Waves Too Strong

During the next few days at school, Cheston barely acknowledged Ellie. Sometimes he gave her a smile and said hi. But when the girls came or some of his rich guy friends came around, he would rather talk to them than her.

But still, the nightly visits still occurred. They seemed more like friends then than during school. They started to have deep conversations about their lives. Apparently his family was judgmental and only cared about themselves. Wow, a big shocker!

During one of their nightly conversations, Cheston asked Ellie if they could hang out after school.

”We could come to my place. You can meet my family,” he said.

”Um, is that really a good idea? I mean, you said your family was judgmental, and I don’t think they would like me.”

Oh, come on. I bet you’ll make them love poor people.”

”Um, thanks?”

 

On Tuesday, May 12 after school, Cheston drove Ellie to his house. Cheston’s mansion could probably fit 100,000 of her shelters in it. It was huge! It was made of brick. The front yard was covered in flowers and sculptures. Ellie wondered what it would be like to live in such a big house.

Well, she was about to find out.

Cheston opened the door to his house with his key and walked inside, Ellie following behind.

”Hi guys, I’m home,” he called into the house.

They walked into a room with a huge dinner table, with plenty of space for guests and parties. His mother had natural blonde hair, and his father had dirty blonde hair. Each had huge blue eyes. Something about them came off as unfriendly and unwelcoming. Why had Cheston invited her over?

Sitting at the table was a girl who must have been his older sister. It was a girl Ellie had seen walking with her boyfriend, the gorgeous and intimidating girl who had insulted her and her family.

Suddenly everything got all blurry. Ellie wanted to go home.

”You guys,” Cheston said, “This is my new friend, Ellie.”

”Hi,” Ellie said shyly.

The members of the White family gave weak smiles.

”You guys, could Ellie stay for dinner?” asked Cheston.

”Why, is she your date?” the older sister asked with a sneer.

”I guess you can stay for dinner, but we’re not having much. Only chicken pot pie, cooked vegetables, chicken soup, and brownies for dessert,” was Cheston’s mother’s cold reply. Ellie’s mouth watered at the sound of brownies. She used to make them every year for her family.

”That’s probably a humongous feast for her,” the older sister snickered.

”Dora, shut up,” Cheston ordered.

Ellie appreciated that Cheston stood up for her, but at the same time, it just made her feel more like a loser.

Before dinner, Cheston and Ellie hung out in his room. It was full of oldies CDs and running magazines. His bed was a king size water bed. It was all kinds of overwhelming.

”So you run?” Ellie asked.

”Yeah, I’m on the track team. Practice was canceled today because our coach is sick. So I thought it was a good day to have you over,” he said.

Ellie felt weird hanging out with someone who had so much more money than she did. Why was Cheston interested in a girl like her? He had friends of his own and tons of girls at school.

”So what do you like to do?” asked Cheston, interrupting Ellie’s thoughts.

Well, something I’ve always enjoyed is reading,” Ellie said, blushing a little. Cheston plays sports, and his favorite thing to do is probably skate at the park, she thought to herself. Ellie felt pathetic.

”Really? What kind of books? I always had kind of a thing for reading, but I never really told anyone that,” said Cheston, surprising her.

”Oh, mainly like stories based on real life teens or romance stories,” said Ellie, perking up a little.

Cheston cringed. Well, she couldn’t blame him. What guys like stories about teen girls and romance?

“Well, what books do you read?” she asked.

”Mostly Sports Illustrated magazines or inspirational stories,” he said.

”That’s not bad. At least you don’t read a book a week like me!”

Cheston smiled.

 

When Cheston’s mom called for dinner, Ellie got excited. She hadn’t had a full meal since the hurricane! It was always sandwiches for lunch and soup and bread for dinner. And cold waffles for breakfast. Mrs. Griffin had only so much money.

The White’s personal waiter (of course) put all the plates on the table. The dinner was silent as different portions of the meal were served. Who knew there would be so many?

At one point, Cheston’s little brother gave Ellie a weird look and asked, “Why are your clothes dirty?”

Ellie felt herself blushing.

”Frankie, that is rude,” said Mrs. White.

”Sorry, Mom. It’s just… why wouldn’t she wear orderly clothes for a dinner?”

Ellie left soon after she finished her brownie. She couldn’t wait to go home and be back with her family and friends.

That night, Ellie’s dream was so powerful she could feel the violent waves touching her skin. With Cheston walking closer to her, though, it seemed as if the focus of the dream turned to him. When he was close enough, Ellie bolted right awake. She needed some water.

As Ellie was using the sink to put water in a cup, she heard a creak outside. Turning to the window, she saw Cheston looking in. What’s he doing here? she thought, walking to the door. Cheston quickly turned and walked away.

Ellie ran out the door, yelling, “Wait! Where are you going?” But it was too late. He wouldn’t turn back.

 

That morning at the White household, the White family was eating a huge breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, fruit, and bagels.

Cheston didn’t know why he couldn’t sleep and didn’t know why he kept visiting the shelter. He just liked going there, and he sort of felt bad for the people living there.

 

At about the same time the Whites were eating breakfast, so was everyone at the shelter. Ellie was so curious about Cheston. She couldn’t stop thinking about him. She knew she was going to confront him the second she saw him.

Ellie walked to school earlier that morning so she wouldn’t be late again. She didn’t know why she didn’t just take the bus. Probably because it didn’t stop near the shelter and she’d have to wake up earlier just to catch it. Or maybe because I don’t have any friends on there, she thought.

Ellie headed toward Room 362 for Math with Mr. Gigliotti – a different class than yesterday. She ran into Cheston at the door.

“Oh, hi,” Ellie said.

“Hi.”

This time, Ellie took a seat right next to him. While the class was still settling in, Ellie started a conversation.

“You look oddly familiar. Hmm… like the guy that came to my shelter last night!”

 

Cheston was surprised that Ellie said ‘shelter’ in front of the whole class, but Ellie didn’t seem to notice. “Oh, yeah. I just like that spot for some reason,” he said.

Truth was, he was kind of curious about Ellie, just like she was curious about him. And for some funny reason, he kept feeling the need to go find out about her. Just as Ellie was about to say something else, some girls who looked like Barbies came up to him.

“Hey, Cheston,” a flirty blonde said.

“Hi Denise,” Cheston answered.

Denise sat down next to Cheston, and another blonde with brown lowlights sat next to her. The attention shifted to the front of the classroom as the teacher started talking about algebra.

 

Ellie realized it was going to be harder than she thought to get to know Cheston. Or make any friends, for that matter. Tory, Carrie, and Sam were OK, but they kept more to themselves. Ellie didn’t think they were really her type.

That night, her nightmares didn’t change. Getting out of bed, she went to start another fire in the fireplace. This time, she kept glancing out the window.

Around midnight, through the fogged windows, Ellie saw the back of Cheston’s head.

She opened the door.

They sat outside, leaning against the wall. No words needed to be said when they saw each other. In a way, Ellie didn’t even care how dumb it all was. She didn’t even know the guy, but she felt strongly pulled in by him.

After what felt like years of silence, Cheston finally spoke up. “You know, the reason that I come down here is because

They sat outside, leaning against the wall. No words needed to be said when they saw each other. In a way, Ellie didn’t even care how dumb it all was. She didn’t even know the guy. But she felt strongly pulled in towards him.

After what felt like years of silence, Cheston finally broke the ice. “You know, the reason that I come down here is because I kind of wanted to know what life would be like without all the money. Without all the stress of the family and everything.”

“What stress could you possibly have? I’ve had to sleep on a wooden floor with no blankets for a whole week, and then have to start in a new school with two outfits to my name.”

“You’re right. That is pretty horrible. But if I were to lose my money and my stuff for just a week or so, it wouldn’t be too bad. I’m bored of my lifestyle in a way.”

“Yeah, but then you’re getting all your money back. We are never getting it back.”

It was silent for a little while longer as they just sat there leaning against the shelter.

“You know I never did catch your name,” Cheston said.

“Oh. It’s Ellie Dresden. What’s yours?”

“Cheston White.”

“Yeah, I figured,” Ellie chuckled.

Cheston looked at his watch. “Well, I guess I should head back now. I’ll see you around school,” Cheston said.

“Okay. Bye.” Ellie was kind of grateful that he said it was time for him to go, since things were getting kind of awkward. They’d been sitting there for almost an hour, and it took him that long to ask her name. But at the same time, she wanted him to stay for another ten years.

Ellie went back to bed, replaying the whole scene in her mind over and over. Eventually, without realizing it, she drifted into sleep.

That Monday, Ellie emerged from a weekend of reading, talking, eating and sleeping to get ready for school. Well, in this case ‘to get ready’ meant changing into the t-shirt and baggy Capri pants hanging in the wardrobe, both of which were probably bought from Salvation Army.

The night before, Ellie had taken a shower with freezing cold water and foamy soap as shampoo. Her hair was a little stiff, definitely not used to using something other than her usual Pantene, but it was better than nothing. Now she put her hair up with a scrunchie Claressa Johnson loaned her from the collection on her wrist. Even through the storm, Claressa never took them off. Besides, where would they go?

As Ellie walked down a few streets, she wondered what it would be like to go back to high school. Even though the hurricane happened only two weeks ago, it felt like normal life was 20 years ago. Going back to high school would seem weird. She wondered if she’d see anybody there that she knew from her old school.

The walk took longer than Ellie expected, and finally a giant building with a huge glass performing arts center came into full view. It was Harrison High. Ellie pushed open the door and stepped into a hallway with a check-in desk for tardy people, unwelcomed guests, or new students--like her.

“Hi, I’m Ellie Dresden,” Ellie said shyly.

“You’re late,” the security guard said. He went through his list of students. When he found her name, he motioned for her to run along.

Ellie looked at the schedule her mom had taken down over the phone from the school administrators.

“Wait, where do I go for Ms. Hyde’s E.L.A class, Room 354?” Ellie asked.

“Go up 3 flights of stairs, take a right, and go down to the end of the hall,” said the guard.

“Okay, thanks.”

Ellie walked up the three flights of stairs. For some reason it took a lot of breath just to do that. She never was athletic, and her old school was just one floor. But it was wider than this school.

She thought about Frankie. He’d be walking into school in about an hour. The younger kids started later. She hoped he’d make friends quickly, but she worried about herself even more.

“Room 354, Room 354,” Ellie muttered as she scanned the doors. No one else was in the halls except a grouchy looking professor.

Found it! Ellie thought as she came to the end of the hall. She opened the door, her heart beating quickly. Ellie had plenty of experience being in high school, so she knew how to act.

Everyone in class turned towards her.

“Ellie, is it,” said the teacher – not asked. “Yes, the school told me I’d be getting a new student. Sit in that open seat in the back.”

Ellie made her way into the back of the room. She looked at the different faces in the room. Not one was someone she recognized. Well, there were a lot of classrooms in this school. They could be in any of those. In her old school, everyone knew each everyone else in their grade.

All of the girls were wearing designer outfits and had on tons of makeup. No one had on a pair of jeans or a t-shirt.

Then, almost has if she got struck by lightning, she noticed a very familiar face. A face that had been appearing in her dreams lately.

It was the boy who looked through her window that one night.

He was looking straight at her. When she saw him looking, he quickly turned his head back to the teacher.

The class was just regular English. Back at her old school, Ellie took lots of AP classes and was always fairly smart. But since she missed a whole year at this school, she decided to just drop back into regular English. Why bother with extra stress? She couldn’t concentrate anyway.

From class to class, Ellie felt like a total loser. She stood out in the crowd, and everyone gave her dirty looks. She never saw anyone she recognized from her old school.

But that one boy was in all of her classes.

At lunch that day, Ellie walked up to a table of normal looking people. They had on some makeup, and one person actually had on jeans.

As she sat down, they all stared.

“Um, hello,” said a girl with blonde hair highlighted with gold streaks.

“Hi, I’m Ellie. I just moved here,” said Ellie.

“Yeah, we could tell,” said another girl.

“Shut up, Carrie. Hi, I’m Tory…” said a third girl, reaching out her hand. Ellie took it.

Tory had brown hair layered around a slightly plump, round face. She had on a striped tank top.

“…And this is Sam.” Tory pointed to a girl with orange hair pulled back into a loose bun. She had on a polo shirt with jeans.

“Hi,” Ellie said. Everyone went back to eating their lunch and doing last minute homework.

Suddenly that one boy walked past the lunch table.

“Um, who’s that guy?” Ellie asked.

The girls turned their heads and looked at the boy, walking away.

“Oh, him? That’s Cheston. One of the richest families. You know he owns that huge mansion down on Chestnut Ave.?” Tory answered, brightening up.

“Yeah, he had like 20 girlfriends in this one year,” Sam added excitedly.

At those words, Ellie couldn’t help but feel upset. When so many other girls found him attractive, she wouldn’t stand a chance. And who would want to date a poor girl like me anyway? She thought glumly.

“He’s not in a relationship now,” Carrie said thoughtfully. “Surprising, if you ask me.”

“Ugh!” yelled Dora as she slammed the door.

“What’s wrong?” Mrs. White said.

“Those filthy people are starting to move in. I saw them walking around in town. Why did I see them walking around?”

“Calm down, Dora,” ordered Mr. White.

“I can’t! Why do they have to come here, of all places? Well, whatever. I’m going to the club tonight. I doubt you’re going to see poor people dancing around at a club.” Dora pouted.

“Dad, what is so bad about poor people? I mean, they once had money didn’t they? And they’re just like us,” Cheston said.

“Well, sometimes, Cheston, people with different lifestyles ought to be left alone,” his dad replied.

 

That night Cheston couldn’t sleep. He kept having nightmares about losing everything in a hurricane. He walked out the front door and made his way through town.

Eventually, he found himself right in front of the shelter. He glared into it for a little bit. Everything was silent on the first floor except for a small creaking. He looked through the window. Inside, there was a girl about his age roaming around. She had brown stringy hair and beat up dirty clothes.

As he inched closer to the window, the girl put her head up, and her eyes darted towards him. He quickly looked away and kept walking.

 

That morning, it was a typical busy Friday. Everyone at work was finishing up their big projects, and it was the end of a stressful school week. But for Ellie, she had no idea which day of the week it was. Her calendar was somewhere in the ocean, along with a bunch of her other things….

Breakfast was being set on the two long tables. The Johnsons made their way to sit right next to the Dresdens. Now, they were each other’s only friends. The other two families they’d never seen before. Weird, thought Ellie. I always used to know everyone in my neighborhood.

Mallory and Claressa were going to return to college in a few weeks. Mallory was training for nursing, and Claressa was into musical theatre. Unfortunately, now they didn’t know where they’d find the money to pay for the girls’ last years of college.

After dinner, everyone looked as if they hadn’t slept well. Their eyes were bloodshot with bags under them. Ellie didn’t blame them. She wasn’t able to sleep, either. She kept having that nightmare about screaming kids and water, so she decided to walk downstairs and sit by the fire to relax. Even with the heat, a fire always made her sleepy.

Finally, Ellie was tired enough to go back to bed. When she got up to put out the fire, she saw a face staring in the window. It was a boy’s face. He had shaggy blonde hair with blue eyes. Ellie couldn’t help thinking that he was kind of attractive. She walked up towards the window, trying to memorize the face. But when she reached the fogged up glass, she discovered that he was gone.

When she went back to bed, her dream had the same screaming kids and water. But now, as she studied the scene before her, a boy in a tuxedo was sticking out, coming towards her. The boy from the window.

 

“Sweetie, where were you last night?” Ellie’s mom asked the next morning. “I remember turning over in the middle of the night and you weren’t there.”

“Oh, I just got up to go to the bathroom.”

“Oh, I see…” Her mom said with a look of suspicion. Her thoughts were interrupted by Jimmy.

“Mommy, what will we do with our lives?” he asked.

“Well, we can’t keep you guys in here forever without anything. They have a public school, Harrison High. It’s for grades 6-12. I’m thinking of sending you guys there by Monday.”

“Monday? When’s that?” Ellie asked.

“Well, I’ve been counting the days of the week, and it’s Friday. So Monday is in three days.”

“Three days! How can I go to school in three days?” Ellie yelped.

“It’s not that hard, Ellie. You call up the school, and there you go. It’s the perfect time, it’s the weekend. What else are you supposed to do?”

“Well, don’t forget it’s May, right in the middle of the year. And I have no clothes.”

“First of all, you do have clothes. That whole wardrobe of clothes, remember? And they have washing machines, so it’s not like they’ll be dirty, and you can wash the outfit you have on if you want to wear that.”

“But those clothes have to be shared with everybody here, so I really get like two outfits.”

“Ellie, just be grateful you have clothes and an opportunity to go to school.”

But Ellie didn’t feel grateful.

Back home, Ellie went to Eastwood View, but that obviously got wrecked. Ellie wondered who was still alive from her school. She never really had any close friends. There were some nice people, like Kim and Gloria. They talked to her sometimes during class. Ellie wondered how she’d handle Harrison High. And how she’d handle having two outfits to last two whole months.

“Mom, we can’t stay down here forever,” Ellie said.

“I know, but we built this house for us to recover. We can walk down south to Shreveport when we’re ready.”

“Shreveport? Isn’t that the richest place in Louisiana?”

“Yes, but they have better shelters down there and a public school.”

“Yes, but what about supplies?”

“Well, you’ll just have to do without them.”

Ellie couldn’t imagine going to school after all of this. Back to the real life. Everything felt so different now.

After many more days of recovering from the hurricane, the Dresden family was finally ready to make their journey to Shreveport.

“Mommy, my feet are tired!” Jimmy whined.

“You’ll be fine. Just think about how much better we will be when we finally get to those shelters.”

When they reached town, Ellie couldn’t help feeling a bit odd with her stringy brown hair and beat up dirty clothes. She looked like she came out of a hurricane. Well, she did, and she was pretty sure the people in the town knew that. But even still, they gave her and her family the worst looks when they were walking by.

Ellie passed a couple that looked a little older than her, but not by much. They looked so perfect. Ellie wanted to be perfect and be rich, or at least have the money and house they once had. The girl had beautiful blonde hair with big blue eyes, and the man next to her had black hair cut short and green eyes. She wondered what their life was like. As she walked by them, the girl stared at her and she heard her mutter something about “filth” and “invading our town”.

Yeah. Ellie definitely didn’t like it here.

They finally reached the shelters. There were a few other survivors in there. One was a couple they knew well: Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, with their daughters Claressa and Mallory. Where was Kristen? They used to hang out when they were little.

There were two long tables. That was enough for 5 families. There was a fireplace and games. On the wall it said “Built in 1947. School House.” There was an upstairs with lines of beds. Apparently this place used to be a hospital after it was a school house. Weird how long ago all of that was, and now they are using it as a home.

There was one shower out in the back and a wardrobe of clothes. It didn’t make sense. Why, if surrounded by mansions and amazing brick houses, do we have to stay in this dump with one shower? Well it is better than nothing. But still, you don’t see people giving up any of their stuff for our sake, thought Ellie.

“Well, this is cozy. I love fireplaces,” Mrs. Dresden said.

“Yeah, but when will we need to use it? It’s burning hot!” I said.

“Not in the winter,” a lady in a uniform pitched in. She might have been the owner. “Even though it’s warm year round, the temperature drops to around 45 degrees at night in winter, so you would want the fireplace. Oh, and just to warn you: sometimes scorpions come in here, so be careful of those.”

“Well, uh, thanks for warning us. Uhm…” said Ellie’s mom.

“I’m Mrs. Griffin, the owner of this cabin. And you are?”

“Barbara Dresden. And this is my husband Frank, and my children Ellie and Jimmy.”

“Well. It’s nice to meet more of the survivors. Make yourself at home. We’ll be serving dinner in about 30 minutes.”

Ellie wondered if she could possibly get used to this place. It definitely wasn’t the same as her old home.

“Hello, Barb,” Mrs. Johnson said.

“Oh, hello, Kathy! It’s great to see you and your family are all here safe and sound.”

“Well, not everybody,” Said Mrs. Johnson, and Ellie listened intently. “During the storm, we were running. When we all got to a safe place, Kristen wasn’t with us. So…so…” Mrs. Johnson turned around while her eyes filled with tears.

“Oh, Kathy, I’m terribly sorry. I had no idea.”

“It’s… everything happens for a reason I guess…” Mrs. Johnson trailed off.

“Mom, is there any bread left?”

It was a usual day in New Orleans, Louisiana. The heat was blaring at 90 degrees. Everything was the same. And yet so much has changed.

A hurricane went through this place, and it hit pretty bad. One of the families that survived was the Dresden family. Nothing was left of their home except for a bunch of wood. They spent a week building a little shelter and surviving on the remnants of food left behind. Now Ellie is with her mom, dad, and little brother Jimmy. Their family was all together, and Ellie was grateful for that. Ellie was a quiet sixteen-year-old, but still loved meeting new people. Jimmy was always hyper and high maintenance. But ever since what happened, he hadn’t been the same. They used to live in a small colonial house. It was cozy and welcoming. Now they’re surrounded by pieces of wood poorly put together in a tiny area with nothing but a floor, walls and ceiling, and the people living in it. Oh, and a fishing pole. The Dresden family was lucky.

“Sorry, sweetie. The bread is all gone. We’re all tired and need sleep. We’ll wait for tomorrow to fish down by the river.”

Fishing used to be Ellie’s favorite thing. When she didn’t catch something, she used to laugh and move on. Now her life depended catching fish and the search for food. Plus, instead of the happy neighborhood to surround the river, there were pieces of wood and other things scattered everywhere, and things just couldn’t be happy anymore. The only thing keeping her happy was a good book. She always had one. This week’s book, which happened to survive the hurricane, was about a group of friends who all got separated.

 

Ellie closed her eyes and fell into a sleep full of screaming kids, water, and all the friends she’d ever had getting swept away.

 

“Mom, can you please pass the crème brûlèe?” Cheston said.

At about the same time that the Dresdens were asleep, the Whites were finishing up their daily feast. Tonight it was pasta with garlic bread, chicken, salad, and crème brûlèe for dessert.

The Whites consisted of a mom and dad, and three children: Cheston, Frankie, and Dora. Frankie was a well-mannered boy of seventeen. He was always saying “please” and “thank you” when usually boys his age would just yell and scream. Dora, age 19, was more of the party animal, always out with her friends and boyfriend Steve. She had that natural beauty of blonde hair and blue eyes that made guys fall in love with her. Just like her brother Cheston. He was tall and handsome with a perfect skin. His blonde hair was shaggy and the bangs were just above his eyes.

Down here in Shreveport, not too far from New Orleans, things were, well, rich. Mansions and hotels surrounded most of the area. There were many families just like the Whites, but everybody kept to themselves.

Just as they were enjoying their dinner, the news came on showing the aftermath of the hurricane.

“It really is a horrible thing what happened down there,” Cheston said.

“All I hope is that the survivors don’t move into those shelters around here. I don’t want them interfering with our everyday lives,” Mrs.White added.

“Would it really be that bad, Mom?”

 

“Shut up, Cheston. I don’t want filthy people walking around here ruining the happy vibe of this place,” Dora said.

“What happy vibe? Everybody is a jerk around here, and they don’t even talk to us!”

“My point exactly.”