Chapter 16 Aanya

Chapter 16 Aanya

            The bell rings to signal the end of school and I head towards room 334 with Harry. We walk in and the rest of the drama club greets me. I don’t really like drama club, it requires me to come out of my shell often, but there’s a price you have to pay when you don’t play sports.

            We kick off today’s meeting with a few announcements. The president of the drama club gets up and begins speaking, “Alright fellow thespians, I have a few things to tell you so shut your faces and listen up. First things first, I have a message from Mrs. Bennett about the performance of this year’s school musical.” Everyone cheers excited to hear about what Mrs. Bennett thought about the performance. I personally have stage fright so I just did backstage work while the majority of students actually acted.

            The president of the drama club waves his hand in the air to quiet everyone down, “Do you want to hear it or not? Okay,” he begins, clearing his throat in a facetious way,

“Dear Scioto River High School Drama Club Students,

Thank you for participating in this year’s production of Hairspray. I would like to thank you for your service, you were all excellent. I believe the show went really well and I would love to work with you all again on next year’s show. Be proud of what you did, you are truly amazing.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Bennett

Scioto River High School Drama”

            “You heard her ladies and gentleman, she thinks we are excellent. Now who wants to play Freeze?”

            The majority of the drama club raises their hand and we all participate in a game of Freeze until 4:30.

***

            I get home at about 4:45 plop down on the couch and treat myself with a little TV. About halfway through my show I hear a loud scream in the backyard followed by a series of whimpers. I turn off the TV and rush into the kitchen to open the sliding glass door. Lying on the ground next to a large tree is Brooklyn crying as her arm stretched out beside her. “I don’t think arms are supposed to bend like that,” I exclaim worryingly.

            “Mommy! Mommy!” Brooklyn cries.

            I rush to her side and ask, “Brooklyn what happened?”

            “I-I-I was- climbing the tree- and- I-I-I fell,” Brooklyn answers through her tears.

            “Does your arm hurt?”

            “Yes.”

            “How much?”

            “A lot.”

            I slowly begin lifting up her arm and she lets out an antagonizing scream, “I think it might be broken, I’m going to go get Mom.”

            Brooklyn continues to wail as I run upstairs and into my Mom’s bedroom. “Mom!” I exclaim but there’s no answer. “Dang it, she’s not home.” I reach into my pocket to retrieve my phone, but it’s not there. I frantically pat my pockets, “Where did I leave it?” I say through my teeth.

I run downstairs and into the family room where I search the couch, under the couch, under the couch cushions, and anywhere on the floor. As I get up off the floor I look at the table and see my phone resting there. “Aha! There you are.” I jump up off the floor and call my mom.

            I tap my foot frantically as I wait for my mom to answer. “Pick up, pick up,” I mumble, “Pick up the phone, come on pick up.” I wait a few more seconds until I hear a familiar voice on the other line,

            “I’m sorry but the person you’ve called has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet-”

            “Oh come on!” I yell. I open up my messages and send a quick text to my mom; I think Brooklyn broke her arm I’m going to see if Harry’s mom can drive us to the doctor’s.

            I send my message and then text Harry; I think Brooklyn broke her arm. My mom isn’t home I need you guys to drive us to the doctor.

            I wait impatiently until I hear the familiar noise of a new bubble popping up, Be there in a few.

            “Oh thank goodness,” I whisper under my breath. I run back outside and say, “Brooklyn, Mom isn’t home but I texted Harry and they’re on their way. Do you need help getting up?”

            “Yes,” she cries.

            I walk over to her and help her up, “Does it still hurt?”

            “Yes,” she says with a sniffle.

            “Okay, we’re going to try and get to the front yard without moving it too much.”

            “Okay,” she says still whimpering.

            We walk through the house and out the front door where we see Harry and his mom waiting for us in the car. Mrs. Jacobs gets out of the car and approaches us saying, “Let’s put her in the front seat that way I can try and keep an eye on her.”

            “Okay,” I reply.

            We walk out to the car and I help Brooklyn with her seatbelt. I hop into the backseat of the SUV and plant myself next to Harry.

            Mrs. Jacobs puts the car into reverse and starts backing out of the driveway, “What happened Aanya?”

            “She said she was climbing up one of the trees in the backyard and she slipped and fell.”

            “She landed on the ground. Correct?”

            “Yes.”

            “Does your head hurt at all,” Mrs. Jacobs asks my sister.

            “A little bit,” she replies while nodding her head.

            “I’m going to ask some questions okay.”

            “Okay.”

            “What’s your name?”

            “Brooklyn.”

            “Where do you live?”

            “Portsmouth, Ohio.”

            “What’s your mom’s name?”

            “I don’t know. I think it’s Elaine.”

            “What day is it?”

            “Monday.”

            “Do you know the date?”

            “May 5, 2014.”

            “Where are you?”

            “In the car.”

            “Okay, she might be alright but she concerns me with that question about your mom,” she says to me. She looks back at my sister and says, “Okay we’re here. I’ll help you out.”

            We all get out of the car and wait for Brooklyn. She’s walking carefully, trying to avoid moving her arm too much. We head inside the hospital and Harry and I sit in the waiting area while Mrs. Jacobs takes her to the front desk. Just then I hear my phone ring and I look to see the word Mom across the top. “Hello?” I answer.

            “Oh my gosh, is Brooklyn okay?”

            “We think she’s fine. Mrs. Jacobs started asking her a bunch of questions and she knew all of them but your name.”

            “What’d she say my name was?”

            “Elaine.”

            “Okay good, that’s what she thinks it is. I can’t seem to get her to get it right.”

            “Mrs. Jacobs is at the front desk with her right now.”

            “Tell her I’m going to try and get there as soon as I can.”

            “I will.”

            “Okay, love you Sweetie.”

            “Love you too Mom, bye.”

            I get up and walk towards Mrs. Jacobs and Brooklyn, “My mom says she’ll try to get here as soon as she can.”

            “Okay,” Mrs. Jacobs replies, “We have to wait until your mom gets here before we can do anything.”

            We all sit in the waiting area waiting for my mom to show up. After about 30 minutes I see a tall woman with brown hair in a bun walk through the hospital doors.

            “Mom,” I call.

            “Hi Sweetie, Brooklyn are you okay?”

            “I think so.”

            “Does your arm still hurt?”

            “A lot.”

            “Okay, let’s go take some X-rays.”

            Harry, Mrs. Jacobs, and I all wait in the waiting room while my mom goes with Brooklyn to take a look at her arm. After about an hour they finally come back and we all stand up.

            “So?” I ask.

            “It’s broken,” my mom replies, “Other than that though, she’s okay.”

            “So no head injury?” Mrs. Jacobs asks.

            “No head injury,” Mom confirms

            “We’re going to take off now, come on Harry.”

            “Thank you Ellie,” my mom says.

            “You’re welcome Eileen; I’m glad Brooklyn’s alright.”

            We get in the car and head home, Brooklyn’s got a sling and some sort of brown cast looking thing wrapped around her right arm.

            “It’s a good thing you’re left handed,” I say.

            Brooklyn giggles and replies, “Right? At least school won’t be too much of a struggle.”

            We get home around 6:00 and my mom makes us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for dinner. I eat mine pretty quick, but it takes Brooklyn a little more time since her sandwich keeps falling apart while she tries to eat it.

            I walk into the family room to obtain my backpack and then head to the cave. The sun is starting to go down so I’ll only be able to be out here for a little while. I sit in the mouth of the cave and pull out To Kill a Mockingbird. Tonight’s assignment is to read from chapter 29 to the end. I make it to the second to last page before the sun sets behind the mountains. I begin packing up my backpack until out of the corner of my eye I see a faint glow.

            I turn my head towards the back of the cave where I see a small rock gleaming with a variety of colors. I crawl to the back of the cave and look even closer at the rock. Each color of the rainbow is reflected in every individual sparkle. “Talk about Déjà vu,” I say. I think back to where I may have seen something like this before, it’s the same rock I saw on Saturday, the same rock that helped me discover my powers.

            I stretch out my hand and pick up the rock. Next thing I know I’m being jerked out of the cave and everything goes black. I wake floating in a rainbow tube. All around me rainbows are flashing and sparkling. I hover over towards one end of the tube trying to find some sign of stars or a moon or something. I feel as though I’m getting closer and closer to the end of the magical tunnel when suddenly I feel a force push me forward at top speed.

            I fly through the tunnel, colors whizzing past me until I fall flat on my butt in the middle of a gray room. Each wall is aligned with two glimmering doors crafted from a light wood. I slowly stand up and take a few steps back into a corner where I don’t move a muscle.