Clockwork Daisy

Chapter 9

Ellie

Chapter 9

Perfume thick with the scent of dried flowers, evergreen, and musk splashed across my face as I entered the house. I coughed as the smell constricted my breathing and waved my hand to persuade the scent in a different direction. My mother was home. 

"Ellen! I'm in the kitchen." Her voice echoed off the still empty walls. I followed it into the spacious marble kitchen. Mother was just shutting the oven, yet dressed in a skin tight black dress and dramatic kitten heels. She spread her arms when she saw me, wrapping me in a lingering embrace. "How was your school day?"

"Not too bad." I recalled the mystery boy who didn't give me his name, and a fleck of a smile tickled my face. "Not bad at all."

"Wonderful!" Mother clapped her hands together. "I have great news!"

I walked past her and to the stainless steel fridge. It was a monstrous machine free of smudges or fingerprints. I popped the door open and grabbed the first thing I saw; a honey crisp apple. I took a long, chunky bite. "What news?" 

My mother winced. "Ellen, I'd much prefer it if you didn't talk with your mouth full." 

I dramatically swallowed my apple piece and asked again. "What news?"

"That's better." She reached up and fiddled with the loose clasp on her chain necklace. "I happened to meet a lovely couple at a cafe downtown today."

"Okay." I said, preparing for another bite. I was curious to see how this involved me.

Mother had managed to strengthen the clasp and she moved her hands to her front, folding them together. "They work in a science observatory just outside of LA and they live in Teller, which is about a five minute drive from here. They happen to have a son your age and we thought it would be terrific if our families got together for dinner!" 

I pursed my lips, drawing the apple away from my mouth. "Oh God, Mother." I set the fruit daintily on the counter. "Let's see if I can guess correctly. You meet this well-to-do couple who happen to have a son and you automatically think Sixteen Gala, don't you?"

Mother rubbed her chapped lips together, caught in an uncomfortable moment. "You'll never know if you don't meet him, right?"

I knew my Sixteen Gala was coming up quickly-October first, but this obsession my mother had was dragging on far too long. I worried that, if she mentioned my escort one more time, I might strangle her. "When's the dinner?" I asked, trying to be cooperative. 

Light returned to my mother's sinking face. "Friday." She said. "I figured we should be mostly moved in by then."

When I realized we'd be hosting the dinner, I felt a stab of guilt. "Do you need any help un packing dishes or silverware?" I offered, trying to fill the void. 

She waved her hand dismissively, turning back to the oven. "That's what I worked on today. I'm almost done." I watched her check the food that was cooking with a small toothpick. "No need to linger, dear. Go work on your homework." 

I decided to follow orders and began to leave the room. As I walked past the fridge again, I noticed a  rectangular card stuck to the side of it with a purple circular magnet. A vacuum cleaner design fluttered on the left hand side, and in the middle, typed in bold black font was the name Patricia Knight. I racked my brain. The name Knight sounded so familiar, but I couldn't seem to place it. Instead, I finished my route upstairs and slid into my now bubble wrap free desk, dreading the homework I faced. 

I brushed my hair into a top bun as I walked into first period the next day. I hadn't slept well through the night, my dreams littered with strange fragments of nightmares. Once I'd awoken, I'd caked on the concealer and hoped no one would notice the purple bags lingering beneath my eye sockets. I immediately walked up to Beth's desk and squeezed her arm. She wore a thick grey sweater and was cradling a thermos of coffee. 

"How are you?" I asked calmly, trying not to bring up flashbacks of the bathroom fiasco.

"I'm fine, thank you." Beth's voice was soft, gracious. "I'm also a work in progress."

I sat down and took out a freshly sharpened pencil. "What kind of coffee is that?" I shifted the topic. 

Beth looked at her bright pink thermos, as if to make sure I was talking to her. "It's more like marshmallow creamer with a little coffee in it, actually." She smiled and pointed it in my direction. "Want a taste?" I grabbed the drink, eager for a blast of caffeine. I took a long, greedy sip and set it back down on Beth's desk top. She giggled. "Didn't sleep much?"

"I tossed and turned practically all night." I huffed, sinking into my seat. 

"I feel you." Beth clinked her thermos in the air like an imaginary toast. "I slept way past my alarm today, and it still felt like I'd only had my eyes closed for five minutes." Beth chattered on about other early morning mishaps she'd had throughout the years, and I half listened. The rest of my body was still lying in my bed, lost in dream land. 

Then something snapped me back into reality. 

He walked in. He wore a light blue v-neck, a perfect compliment to his naturally messy head of dark hair. His blue eyes were alive and alert, even at this early hour. A leather jacket was draped over his right shoulder, like all the retro movie studs. His rubber converse slapped the tile floors with every step, and he waved at the Trevor Oakley boy who'd asked me if I was single the day before. They must've been friends the way they greeted each other with a hand shake. My pulse quickened when he smiled, and I flicked Beth on the shoulder, ending her string of stories.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, rubbing her skin with her sweater fabric. 

"Who is that?" I pointed in his direction. The direction of my mystery boy. 

"He's the boy I told you was staring at you in class yesterday." Beth said matter-of-factly. 

The boy I hadn't noticed. One of the only people who hadn't spat questions at me. And the boy that I'd written off too quickly after Beth had described him. Suddenly, I couldn't recalled why I'd been so rude to judge. But I wasn't going to live in the past any longer. Today I was going to meet my mystery boy; Deacon Knight.