Elijah East and the Sky Fisher

The East-Wood Detective Agency

"Elijah. Elijah!"

I yanked my earbuds out and looked up at Mr. Howard. "Yeah?"

"I asked you to answer question five aloud, please."

I turned towards my history book.

Question Five: Who was the fourth U.S. president?

I had no clue, so I said the first old name I could think of.

"Uh, James?"

Mr. Howard looked at me with clear shock on his face. "Yes, it was James Madison. How did you know that?"

"I take school very seriously, as you know."

"You guessed, didn't you?"

I pulled yesterday's school newspaper out of my bag and started scanning the pages. "Absolutely," I said calmly.

Mr. Howard sighed. "Your dad worries about you. You know that, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but it's really not necessary. I'm perfectly fine."

"Elijah, would it really pain you that much to try and pay attention to your schoolwork?"

I really didn't see why this was so hard for adults to understand. "Do we have to go over this again? I am Elijah East, co-founder of the East-Wood Detective Agency. I work with Jennifer Wood on the cases that no one else thinks are important enough to investigate. And right now, I'm working on a case that, if me and Jennifer can crack it, will turn the East-Wood Detective Agency into a household name. We will solve the Fisher Mystery, and to do that, I can't focus on anything else."

Mr. Howard looked away from a book he had started reading and back to me. "If your speech is over, you can finish your work."

I sighed, but I got to writing. As I scribbled random answers on the sheet, I started to think about all the things that have happened. Adults never listened. The night Mom disappeared, I had come downstairs to get a drink of water. It was the middle of the night, and I didn't expect anyone to be up. But there she was, standing in the doorway hurriedly whispering with a man in a fancy suit and sunglasses, despite the darkness outside. She was completely dressed in an outfit I had never seen before, a trench coat in the same black as the man's suit, a black hat, and a matching pair of sunglasses. They seemed to be having an argument over something, but Mom eventually stopped talking, and she followed the man out the door and got into a black limo that was parked on the street. The limo drove away, and that was the last time I ever saw her.

I learned pretty quick that the police and the other adults in town weren't going to believe me. Not even Dad did. They said that Mom had been growing more distant ever since her parents died, and it had just caused her to 'disappear'. But I knew better. The only person who believed me was Jennifer, and neither of us could do anything about it. I was only eight, and my whole life had already been ripped apart.

I never admitted this to anyone, not even Jen, but I always wished that Dad would stop worrying about me. He thought that I acted the way I did because Mom's death was too much for me. Dad spent so much time trying to understand me that he had started losing himself. I had already lost my mom, and I didn't want to lose Dad too. Jen worried about me too, but she tried not to show it.

At first Dad tried to get me to go to this therapist named Becky, but I would never talk about Mom. I knew she wasn't dead, and I couldn't just act like she was. So Dad gave up on Becky and hired Stephanie Scott.

I have never been completely sure as to who Steph was supposed to be. She calls herself "Elijah's emotional support human". She never made me talk about Mom or my feelings like Becky, she just comforted me when I was sad. I felt bad for pushing her away sometimes, but I hated people thinking that I needed sympathy.

I was on the last question.

Question Twenty-Five: Who was the sixteenth U.S. president?

I had always tried not to think of the memories with Mom in them. But then I did.

There is no normal, Elijah. Or strange. Only special, like you. You know, you were born on the same day as one of the greatest presidents of all time, Abraham Lincoln. He was the sixteenth president of the United States of America. Someday you'll see just how special you are. Because you're Elijah East.

My Elijah.

~~~~~~~~

I realized that I was crying, and Steph was holding me close, consoling me.

"It's okay, Elijah. You'll be okay."

I pushed her away from me.

"No! It's not okay! Because Mom's missing and I can't find her!"

I ran out of the room and made my way to the garage. (Since Mr. Howard was hired by my dad to teach me at home, getting to my garage wasn't very hard.) I grabbed my bike and sped off down the street. I needed to get to Jen's house. I needed to get to Jen.

I got to her house at record speed. She opened the door when I knocked on it, and I walked right past her, ignoring her greeting. I ran upstairs and into her bedroom and sat down on her bed. Tears ran down my face.

Jen came in from the hallway and sat down next to me. "We'll find her, Elijah. I know we will."

She let me cry, and didn't ask what happened. She already knew. So Jen sat there, tears soaking her shirt, not letting me go.

And I didn't push her away.

~~~~~~~~

Eventually I managed to pull myself together, and told Jen that is was time for an East-Wood meeting. She kept glancing at me, like she could see inside me, like she could see just how broken I was. I pretended to ignore her, but I could still feel her eyes watching me, looking for cracks.

I didn't really mind her looking at me, though. She had pretty eyes, blue ones. Her blond hair fell past her shoulders like it's own pale golden waterfall. Her clothes are always crisp and clean. And her smile. When Jennifer smiled at me, I felt like all the bad things, all the worries, all my fears just melted away. But now she was frowning.

"Elijah?" Jen said tentatively, like saying the wrong words might make me fall apart. "I know you don't like talking about... her, but you can trust me. Please. I can't sit here knowing that you're hurting and not try to do something about it."

She reached out for my hand, but I stood up. "I should be heading home. It's getting late." I said quickly.

Before she could respond, I walked out of Jen's bedroom. When I glanced back, she seemed just as hurt as I felt.

~~~~~~~~

Word count: 1,168