The book Ella refers to here is The Boy Who Reversed Himself by William Sleator, which I read when I was about her age and I am happy to say is still in print (according to Amazon.)
Warning: Language and disturbing situations.
Previously:
Maybe a trip to the museum would be a nice way to celebrate both of their birthdays and get over the last terrible 24 hours? Hoping that Ella was still asleep, he decided to reserve the tickets now and tell her about it later. His parents had left him some money in a bank account that he never touched. He could afford the tickets and a nice meal. Whatever it took, Daniel decided that both of them would have happy birthdays for a change.
Museum Birthdays
On the morning of Daniel's 15th birthday, he was woken up by a very cheerful Ella holding a plate of cookies and a big mug of coffee. "Good morning, sunshine," she sing-songed to him.
"What's this?" He was squinting in to the sunshine, trying to figure out what was happening.
"It's breakfast. I baked."
Goodness, she could be cheery in the morning. "Cookies for breakfast?"
"What, you don't remember that Bill Cosby thing we saw? There's eggs in these cookies. Hell, there's even oatmeal so if you put milk in your coffee, you'd practically have a bowl of cereal." She sat cross-legged on his floor watching him poke at the chocolate chip-oatmeal creations. "Jeeze, Daniel, they're not gonna' poison you. I know how to make cookies."
He tried one. They were warm and terrific and he told her so. The coffee was strong enough to almost throw him out of bed. She had obviously made that as well.
"Mrs. Greerson picked up the groceries for me and said I could use the kitchen as long as I cleaned up afterwards. There are more downstairs because the recipe is huge."
Daniel swung his legs over the edge of the bed, wincing slightly. He was healing from Brian's attack but some soreness lingered. He had hid out for the first day or so, avoiding the adults. When Mrs. Greerson caught sight of his face, she had freaked. Daniel finally told her he had been jumped by some kids in the neighborhood but he did not know whom it had been. Her husband had said nothing but Daniel suspected that he knew exactly who had done the jumping. After all, Daniel had witnessed the father's own attempts at "making a man" out of his son.
"So, you said you had a surprise for me, but you wouldn't tell me until today," Ella said. "What is it?"
"Oh that's what this is?" Daniel asked through a mouthful of cookies. "A bribe?"
"Tell me!" she whined while tugging at his foot.
"All right, all right, don't whine." She sat back, satisfied. "There is an exhibit of ancient Mayan artifacts coming to the city museum. I want to go and I thought I would like to take you as well. We can celebrate our birthdays."
Ella's face looked as if she had bitten into a bad apple. "A museum?"
"Museums are great places! Why are you giving me that face?" It had not occurred to him that she would not be as excited as he was about it.
"It's a museum," she replied. "We go to them at school. You have to be quiet and look at a bunch of pictures of people who don't wear a lot of clothes."
This would take some convincing, he saw. "That's what it's like when you go to a boring museum with boring exhibits. But this is a natural history museum." Her unimpressed expression merely evolved to deeply skeptical. "Trust me, they are much cooler. I spent half my childhood in museums."
"That explains a lot," she muttered, quietly.
"Look, we'll take the bus, without the adults," her interest perked up, "have lunch out, and then go to the museum. And, just so you know, the featured exhibit is one that my parents worked on. And the centerpiece item is something that made my grandfather famous." Infamous, spoke a quiet, bitter voice in Daniel's head.
"Will he be there?"
"No," he answered flatly. It had been awhile since he had even heard from Nick.
Ella considered all the information, "Do I have to wear a dress?"
He shook his head, slightly confused, "Umm, no. I really don't care what you wear, Ella."
She stood up. "Okay. Sounds like fun." She spoke with such hearty determination, that Daniel could tell she didn't mean it. But she would go along with it for his sake. "I have to do my dishes. I'll see you later. You gotta' a letter downstairs, by the way."
After his shower, Daniel went downstairs to the entryway where the mail was stacked. His letter was in an official looking envelope from Fairview Psychiatric Hospital, in Portland Oregon. Whatever it was, Daniel was sure it wasn't a birthday wish.
"Dear Mr. Jackson.
It is our duty to inform you that your relative, Mr. Nicolas Ballard, has admitted himself to our care. You may contact Dr. Fred Rossi at 971-555-2799 for further information.
Sincerely,
Brenda Blynth, RCN
Admissions
Fairview Psychiatric Hospital"He reread the letter several times before folding it back into its envelope. He walked upstairs and buried it in his sock drawer. He told himself it didn't matter. He told himself there was no reason to feel scared.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The morning of the museum trip, Daniel dressed with care. His parents had drilled respect for museums into his head since birth. He even went so far as to iron his pants and shirt. Then he waited downstairs for Ella. The house was empty, as had been the case for most of the summer. His thoughts drifted to Nick and the hospital, but he squashed the musings. He didn't want to think about it.
"Tada!" Ella jumped in the room with her arms held wide. "Look, I'm a girl!" Indeed she was. Daniel was shocked to see that his tomboyish friend was in a blue sundress. She had a white cardigan tied around her waist. Instead of her normal messy ponytail, she had pulled her hair back with a simple Alice band. She was even carrying a small purse. There was a weird twisting sensation in Daniel's stomach as he realized that Ella looked really pretty. Brian's insults from two weeks ago echoed in his head, and he did not know what to say.
"It's about time," he fumbled.
"Am I late?" she asked.
"No…let's just go." He went out the front door, ignoring the look of confusion on Ella's face.
As they walked to the bus stop, Ella chattered on. "And this purse? This was a gift from Mrs. Greerson, can you believe it? I've never had one before, but I figured what the hell – sorry, heck – it looked pretty. She gave it to me early for today. Do you like it?"
"Huh? Oh,it's okay," Daniel looked his watch and peered up the street for the bus.
"Daniel, are you mad about something?" she finally asked.
"What? No, Ella I'm sorry. The purse is great. You look – nice today." Ella glowed under the compliment, which resurrected the weird feeling in Daniel's stomach. What is wrong with me today? He didn't feel too talkative on the bus trip. After a few failed attempts at conversation, Ella finally pulled a book out of her purse and read.
Daniel say in a moody silence. Against his better judgment, he had called Nick's hospital yesterday. His grandfather had indeed admitted himself there. Daniel couldn't remember a time when Nick hadn't been ranting about his "Giant Aliens" that he claimed to encounter through the Crystal Skull. The Skull had become famous despite Nick's best efforts to convince the world he was a crackpot. Now look where it had gotten him.
Ella shifted in her seat, distracting Daniel from his thoughts. She was deep in her book. It still surprised him to see how much she enjoyed reading, considering how much she had resisted it at first. His eyes were pulled to her hair as he noticed how shiny it looked today.
"What?" Ella had noticed his look and reached to fix whatever he was staring at.
"Nothing." Turning very red, Daniel looked out the window. He just didn't feel like himself today. With his grandfather and …everything…he was confused and irritable. But it was Ella's birthday as well as his own and he was determined that they would have fun today.
By the time they got to the city, Daniel had placed a smile on his face. They had chosen a casual place to eat, where they hoped that two kids on their own would not be noticed. After they ordered, Ella asked about the Mayan artifacts. Or "things" as she called them.
"Well, my family was involved with finding some of the items in the collection," Daniel responded. "In fact, I think I was at the dig, but I was really young."
"Dig?"
"That's what archeologists call their worksites. They are normally digging stuff out of the dirt."
"Sounds fun when you put it that way. What's this Crystal Skull thingy?" Ella started to nibble from the breadbasket.
Daniel considered what to say. "Well, um, Nick, my grandfather found the Skull in Belize in 1971. And it was a pretty big deal…" His voice had tightened a little, making Ella look at him.
"Why was it such a big deal? Was it diamond or something?"
Daniel decided to drop the smaller bomb about Nick. "It was a big deal because Nick said that he was pulled through the eyes into a huge cave where aliens spoke to him."
At that moment, the waitress arrived with their food. This gave Daniel something to do besides looking at Ella's stunned face. As soon as the waitress walked away, Ella spoke again.
"Ohmygod! Was he? Did he really see aliens?"
"What? No, Ella, there were no aliens."
"Well, maybe there were but no one can get to them now because the Skull isn't where it needs to be to make it happen!"
"Huh?" He did not know how to deal with her taking this idea seriously.
"It's like the book I'm reading. This guy, Omar, he's like the guardian to other dimensions. Nobody knows, everyone just thinks he's weird and crazy." Daniel flinched at this word. "But he's not. And at some point, this girl goes into the other dimension and then she knows, too."
He reached for a reasonable tone, "But that book was fiction. Nick was – confused – or something fell on his head or something."
"A lot of people believe in aliens."
"Even with that, believing in them and then believing that they can suck you through a statue, speak to you and then spit you back out are two very different things." He tried to finish with a strong "end of discussion" tone.
It must have worked. Ella spent a few moments considering everything before asking what else was in the museum.
"I'm not positive. I think they have dinosaurs."
"Ooooo! Dinosaurs! Can we see them?"
"Sure." He was just happy to have a new subject to talk about.
"Cool. Let's save them for last, after the artifacts." He smile told him that she found old, dead reptiles far more interesting than anything else in the museum.
After enormous desserts, they walked over to the museum. As soon as they entered, Daniel felt at home. It had been so long since he had been in a museum without his class and an annoying teacher. And knowing that he was close to items that his parents had worked with made him feel good.
"Do we get in for free because your family was involved with the stuff?" Ella wanted to know.
"No and please don't tell anyone." The last thing Daniel wanted was to have museum officials fussing over him. Or, worse yet, identify him with Nick.
"Why not? I think it would be fun - "
"Ella, please just don't okay?"
"All right, fine." Ella looked baffled at his latest mood swing. "Can we just go look at the stuff?"
"Sounds great," he replied.
The exhibit was easy to find. It was a bittersweet moment for Daniel to see his mom's name on an identification card for a piece of ancient jewelry. He pointed it out to his friend.
"Discovered by Dr. Claire Ballard Jackson. Daniel, that's so cool!" She was as thrilled as he was. They walked the large room, Daniel sharing what he knew. Ella was an appreciative audience. She had many questions, several he couldn't even answer.
Slowly, they made there way to the room that housed the Crystal Skull. It was alone in a dark room with a small light illuminating it from beneath. It looked both fearsome and beautiful.
As Daniel walked closer, he felt overcome with emotions. As beautiful as the Skull was, and as much as he revered history, Daniel wanted to smash the relic to the ground and destroy it. You ruined Nick's life, Daniel thought, staring into the empty eye sockets. You took my grandfather away from me.
"Daniel," Ella's voice was hushed, but it startled him nonetheless. "I don't think you should look at it like that."
He didn't look away. "Why not?"
She edged closer. "What if your – what if Nick was right? They could take you too."
"Ella, he wasn't right. There are no aliens," he said firmly.
"I'm just saying - "
"Well don't okay?" He snapped as he turned to her. "Don't 'just say.' You don't know what you're talking about here, so don't pretend that you do."
The harshness in Daniel's voice made Ella gasp. She gaped at him for a moment, clearly torn between anger and tears. Finally, she snapped her jaw shut and spun on her heel, fleeing the room.
Dammit! Daniel thought. Why was he being so mean to her today? None of this was her fault. None of it. Not being attacked by Brian, not Nick losing his mind, and certainly not the existence of the stupid Crystal Skull that sat, leering at him in the dimness. Muttering a very Ella-like word and shooting the skull a parting glare, Daniel went to go find his friend.
Ella was standing in the main foyer, staring up at the giant brontosaurus that graced the entrance. When she saw Daniel coming, she turned her back on him, swiping her hand across her face.
"Ella, I'm - "
"I'm not stupid Daniel. You're the one that keeps telling me that!" She kept her back to him.
"I know you're not, Ella. I had no right to talk to you like that."
She whipped around. "You're damn right you didn't. What is wrong with you? Why are you being such a dick today?"
For half a second, Daniel was taken aback by the term, then he realized she was right. "I'm sorry. Being here…it's just…everything seems weird and wrong today."
She was not ready to forgive him yet, but she softened a little. "Why? What's wrong?" she asked plaintively.
What could he do? He had to tell someone before he ended up on a bed next to Nick. He sat on a bench by the dinosaur. "I found out that Nick, my grandfather, was admitted to a mental hospital. He's sick and I don't think he'll be okay anytime soon."
"Oh. Oh my god," Ella sat next to him. "Wow, what does this mean?"
He couldn't look at her face, choosing to examine the bench instead. "I don't know. The doctors said that he had a complete nervous breakdown. I called but they wouldn't let me speak with him. They said he wasn't ready, whatever that means."
"He must be so scared."
That was the last reaction Daniel expected. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I mean, he's crazy, but he thinks he was kidnapped by aliens, right? What if he thinks they are still coming for him? And he's all alone in there."
Daniel looked long and hard at her, trying to figure out if she was making a joke. It didn't seem that she was. "Ella, would you like to go look at dinosaurs?"
She smiled and reached for his hand, "Let's go."
Hours later, tired from crawling around every distant corner of the museum, Daniel and Ella got back on the bus to go home. As she watched the museum disappear in the distance Ella said, "You know, Daniel, maybe someday everyone will find out that aliens are real and Nick isn't crazy after all."
"Aliens or not, I think that Nick will always be Nick."
She laughed and rested her head on his shoulder, slowly dozing off. Daniel felt better than he had in days.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
The rest of the summer passed in relative peace. Despite a few disturbing dreams, Daniel's daytime feelings about Ella stayed where he was comfortable. On Ella's birthday, Mrs. Greerson went into a surprising and slightly disturbing paroxysm of motherliness. She took her charges out for pizza and took a "commemorative photo" of the two of them to mark the occasion.
A week later, Brian came home. Some of the light went out of Ella's eyes and she and Daniel began to spend more time out of the house. School was going to start soon. Ella's efforts over the past year paid off and she would be placed with children her age. Daniel and Brian would be in their senior year.
A few nights before school started, Daniel dreamed that he and Ella were walking together down a street. He felt something leaking from his nose and Ella looked at him with mild alarm. Putting his hand to his face, Daniel realized that it was blood coursing down his face. He fell to his hands and knees as the blood came on harder. Ella continued to look on, offering no help. The blood turned to bright hot sand. Pouring from both his nose and his mouth, Daniel's sand covered everything he could see. Emptied at last and gasping for air, Daniel turned to see Ella holding hands with Nick. They smiled and turned to leave.
"Wait." Daniel called out. "Don't leave me alone here!"
"You're not alone," Nick's voice floated over the desert.
"Told you he wasn't crazy," Ella added.
Daniel woke with Ella's words echoing in his head. The cool darkness felt odd after the blazing heat of his dreamscape. Unsettled, he decided to go downstairs for something to drink. As he quietly took the stairs, he heard Brian speaking to someone. Daniel froze on the stairs, not wanting to be caught eavesdropping.
"You got a lot prettier since I left. I may just have to be nicer to you. Would you like that?"
A curious numbness trickled down Daniel's body as he peered over the stair railing to see whom Brian was talking to. It took his brain a few moments to register what he saw, even as every nerve endingwas screaming at him to wake up! Brian was leaning over Ella in the hallway. Light spilled from his bedroom door. Brian had one hand resting on her shoulder while the other trailed through her hair.Her face was shadowed in darkness.
"Ella?" Daniel's voice shattered the gloom.
The girl jumped. Daniel could see now that Ella's eyes were wide with fear and embarrassment. She slapped Brian's hands away and ran upstairs, brushing past Daniel. He heard her door slam shut. Brian stayed where he was, looking at Daniel before walking into his own room. When the door closed, Daniel was alone in the dark. Thirst forgotten, he remounted the stairs. He stared at Ella's closed door for a long time, but he didn't knock.
TBC