Light Through the Window

by Cassandra Morphy

  As Becky waved off his words, Ellie noticed the Family Minder band that both she and Hero were wearing. The Family Minder bands, made by Angel Corp, came out soon after the invasion. They let families track their members and their health. When the first wave of the bands had come out, it was marketed as a way to make sure that their loved ones weren't replaced by demons. It was a real fear, given the fact that the demons had done just that when they had first arrived. Since then, they had become little more than another gadget for people to use.

  Ellie wasn't overly familiar with the bands, especially since Crowbarland Prep had banned them two years before she got there. Ellie's father had felt they weren't necessary, given the fact that the demons were all in the pacific northwest and seemed less inclined to try to leave there. Still, the ones that Becky and Hero wore looked to be one of the top end models, the ones that were easily mistaken for regular watches until they were being used as smart phones. She remembered seeing a commercial for one model where the screen could actually expand, sliding out to cover the entire forearm for a bigger display. She almost thought that they had that model, though she was pretty sure that wasn't supposed to be out until just before Christmas. Still, it seemed to her that these were rich people, exactly the type of people that she tried to avoid at any cost.

  She got an unwelcome flash of the smug face of Jenny from school passing through her mind as she grouped this Becky girl in with that ilk.

  "Anyway," Ellie said. "I should probably see where my dad has gone off to. We're supposed to go out for dinner. Have fun unpacking and getting acquainted with everything with the school and all."

  "Sure," Becky said. She had a curious expression on her face, one that Ellie ignored as she headed out the door.

  As the door closed behind her, shutting out the sight and sounds of her new, and hopefully short lived, roommate, another group of girls passed by her door. They were heading towards the stairwell at the end of the hall, over by the elevators. Ellie pressed her back against the door to stay out of their way as they passed. The mob of them were taking up most of the breadth of the hallway, leaving no room for her or anyone else. Two of the girls looked over at her as they passed, and a look of surprise passed over their faces. Ellie was similarly taken aback when she noticed their eyes.

  Their eyes were pitch black; not just their irises but the whites as well. They looked like two dark holes, empty and hollow, though they glistened in the light from the overhead lamps. The girls were too close to Ellie for it to just be a trick of the light.

  Once they had gotten over their shock, one of the girls smiled knowingly. The other just looked at Ellie with what could only be a look of disgust. The group continued onward, barely slowed by the momentary interaction between them. Ellie, however, stood there by her room, staring on as the group headed through the door to the stairwell. She didn't even notice as her father came out that same door at the same time as they entered it.

  "You ready for dinner?" he asked, as way of greeting. When Ellie didn't respond, he poked her on the shoulder. "Ellie? Are you alright?"

  "Did... did you see those girls?" she asked, once she got over the shock.

  "Yea. Why? Did they bother you?"

  "What? No. What? Didn't... Didn't you see their eyes?"

  "Not really. They looked normal enough to me. Why?"

  "I... I don't know," Ellie said, trying to shake off the sight. "Maybe I just need some more sleep."

  "Should we skip dinner?" her father asked. He looked disappointed, even before she had said anything about it.

  She gave him a half smile as she tried to write off the interaction as nothing more than her imagination. However, there was something telling her not to. It was a little voice in the back of her head that reminded her of her girlfriend.

  "No, I'm fine," she said, trying to shake off the feeling. "Let's go."

  Chapter Three

  Dinner

  "So, are you excited for classes to start tomorrow?" her father asked. “I gotta say, I do like this school schedule better than the old one. We used to do quarters, like your marking periods, but it just got to be too much, trying to cram everything into only ten weeks. Then, it’ll snow, and I just had to get onto campus or everything would get behind. It’s so much easier this way, believe me, though it means starting the school year earlier.”

  Ellie continued to stare at the plate in front of her. They had settled on hitting the cafeteria, rather than going to an actual restaurant. It wasn't like they were broke or poor or anything, but neither of them were all that picky. Besides, the cafeteria food at boarding school was amazing, and Ellie had figured U of C would strive towards similar levels of excellence. She was quite disappointed when they got into line, and she just went with what looked like the most edible amongst the food available.

  "Ellie?" he asked, waving his hand in front of her face to get her attention.

  "What?" she asked, finally snapping out of her inner stupor.

  "Are you already having problems with your roommate?"

  "No. She's... well, she seemed rich. Not overly snobby, but... Well, some people are like that."

  "What? Snobby?"

  "No, nice when you first meet them, then snobby down the road. I just can see that happening here."

  "You do realize we aren't exactly... I mean, your mother came from a very wealthy family. I may only be a lowly professor, but we're--"

  "I know, Dad," she said. "But, we're, like, comfortable rich, not throw it in other people's faces rich."

  "And this roommate of yours is?"

  "It's not like she was exactly doing that. It's just... I can see it coming. Not everyone is as outward about their snobbiness as some of the people I've known. I remember Alex being a little snobbish at one point, back in middle school, before her dad lost his job."

  "Yea, and look what happened between the two of you. I mean, she was your first girlfriend."

  "Who dumped me, hard, to hang out with her richer friends."

  "Funny. I remember that happening a lot different from that. Wasn't there some part about you dumping her?"

  "That was the second time," she said. "I'm talking about the end of eighth grade."

  "When she went away to that summer camp?"

  "Exactly. I mean, it was summer camp. Who still does that in this day and age?"

  "But you were right back together once ninth grade started. What happened there?"

  "It's not like I knew many other gay girls at school. Besides, I knew that wasn't going to last anyway. I'm not the kind of girl that dates people and not tell anyone about it. She was. It just wasn't going to work."

  "Oh, I see what this is about," he said. He smiled broadly as he started in on his chicken pot pie. Ellie had skipped that, thinking it looked like it was going to melt on her. She sat there, waiting for him to continue his thought, knowing that he was just playing up his revelation as a way of making it seem smarter than it was.

  "Are you going to clue me in on this revelation of yours?" she asked, when she got tired of waiting.

  "You're scared she's going to reject you like Alex did. You like this girl."

  "What? No. Pfft. No. That's not it. Besides, I'm already seeing someone. Mare. You remember Mare, right?"

  "Trust me, that one is hard to forget."

  "Don't I know it."

  "Except she's over at the Air Force Academy, and you're here, and your roommate is attractive."

  "Oh, please, don't say that." She hid her face in her hand, trying not to be seen with the crazy person across from her. However, there weren't many people in the cafeteria. Most of her classmates were celebrating the first day of college at more prestigious eating establishments. She was beginning to regret not going with one of those herself.

  "You just have to let yourself be open to new experiences," her father said. "Not all of them are as bad as that last one, and that didn't turn out so bad in the end. Right?"

  "You mean the time that you were kidnapped
by a power crazed woman and her minions? No, it didn't turn out that bad, once we rescued your sorry ass. I got a girlfriend out of it, and a certain set of skills. But, that's over. I'm old enough, and trained enough, to take care of myself. And, more importantly, you know that I can take care of myself, so you're not likely to believe that I've been kidnapped when I haven't."

  "Hey, you were technically kidnapped not long after I was. I had every reason to believe them when they said they already had you."

  "Anyway, it's not important," she said, ending the age old argument between the two of them. It was weird to her, seeing as how it was the first time that they had the argument in person, rather than over Skype. They hadn't spent much time together after he had been kidnapped. Even during the summer, she had spent much of the time avoiding him. However, seeing as how she was going to be in his class three times a week, it was going to be much harder for them to continue avoiding each other.

  "Right. So, excited about your classes starting tomorrow?" he asked, again.

  She smiled, figuring he was on a similar wavelength to her again, knowing that her first class was one of his. "Thrilled," she said, unenthusiastically. She quickly laughed it off, though, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

  "I know, they're not going to be as exciting as the classes at that school of yours. No samurai class or anything like that."

  "It was ninja class," she said. "And ninja class was awesome. As was hacking. Honestly, though, I'm mostly just missing my friends."

  "Well, you know, you could make some new friends here. I'm sure there are plenty of people here that you have something in common with. You should try joining some of the groups here. Did you at least get out to the fair a little? Or, did you just stay in your room the entire time... You just stayed in your room the entire time, didn't you?"

  "Uh... Well..."

  "Ellie, you know how antisocial you get when you're not... well, social. You just need to get out there more, be with people. Then you'll be less guarded, less prone to think 'this sucks' just because."

  "God, I can't believe you said 'suck'," Ellie said, shuddering.

  "It is a perfectly reasonable word. My generation has been using it for decades. You centennials are just too sensitive."

  "At least we're not as bad as the millennials."

  "But, seriously. I'm sure there are loads of parties out there tonight. Why don't you grab that snobbish roommate of yours and hit some of them?"

  "I think you answered your own question there." Ellie took a long drink from her glass of water, washing down the last of her roast chicken. It was practically inedible, and something she would have to avoid going forward. As she was drinking, she noticed that said roommate was just entering the cafeteria, complete with her own father figure. Hero seemed remarkably out of place amongst the few students that were coming in for dinner behind him. These students all looked on the older side, making Ellie figure that these were the upperclassmen that had moved in that day as well, rather than her fellow freshmen.

  Becky and Hero looked around at the gathering horde around them. They seemed to be doing the usual first day at lunch stare, though the cafeteria was larger than at most high schools. The place was actually about as large as the one at boarding school, which had been specifically designed to handle all 600 or so students at one sitting, when needed. When their eyes panned across towards Ellie, she ducked down, trying to hide behind her dinner. There wasn't enough left on her plate to be much of a barrier.

  "Please tell me they're not heading over here," she muttered.

  "Who?" her father asked, not taking the hint to be quiet.

  "Hey, Ellie... and Ellie's dad," Becky said. "Would you mind if we sit with you?"

  "No, that's fine," Dave said, without looking over at his daughter. Ellie gave him a death stare, trying to make it clear that she didn't want them sitting with them. But the damage had already been done.

  "Thanks," Hero said. "I see we weren't the only ones that didn't think to get a reservation. I mean, it was just a pizzeria. Who ever heard about pizzerias taking reservations?"

  "Hero, there are tons of families eating out right now," Becky said. "Of course, everywhere would be packed. I mean, it's understandable that you wouldn't think of that because, well, you're... um... I mean old and all that, I guess?"

  "Actually, we hadn't bothered with all of that," Dave said. "I eat here all the time, so it doesn't really bother me much. You just have to know what to eat, and what to avoid." He looked purposefully at Ellie's now empty plate.

  "Gee, maybe a little warning next time?" Ellie said.

  "It would have been rude to tell you in front of the cooks like that. They're a bit sensitive about their crappy food, mostly because they've never eaten it."

  "Why do you eat here so often?" Becky asked. "Oh, right. Ellie said you were on the faculty?"

  "Yea, I'm a professor here," Dave said. "Physics. You might even have me, if you're in the 101 class tomorrow."

  "Oh, cool," Becky gushed. "I've never actually met a professor before. The people in my family aren't exactly intellectuals, or anything. I'm not sure any of them even went to college."

  "I think your step mother did," Hero said. "Your half-sister might as well, but that's a few years off. But, you're right. Your mother didn't, your father didn't, I certainly didn't, but... well..." He eyed Ellie and Dave, making it clear that he would have said more had they not been there.

  "So, wait, you're not her father?" Dave asked.

  "He's sort of my step father, in a way," Becky said. "He was my mother's boyfriend before she died. I kind of got stuck with him."

  "Well, isn't that nice," Dave said. He nudged Ellie under the table. "Something the two of you have in common."

  "Actually, it seems like a lot of people on campus have lost a parent or two," Becky said. "There was even a booth for it out in the quad earlier. There’s a group about it, of all things. They have a meeting in a couple of days, if you want to join us."

  "Wouldn't that be nice?" Dave asked, pointedly.

  "Uh huh," Ellie muttered. She just stared down at her empty plate, trying to imagine more food into it. She wasn't hungry anymore, or she would have tried to get something else. It was more like she wanted something to do besides join in on the conversation.

  "Anyway, I have an early class tomorrow," Dave said, stretching. "We should probably get going."

  Ellie looked up at her father, beaming at him. At the fact that he finally got the message that she didn't want to be there. That she didn't want to sit with this girl that she had already decided she wasn't going to like. She quickly jumped to her feet, scooping up her tray, before his words really registered to her.

  "Wait, early class?" she asked. "How early?" She hadn't thought to look at her schedule, but she had a sinking feeling that she was in that early class he was talking about.

  "I'll see you bright and early at 8 o'clock tomorrow," he said, with a knowing smile. They both knew just how grumpy Ellie could be that early in the morning. Not as bad as Mare was, but still.

  "Oh, right," Becky said. "I love early morning classes. I think I have everything before noon." She pulled out a much-abused sheet of paper out of her pocket, smoothing it out on the table. "Physics 101 at 8 o'clock with Professor Neilson. Yup, I'm in that class, too. Maybe we can go over together?"

  "Yippee," Ellie said, without much feeling. "I guess I'll see you back at the room, then."

  "Yup. See ya. Have fun, and all that. Ooh, maybe head over to that booth I was talking about. I'm sure they'll still have the signup sheet up. I'm telling you, it was like five pages long when I saw it. How much you want to bet it's more like ten now? I'm serious, so many people have dead parents these days. It's incredible."

  "Well, I guess with the invasion and all," Dave said.

  "Uh huh. Yea," Ellie said. She grabbed her father's arm, forcefully pulling him away from her roommate and towards the door.

  "Ow," Dave complained. "You might want to l
ay off my arm a little. Wow, that ninja class really got you strong, didn't it?"

  "Um, sorry. I guess I don't really know my own strength these days."

  Chapter Four

  The Girlfriend

  Ellie's tablet was propped up on her desk, positioned just right so that it would pick up her bed on the camera. She dithered a little, trying to figure out just the right pose to be in. First, she was lying down, trying to be all seductive. She had even thought of putting on something a little more revealing than the old jeans and t-shirt she had been wearing all day. That position lasted all of five seconds before she sat up, putting her back to the brick wall that was next to her bed. However, the wall was too cold for her, and she was wondering if her nipples would start to show if she sat there like that for too long. Instead, she settled on sitting against the dresser, which was at the foot of her bed, letting her legs stretch out over her comforter.

  She was nervous. She wasn't sure why she was nervous, but it was clear that she was. They had been going out practically since they had met, almost two years earlier, when Ellie had first gone to boarding school. The last time they had been together, in any sense of the word, had been months ago. But they had these regularly scheduled Skype dates, which they had done plenty of times over the course of the summer. It wasn't until Mare's face popped up on her tablet and she rushed towards the screen that she realized just why it was that she was so nervous.

  Ellie clicked the button to start the video chat before it could ring the first time. Mare's face looked startled as the video snapped on from her end. She leaned back from the camera and her barracks room fell into view behind her. It was still bright out there, in Colorado, though the sun had already set in Chicago. The sunlight was streaming through the window next to Mare, perfectly framing her face.

  "Hey, you," Mare said. She smiled brightly at her, gazing longingly into the camera.

  "Hey," Ellie said, nervously. She once again remembered that her father was no longer within easy listening distance. That was why she had been so nervous about the call, why that call was so different from all the ones they had done before then.