The Awesome Planet

Chapter 1 Being Ellen

Chapter 1
Being Ellen

Picture - Ellen Bowls
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Ellen got up from her table and walked to the bin to empty her pencil sharpener. She looked around the classroom as she walked past her classmates and saw that her friend, Annie Pinner, was throwing pens at the person in front, Theodore Robson. Theodore had not always been nice to Ellen, but right now, she felt sorry for him. Ellen started to re-sharpen her pen, when the teacher, who had just nipped out to the staff room, came back in, slamming the door behind her. Mrs Shelley had not always been the best of teachers, but this was something different. A lot different. Usually, her face seemed blank, empty, almost as if she was bored with her job. Not that anyone could blame her. She'd had a difficult life. But right now she was absolutely furious. As soon as the door banged, all of the children looked up, afraid. They started whispering to each other, and Jonah Towner, the goody-two shoes, told everyone to be quiet. But nobody listened to him, as usual.

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Mrs Shelley screamed as she threw a chair at the wall.

The chair fell on a girl called Karina Frost and her cheek started bleeding. Ellen ran over to help her and sat her in a chair. She calmly instructed Annie to take her to the first aid room. Ellen twisted her fingers frantically as she always did when she was scared, anxious or confused. This was a habit that had formed many years ago when her dad died. He was stabbed right in the chest outside a nightclub when Ellen was 11. Not that it mattered. Ellen obviously missed her dad a lot. He meant the world to her. Ellen's mum thought he was having an affair with his dance teacher, Ariana, but that wasn't the case. He got into trouble, so he wrote a letter to Ellen and her mum explaining everything. Also in the letter, Ellen's dad eliminated any suspicions that his wife may have had. He told her he loved her and would never be unfaithful to her. Ellen's mum cried when she read that part. But deep down, Ellen had always known that. Her dad was a true, honest, good man.

Just then the head teacher, Mrs Kelly, walked in and said, "Excuse me Mrs Shelley, but what is going on here?! I heard an extremely loud bang all the way from my office!!! Out with it then, Mrs Shelley! No, won't you tell me? Ok then, maybe the children would like to tell me what happened here?"

She looked around the classroom of scared children and picked the one closest to her, Jonah.

"Mrs Shelley came in and slammed the door, and then threw a chair right across the room. I was dead scared! It hit Karina and then Karina's cheek started bleeding at exactly 11:04am. Somebody took Karina to the first aid room, so I think she will be alright." Jonah said in his annoying teacher voice.

"Mrs Shelley, please can you gather your things and...leave. I will not have you taking your frustrations out on the children like that. Thank goodness that Karina only had a cut cheek, because somebody could have been seriously hurt! You have disgraced this school, Wendy. Yes children, her first name is Wendy. You have disgraced this school, and I am very disappointed in you. I'm embarrassed that I even considered employing you! Please leave straight away, you're fired!"

And without a single word from Mrs Shelley or the children, the insane ex-teacher who tried to hurt her students, walked out of the room.

I was only going to sharpen my pencil, Ellen thought.

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Ellen enjoyed walking home from school. Mainly because she wasn't at school. And she got to walk with her best friend, Cleo Nickson. They walked out of the school gates and walked on the zebra crossing. They walked down the road until they came to the graveyard. The graveyard was where Ellen's friend died a couple of years before when they went to visit Ellen's grandad's grave. Ellen's friend crossed the road when she was ready to leave and a car came speeding round the corner and ran her over. When the car hit her she went flying through the air and she fell into a hole that had been dug for someone else. Ellen had decided to visit her friend's grave that day, so she walked down the road with mysterious trees either side, Cleo following behind, but slowly. The two girls located the grave of their friend. It read:

In loving memory of

Sally Ann McCray

A lovely daughter, sister and best friend.

Ellen and Cleo just stood there for a while looking at the stone. Thinking of all the sleepovers they had, the fun they had at school, the jokes they made. Sally might be gone, but she will never be forgotten. The schoolgirls left the graveyard through the massive iron gates, and walked home in silence.

After some time, Ellen said, "Are you still coming to my house for dinner?"

"Of course, Ellen," Cleo replied. "You're my best friend!"

"Thanks!"

When they arrived at Ellen's house, they went straight up to her bedroom. They went on Facebook and looked at all of Ellen's messages. They were very shocked by what Karina Frost had said about Cleo. Cleo flopped down on the bed and sniffled into a pillow.  A pillow with a knitted bunny that Ellen's grandmother had made. Ellen went over to comfort her friend, which she usually succeeded in.

"Don't get upset Cleo, don't let that sick two-faced cow get you down. People like her ruin people's lives just for amusement." Ellen was quite proud of that mini speech.

"I suppose you're right, but you wouldn't just do nothing if someone said that to you! You would do something, plot against them until you have achieved something!"

Ellen was just about to suggest a movie, maybe Toy Story, to cheer Cleo up, but the doorbell rang. There was a weird man at the door, mum opened the door, and the man went in. He went out 10 minutes later. And then mum called the girls down for dinner.

"Probably just the postman..." Cleo suggested.

"Yeah, the postman" Ellen thought sarcastically.

"Are you still coming for the sleepover on Friday?" Ellen asked her weepy friend.

Cleo's face lit up.

She responded with, "Of course. You're my best friend!"

The girls giggled and Ellen glided over to the window to check if the man had gone. He was walking down the street and suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked up at Ellen's window. He smiled, turned round and jogged down the street again in the direction of her school.