Odes To Ella.

chapter 16: How dare he!?!

Do you ever have the feeling of being watched?
It happens all the time when you have kids. It's a weird feeling. Knowing that someone is applying their attention to you in your sleep, but not being afraid.
I peeled my eyelids back and came face to face with Ella's blue eyes in the darkness of my room. They were scared.
I sat up a little and set a hand on her.
"Whats wrong, Ella?"
"Mommy, I had a bad dream, can I sleep with you?" She held her stuffed penguin close to her. I smiled and scooted back.
"Yeah, come on." I lifted the covers up so she could lay down underneath them. Her little frame jumped into the bed and she burrowed under the covers so just her head was peaking out. She scooted back until she laid against me. I took a deep breath and laid an arm around her, pulling her against me. She coughed a little, then settled back and remained silent. I listened to her breathing until it shallowed out and she was off in dreamland. I stroked her hair gently and laid my head down. I was happy to know she was in a safe place, here in my arms.
The next day would bring surprises, but not good ones.
I was the first one to wake up. The alarm clock said 6:20.
Carefully, I slid out from the covers and went to the bathroom for a shower. She stirred a little, then turned over on her other side. I smiled and pulled out my outfit for the day, tip toeing the rest of the way into the bathroom. After the latch clicked shut, I set all my clothes on the counter and turned the hot water on. It hit the tiles and steamed against my skin as I stepped in.
After lathering my whole body with green Apple scents, I dried myself and threw on a gray dress shirt with some dress pants and put my hair in a bun so it wouldn't fall out all day.
I walked back out, Ella was still curled up in the sheets. I sighed and walked over to her. I set my hand on her arm and gave it a light squeeze.
"Ella, you gotta get up."
"Mmmmmmmm." She groaned, turning the other way. I sighed and went to pick her out fit for the day.
Her entire room was messy.
Toys were sprawled about, clothes in large heaps. I set an out fit of jeans and a pink t shirt on her bed, then I went to the kitchen and grabbed the cereal.
I couldn't get Christopher out of my mind. There were too many questions.
How did he end up in the institution? Why does he think of this? Who is he going to kill?
Ella walked in and stretched.
"I'm hungry."
"There's cereal here." I said, pushing it forward. She sat down and poked it with her spoon.
"I don't like this kind, mommy."
"It's all we have right now, Ella. I need to go shopping." I stated, kissing the top of her head. She huffed, then picked up her spoon and grudgingly ate some.
I sat down across from her.
"Remember, I need you to tell Mr. Anderson what happened. The truth, ok?"
"Ok, mommy. Can I go shopping with you after school?" She questioned. I leaned my head on one of my fists and nodded.
"Yes." Then, I heard a sound from outside that made me sit up.
Shit!
I checked the time; 7:00.
The bus!
I went to the window just in time to see the bus race past. I quickly spun to Ella and ushered her out of her seat.
"Get your clothes on, you missed the bus." She frowned and started to say,
"But I'm not done-"
"No time!" I picked her up and brought her to her bedroom. After she tried to pull her shirt on by herself, I helped her get it on and took her by the hand, leading her behind me. Once she had her back pack we raced to the car and accelerated down the street.
After switching lanes five times and pissing half the town off, we arrived at the school. I gave Ella a quick kiss and sped all the way to work.
After flinging the door open, I ran to the desk.
"I am so sorry I'm late!"
"It's alright, just check in quick, you have a patient." She nodded towards the waiting area. I turned slightly to see Christopher waiting. He smirked and nodded in my direction.
I sighed, checked in, and gestured with my head.
"This way." Christopher got up and walked behind me, hands in his pockets. I fiddled with my keys and found the right one for the lock.
After it was pushed aside, I rushed in to my desk as Christopher shook his head and tsked me.
"Late on your second day?"
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, please, have a seat." I said while I rapidly put my things away. He sat down and steepled his fingers. His face twisted in a smirk while he watched me, amused. After everything was in place, I sat down and cleared my throat.
"So, what brings you here?"
"Court ordered again." He replied plainly, smirking wider because he knew it wasn't what I meant. I leaned back and crossed my legs.
"What do you wish to discuss today?" I questioned, clicking a pen against the desk. He shrugged.
"I was hoping you'd have thought of something."
"Ok, fair enough. Would you mind telling me what happened that sent you to the institution?" I stared at him, trying not to seem anxious. He shook his head slowly and tsked me while smiling.
"Not yet." That puzzled me.
"Why not?"
"Too soon, ask me something else."
"Ok...why did you call me last night?"
"As opposed to...?" He trailed off, raising an eyebrow. I tried not to sound condescending.
"To a friend or a girlfriend perhaps?" I scooted closer to my desk. He smiled at me.
"That wasn't slick at all, I'd expect better than that from a psychologist."
"What?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together.
"You asked if I had a girlfriend." He smiled to the point where it touched his eyes. I realized what he meant and blushed a little.
"I was simply listing examples."
"Whatever you say, Clair." He stated, crossing a leg. I sighed.
"Well, my question still stands."
"No, I don't have a girlfriend, and no one wants to be friends with a supposed psychopath. You seemed like my best option." He stated and looked away from me. I felt bad for being so defensive, but only for a few moments. I pressed on.
"Would you mind telling me what you did once home?"
"I showered and went to sleep."
"Did you have any thoughts?"
"Thoughts?" He asked. I hesitated.
"Murderous thoughts, I mean." I looked to him. He bit his lip and shrugged.
"None that I haven't already had."
"And what thoughts have you had?" I asked while grabbing a note pad. He looked up on that one and smirked.
As his words started to come, he made my stomach take a perpetual plunge into a giant hole.
"I'll tell you what thoughts I've had, Clair." He began. I could feel me hands twisting and shaking.
"Go on." I nodded.
"Imagine you're walking down the streets at night when the moon's gone and there's nothing but darkness."
"Ok."
"No, really imagine it," he snapped at me, frowning. "Feel the cold air brushing your skin. Hear your footsteps against the emptiness of the night. I want you to be afraid." He stared at me with the smirk spreading. I was frozen in place. "Got it?"
"Yes." I managed. He nodded.
"Good. Now I want you to imagine someone's eyes on you. You don't know how or where, but you know someone's caressing you gently, ever so gently, with their eyes. You feel violated, as most people, but you also like the attention, don't you Clair?" He stopped and stared at me. I felt my cheeks reddening.
"I'm not sure what this has to do with-"
"You don't have to, just listen." He interrupted. I frowned, then readjusted in my seat.
"Alright, continue."
"You keep walking. Then as you turn the corner, you hear footsteps behind you. So you panic and break into a sprint. You pump your legs up and down, up and down-" but he was cut off by the sound of my phone ringing. I looked at him, but he simply smiled and leaned back.
"To be continued." I stared for an extra second before picking it up.
"Hello?"
"Hello, is this Clair?" I heard a smooth voice say. I frowned and nodded.
"Yes, who's this?"
"It's me, Mr. Anderson, from Ella's school." He said. I sat up and nodded.
"Yes, did she come talk to you?"
"Yes, but I'm not calling about that."
"What about, then, I'm quite busy."
"I understand, but..." He trailed off, hesitating. I crossed my arms.
"What happened?" Then, he said something that made my blood surge;
"They little boy Ella drew a picture of...he punched her during recess today." That's all I needed to hear before I was out the door.

(Ella's P.O.V...:)

The second I got to the school, I went straight to the office to talk with Mr. Anderson like mommy told me to do. I excused myself to the teacher and went to the open door where he was sitting all by himself. I watched him for a little while 'cause nobody was there to tell me not to.
I watched him typing on the computer with a weird look on his face. It was kind of like the look my mommy got on her face when she was studying for a big test or something.
He looked over and saw me standing in the door. Then he smiled and waved.
"Hi, Ella, how are you today?"
"Good."
"That's great, would you please come in and sit down so we can talk about what happened yesterday?"
"Ok." I nodded and walked to the cushy red chair he had in the office. After I climbed on, I stared at my feet. Then I pretended like they were in the pool and swung them back and forth. Mr. Anderson crossed one leg over the other and smiled at me.
"Ok, Ella, I need you to tell me exactly what Jason did that made you draw that picture, ok?"
"Well...it all started when Frankie and I were talking on the bus...." It took me awhile to tell him everything, because there was a lot that happened, but I did and after I was done I felt better because now he knew why.
Mr. Anderson told me I could go back to class, except when I walked out of the office I saw my classmates walking in the line to the lunchroom. I shrugged and went behind them to wait for the lunch.
Frankie and I both ate pb and j sandwiches, then she asked if I wanted to play jump-rope in the playground. I smiled and nodded my head, then we grabbed two pink ones and started to jump.
"One, two, three and four-"
"What cha guys doin?" We heard a boy's voice ask. When we turned around, Frankie and I saw the boy from my class who was friends with Jason. I shrugged and waved the jump-rope in front of him.
"We're jumping rope, wanna play?" I smiled. He shook his head and said,
"No, Jason doesn't like jump-rope, but I was wonderin' if you guys wanted to play tag with me." He held his hands behind his back and swayed. Frankie nodded and I shrugged.
"Ok, what's your name again?"
"Perry." He stated. I nodded and looked at him.
"Who's it first?"
"Not me!" He said, running away. Frankie smiled and shouted,
"Not me!" So that meant it was me. I huffed and started running as fast as I could after Frankie, but she was too fast for me. But I was fast enough to catch up with Perry, so I touched him and started running to the swing set. But when I got there, I accidentally ran into Jason. He fell over and made an 'omf' sound.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you ok?"
"You pushed me!" He shouted and got up. All I remember after that is that he lifted his fist and I was on the ground.

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Hope you liked it, enjoy the next one, bye!:)