Soon, Ella arrived at Megs' house. Megs carefully led her up to the front door and when she made her way inside, Ella couldn't believe her eyes. It was the most beautiful little house she had ever been in; in fact, it was the only other house she had ever been in. Ella turned her attention to the framed pictures on the shelf to her left and she shuffled towards it to get a better look, Megs following close behind her.
"You wanna see the pictures? Okay. These are my parents, Nicole and Linus. My dad is a little league baseball coach and my mom is a Girl Scout den mother. They're both busy right now, but when they come back later tonight you can meet them then." Megs calmly explained, showing a picture of a couple who appeared to be in their late forties, and then she made her way down to a picture of a little girl and an elderly woman. "This is me with my grandma when I was really little; she and I used to be really close back then and she would tell me stories all the time… she passed away earlier this summer. I still miss her… Oh! And over here is my big brother, Ian, all ready for his junior prom."
When Ella first laid eyes on the boy in the picture, she felt something pulling at her heartstrings; something she had never felt before in her life. She smiled a tiny grin as she looked at the many pictures of the boy now called Ian. He had fair skin with strawberry blonde hair and big ocean blue eyes; in her eyes, he was the most beautiful creature that has ever lived.
"What do you think?" Megs asked before glancing over at her new friend; she slyly smiled as she noticed the glazed look in Ella's big eyes. "Oooooh, I know that look on your face. You think he's pretty good looking, don't ya?"
Ella said nothing and nodded her head slowly, longingly staring at Ian's high school portrait as if she were in a daze.
"That's right, that's my family." Megs said before gently tugging on Ella's arm to show her more of the house. "Now let me see what I can find you to wear. All of that black must be pretty hot."
Just when she handed Ella a set of new clothes, the phone rang. Ella was startled by the sound at first, of course, but Megs told her that it was alright and that there was nothing to be afraid of. Then she said to go into Ian's room and put on her new clothes.
As she entered, Ella was fascinated by the many strange and wondrous things that were inside a teenage boy's bedroom. There was a black laptop covered with odd looking stickers sitting on a wooden desk cluttered with all kinds of papers, a dresser with a mirror covered in pictures of rock and roll bands, and a queen-sized water bed with dark blue sheets and gray pillows.
'Oh my…' She thought.
When she set the pile of clothes on the dresser, Ella saw her reflection in the mirror. It had certainly peaked her interest; she had never seen her own reflection before.
Then she turned her attention to the water bed. She wanted to touch it, but she accidentally poked a hole in it in the process. Ella plugged up the hole with a small pillow as quickly as she could before she went back to trying to put on her new clothes. But Megs soon came back from answering her phone and went to help the poor girl put on her clothes. After a few minutes, Ella looked like a whole new person; except for the sharp extremities she called her hands.
She was soon introduced to the rest of the Kyle family; Megs' parents Mr. and Mrs. Kyle and her older brother Ian. Mr. Kyle was acting in a nonchalant manner and Mrs. Kyle was very fascinated, she thought the girl was really interesting… but she was also very angry at Megs for going up to the castle after the thousands of times she told her not to. But Ian hesitated to even get near her; at first, he thought of her as a freak. When Ella first met Ian's gaze, she smiled as she looked into his deep blue eyes. She saw him as the most beautiful person in the world; she blushed so much that her face started to look as red as a tomato.
Mrs. Kyle soon thought that it was time for the rest of the neighborhood to meet the Kyle family's new guest. She decided to put together a picnic/barbecue and invite all of their friends and neighbors so Ella could meet them all. It took a few days to plan and put together, but it was worth it. While everyone was busy, Ella spent most of her free time trimming the bushes and making a few unique topiary sculptures to show the neighbors when they come. The Kyle family was greatly impressed with Ella's unusual gift and talent. The topiary that really got the family's attention was a plant sculpture of the four of them.
"Oh! Ella, sweetie, this is beautiful!" Mrs. Kyle cried.
"Well I'll be darned, Ellie, this is just great." Mr. Kyle said.
"I've never seen anything like it before, Ella! This is amazing!" Megs exclaimed as she took pictures of the sculptures.
"Whoa, that's… really impressive, Ella." Ian said, awestruck.
Ella smiled an embarrassed grin and furiously blushed at everyone's compliments; she had never been complimented like this before.
"Thank you." She whispered.
It was the day of the barbeque and everyone the Kyle family knew had come. They were impressed by Ella's work and the neighborhood housewives seemed interested in the strange young girl. As he watched the party going on, Ian couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for Ella; he knew she didn't want to be seen as a freak by other people, she wanted to be treated like a real person. Soon, he came up with an idea.
"Hey, Megs." He whispered to his sister. "Is it okay if Ella comes with me to school for the week? Starting Monday?"
"You mean this week? As in this very instant this week? As in TOMORROW?" Megs asked in shock, glancing at Ella nervously. "I… I don't know, dude."
"What do you mean? What's the problem?"
"I'm not so sure that's such a good idea. I don't want her to get hurt or in trouble."
"C'mon, Megs; she'll be with me the entire time, I promise. I just want to give Ella a good experience while she's here. Please?"
Megs had never seen this side of her brother before; she thought he must finally be giving Ella a chance. She smiled and put a hand on Ian's shoulder.
"Well… alright. I guess Ella can go to school with you. But just for the week, no longer than that. Got it?"
"Got it. Thanks, Megs."
"No problem. Just take care of her."
"I promise."
