Elijah Ross

Merrin

Merrin's little white car left the driveway and drove slowly down their street towards Meyer Elementary. Her first grade class had 19 kids whom she loved dearly. Merrin took her orange sunglasses out of the center console and put them on. The early March sun glinted into her eyes, even after she used her glasses.
The car radio blasted a song about love that Merrin moved her head to the beat of, vaguely. Her mind wandered elsewhere however. About her future, and that it was March fifth.
A few blocks from her school Merrin swung into the parking lot of a drug store. Picking up cotton balls for the kids to make sheep, some hot glue sticks, and some new blue nail polish. She hesitated on the health aisle, and then grabbed a box, just to be safe. The bold purple lettering on the side screamed "Pregnancy Test", and Merrin felt ashamed, thinking of the watching eyes of store customers. Her hands shaking she slammed the box down on the checkout counter, trying to cover it with the bag of cotton balls.
Blood rushed to her cheeks, knowing the checkout boy would know exactly what she had done. Though the world was crumbling before her eyes in embarrassment, the boy, whose name tag read "Mike", scanned the item and placed it gently in the plastic bag.
She hurried out of the store, looking down and walking the uneven sidewalk to her car. The whole way to her school Merrin hit every green light and spread through intersections with ease.
...
After three hours of watching six year olds paste cotton balls on construction paper as 'sheep', Merrin was able to relax as the kids left for lunch. Sighing she sat back into her green fluffy chair and nibbled on the edge of a graham cracker, grading spelling tests.
"Heyyy girl!" A teacher from the third grade wing stuck her head into Merrin's classroom. "The girls and I are swinging out for beer and burgers, wanna come?" She motioned for Merrin to come with them.
Merrin's heart leaped, all she wanted was to have some fun with the other teachers, yet the one's in her department were all in their fifties, and Merrin always felt left out.
"Absolutely!" Merrin exclaimed cheerily, and then remembered the plastic drug store bag underneath her desk. "Wait..." she trailed off.
"Come on, if you're coming, we're taking off now." Merrin eyed the bag cautiously, and then took the box out of it, slipping it into her sweater pocket.
...
Merrin had taken a few bites of her cheeseburger before excusing herself to use the restroom. The other ladies had already ordered alcohol, and she felt if she didn't act soon she would be left out.
The bathroom light flickered ominously as Merrin closed the door behind her. She opened the box and took out the test. She followed the directions on the box and waited two minutes. She took in a deep breath as she prepared herself to flip the test over. A girl knocked on the door softly.
"Sweetie, are you alright in there". Merrin flipped over the test. A plus sign. A cross. Her trembling fingers dropped the test.
"I... I'm fine" Merrin tried to stop her voice from shaking in excitement. Swiftly, Merrin took the test and dusted it off before pocketing it. She washed off her hands before dashing out of the restroom. Hungrily and terrified, Merrin gobbled down the rest of her cheeseburger. She thanked the girls for inviting her and left hurriedly.
Merrin turned the key of her car and watched the dash light up. Her radio began playing a soft country song, catching her off guard and she promptly turned it off. Pulling out of her parking space in silence she the beaded string Elijah had made for her swing back and forth from her mirror. There was a purple bead, a red bead, a yellow bead, and then an A, L, W, A, Y, S. Followed by a sequence of sparkly multicolored beads. The swaying mesmerized Merrin, and she felt her eyes drawn to it as she drove.
...
The sun was just beginning to peek it's head above the horizon as Merrin woke up. The cabin was dusty, and she saw little dust pieces floating all around in the air. She felt Elijah's arms around her shoulders and sat up immediately. Elijah began to stir, ever so gently.
"Go! It's morning! We fell asleep!" Merrin whispered at Elijah. Elijah sat up and opened his brown eyes. Their bed, only a twin with a mattress stuffed with straw, creaked in protest. Elijah's pants lay on the windowsill above their bed and Merrins green "Camp Miel - Counselor" T-shirt was half inside-out and on top of her suitcases.
Elijah sprang from the bed, grabbing his pants and yanking them on. He retrieved his matching green T-shirt from underneath the bed and signed to Merrin, who was fixing his bedhead, "Night Fun".
"Yes, yes, very fun." She whispered back. "Now go!" Elijah left the cabin, careful to not let the door slam behind him. He ran, smiling, back to his own cabin on the other side of camp. Marvelling at every sun-kissed dew drop on every blade of grass.
Merrin watched Elijah run back to his cabin as she pulled her shirt over her head. Her brown water bottle was nearly empty, so she filled it at a faucet outside her cabin. Her backpack was lighter than yesterdays, because today was only canoeing and archery. She knocked on her campers cabin doors.
"Good morning guys! Up and attem!" Merrin sang cheerily. Her campers stirred and stretched, groaning. "It's a brand new day! We've got canoeing at eight, let's get a move on!" Merrin knocked more on the door to be let in. One sleepy blonde opened the door in a blue tank top and shorts.
"Ladies! Good morning! Breakfast is in 10 minutes, be there or be square!" Merrin sang, gently shaking every girl still under the covers. "Remember to fill your bottles!"
Merrin left the cabin and walked down the steps in the direction of the lodge. The other girl counselors met up with Merrin at the sidewalk. They were gossiping, Merrin could tell before she heard them because of their stances.
"Did he say how he's going to do it?"
"No, I just heard about this last night."
"Do you think it's a good idea?"
"Oh definitely, I would kill for something like that to happen to me."
"Well I think-" They stopped abruptly when they saw Merrin, knowing how much she hates gossip.
"Ready for today's selection of dried fruit and oatmeal mush?" One counselor asked sarcastically. Although Merrin loved lodge breakfasts, she never voiced her unpopular opinion. Elijah always sat with her in a more secluded section of the dining hall, and she read the paper to him while he closed his eyes and leaned back against a wall. He always looked so peaceful and she loved it.
Elijah greeted her with a hug and handed her strawberry oatmeal, and dried apple crisps with granola.