Five Years Earlier: 2008
“Elle, what do you want to be when you grow up?” Randall asked me as he ran his hand through the sand that surrounded us in the sandbox we were in. His eyes glanced over in my direction as he showed me he was seriously asking for an answer. Removing his hand from the cream colored sand, Randall remained silent.
“I dunno, I haven’t really thought about it, Randall. I’m just in the sixth grade!” I told him as I flipped over a bucket that I had just filled up with sand. I lifted the bucket up, hoping that all the sand would stay up. I smiled in happiness when it did. With excitement coursing through me, I knew I was about to build the biggest sand castle ever.
“Come on, Elle, you don’t have any idea what it is you want to be? Like a doctor or a lawyer! Oh, I know! You can be a-”
“Cowgirl. I think that is what I want to be,” I replied to Randall with a straight face. “I mean I love horses and-”
“How can you be a cowgirl when you are afraid of snakes? Don’t you know there are snakes on farms? They will eat you whole, Elle ... You know what? Maybe, you are right. We are in sixth grade, so we have time ... So tell me, what did you think of that new girl at school today?” Randall asked with soft inquisitive eyes.
“Kat Bonnet?”
“Yeah, that girl. She seemed nice, I liked her Power Rangers backpack,” Randall commented as he once again started to run his hands through the sand. He looked deep in thought and I knew he was thinking about other things about Kat that stood out to him. “She was very friendly too ... do you think we should befriend her?”
I shrugged my small shoulders at his suggestion. “I don’t know, we have a good friendship with just me and you-”
“I know, I know. I’m not asking to make her our best friend. Just to be friendly and hang out with her at school ... it seems no one really is welcoming her to our school...”
“Yeah, okay. But, I will not ever invite her to my house! You shouldn’t do the same. I really just want it to be me and you, Randall. Best friends till the end of time.”
Randall outreached his left hand, “I can pinky promise to that.”
Smiling I gave Randall a pinky promise. Yet, as we sat there under the evening sky, I knew that this Kat girl wasn’t just going to be a school mate of ours ... she would worm our way into our close knit friendship. Thing was, I wasn’t sure if I liked that idea.
“Aren’t you two a little old to play in the sandbox?” My brother, Peter, questioned as he walked over to us.
I squinted my eyes as the sun started to blind me. Soon, Randall and I unlinked our pinkies as I sighed at my annoying older brother. “What do you want, Peter?” I asked him with irritation leaking in my voice.
He put his right hand in a bag of Doritos he was clutching in his left hand. Taking a handful out of chips, he shoved them all in his mouth. He knew I hated the sound of chips being chewed and yet here he was, standing mere feet from me, obnoxiously munching on chips. “Just seeing what you two are up too,” Peter stated with a mouthful.
I looked away from him for the sight of the inside of his mouth coated with crushed chips and saliva disgusted me. “Go away, Peter,” I barked at him as I started to refill my bucket with sand. In the corner of my eye, I saw Peter move. Looking over at him, I saw an evil glint in his eyes.
Marching over to me, Peter kicked what progress I had made so far when it came to my sandcastle. He gave a deep throated laugh as he looked down on me.
My cheeks felt heated from the anger I was feeling as I stood up. “Why did you go and do something like that for? You know what, Peter?! I really hate you! You are so mean!” My left leg swung back before I moved it forward and kicked Peter square in the shin of his leg.
He hunched over and started to say curse words Mom would spank him for even thinking.
A hand grabbed my wrist, “we better hide,” Randall whispered in my ear.
As my brown eyes looked down at my brother, I knew the second he was feeling better from my kick, I was going to feel his wrath.
Randall started to pull me in tow as he raced over to our treehouse my uncle made me last year for my birthday. It was one of the added bonuses of having a constructor for an uncle; he could make you cool things, like this treehouse.
Climbing the ladder as fast as we could, we choose not to look back and see if Peter was hot on our tail. Once in the treehouse, Randall locked the door and glanced over at me.
It was then we shared a look only two conniving thieves would have. “You’re bad, Elle. You know he is going to get you for that.”
Once again, I found myself shrugging my shoulders. “I don’t care. He is a big meanie, plus I love the feeling of not knowing when he will strike!” I smiled wildly.
Randall gave a roll of his eyes. “I don’t think you have to wait long,” he pointed out as his eyes became training on the single window that was beside us.
I looked out the window and saw my brother collecting all sorts of objects from the backyard. So far he had two basketballs, three buckets, five large sticks and a two plastic shovels.
“What is he doing?” I questioned under my breath.
Before Randall could conjure up a guess, Peter stopped in his tracks and looked up at us with a smile. “You two have to come down some time. When you do, I will be waiting,” he spoke as he picked up a frisbee that was by his feet.
“I think he plans to attack us, with all that he has collected, the moment we leave the treehouse,” Randall informed the obvious.
Slumping down, I started to wonder what I could do as a counter-attack. My eyes danced around the small treehouse to find our opinions were limited. “We can’t stay up here forever. He is right about that...” I mumbled. Ignoring Randall rant on and on about possible plans that were impossible to perform. I started to realize that I should just go out there and face him. Admittedly, I liked the idea of dodging his attack and running around the yard like a madwoman. It sounded like a rush ... Standing up, I looked over at Randall. “Stay here,” I demanded knowing that if he went down there to also face my brother, he would no doubt be crying after my brother lands one hit of an object at him.
Looking at me with wide eyes and a deep frown, Randall shook his head. “Elle, you can’t. You will get hurt!”
I sighed and then walked over to the door of the tree house. “Chill your horses, Randall, I will be fine. What is the worst that can happen?” Opening the door, I turned around and gripped the flooring as I put my feet on the ladder. I took one step down from the ladder and then I felt something hit my feet. I looked down to see a basketball at the base of the ladder. By the time I registered that Peter attacked me while I was on the ladder, my feet slipped and I felt my hands loose grip if the flooring.
I was free falling and all I could think was ... I hate my brother.
With panted breaths and sweat that could drown someone, I found myself jolting awake. My eyes burned as I was surrounded by a bright white light that was blinding me. Closing my eyes, I felt as if I had just been run over by a bulldozer.
“Elle?” A soft voice sounded from beside me before I was engulfed in a huge hug.
Before I even opened my eyes, I knew who was hugging me, my mom. It wasn’t her voice that made me conclude that, but the strong smell of Bath and Body Works fragrance: Japanese Cherry Blossom. “Oh, gosh mom, let go of me, you are killing me,” I joked.
I opened my eyes to find that I was in a hospital bed, with an I.V in my arm and machines next to me beeping like crazy.
Mother broke out in a fit of tears and I sighed as I patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Chill mom, I am fine. I have fallen out of so many trees before. This is just the one time that it has landed me in the hospital. Though, you can blame Peter for this. He is the one that knocked me out of the treehouse,” I spoke.
My mother’s shoulders tensed up and she looked up at me with furrowed eyebrows. “Treehouse? What are you talking about?” Her eyes were clouded over with tears and it was evident that I must have really taken a nasty fall from the treehouse.
“You know-”
“Oh, and she awakes,” a voice spoke from the doorway of my hospital room.
I glanced over and saw a woman in a white lab coat. She was a short woman, probably wasn’t no taller than 5’3. Had a medium complexion with brown hair and blue eyes. It was then that I realized that she must be a doctor for she had a stethoscope around her neck and a clipboard at hand. “Hi," I muttered.
“How are you feeling, Miss White?” She asked me with a small smile.
“Ummm, fine, really. It wasn’t that big of a fall. But my mother, here, is acting like I almost died,” I humorously said with a smirk in hopes of lightening the mood.
The doctor raised an eyebrow at me, “fall? What are you talking about?”
“The fall, out of the treehouse...” I swear these people around me were dumber than a stack of wood.
The doctor, whose name tag read: Dr. Rose, spoke to me with a look of concern. “Miss White, do me a favor and tell me what is the last thing you remember?”
I rolled my eyes, “I was in a treehouse, hiding from my brother’s wrath. I kinda ... might have ... kicked him in the shine. But! It was because he was being mean! He kicked over my sandcastle I was making! Anyways, I was in the treehouse, with Randall and I decided to face the music when it came to Peter’s wrath. I was going down the ladder and Peter attacked me with a basketball ... my feet slipped and so did my grip ... All I remember after that is falling. Then I wake up and here I am...” I finish the story with a smile, but neither the doctor nor my mom seemed to find that this was a moment to grin.
“Miss White, what year is it?” Dr. Rose asked me with worry swirling in her blue eyes.
“2008,” I replied. “And before you ask, my name is Elle Sunny White. I’m thirteen, in the sixth grade. My best friend is Randall; my brother is Peter Stormy White. Parents are happily married and we live in Greensville, Tennessee ... Now, can I leave? I have a science fair project due and I know Randall is freaking out for he thinks he is going to have to do it all on his own.”
The room was silent, so silent that I could hear my own heartbeat, which of course didn’t settle well with me. I didn’t even have to look at my mother’s colorless face to see that something was wrong. Gulping, rather loudly, I felt as if the doctor and my mom knew something and weren’t letting on.
“Okay, don’t all say ‘Elle! It is great that you are fine! You may leave’!” I sarcastically replied.
Dr. Rose shifted her weight from one foot to another as she gave me a sympathetic look. “Miss White, it is 2013. You were right about your name, but you are not thirteen and in the sixth grade. You are eighteen and have recently graduated high school-”
“Okay, lay off the pills, Dr. Rose. I’m not eighteen. I wish I was, though...” I remarked. Glancing at my mom, I saw she was motionless. “M-M-Mom ... tell her she is wrong...”
Ma said nothing as she looked into my eyes with nothing but sadness. Suddenly, she once again broke out in tears. “Oh, my Elle! My poor Elle!” She cried in between her tears.
I sat there frozen in the hospital bed, realizing that what the doctor said might be true ... but it can’t be. “If what you are saying is true,” I choked out. “Why am I here?” I asked the doctor, seeing as my mom couldn’t speak.
Dr. Rose sighed and gave me a look of pity, “I don’t think now is a good time to tell you. Let us run some test-”
“Tell me! If I am eighteen, like you say then I am old enough to demand answers for my own health condition. So, please, Dr. Rose, tell me...”
“You were in a car wreck. Someone hit the you were in from behind, which made the car spin out of control. The car you were traveling in, practically, wrapped itself around a tree...”
With her explanation, I started to form a headache as I tried to remember a car crash. Closing my eyes, I tried to make myself remember. But the second I closed my eyelids, all I saw was the tree house above me as I fell to the ground ... however, something was off about my memory. There was the sound of glass shattering in the background.
Shaking my head, I opened my eyes and faced the doctor. “You are lying,” I bitterly told her for I was not going to be played as a fool. “You are lying and I will not stay here a second longer!” Looking down at the I.V, I decided I was going to leave. Ripping the tape around the I.V, I tried not to let on the removing the tape hurt. They second the medical tape was off, I went to pull the I.V out but a hand stopped me.
“Miss White, you need to stop what you are doing and calm down,” Dr. Rose told me.
It was then that I noted I was breathing heavily and having a mini-panic attack. Pushing past her request, I pulled out the I.V and started to get off the bed.
My eyes snapped to the door when I saw two men and a woman in scrubs walk in. They dashed over towards me and pushed me back on the bed.
I started to lash out and try to get out of their hold while shouting for my mom to stop them. “Please! Mom! Help!”
My pleas were met by the sounds of her whimpers and cries.
Soon I felt a pinch in my arm; I looked down to see the woman had given me a shot of something.
Fear coursed through me.
“Mom! Please!” I called out to her, but soon a yawn escaped my mouth before my lips started to feel lazy and refused to move. My eyes became heavy and it was then that I knew they gave me a sedative. As I started to doze off all I could hear was the sound of glass shattering over and over again like a broken recorder…