BECOMING HER

CHAPTER 6

For the next week, life continued much the same. Elara and her mother left for work each morning while Isla returned to school. She had already missed several days that term because of her health, and now she had a lot of catching up to do.

Elara woke up that morning and followed the same routine she had grown used to. She got ready quietly, moving through the house in the familiar rhythm of another workday. By the time she came downstairs, her mother was already in the kitchen, packing her bag while Isla sat at the table finishing her breakfast.

“Morning,” Elara said, reaching for a piece of toast.

“Morning,” her mother replied, glancing up briefly.

Isla looked up from her plate. “You’re leaving early again?”

“Same time as always,” Elara said with a small shrug.

Their mother zipped her bag and sighed lightly. “I might be back later than usual today,” she said. “Don’t wait up for me, okay?”

Elara nodded. “Alright.”

“Try not to stay up too late,” their mother added, giving both of them a pointed look.

Isla rolled her eyes slightly but smiled. “No promises.”

Soon after, they all gathered their things and headed out to start their day.

On her way to work, Elara tried to ignore the lingering exhaustion she had been feeling lately. She told herself it was probably just stress from the past few days. Nothing more than that.

At work, however, the day seemed to drag on endlessly. Small problems kept popping up customers asking too many questions, the register freezing twice, and a shipment arriving later than expected. Everything felt slightly off, like the day refused to move forward.

At one point, Thelma leaned against the counter beside her, watching Elara struggle with the register.

“You look like you’re fighting that machine,” Stacy another co-worker of hers said with a small laugh.

Elara exhaled slowly. “It started first.”

“Sure it did,” Thelma replied. “You’ve been distracted all morning. What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Elara said quickly, pressing another button on the register. “Just tired.”

Stacy raised an eyebrow but didn’t push further.

“Well,” she said, straightening up, “try not to scare the customers away with that face.”

Elara gave a faint smile, though she wasn’t sure she meant it.

And as if the day couldn’t possibly drag any slower, Elara glanced at the clock and groaned internally.

Lunch break.

Only lunch break.

Could this day move any slower?

She rested her chin in her hand, staring blankly at the counter. The café buzzed with quiet conversations and clinking cups, but none of it held her attention.

The door suddenly swung open.

“Elara!”

She looked up to see Thelma rushing inside, slightly out of breath.

“There you are,” Thelma said, walking quickly toward her. “I’ve been trying to call you all morning. Why weren’t you answering?”

Elara blinked in confusion. “What do you mean? I’ve been here the whole time.”

“I called you like five times,” Thelma said, holding up her phone.

Elara reached for her phone and pressed the button.

The screen stayed black.

She frowned and pressed it again.

Still nothing.

“Oh… wait.”

She stared at it for a moment before sighing.

“My phone died.”

Thelma tilted her head. “Seriously?”

“I guess the battery ran out,” Elara said, turning it over in her hands. “I didn’t even notice.”

“Well that explains a lot,” Thelma said. “I thought you were ignoring me.”

“Why would I ignore you?” Elara asked.

Thelma shrugged. “You’ve been weird all week. Quiet. Distracted.”

Elara didn’t answer. Instead, she reached behind the counter, grabbed a charger, and plugged the phone into the outlet.

After a moment, the phone vibrated softly and the screen flickered back to life.

Almost immediately, notifications began appearing.

Missed calls.

Several of them.

One from an unknown number.

Then more.

From Mom.

Elara’s stomach tightened.

“That’s strange,” she murmured.

“What?” Thelma asked.

“My mom never calls this many times,” Elara said, staring at the screen.

A knot began forming in her chest.

Something was wrong.

She quickly tapped the screen and called her mother back.

The phone rang once before her mother answered.

“Elara!” her mom said, her voice tense. “Where have you been? We’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”

“My phone died,” Elara said quickly. “What happened?”

There was a short pause.

“It’s Isla,” her mother said.

Elara’s chest tightened.

“The school called earlier,” her mom continued. “She started feeling dizzy during class and fainted.”

Elara’s heart lurched.

“They took her to the nurse’s office first,” her mom said, “but she didn’t wake up right away, so the school called an ambulance.”

In the background, Elara could hear faint hospital noises voices, footsteps, and the quiet beeping of machines.

“She’s awake now,” her mom added quickly.

Elara gripped the phone tighter.

“Is she okay?”

“They’re running some tests just to be safe” her mom said.

Without another thought, Elara grabbed her bag and rushed toward the door.

Thelma looked up in confusion.

“Elara wait! What’s going on?”

Elara paused just long enough to answer.

“It’s Isla,” she said quickly.

Thelma’s expression immediately shifted to concern.

“Is she okay?”

“I don’t know yet.”

Then Elara pushed through the café door and ran.