject." She nodded. Her face lit up. She knew Spinner was telling the truth, for some reason, she just knew. Now she had to make sure Ashley knew. Before it was too late.
"It's over, Spin," Jimmy said as Spinner sat down across from him. They were the only ones at the table, which was in the corner of the room. "You still have a chance," Spinner said referring to his chat with Terri. They ate in silence for about ten minutes. Finally curiosity got the best of Jimmy. He put down his fork and asked, "What do you mean I still have a ch..." "Why can't you just accept that something good has happened to you, no strings attached," a voice exploded from across the room. They turned to see Terri standing up looking down at the person sitting next to her. The person next to her, who was Ashley, stood up in a voice much calmer but still audible, answered, "Because it never does." "He's the best thing that ever happened to you, and you screwed that up. Now he's given you a second chance. Don't ruin it!" Mrs. Kwan stormed up behind them and said, sternly and loudly, "Girls! Detention! Three o' clock! Today!"
Jimmy came out of the soccer locker room. The halls were empty. The rest of the team had already left. "Jimmy!" came a voice from behind him. It was Ashley. "We need to talk," she said. "Look, Ash..." "No, wait, let me talk. Terri was right. You were and are the best thing to happen to me. I'm sorry I ever messed that up. I really did mess things up. You're the best. I'm sorry, but I don't deserve a boyfriend like you. I sor..." No, you wait. You're wrong," He held his hand up to her mouth. "You're wrong. You're the best thing to happen to me. Ash, I love. I really love." And they kissed. They kissed a kiss that meant so much. More then it had ever meant before. The room disappeared. The only thing she saw was him. The only thing he saw was her. It was magical. That is until, "Mr. Brooks, Ms. Kerwin! Detention! Tomorrow!" Mrs. Kwan's voice practically shook the hall, but it didn't matter. They'd be in detention. They'd be together.
"Ellie, I love you." "And I you, Marco" With that they kissed. Locked in a truly heart-felt kiss until... Ellie shot bolt up right. Had it all been a dream. Her kiss with Marco? Her friendship with Emma? She looked around her room and noticed a Polaroid of her and Emma. "No." She said. The whole day flashed before her eyes. Her late morning. The tree, the beginning of it all. A tear trickled down her cheek. Not of sadness, but not of happiness either. It was somewhere in between. A combination of the two. She remembered her crying and narration of the worse couple days of her life. She remembered how Emma hugged her. She could tell Emma was a afraid of heights, and yet, she had been there for her, Ellie. Ellie smiled as she remembered seeing her mother, as well as Emma's, shouting at some guy on the ground to get them down. In retrospect it seemed pretty funny. Then it had just seemed sad. Now as she lay in bed, she thought about the dream. She seemed satisfied with herself. She may have lost Marco. She may have lost Ashley, but she gained a friend. A good friend. An "Emma" friend.