After the night in the hallway, the ease of Daniel and Ella's summertime friendship was gone. Daniel was awake most of the first night trying to figure out what he had seen. Why had Brian had his hands in Ella's hair? Why was Ella talking to him in the first place? Why had Ella run only when she had seen Daniel? He felt confused and angry and had no idea what to do about it.
And Ella was not talking. By the time Daniel had woken up the next morning, Ella was out of the house. She didn't come home until just before dinner and she retreated to her bedroom immediately after eating. She did not look at Daniel or Brian once during the meal.
Several weeks went by. School started. There were no shared trips to the library and Ella did not ask for help with her homework. Despite his confusion, Daniel missed her terribly. She was the only real friend he had ever had. He didn't even know how to talk to her anymore. But the silence fed into itself and everything felt worse as the month went on.
One Friday near the end of September, Daniel was coming out of his room at the same moment that Ella was coming up the stairs. They stared at each other in the hallway.
"Hey, Ella." Awkwardness seized Daniel voice before he could say anymore.
Ella said nothing. She stared at him, breathing hard, before she spun into her room, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "dumbass." Her door slammed in Daniel's face. He stood there feeling like an idiot. A small, cowardly voice told him to walk away, but he chose not to listen to it. He knocked. When there was no answer, he entered anyway. The room was empty so he walked over to the closet.
"Ella?" He tapped lightly at the closet door. "Are you in there?" There was no answer, but he thought he heard movement. "Look, if you are in there, can you please come out? You look upset. I just want to know what's wrong."
"Go away." She sounded livid, but Daniel was heartened that at least she wasn't calling him names.
"Ella, please tell me what's wrong." She opened the door. Standing in front of him, her face wet with tears, Daniel realized for the first time that Ella had grown over the summer. She was almost as tall as him now. "Are you okay?"
"Why do you care?" she shot back at him.
"Because you're my friend."
"Bullshit! You won't even talk to me anymore!"
"That's not true!" he protested, knowing that it was. "I've been busy. You've been busy too."
"You hate me and I don't know why!" Her fear exposed, Ella dissolved into tears. She sank onto the floor sobbing. Daniel was dumbfounded. He had seen Ella cry before; he had made her cry before. But he had never seen her fall apart like this.
"Ella – no – I don't hate you," he stammered.
"Then why won't you talk to me anymore?" she wailed, looking up at him in despair.
"I – uh – oh god." Daniel had a flash of clarity. All of this time he had felt that Ella had betrayed him by being nice to Brian. He had been so mad he never asked her to explain what was going on. He sat next to her feeling like an idiot.
"It's because of Brian, isn't it? Because of what you saw in the hallway," she asked in a smaller voice. "But I wasn't talking to him Daniel. He came out of his room and started talking to me. I could never be his friend after what he did to you!"
"I know, Ella. I'm sorry. I have been really stupid." Ella nodded her head, not inclined to disagree with him. "Can you tell me what happened that night?"
She was quiet for a few moments while she wiped her face. "I don't know. I went downstairs because I was hungry. Brian came out of his room and started talking to me. He was saying that I looked pretty and that he liked that. I tried to go back upstairs but he backed me into the wall. Then he started…" her hands gestured vaguely to her hair "…touching my hair…I don't like it when he does that."
A stone dropped in Daniel's stomach. "You don't like…Ella, has Brian done something since then?"
She bit her lip before nodding slowly. "Yes. I don't know what to do. He comes up behind me and he asks me…questions…"
"Like what?"
"Like…did I make myself pretty today just for him…would I like it if he was nice to me…did I miss him this summer…and sometimes he asks if you and I – um – I just don't like it when he talks like that but he won't stop." She stopped talking as she bit her lip hard and closed her eyes, wiping them roughly with her fists.
What Ella was telling Daniel really scared him. It sounded like other situations he had heard about, from other foster children. Something bad was building up. He knew it. "Has he hurt you?"
"No. But he's scaring me." Her voice broke.
"Oh Ella," he put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned against him, sighing deeply. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone like this."
"It's not your fault," she sniffled.
"No, I just shouldn't have been this dumb. Have you – have you told anyone about this?"
She nodded yes. "I told my case manager."
Daniel knew that probably didn't help. "What did she say?"
Ella sighed again. "I told her that he beat you up and she said 'boys will be boys.' I told her that he was mean to me and she said that it is hard for him to have all of these people in the house and I just needed to understand where he is coming from. And then I told her that – he's been – saying things – and she asked if I had a crush on him! Ugh." She shuddered.
He squeezed her shoulder a little closer. "I am sorry. I have been such a lousy friend this month."
She looked up at him. "Are we friends again?"
"Always." They smiled at each other for a few moments, until Daniel had to look away and clear his throat. "Um, hey Ella. Would you like to go to the library tomorrow?"
She rolled her eyes a little and said, "Sounds like fun."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
On the way to their favorite refuge the next day, Daniel thought about something he had meant to ask her. "What was wrong yesterday? I mean I know you were mad at me and everything, but was there something else?"
A small grin played around her lips. "I got the highest grade in class on my Algebra test."
"That's great! So why were you so upset?"
Her grin twisted into a grimace. "My teacher announces the top grade in front of the class. When everyone heard it was me they were pretty surprised. After school, some girls came around and started to push me and say that I was just a stupid welfare case and the only way I got a good grade was that the teacher felt sorry for me. I told them they were just jealous and they should shut up before I shut them up, but there were a lot of them and just one of me so my threat really didn't work. They just pushed me down and said that I was stupid and ugly too and no book would fix that." She repeated this last part softly and looked at the ground.
Daniel bumped his shoulder into hers. "You know, I think you have the right word for those girls."
"Yeah, but they would have kicked my ass if I said it out loud."
Once he figured out what she meant, he laughed. "No. I meant 'jealous.' Ella, look at me." She bit her lip and looked up. "You are not stupid and you are definitely not ugly."
She gave him a small smile. "Thanks. I shouldn't let them get to me. Hey, I got an 'A' on an Algebra test! Yay me!"
They laughed together as they went into the library. Ella settled into work on a school report while Daniel went to research on an independent project. He hadn't told anyone what he was doing. He was too scared that they would lock him in a mental hospital next to his grandfather. But something that Ella had said at the museum had stayed in his mind for months. What if the Skull didn't work because it had been moved? Against his will, Daniel had done some research on Crystal Skulls through history. This led him to looking at aliens. He was shocked at how many sane, rational people not only believed in aliens, but believed that they had had encounters with them. The more he read, the more he felt a little…something…nagging at the back of his brain. It felt similar to learning a new language. A connection was being made even if he could not see it yet.
After several hours of research, Daniel and Ella were ready to go. Ella stepped outside for air while Daniel pulled together his much bigger mess. When he stepped out to join her, his heart stopped in his chest.
Brian had Ella pinned against the wall. One hand was gripping her around her ribcage while his other was threaded through her hair, pulling her head back. "Come on," he was saying. "Just a little kiss won't hurt you." Ella was struggling to hide her fear and to make him let her go.
"Let her go, Brian," Daniel demanded.
Brian swiveled his head around to the younger boy. "This doesn't concern you, Sponge. Fuck off."
Daniel decided he didn't care what Brian did to him anymore. "No. Let her go and leave her alone."
Brian released Ella, who sagged against the wall, catching her breath. "When did you decide to grow some balls, fag?"
Fear crawled up the back of Daniel's throat but he ignored it. "Just leave us alone, Brian."
"Or what? You think you can take me?"
Daniel did not reply. He just waited for Brian to make a move.
Sure enough, Brian didn't fail him. The larger boy swung a roundhouse punch at Daniel. Relying on reflexes he did not know he had, Daniel ducked and then came up swinging the large book he was carrying. The sharp corner caught Brian in his chin and blood shot out of the wound. Brian reeled back from the unexpected hit and Ella crashed her overstuffed book bag to his head. Brian hit the ground. The surprised victors stared at each other for a split second before grabbing hands and running.
They ran around the back of the library and kept going until they ran out of breath in an alley. Ducking behind a trash dumpster, they crouched listening to Brian scream for them. Daniel was afraid to breathe.
Strange snuffling sounds came from behind him. He turned and saw that Ella was hiding her face in her hands and shaking. "Ella, it's okay. I don't think he knows where we are."
Her face emerged and he saw that she was crying because she was trying not to laugh. Her eyes were shining. "Oh my god!" she squeaked. "He is just gonna' kill us."
Daniel looked at her, unable to reply. And then he started to laugh. And then he really started to laugh. They stayed in the ally, laughing hysterically, victorious for once in their lives.
TBC