Me, My Elf & I (19 page)

I look up over my computer at Kenji. Seems strange that he would send me a message when he’s sitting ten feet away. But he doesn’t look at me, so I hit reply and type in “Who?” This comes back:

The next box that pops up has just a blue link. I type in “Thanks” send it back to Kenji then click the link to open Bella’s Web site. I can’t quite remember how to find the secret blog, but I know I have to click on some hidden button. I move my mouse around, clicking randomly until I hit the white dog in the top right corner. A box appears and I type in
belladonna
, the password that Ari told me. The blog opens. I hunch closer to the computer and begin reading.

In the comments I see this,

I’m so mad that my head hurts, my vision is blurry, and I can feel my heartbeat in my temples, my arms, and my chest. My stomach is in knots. My legs are weak. And my skin feels like it’s on fire. I don’t even know what thing to be the most mad about. That she called Mercedes VooDoo and said that Ari is lame and that my parents are cousins. Or that she didn’t mention Ari’s band got hit by the U-Tube or that Mercedes takes care of her little sisters. And she even stole my marsupial joke! Who does that? Or maybe I’m most mad because I actually thought she was nice. She’s not. She’s horrible and my plan totally back-fired. Kenji must see me with my head in my hands because I quickly get another IM from him.

This I don’t understand at all. I need to talk. Out loud! Use real words. I leave my computer and walk up to Kenji’s desk. He glances up at me out of the corner of his eye.

“Why should I go home?” I whisper to him.

“What?” he says, taking out only one earphone.

“You said I should get with my homies,” I say.

He shakes his head. “That’s old school for friends, Zephyr. The people they’re talking about.”

“Ari and Mercedes! ” I gasp. “But how?” I’m panicked. “I don’t know where they are.” Kenji looks at me like I’m stupid. “What?” I ask.

“Hello!” He points to the computer and pats it. “This is the twenty-first century. IM them.”

I jump. “Right!” I say too loudly, causing everyone in the lab to look up at me, but I don’t even care. I have to get to my friends. “Thank you, Kenji! Thank you!” I skitter back to my empty computer and quickly shoot Ari a message. That same annoying message “2 Busy 4 U” comes up. I try Mercedes again.

Immediately she writes back.

I’m so slow at typing that it takes a long time for me to respond. But finally I send this message:

Mercedes’s message comes back almost immediately.

I peck out one last message:

This comes back a few seconds later:

Then she signs off. I don’t know what to do, so I just stare at the blinking cursor on the screen. This can’t really be happening, can it? Just an hour ago I thought I had so many friends and now all of the sudden I have no idea who my friends are. And what happened in between? Nothing except some mean girls typed lies and exaggerations on a computer and sent them out into the world to ruin my life. How can that be? It’s worse than any kind of magic that I know. What’s worse is that I don’t know any spells to combat it.

But then a little box pops up that says I have a new e-mail. I click over to my in-box and see this:

I’m relieved that Mercedes is e-mailing me. Maybe she had a minute to cool off and realizes that this isn’t my fault. I open the message.

I don’t understand what’s going on. Why would Mercedes be sending me this message? And what’s a “distribution list”? Suddenly another little box pops up that says I have six new e-mails. I click back to my in-box and see six new messages from people I don’t even know. Every message has the same heading:
Forward: Re: URGENT MESSAGE! Please read and forward!
I click through each one but they’re all the same thing that Mercedes sent to me. How are all these people getting it? How come they’re sending the same message to me if they don’t even know me? I’m so confused! Then I start getting instant messages. The first one is from Samurai Son. It says:

Others are worse. People I don’t know are calling me a bitch and a slut and other horrible words. Then some of them are nice. They say, “Way to go! ” and “Stick it to her! ” and “Bella deserved it! ” And a few of them are just scary: “Forget Timber. I’ll do you in the park any day! ” In a matter of minutes my e-mail is flooded and my instant message board is jammed. I can’t take it! I log off as fast as I can and jolt out of my seat. I swear every person in the room looks up. They all stare at me. Some of them elbow each other and point at me. Just as I’m about to the flee the room, Kenji gets my attention and waves me over.

I slump into the empty chair beside him. “What am I going to do?” I whimper.

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll get shut down in a minute. The webmaster’ll see what’s going on and put a block on all the forwarding. And your girl, Mercedes, will be in deep doo-doo.”

“Why?” I ask, feeling even worse now that Mercedes is going to get in trouble.

“Can’t e-mail personal slander. School code of ethics,” says Kenji. He shakes his blue bangs out of his eyes. “She’ll probably get kicked out of school.”

“Oh no!” I gasp.

He shrugs. “Just suspended for a few days. Or maybe her aunt will save her butt.”

“This is terrible!” I mumble. “Her parents will kill her.”

He smirks. “Why are you worried about her after what she did to you?”

“Because,” I stammer. “She’s my friend.”

He snorts. “Some friend!”

“This is all my fault.”

Kenji points to the screen. “Check this out.”

“What now!” I groan as I glance up to see the I-Hate-Bella blog on-screen. Of course, I start reading:

“Who is this BellaHater?” I ask Kenji.

He shrugs. “Nobody knows. I think it’s somebody on the inside.”

“One of her friends?” I ask, shocked.

“That’s a relative term,” says Kenji. “Those girls would stab one another in the back for a pair of shoes.”

I shake my head. “How awful.”

“Who cares,” says Kenji. “It’s freaking hilarious.”

“I can’t take another minute of this. I don’t care if I never see another computer screen in my life.” I drag myself out of the chair.

Kenji laughs. “It’s not like you can escape it. Computers are a part of life.”

“Not my life,” I mutter.

“Anyway,” Kenji says as he slips his earphones back on. “It’s not the computer’s fault people are jerks.”

He’s right, I guess, but then again, without computers my entire life wouldn’t have been flushed down the toilet in five minutes flat.

 

I do my best to hold it together on my way home because I can’t break down on the subway. I’d look like a mental patient if I sobbed on the train and would probably get carted away by the loony police. But, as soon as I hit the park, I start running and I let the tears flow. I’m half out of my mind. Everything has gone wrong today. I hate my school. I hate everyone in it. I hate Brooklyn. All I want to do is go back to Alverland, where I know the rules and the people are really, truly, absolutely nice.

When I get home, I burst through our front door. “Mom!” I yell. “Dad!” I’m crying my eyes out now and want to collapse in someone’s arms. I run through the living room and dining room. Both are empty. “Where is everyone?” I yell.

My dad sticks his head out of the kitchen doorway. “Shhhh, honey,” he says, and wraps me in his arms. His eyes are red rimmed. I fall into his hug but look over his shoulder into the kitchen. My whole family is gathered around the table. My mom and sisters are crying. Bramble and Persimmon are huddled in Mom’s lap. Grove has his hand on Mom’s shoulder.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Dad says.

I think,
Oh no! Someone told them what happened at school. They’re so disappointed in me.
I shrink, feeling worse than ever. But then my dad lets go of the hug and looks down into my face.

“It’s Grandma Fawna,” he says.

“What?” I sputter. “Is she still missing?”

“No, she came back,” says Dad.

“Then what?” I ask.

“She’s sick,” Mom says. It must be serious because elves as powerful as my grandmother don’t get sick.

“Is she dying?” I ask.

Mom bites her lip. Bramble covers his ears. Willow lets out a loud wail. Suddenly all of my problems at school float away like dandelion fluff in the smallest breeze.

“We don’t know,” my dad says quietly.

I can’t believe it. I don’t believe it! Elves age just like humans for the first sixty or seventy years, but then if our magic is strong, an old elf can linger for hundreds of years. “But Grandma Fawna’s magic is so strong,” I say.

Dad just shakes his head. “Nobody understands what’s going on.”

“It’s me,” I whisper, and start to cry again.

“What?” Dad says, his face screwed up with confusion.

“It’s because I’ve been such a bad elf,” I confess. “I’ve been acting like an erdler. Somehow that got back to her and is taking her magic away!”

“No, it’s Dad’s fault!” says Willow. “She’s dying of a broken heart because he’s taken us away from her.”

My dad exhales sharply and looks to the ceiling, as if he’s trying to control his words. “For the last time, Willow, elves don’t get sick because the ones they love go away. It just doesn’t work like that.” He shakes his head and turns back to me. “Look,” he says, and wraps me in his arms again. I press my face against his chest and I sob. “You have nothing to do with this,” he assures me, but I’m not convinced. “And neither do I. None of us do. Grandma is just sick,” he says emphatically. “Sometimes elves get sick. We need to go back and help her. That’s all. We’ll figure it out.”

I look up. “We’re going back?” I ask. “To Alverland?”

“Yes,” he says. “Right now. We were waiting for you.”

chapter 10

THE FIRST THING
we do when we get to Alverland is rush to my grandmother Fawna’s house. The path through the woods is familiar and fills me with the reassurance of home, but still, like everyone, I’m worried about my grandma. We reach her porch and quickly but quietly head to the back of the house where she lays on her bed. Her long blondish gray hair spreads across the pillows and spills down over the shoulders of her soft white sleeping tunic. Her eyes flutter open just long enough to see us hovering over her, our hands out, sending her our hearts. Even Persimmon climbs up on the bed and holds her hands over Grandma. I think Fawna tries to smile and I swear I see a glimmer of the usual twinkle in her eyes. I know my mother is relieved to be back here by Grandma’s side even though Grandma whispers that we don’t need to make such a fuss.