The Disney Book

Chapter Four - Wherever the Wind Takes Her

"I promise, he is British."

"Oh, sure."

"Grandma!"

"Why would a London boy move here?"

"He wants adventure Grandma, ugh, please don't bother him , and, embarrass me when he's over."

"I bet he's a fake. He thought those Direction boys do pretty well with their accents, and he'd try it out to snag a few girls."

"Don't doubt me! I am an excellent judge of character. I assure you he is 100% real English. Now I invited him over yesterday when I saw him by Mystic Falls and he should be to your house in an hour." Grandma doesn't respond right away and for a second I can only listen to the static from the other side of the line. 

"Alright, but I'm warning you now, I don't believe a word of it."

"Thanks. I'll be over soon." I hang up and sigh. Grandma may be skeptical now, but I know she'll like Ellis once she meets him. It's hard not to like Ellis.

******

I let myself into Grandma's house and throw my fleece on her coat rack. Grandma is waiting for me, Ellis standing awkwardly next to her. With him being so towering and her being so not, he's a good two feet taller than her. "Hi Ryann!" He perks up when he sees me. That's cute. Even my best friend Lee doesn't always perk up when she sees me. Especially after History; she hates that class. She tends to rather than perk up, go on rants about whatever she just learned about, such as the takeover of Hawaii or the Trail of Tears. Generally, she complains about the American government. I can't blame her.

"You're late," Grandma says sternly. "But that's alright. I had time to test his accent through forced small talk. I think you're right. He's authentic." 

"Grandma!" I blush. "I'm so sorry Ellis, I was stuck in elk traffic, you know, they take forever to cross the road."

"It's alright, your Grandma's cool," he smiles. 

"Yah, I like to think so."

Grandma rolls her eyes. "So what do you have planned anyways?" 

Oh right. I hadn't thought that far ahead. "Um, nothing?"

"Ryann, lead your truly English guest to the living room, will you?"

"Yah. Ellis, follow me." Moments after we sit down on my Grandma's couch, not sure how close to sit to each other and spending a good amount of time inching around the old cushions, Grandma enters the room and throws a box of Chips Ahoy in the gap between Ellis and I. She claims she's not the type of Grandma to waste her time on such foolish hobbies as baking cookies. She quickly grabs a cassette from her old Disney movie collection and puts it in the VCR, but she's too fast for me to tell exactly which classic we'll be watching.

The Disney castle shows up on her screen and a distinctive drumming sounds throughout the room. With a quick wink in my direction, Grandma turns off the lights and leaves to the hallway, walking out of sight. Pocahontas begins to play.

******

"You think you own whatever land you land on

The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim

But I know every rock and tree and creature

Has a life, has a spirit, has a name."

I stare, entranced, at the screen as Colors of the Wind begins to play. Ellis leans closer to me and quietly begins to speak, startling me, "She reminds me of you, you know. Pocahontas. Yesterday,at the top of the Overlook." Then he places his hand in the gap in between us. Much to my own surprise, I set my hand besides his and our fingers intertwine.