Chapter 3: New houses, new friends

Ellie felt a pounding in her head. She tried to open her eyes, but she couldn't quite manage to see more than a sliver of light. Realizing defeat for the moment she instead focused on the words around her, trying to figure out where she was and who was whispering conspiratorially by her bed.

"Do you think she can hear us?" a voice whispered. "She hit her head really hard when she fell. Her head just crashed against the wood floor, I thought for sure she was dead. I don't think I've screamed that loud in years."

"We all heard," a second voice said sarcastically. "You could tone down the dramatics a touch when there's an emergency." There was a light 'oomf' as Ellie heard a punch.

"Shut up, jerk face," the first voice said.

"The fuck? Ouch, your fist has bite," the second voice said in surprise.

"What do you think happened?" the first voice whispered again. "We were just talking and all of the sudden, she just blacked out. Poof. Down she went, right to the floor. She folded faster than that origami champ I saw on PBS last week."

"Who even watches PBS?" the second voice asked snidely.

"It's a defense mechanism," a new soft feminine voice chimed in, "my mom said she might not remember, but I forgot about our conversation. Mom talked to me about Ellie earlier this summer before she left for the Netherlands. Ellie might have blocked everything out, that's why she doesn't understand why she's here or what's going on. Her mind goes into protection mode when it feels threatened."

"Isn't that sort of information part of the patient-client privilege?" a deeper voice asked softly, his voice a mere whisper in the ward.

"If she had been mom's patient, then yes, definitely. But mom never treated her, she just heard about the case from the internal grapevine. It's all speculation, but mom's speculations tend to be pretty spot on. There were rumors going around after the Carters moved and stepped back from the pack." The first voice contradicted quietly.

Ellie tried again to open her eyes, managing to crack her left eye open wide enough to see four figures standing around her bed. She didn't know where she was, but seeing the wild red curls leaning down over her left arm brought back her memory and the strange, cruel twist of fate she currently found herself in. She was at The Academy. Still. And she had fainted. Oh, lord, she had fainted in front of Meredith and Sam. How embarrassing. Now she was surrounded by four people, four shadows lurking around her bed in trepidation. Who were the others? She squinted as a voice whispered in her face.

"Ellie, are you ok?" Sam's red curls were wild from twisting the spiral hair around her fingers anxiously. "Can you hear me?" Sam said this slowly while grabbing onto her shoulder as if Ellie were a toddler.

"Yes, urgh," Ellie groaned, batting the red curls out of her face with one hand and holding her head with the other, "I can hear you. Please, God, tell me I didn't faint." Ellie whispered in horror, her mind recalling the last events she remembered before she blacked out.

Samantha looked at Ellie with a cringe. "Well..."

"Oh, God, I did. This is mortifying."

"No, Ellie, it's ok," Meredith said in a soothing tone as she gently ran her hand up and down Ellie's arm in a soothing gesture.

"Els, don't sweat it, it's fine. Sam only screamed her fucking head off until the entire dorm came running to see what was on fire." Firash said with a glint in his eye. "Nothing to be embarrassed about. Sam, on the other hand..." He gave Sam a nudge as he shook his head in mock horror and disbelief. "She's got plenty to be embarrassed about."

"Ohmigod, whatever, buttface, I was worried," Sam said without an ounce of embarrassment or regret.

Ellie looked over and saw the fourth face, scrunched in concentration, like he was trying to figure out a puzzle, mulling over her face. Jake stood up and came to the side of her bed, "You had us worried."

"I'm fine, seriously, can we go back to the dorm now?" Ellie asked, desperate to make things seem normal and shift attention away from her.

"Not yet. Dr. Medici needs to check you first." Jake said with a shake of his head. His eyes watched her carefully as she turned to Sam.

"How long was I out?" Ellie asked.

"Just an hour," Sam replied, uncertainty on her face, worry still etched between her eyes.

"So, long enough for an audience?" Ellie asked as she glanced around the medical ward, hoping she was wrong.

"About that," Sam started.

"No, don't freak her out," Firash interjected.

"We'll run interception to sneak her out," Sam nodded definitively.

"Interception?" Ellie asked.

"There's a bit of a crowd outside the infirmary," Meredith said, the apology written on her face.

"Dr. Medici kicked out everyone when you first came in. I threw a giant fit," Sam started. Firash snorted when he heard that.

"If by giant fit you mean she screamed bloody murder, caused a scene big enough to be worthy of Shakespeare-in-the-park and wouldn't let the fucking door closed without weaseling her way through, then sure, a giant fit," Firash interjected again. 

Sam threw him a glare, "asshole," she muttered.

"Like I said, you're not the one that needs to be embarrassed," Firash said to Ellie.

"Right, well, I may have attracted a bit more attention than we originally had with my slightly above average voice." Sam looked apologetically at Ellie while Jake and Firash laughed. 

"Understatement of the year," Meredith muttered.

"Don't worry, Sam can use the same theatrics to direct the crowd's attention away from the infirmary. Meredith and Firash can play along to herd the crowd away from the door. Then I can sneak you out of the building and back to the dormitory." Jake said, a twinkle in his eye as he laughed at Ellie's obvious embarrassment.

Sam nodded in agreement, "That's totally doable."

"God, this is a nightmare," Ellie muttered to herself. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks, "Did they call my parents?"

"Right, about that too," Sam muttered, averting her gaze. "I mayhavecalledthemonyourphonetoletthemknowyoufell." She muttered quickly, but not quick enough that Ellie didn't understand the gist of her statement.

"Are they on their way here?!" Ellie asked frantically.

"No, Dr. Medici calmed them down and promised you would call when you were able," Jake added.

"Speaking of..." Meredith's words fell away as a petite woman with shoulder-length brown hair pulled back the curtain and stepped into the cubicle. Her gaze pierced the four students standing around Ellie's bed. 

"Out!" Dr. Medici said authoritatively.

"Ellie, we'll just be..." Sam started.

"Yes, she knows. Out!" Dr. Medici pointed toward the door to the infirmary.

"You can't mean we have to leave the infirmary?" Sam asked incredulously. "We have to sneak her back to the dorm. Do you see the mob out there?" 

"Yes, indeed, I do. She will make it back to her dorm safely. We do, in fact, have a back entrance to the infirmary. If you'd like to stay and help her, you may exit that way." Dr. Medici pointed toward the other side of the infirmary where there was an Emergency Exit sign glowing in red over a door.

"Right, we'll just..."

"Yes, you will. Out!" Dr. Medici was losing patience. Sam, Meredith, Firash, and Jake filed out of the curtained cubicle toward the back entrance, not quite leaving the infirmary, but hovering over the exit uncertainly.

"Now, let's take a look at that head," Dr. Medici proceeded to check Ellie's skull, probing the skin tenderly, she checked Ellie's eyes, vision, and motor skills. "You seem to be fine, the scrape on your head is small, though you'll likely have a headache for a bit. I will give you Tylenol before you leave. Make sure if you feel pain in your head over the next few days you only take Tylenol, no other pain relievers. No Aspirin, ibuprofen, or Aleve." 

Ellie nodded in agreement.

"How are you feeling right now? Sick to your stomach? Dizzy?"

Ellie shook her head no.

"Can you stand?"

Ellie slowly moved her legs to the side of the bed and stood up.

"How do you feel now?"

Ellie held onto the side of the bed and looked around, "I'm alright."

"Good. Ok, now walk a straight line for me."

Ellie walked along the bed in a straight line. Dr. Medici nodded her head.

"Good, you can go back to your dorm. Take these Tylenol for your head. If you have any dizziness or vomiting, feel sick to your stomach, or are feeling unwell, come right back here so we can monitor you."

"Ok, thank you," Ellie said softly, taking the proffered Tylenol and swallowing them with a quick drink of water. She started walking toward Sam and Meredith.

Sam walked quickly toward Ellie and looped Ellie's arm around her elbow. 

"Come on, we're breaking you out of this joint," Sam laughed quietly. 

Meredith came up alongside Ellie's other side and pulled Ellie's free arm through her elbow, so Ellie was sandwiched between the two girls. The trio made their way toward the back exit labeled in red EMERGENCY EXIT where Jake and Firash waited.

Firash held the door open while the girls filed through, and Jake followed closely behind. The emergency exit opened to a cobblestone walkway that threaded around the building and through the buildings surrounding the infirmary. The infirmary was nestled at the very back of the campus, near a cluster of three stone buildings with names foreign to Ellie. Blacklight posts lined the cobblestone, lighting the way from building to building. The lights were illuminated in the dark evening sky, giving the campus a soft glow in the moonlight. Jake and Firash walked ahead, talking softly while the girls trailed behind.

"Where are we?" Ellie asked softly.

"This is the very back of campus. The infirmary is the farthest north you can go on campus before you hit the forest. These buildings here," Sam gestured to their right, "are the science and medical school buildings. Those over to the left are the high school buildings where we will be spending most of our time, and those in the center are the arts and humanities buildings." 

They walked along the cobblestone until they came back to their dormitory, the glow of the lamps lighting their way. Dense forest surrounded the campus, the dark shadows making Ellie shudder at what might be hiding mere yards away.

As they made their way back inside their dorm, Ellie noticed that most of the people who had been milling around the common area were missing. A few stragglers were sitting on couches by the fireplaces, but the rest of the room was empty. 

"Where did everyone go?" Ellie asked cautiously.

"They followed you to the infirmary," Meredith said gently.

"Why?" Ellie asked.

"They think you'll do something dramatic," Firash answered, not exactly answering her questions.

"Dramatic? Like ...?" She let her voice trail off, unsure what she would possibly do to attract so much attention.

"Hey, how about some pizza and a movie?" Meredith interrupted in uncharacteristic charisma. "We can all pile in Sam's room, I'm sure she won't mind."

"Sure! That will be fun! Let's do it. Curfew isn't until 11, so we have lots of time for a movie and we can order a pizza from the cafe. What do you think, Ellie? Are you a rom-com or sci-fi fan?" Sam asked.

"Romantic comedy," Ellie said softly.

"Perfect, let's watch Jane Austen. Firash will suffer through Pride & Prejudice tonight, he wouldn't dare say no," Sam said.

"Only the 2-hour version." Firash retorted with a cringe. "Not the BBC version."

"You're lucky I brought both," Sam replied, winking at him as she rounded the last set of steps toward their rooms.

They had reached their floor and found their rooms, Ellie and Sam next to each other with Meredith across the hall. 

"Alright, Firash, you order pizza. None of that chicken, BBQ sauce crap, get something good." Sam said decisively.

Firash rolled his eyes, "I'm not going to order pineapple, if that's what you're getting at, you'd better learn to love bbq chicken pizza if I'm in charge."

"Oh god, no," Meredith groaned, "Anything else, just leave the BBQ sauce off the pizza, for the love of God."

"I'll go with him, we'll get something good," Jake added with a grin. 

The boys took off as Ellie walked toward her room. A whiteboard was mounted on the wall next to the door with her name written in black marker Elizabeth Carter. She opened the door and looked around. The bed was made with a white down comforter, white sheets, and two bleached pillows. Next to the bed was a small table and a small lamp. A settee sat next to double doors opening to the closet. On the other side of the room was a window surrounded by built-in shelves, a desk built into the wall underneath the window with a chair sitting in front of the desk.

Ellie looked at her luggage, sitting in a pile next to the settee, by the closet. She sighed and rubbed her head, the pounding was going down, but she felt lightheaded despite eating dinner. 

She pulled her suitcases out and started to put her clothes away. Her underwear, bras, pajamas, and pants fit inside her dresser. She started hanging her sweaters and t-shirts on the rod in the closet. Her shoes fit on the floor of her closet, and she organized her toiletries on the shelf in her closet. She lined up her empty suitcases and duffel bag on the floor of the closet opposite her shoes. The closet still looked bare despite having almost all her clothing inside. She sighed and closed the doors to the closet. She wasn't really in the mood to watch a movie and since she wasn't a werewolf, her metabolism wasn't obscenely high. She wasn't hungry. She was going to beg off the movie and pizza and go to sleep early. She really didn't want to be friendly. She wanted to break something; she wanted to call her parents and scream over the phone about how WONDERFUL her first day here was. She wanted to make sure the entire world knew just how miserable she really was. She took a breath, she couldn't quite catch her breath, she felt a squeezing in her chest. Panic seized her lungs. She gasped and rushed to the window, she needed air. She tried to throw open the window, but it wouldn't budge, she couldn't get it up.

A set of hands held onto her arms and guided her back to her bed while she gasped for breath. She saw Meredith unlock the window, the lock sitting halfway up the frame. She slid it open. A burst of fresh air breezed into the room. 

Ellie blinked back tears as she tried to catch her breath. Her chest was being held in a tight grip, squeezing the air out of her lungs.

"Ellie, breathe," Sam said gently, her hands holding onto Ellie's arms as she hugged her from behind.

"Ellie, you're ok. We are here. You are going to be ok." Meredith squatted in front of Ellie. "Look at me, Ellie." Ellie desperately searched Meredith's face, looking for something: comfort, understanding, anything she could cling to in her desperation. Meredith held onto Ellie's hands, still squatting in front of her. "You're having a panic attack. Look me in the eyes and take a deep breath with me." Meredith took an exaggerated deep breath in, overinflating her lungs to demonstrate to Ellie what to do. "Now, let it out," Meredith let her breath out, willing Ellie to follow her lead. Within five minutes, Ellie had calmed down enough to look around the room. She noticed Jake and Firash lingering outside the door in the hall, talking softly together, concern etching their faces. 

"I'm ok," Ellie said softly. She forgot that wolves had super-hearing, but the reminder was stark as Jake and Firash both looked in at her. 

"Got pizza!" Firash said with a fake cheer, attempting to divert everyone's attention.

"I'm not really hungry," Ellie mumbled.

"It's ok, Ellie. Why don't we just put on a movie, we can all go to the lounge at the end of the hall and watch Mr. Darcy woo us with his silent, brooding stares. There are super comfy couches, I'm sure I'll fall asleep. It's been a day!" Sam rambled on in her usual loquacious tones.

"I don't know, I need to call my mom," Ellie looked around in concern. "I don't know where my phone went."

"Here, it was on the floor earlier," Jake offered her the phone and asked, "Why don't we go get the movie started and when you're done you can come out and join us?" 

Ellie nodded her head, looking down at the phone in her hand. She turned the button on the side and noted the 7 missed calls and 13 text messages. Sam, Meredith, Jake, and Firash filed out of the room and moved down the hall toward the lounge as Ellie took a deep breath. She unlocked the screen and stared at the notifications. Her eyes filled with tears. She wasn't cut out for this; she was supposed to be an extra through high school. One of those students that didn't stand out in the spotlight, they were just there, biding their time until it was all over. She wasn't supposed to be at The Academy. She was supposed to fade in the background. She had made a pact with her best friend, Brianna, they were going to get out of that town as fast as possible and go to university together. They were going to be roommates. Now it was all ruined. She hated it here. It wasn't even the first day and she already had fainted, had a panic attack, and cried in front of more people than she ever had in her entire life to date. She wasn't cut out for this. She wasn't a wolf. She wasn't brave. She wasn't outgoing. She didn't make friends easily. Her parents had to understand now, they had to let her come home after today. She would never last through years here. She had thought it was just two years, but now it was looking like six years, or maybe even longer. Then she would be working with these people for the rest of her life. How had she managed to get stuck in this cruel twist of fate? Her eyes filled with tears again. It wasn't fair.

She made a determined face as tears streamed unchecked down her cheeks and she clicked on the phone icon before hitting the button to call her mom. It was time to plead her case, again. This time, she hoped she had enough ammunition to get a one-way ticket back home.