Moving In

“You like your room, Ethel? It used to be my parents’ room.” I asked. She was excited but tried to hide it. She nodded as she threw her bag on the floor. “This is fine. Actually, this is really good. Thanks a lot!”

I closed the door behind me as I left. This day was weird enough, I didn’t want it to get worse. I retreated to my room, collapsing on the bed as soon as I entered. “I used too much energy today. I feel tired.” I dozed off to sleep.

I woke up to a loud thud downstairs. Drowsily, I moved down the stairs to the living room, where I was met with a huge mess. Ethel was trying to make food, but she failed. Miserably. “How about you leave the food to me? Believe it or not, I can actually cook. I may be bad, but I can.” I explained. She had spices all over her. She’s destroying my house. If she continues to be this way, I’ll go broke. I wish she’d live with someone else. As I was busy in my thought, She was busy examining the T.V. “You want to watch something? The remote is right there.”

“How do you watch on this black screen?” She asked. At first, I thought she was joking, but I learned soon that she wasn’t. This girl had never seen a T.V. I turned it on and started flipping through channels. Her eyes went wide with amazement. I stopped on a channel and left the remote next to her. “If you want to change the channel, just press this button.” She was so engulfed in the infomercial that was playing that she didn’t respond to me. I, once more, retreated to my room.

I decided to stay home the next day. Obviously, Ethel didn’t let me. If I’m not with her, she’s invisible to everyone. But if I am with her, only some people can’t see her. We left for school a little late but made it to class on time. To my surprise, this time everyone could see her. Their confused faces gave it away. Eren motioned me to come to my desk. “Who’s the new girl? Did she just transfer?” He asked. He can see her now? He couldn’t see her the last time we met. This is confusing. “She’s a new student. She just transferred here. Her name is Ethel.” I answered. As everyone introduced themselves to her, I wondered why this is happening. Yesterday, not many people could see her, or even notice the things she was moving. Today, they all see her. Why? I continued to ask myself. The bell rang and everyone headed back for their seats.

School went by slowly, but it was finally over. I dashed home as soon as the final bell had rung. As I entered the door, I saw Ethel watching T.V with her eyes glued to the static playing. This’ll keep her busy for a while. I can relax. Finally.

I slept the entire day, waking up the next morning to get ready for school. We finished our breakfast and headed for school. Along the way, Ethel was quiet. She’s usually beaming with joy, but today seemed like the opposite. She seemed like she was drowning in despair. I was hesitant to ask but finally did. “Are you okay? You seem awfully quiet today. Is something wrong?” She looked puzzled. It took her a while to process the sentence. “I’m fine! Thanks for asking.” She said, showing me a smile. Fake. That’s a fake smile. I know it.

As we entered through the large school gates, I saw Eren. I went to him and whispered in his ear. “Something’s wrong with Ethel. She seems really sad and has been really quiet too. That’s not like her. She’s usually overflowing with joy. Did someone do something to her?” I asked Eren because he knows how people work. He could help me. He, too, gave me a puzzled look. “Who’s Ethel?”