Grace for The Fallen

One of them

Daetheia Grace

   The next morning I woke up to my alarm blaring again and groaned loudly. Why must they make us go to school over the weekends? It did not make any sense to me, but that's how it had always been. Go to school on Saturday and Sunday and get Monday and Tuesday off instead. Weird, am I right?

   After I had woken up some, I realised that I had a strange tingly feeling in my ears. I tugged at them repeatedly throughout the morning, but it didn’t go away. My dad had already left for work by the time I got to breakfast, and I can’t exactly say that I was disappointed. I was kind of afraid to confront what I had done and said last night. I don’t even know why I had felt so strongly about defending the Elves. But I wasn’t the only one at fault, I thought stubbornly. I don’t know why my dad wouldn’t even hear me out. But I probably shouldn’t bring it up again anytime soon.

   I got into the bus and slid in next to Tony again. I didn’t greet him with my usual enthusiasm, and he noticed.

   “Hey,” he nudged me softly, “Everything alright?”

   “Yeah, just…” I sighed heavily, “My dad and I had a fight last night,”

   “Oh. What was it about?”

   “The Fallen. I said that they might be innocent, and my dad just…blew up.”

   “Ouch. You talk to him about it this morning?”

   “Nope. Didn’t see him.”

   “Didn’t see him. But didn’t exactly look for him, I bet?” Ariston c****d an eyebrow, a mischievous grin on his face.

   “Oh, shut up,” I grumbled, and he laughed. Then I sighed and said, "I know it probably seems like I'm overreacting, but I never argue with my dad. And when I do… I just really don’t like it,” he chuckled quietly. Then he put his arm around my shoulders and smiled softly.

   “Don’t worry about it, Tay,” he whispered, “Your dad loves you. You’ll work it out.” I smiled and laid my head on his shoulder.

   I sighed and nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

   “I always am.” He replied and winked. I laughed.

   “Thanks, Tony.” I patted his shoulder.

   “Anytime.”     

   After that, the day dragged on slowly. Nothing interesting or unusual happened except the tingling in my ears all day, but that’s not really interesting. Just unusual. If I was coming down with something, that’s definitely unusual. I almost never get sick.

   Before I knew it, I sat on the bus on the way home. I realised that I barely remembered what had happened today. I must be even more stressed about this fight than I realised. I was really dreading getting back home. But I suppose if I had to face it sometime, it would be better to get it over and done with. The bus stopped at the bus stop near my house, and I leant over to hug Tony.

   “Don’t worry about it too much,” he whispered in my ear, “Everything’s gonna be ok.”

   “Yeah, ok,” I replied, trying to convince myself. I had always felt safe in his embrace, like if I stayed there forever everything would be ok.

   “I hate to break it to you,” his voice startled me slightly, “But you’re gonna have to get out, otherwise Mr Avery is gonna drive away with you still in the bus.”

   “Oh!” I jumped up, ruffling his hair when I was standing, “Bye, Tony, see you tomorrow!”

   “Bye, Tay. And good luck.”

   I nodded in thanks and got off the bus, taking my time to walk home. Dad would already be there, he always got home before I did on weekends. And I needed time to prepare myself. I knew that I should probably apologize for what I said, but I just can’t bring myself to. I can’t apologize for voicing what I believe. But I guess I could apologize for how I said it. So, if he needed an apology, I would apologize. Just… not for what he thought I was apologizing for. Yeah. That could work. I felt better now that I had a sort-of-plan, so I sped up a bit. I got to my house and stared up at the high door before taking a deep breath and opening it.

   “Hi, I’m…” my voice was cut off as I was immediately squashed against a broad… chest?

   “Dad?” I questioned, my voice muffled in the fabric of his shirt.

   “Theia,” he breathed back, his voice warm and loving and a little hesitant, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have blown up like that. Will you forgive me?”

   “Of course, Dad,” I choked out, “Of course I forgive you. Now, do you mind just… stepping back a bit? I can't breathe.”

   “Oh, of course! I’m really sorry,” he laughed quietly and pulled back, but still kept a hold on my shoulders, “I’m really sorry.” He repeated softly. I smiled and put my hands on his.

   “It’s ok, Dad,” I whispered, “I forgive you.” He sighed, the sound full of relief.

   "We set up a movie if you would like.” he said, and shrugged, “Your brother is at his friend’s house for the night. We have popcorn, and sweets. But only one movie, because you still have to go to school tomorrow,” he grinned, “Or maybe we could twist your mother’s arm and sneak in a second one.”

   I laughed. “That sounds awesome, Dad,” I hugged him again, then stepped away, “And I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have shouted.”

   “It’s ok, Theia, it’s ok. It’s in the past now,” He caressed my cheek then stepped back, walking towards the movie room, “Now come on!” He called, “Your mother’s waiting.”

   For the rest of the night, until 10 o’clock, we watched movies, ate popcorn and sweets, and just talked and laughed together. I couldn’t remember the last time we had just had a fun evening with just each other. By the time I went to bed, I was tired but smiling from ear to ear. That encounter had definitely gone better than I had thought. I crashed into my bed, about to go to sleep, when the tingling in my ears abruptly turned into a throb. It was vaguely uncomfortable, but not too bad. But it steadily started getting worse and worse until I was clutching my ears in pain, clenching my teeth to try and stifle my whimpers. And the pain was just getting worse. Then it stopped and I sat up, confused, my hands falling into my lap.

   Suddenly, it felt like somebody was melting the tips of my ears with a hot poker and I cried out in pain, doubling over and grabbing the tips of my ears again only to find that they weren’t where I thought they would be. They were in line with my hairline instead of with my eyes. And the points… the points were…

   The pain stopped and I instantly rushed into my bathroom, switching the light on before peering intently into the mirror. And immediately recoiled in horror. I gasped and grabbed my ears again, slowly looking in the mirror to make sure that my eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on me. When I once again stared into my own, frightened eyes, I glanced to the sides of my head and saw my ears, still a bit red and sore, but not as round and small as they once were. Instead, the tips went up, up, up, disappearing into the waves of auburn hair. I hastily brushed my hair behind my ears and saw… twin fine, delicate points instead of rounded tips at the apex of my ears, which was now a lot higher than it used to be. Not a human’s ears. Instead, an Elf… Elf’s…

   I let out a sob, my golden eyes staring back at me round in horror.

   I am an Elf.

-Rebecca Underwood