Chapter Five -- Ava Walker

"Callie?" I turned and looked around, waiting for my best friend. She ran up to me from not too far away, then stopped to catch her breath. She then looked up at me, doubled over with her hands on her knees, and smiled.

"Ava, you run too fast," she whined, and I giggled.

"No, I don't! You're too slow!" I turn and run back down, Callie trailing behind me. Her braids bounced off of her neck as she took staggered steps descending the grassy hill. Soon enough, though, she lost her footing and tumbled forward and into me. I yelped, plummeting forward as well and rolled down the hill. I twisted my body and we stopped, then looked at each other and giggled. She was sprawled over across my stomach now, and I was lying on my back, facing her. My smile faded as I noticed a bump forming on her forehead, and I reached out to it. My fingers lightly grazed it, even though I could have sworn that I had more force than that, and she flinched. "You have a bump," I told her, and she nodded, sitting up and off of me.

"I can feel it now that you've pressed it, Ay-vah."

I giggled and stood up, helping her up as well. "Does it hurt too bad?"

She shook her head, then rose to her feet using the hand I offered her. "It doesn't too bad, I'm teasing you, but I gotta go home soon." We began to walk inside, but I lost my balance and fell over onto my side. Callie stopped, giggled, then helped me back up. She then led me inside by my hand and she sat in the chair.

"Hey, mom! Come meet Callie!"

My mom came in and smiled. I pointed to Callie, then my mom waved. "Hello there, sweetie!" She said, and I giggled. "Ava, we have to go to lunch, but how about Callie comes with us?"

I looked to Callie and she nodded, but my mom kept watching her. Maybe she didn't see. "Callie said she can," I said; maybe if I had told her, she would know. My mom beamed and looked to me.

"Let Callie go home and tell her mom, then Callie, tell your mom where we live." Callie nodded and ran outside, calling out for her mom. Callie lived really close to us, so she would be back soon. My head started to hurt a little, so I looked to my mom.

"Mommy, how bad is my bump?"

"Your bump?"

I nodded, then pressed on my forehead. "Callie and I fell, and I hit my head."

She frowned, then kissed my forehead. "It's going to be all better soon, okay?" I nodded, and it was already starting to go away, I could feel it. "Go get ready, sweetie."

~~~

When we got to lunch, I sat next to Callie and across from my mom. I looked down at the menu; they only gave us two, so I had to share with Callie. "Look at this one!" I said, then pointed at an entrée. She smiled and nodded.

"That looks really good!" she cried, and I giggled.

"Doesn't it? Oh wait, it's spicy."

She looked it over, then shrugged. "I don't see it."

I pointed at the fire marking. "Right there. I don't want it." I looked up at my mom. She was already watching me, smiling.

"You don't have to, sweetie. Does Callie want it?"

"I dunno," I said with a shrug, then continued to look over the menu. I found something better, hidden in the third page without a picture. "Momma! Callie! Look here!" I pointed to it, a bowl of spaghetti. That was it, but to a little girl, spaghetti was the bomb-diggidy; Callie even began bouncing in her seat.

"Please, Mrs. Walker? Can we? Can we?"

My mom sighed and smiled. "Fine, but if you can share with Calle." I squealed and put the menu away, then leaned back in my chair.

Then, it happened again. A voice in my head telling me it wasn't going to end well. What was it? Hello? Can't you hear me?

"Don't eat it, Ava. It's going to kill you."

I froze up, then looked around. Were they behind me? In front of me? Hello?

"It'll be disgusting, watching you eat that. Maybe it'll kill you."

I whimpered. Where were these voices coming from? Why can't I see them? Is it you—the person I'm speaking to now? Can you help me?

"Ava?" I whined. Was it them, or my mom? I looked ahead and saw our waiter was here, smiling wearily. I snapped to attention, then glanced to Callie, who was watching me with a concerned expression.

"What would you like, sweetie?" She asked, and I looked back up to her.

"Me? Uh..." I looked back at the menu, trying to remember what I was going to order.

"What about you, Callie?" My mom asked, and I looked to Callie, who was watching the waitress now.

"I wanna share a spaghetti with Ava," she said, looking to me and smiling, so I smiled back.

"Yeah, me too. I wanna share spaghetti with Callie."

My mom nodded, and the waitress jotted it down in her notebook, then closed it. "So, you would like an extra plate?"

"No ma'am, it's okay," I said, and she nodded before leaving.

"Ava, are you okay?" Callie asked, and I nodded, then took a sip of my water.

"I'm fine. Just really, really sleepy." Maybe the voices were here because I was tired. Eventually, the waitress came back with our food, setting it in front of us. I gave Callie her fork and we began to eat.

"No, are you stupid, Ava?"

"It's going to kill you! It's poisonous!"

"Toxin, poison, Ava. You're a moron."

"Moron is a mean word," I replied, but I felt my mom nudge me and shake her head. "Sorry," I whispered, then looked to Callie, who was watching me nervously. Was she the one saying these things? What even was in this? I began to feel sick, so I pushed our plate closer to Callie.

"Are you okay, Ava?" My mom asked, and I nodded slowly.

"I don't feel very good..."

"Can I have the rest, Ava?" Not too long after that, we left.

~~~

"A special doctor?"

"Yep! For grown-ups. You'll get to go into the playroom."

"Can Callie come?"

"Not this time, sweetie." My mom grabbed her purse and opened the door, "but you can play when we get home."

I beamed. "Alright!" Then I darted out and into the car and buckled my seatbelt, waiting for my mom to come. She got into the car and we pulled out of the driveway.

"Ava, this is a bad idea."

"You're never going to come back. Your mom is kidnapping you. You'll never see Callie again."

"You're going to die, Ava. You're going to be ripped to shreds and die. Die...Die...Maybe it's better that way."

I whined. "Stop being mean to me," I whimpered, but nobody responded, and my mom stared at me for a second. I rested my head against the window. The drive was really long, so I took a nap, but when I woke up, we were there. My mom helped me out of the car and led me inside. She showed me where to sit, and I obeyed as she went to talk to the lady at the front. After that, she walked off into the back, and another lady came to me.

"You're Ava? Your mom said you'd like to go into the playroom. Do you want to come with me there?"

I nodded, then took her hand and went through the same doors my mom went through seconds ago. The playroom was in the very back and had toys and such along with a really long table, a TV, and had glass windows going all around it. I sat down and grabbed a Rubix cube to fidget with.

"So, how's school?" the lady asked, and I looked up.

"It's really good. My teachers say I'm very smart, but I hate reading. It's kinda hard."

"Is it?"

"Mhm," I said, looking back down at the cube, "but my best friend Callie helps me."

"What is Callie like?"

"Oh, she's my best friend ever!" I looked back up, smiling ear to ear. "She is really funny, and we play outside together a lot."

"Do you?"

"Yeah! And the other day we went to lunch together with my mom! But people were kinda mean to her." My voice softened, and I looked back down. "They act like she's not there. They stare at her funny, too...But we fell when we were playing in the backyard, and she had a bump on her head, so maybe that's why."

"Maybe," the lady said, then watched me play with the cube. I eventually gave up and put it away, then grabbed a stress ball, squishing it in my palm and watch it go back to its normal shape. "What about your other friends at school? Do they like Callie?"

I shook my head. "They're really mean, so she's mean back."

Now, she giggled and watched me. "Ava, may I ask you a question?"

"Yeah." I looked up to her and smiled a little again.

"Do you hear voices? That aren't the people's around you?"

I froze up. Did she know where they came from? They kept coming back after that day, and they were telling me really scary things like how I was going to die, and I was worthless and a moron.

"Yeah, I do. I think they hate me, but I don't know who it is or what I've done...They told me today that my mom was going to hurt me, and I was never going to come back. Is that true? I wanna see Callie tonight..." I began to cry a little, and the lady frowned, giving me a box of tissues.

"They're just mean. You'll be okay here, and you'll be able to play with Callie when you get home. Hey, I'm gonna go check on your mom, can you wait here for me to come back?"

I nodded, and she stood and left, closing the door behind her. When she came back, my mom was with her, holding a stack of papers. I smiled and got up, running to hug her.

"Mommy!" I cried, then I wrapped my little arms around her waist. She rubbed my head and I giggled. "Mommy, can we go home? I wanna play with Callie!"

"Okay, then come on." She sounded sad and tired, so I looked up. Her face was pale, and she didn't look very good.

"Mommy, are you okay?" I asked, and she nodded.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Just very tired."

I frowned, then grabbed her hand. "Okay." With that, we walked back out to the car. She put the papers in the back, then came up to the front and buckled herself in, but then stared at me for a second. I felt like she was waiting, watching for me to do something.

"She's out to get you."

I whimpered and shook my head.

"No, mommy isn't going to hurt me. She loves me."

She flashed a sad look, then turned to the front and drove us home. Once we got there and out of the car, it was raining. "Ava, can Callie come over tomorrow?" my mom asked, and I nodded.

"Okay. Let's go take a nap, mommy."

She nodded, then we went off to her room to sleep.

Due to rain and other events, I didn't actually get to see Callie until almost a week later, but by then, it was beautiful outside, so I went over to get her so we could play in the backyard. We come back over and sit at our usual place on the hill.

"Where've you been?" Callie asked, and I glanced to her.

"Mommy had a doctor's appointment," I answered, twirling a blade of grass in between my fingers, "I got to go to a playroom and we talked about school."

"We?"

"Yeah, this really nice worker and I." I smiled, scattering torn pieces of grass over my denim shorts before grabbing another blade. "We talked about school and we talked about when we went to lunch together and got to share spaghetti."

"You brought me up?"

"Well...yeah." I felt my smile fade as fear flashed in Callie's eyes. "I just said you were my best friend."

"Ava, the appointment was for you."

"No, it wasn't. Mommy wasn't feeling well, so we went to the doctor. Then she was really tired, so we took a nap. Then, we went to another one yesterday to check this place on my arm. I fell again, and the doctor says I broke it. They gave me some cool medicine and now I don't feel it hurt anymore."

"Ava, that's a lie."

"No, it's not." I began to tear up; Callie and I never argued before, at least, not over something so little. "She didn't feel good, I swear. That's what she told me."

"Then she lied to you."

"No!" I felt a hot tear roll down my cheek. "Mommy never lies!"

"Then you're the liar! Lies! Lies! She's going to hurt you, Ava! Lies!"

"Stop, Callie, please." I was sobbing now, my little shoulders trembling beyond consolation.

"You're weak! You want attention! The appointment was for you, not her! You're not making any sense!"

"You're not making any sense, Callie!" I screamed back, standing up. "I'm gonna get mommy! She'll tell you! Mom!" I got up and ran, miscalculating how far I was from the door and ran into the wall. I whimpered, rubbing my nose, then opened the door with a tug.

"Mom!" I cried again, going into the kitchen. "Mommy! Callie's being mean! She's saying I'm a liar! ...Mommy!" I went deeper inside. "Mom!" I stopped when something caught my eye. It was a piece of paper from the doctor's office. I stood on my tippy toes to get it, then pulled it down.

"Diagnosis for: Ava Walker (June 17th, 2084)

Showing signs of mild to severe schizophrenia. Mother was alarmed when her eight-year-old daughter, Ava Walker, was talking to herself and was explaining events that never happened. Ava complained about hearing threatening messages from people she doesn't see. Mother also explains that she's very clumsy and tends to fall over smaller objects."

I didn't understand. My mom came in and I heard her gasp.

"Ava, sweetie, let me see this." She came up from behind me and took the papers from me, putting them back onto the counter. I looked back at her, still in disbelief.

"Mommy, it says I have...uh..." Her face fell into a frown and she looked outside, watching. "Is it...What is it, mommy?"

"...Schizophrenia."

"Schizophrenia?"

She nodded, then looked back down to me. "It means you see and hear things that aren't there."

"But they are there! People tell me you're going to hurt me! And the kids at school are really mean to me and Callie, they really are! I'm not lying, mommy!"

"I know sweetie...But your arm. You didn't break it, it just looked like it to you."

"I felt it, mommy! Look! Look! It looks funny!"

My mom grazed my arm with a finger and it reverted back to normal. I teared up, threatening to cry again. Was I lying? "It never broke, sweetie. It's just scraped."

"Then what about the cool medicine to make the pain go away?"

"That medicine is so that you don't hear the scary voices..."

"Callie can see it! Callie can hear it! Callie!" I ran outside, looking around, but I stopped dead in my tracks.

Callie wasn't on the hill anymore.

In fact, there was no hill, but just my old swing set and sandbox from when I was younger.

I looked back to my mom, who stood on the porch, then turned and went inside.