THE NEXT DAY (TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2021)

ELLA’S CHILDHOOD HOME, JACKSON HEIGHTS, QUEENS, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

Her parents came by later that day to take her home. They had brought their car with them to bring her home, the sacrifice of their treasured street parking spot a true sign of New York love. Ella felt warm to see her mom still had the shawl on.

Her small bedroom always felt like home, and even more so now. She liked to call the decor her “pastel and frills” period. A few pictures on the wall of her and friends at various ballet performances, the stuffed animals that hadn’t made the dorm room draft, a tiny wardrobe, a very ornate vanity table that had subbed for a desk at times and an old lamp with a crappy CFL bulb.

She lay down on the bed to rest, but felt oddly energized. Her side didn’t hurt as much as it had, and she ended up texting friends and watching stupid videos online.

The taste of Tang still lingered in her mind if not on her tongue. She began to think about what she could do and began a list on her phone.

Once it was done, she got up and went down to the dining room. Her mother and father were both there, having taken the day off to be there for her.

“Dhee, you should be sleeping.”

“Couldn’t sleep. I want to go for a walk.”

Her mothers expression left no doubts about what was coming. Her father stepped in, “I’ll go with you. And we will come back right away if you look worse.”

After more iatrogenic fussing by her mother, they finally got out the door. Ella was lost in her dad’s large parka against the early October chill. They walked slowly as Ella tested her endurance and health.

“Your mom and I were terrified.” Her dad did not look at her.

“I know. I think she has been wearing that hideous shawl non-stop since it happened. It is sweet.” She paused. “It was just some crazy guy. And that is why I wanted to go for a walk”

“Hmmm?”

“Going to at least get some pepper spray. Figured I would go get some today.”

“Good idea. But it won’t replace judgment.”

“Oh I have a new appreciation for judgment. I am going to have so much judgment they will give me my own courtroom and gavel.”

“Soooo… That boy.”

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Ella rolled her eyes. “I know. I am supposed to let you mess with them. It is your one great pleasure in life. The one thing you love doing every time. What was it going to be? Axe throwing when he came by? Sharpening the kitchen knives? Cleaning a shotgun you don’t actually own?”

“Actually I was going to give it up. I never can keep a straight face but it makes for good intro.”

“Well except for Hunter, he ran out the door so fast.”

“Hey, that was a true accident. I was actually carving up some meat when he walked in the door. And it just sprayed a bit of extra blood when I cut through it.”

“It was gross.”

“Hey. I apologized and got him to come back. And he was your boyfriend for two years!”

“Yeah and you were very nice when you walked in on us on New Years. Just said, ‘oops.’ And then started making fun of his kissing technique loudly behind the door. And he was a good kisser!”

“Good times.”

And then he continued, “so… the guy… with the flowers…” and then he waggled his eyebrows.

“You are the king of cheese, dad. His name is Jae-Young, and we went on like one date. He even admitted he wasn’t sure he should have come by since we weren’t a thing yet. But I thought it was nice.”

They reached the store. Ella bought some skittles and two keychain pepper sprays. She mentally crossed that off the list.

At dinner, they had mom’s cooking. She was an indifferent cook, but even though her mom was incapable of saying her feelings, it was pretty obvious by her actions.

The next day, her mom had to go see patients. Dad was going to stay home for a bit more and joked about how having grad students meant he lived a life of dissipation with a wink at her.

Ella sat in her room and called Craig, Jade’s brother. They talked a bit and he pointed her to a couple well-respected fighting gyms. He also pointed her to some famous fighters to watch on YouTube and elsewhere. Then he warned her that competition was not fighting. She called one of the gyms up and signed up for some classes.

Another item off the list.

A gun was probably out of her reach right now. Maybe a taser would be possible. She ordered a sheathed kitchen knife a cook might use although not knowing how to use one might mean she would hurt herself. YouTube was filled with tons of what Craig called bullshido, and she skipped past them.

Then she looked at the last item on her brainstorming list.

> (5) Figure out what the fuck is going on.

She pulled out the contacts she had been wearing for days and stared at her pale white eyes in the mirror. And tried to make them glow. Nothing happened.

She tried to make the crown she knew was there appear. At times she could feel a slight bit of resistance as she combed her hands through her hair. But it was so slight it could have been her imagination.

After a while, her head started hurting, and she put her head down on the small makeup vanity, and she fell asleep.

A sudden noise woke her up and she realized it was dark outside and her mother must have come home and shut the door. She reached overhead to stretch her arms and back and knocked a hairbrush off the table. Despite her room being dark, she could see the brush perfectly as it fell in what seemed like slow motion. Her hands shot forward and she grabbed it out of the air. In the mirror, her eyes glowed white and a ghostly tiara sat across her forehead.

She reached up to the crown and could feel it’s solidity as she pulled it off. It lingered for a moment before fading away and reappearing on her head. Her mother was calling her down for dinner, and she could smell her mom’s biryani. For a moment, she freaked out wondering how she was going to make the effect go away. After a few minutes it became dark once again. She carefully put in her contacts and went down to eat.