Knocked Over

Part 1: The Beach

The waves had been unusually high that summer. That was what Eliza remembered most clearly. She was eight years old, and her family had gone to the beach for a week, and for some reason, because of the moon or the ocean or climate change, the waves that summer were enormous. 

She had been scared, at first, to go into the water. For the first few hours, she stayed near the shore where the water barely grazed her ankles. Little by little, however, she went farther and farther out. 

The water was up to her waist when she felt something hard and sharp beneath her foot. She remembered too late her mother’s warning about crabs. She reached down to grab her foot, but was instead knocked off balance and fell into the ocean.

She was flung headlong into the crest of the largest wave yet. This was a monster, a wicked creation that snarled and screamed into her ear. Her body scraped against the ocean floor, the sand grinding against her torso, the salt in her eyes rubbing out everything but the pain.

The worst was her throat. It tasted like tears, like the ocean was a collection of all the fearful tears she had shed. Eliza thought she would never leave this whirlpool. She’d be stuck here forever, eaten by one of those monsters she saw on television.

After what felt like multiple lifetimes, Eliza finally arose from the depths. The sun seemed blinding, after the darkness of sand and blue water. Her eyes rebelled against the sight, and she bent over to avoid looking at it. Then, into her water-clogged ears, came the piercing sound of a whistle. 

There was a lifeguard, his chair framed by the high noon sun, waving at her and pointing to the right. The waves had carried her too far, out of the region it was acceptable to swim. Her mother had warned her not to go there, otherwise the lifeguards wouldn't be able to protect her, and she might drown.

Shivering from the cold and terror, she ran out of the water. She didn’t think she’d be able to go in the ocean anytime soon. Instead, she ran around, trying to find her family’s campsite where they had set down all their umbrellas and chairs. There was sand between her teeth, and her salty hair kept falling in front of her face. A few times she tripped and bruised her knees on seashells.

Finally, she stumbled into her family's campsite. She reached for the basket of towels next to her mother's chair, hoping to dry herself off, but-

"No! Not those towels, Elaine," her mother said, pulling the basket away.

"Mom-"

"Not now, sweetie, I'm ordering lunch. Do you want anything?"

Elaine paused. Lunch didn’t sound too bad. 

“Do they have cheeseburgers?”

“Yes.”

“I want a cheeseburger,” Elaine said, "no mustard. No mustard, Mom. No mustard.”

"Yes, yes," her mother said, "cheeseburger- mustard. Got it. Now run away, sweetie. Go play with some clams or something."

Elaine was going to go and sit by the shore, but before she did that she wanted to get a sip of water. Her throat was hurting so much.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" her mother said, "I have important business to do. Go!"

Her tone was so frightening that Elaine hastily stepped away from the cooler, forgetting all about her parched throat. She ran to the seashore and sat down near the edge of the water, digging at the little clams buried in the sand.

The pain in her throat was going stronger with each second. Eliza tried to focus on the feeling of the cool sand beneath her hands, but it didn’t counteract the burning in her throat. She wanted to go back and get some water, but she didn't know if or when her mother would be finished with her important business.

"Cinderella! Cinderella!"

Eliza stood up when she heard that, looking around for who had called her. Her brothers Max and Emmett were the only ones who called her Cinderella. They didn’t know what it meant; they just thought it was vaguely insulting in some way.

"It's time for lunch," her father said.

Hearing this, Eliza started running, catching up with her brothers. When they got to her family’s campsite, she sat down and her mom handed each of them a bottle of water. Eliza gulped hers down thirstily. After her thirst had been quenched, her mind immediately fixed on the thought of the cheeseburger. 

When her mother handed her the small, round, warm packaged covered in yellow paper, she could barely restrain herself from biting into it, wrapping and all. She tore apart the packaging and sunk her teeth into the corner of the cheeseburger.

And immediately spit it out into the sand.

“Elaine!” her mother scolded.

Elaine ripped off the bun, took one look at the inside of the burger, and burst into tears. 

“What a crybaby,” Max said.

“Hey Elaine,” Emmett said, “man up.”

“Why are you crying?" her mother said, "I got exactly what you asked for. Cheeseburger with extra mustard.”

This only made Elaine cry harder.

"What's this fuss about?" her father said, looking up from his newspaper, "Why is Elaine crying?”

“I don’t know.”

“Listen here, young lady. Your mother decided to be very kind and get you something special for lunch. She didn’t have to. But she did, out of the goodness of her heart. And you thank her for crying?’

‘I’ve had enough of this. You will eat that burger and you will enjoy it, and that is final."

Elaine sobbed even harder, but that only made the mustard-covered burger taste slightly salty. 

Part 2: The Birthday Party

“What a lovely cake,” Eliza’s friend Rosemary said appreciatively.

For her birthday party, Eliza had baked herself a large pink cake. That was what she was carrying now, balanced on both hands, the matches and candles tucked into the crook of her elbow. Eliza felt a thrill in her heart as she heard all her friend’s compliments. Blushing, she stuck 16 candles into the cake, taking great care to light each one. 

After she had lit all 16, she turned out the lights, and her friends started singing. Eliza smiled, her cheeks flushed by the heat of the flame, long brown hair falling over her shoulder.

But before she could even make a wish, one of her friends let out a maniacal shriek. She pointed at Eliza’s hair and started running away, knocking over a chair in her rush to get away. 

“Eliza,” her friend Rosemary said, “your hair’s on fire!”

“My hair?” Eliza said.

It was true. Her long brown hair had somehow touched one of the candles, and was now going up in flames. Her friends were backing away from her, some of them going so far as to run out the door.

“Ah!” Eliza screamed.

She looked around for something, anything, to put out the flame. She saw that one of her friends had a cup full of soda next to her plate, so Eliza reached for that. 

But instead of putting out the fire, she only made it worse. Her hair touched the tablecloth, and the pink fabric caught fire. 

That was enough to make all her friends run out the front door as fast as their legs would carry them. Eliza was left alone in the dining room, surrounded by the bitter, acrid smells released by the fire.

“Eliza?"

Eliza mother had finally emerged from her bedroom, a horrified expression on her face as she saw the scene before her. She grabbed the fire extinguisher out of the kitchen, and sprayed it all over Eliza, and then the table. Instead of a mouthful of pink frosting, Eliza got a mouthful of artificial foam for her birthday.

"Mom, I'm sorry, it was my hair-" Eliza tried to say, but her mother cut her off.

"Go take a shower. I'll deal with it.”

Eliza, wiping a bit of foam from the corner of her eye, started walking up the stairs.

"Eliza?"

"Yes, Mom?"

"Try not to touch anything."

Part 3: The Boyfriend

"Mom!"

Eliza ran down the driveway to give her mother a hug. She’d just returned from her first semester at college, coming back for Christmas break. Her mother ushered in the front door, and they sat down in the dining room. Her father and brother were watching football in the living room. As soon as Eliza had sat down, she spilled her news.

“Mom, I have a boyfriend!”

"A boyfriend?"

"Yes," Eliza said, "his name is David. He’s majoring in biology, and plays guitar, and he has the nicest hair I’ve ever seen."

"Sounds lovely.”

“He grew up in Kansas, and he has two older sisters, and-"

"Oh! Look at the time. I’m sorry, but I have to leave now.

“Leave?”

“I have to pick up the cake from the grocery store. We’re having a Christmas party tonight, and I had this cake specially ordered. It’s shaped like an evergreen tree, and covered in green frosting with little red sprinkles as ornaments.”

“Sounds gorgeous, Mom.”

“It will be.”

“Can I come with you?”

“Come with me?”

“To the grocery store. To pick up the cake.”

“Don’t be silly. You’re much too busy. You have to unpack, and freshen up for the party.”

Eliza nodded, and watched as her mother grabbed her keys and walked back out the door. After she was gone, Eliza carried her suitcase to her room and began unpacking. She didn’t know how formal the party, so she pulled out her favorite red dress. To make it a little more celebratory, she added a thin black belt and small snowflake earrings. Since it was a Christmas party, Elaine pulled out her favorite red dress. She clasped a small black belt around her waist, and put little snowflakes earrings on. David had got them for her, as a Christmas present. 

They’d met the first night at college, during the freshman cookout. She’d been sitting in the corner, all alone, until he’d come. He said his friend was there with his girlfriend, and they were being gross, so he’d decided to move. David had spent the whole night telling her jokes and making her laugh, and when it was over, he’d asked for her phone number. After that, very few days had passed without seeing David. 

"Cinderella?"

It was her brother Max.

"Could you knock?"

Max laughed.

"Looking nice, Cindy. Mom gave you the talk, huh?"

Eliza spun around, a stick of lip gloss in one hand and a brush in the other. 

"I can see that she did," Max said, "Party starts at 5. I'll be rooting for you, Cindy.”

“Wait, Max-“

But he was already gone. What did that mean? Eliza wondered. What did Mom have to do with this? Was there something going on, some conspiracy she wasn’t a part of. 

She quickly dismissed the thought, however, as it was probably just some of Max’s nonsense. He loved to get under her skin. 

“You look gorgeous, sweetie,” her mother said as Eliza walked down the stairs and into the living room. It had been completely transformed, covered with tinsel and fake green leaves. The table had disappeared under with tiny sandwiches and pieces of cheese and fruit. 

"Thank you, Mom."

"There's someone here I'd like you to meet," her mother said, politely steering her through the crowd of people. 

They eventually landed on a small circle in the corner. It consisted of Emmett, Max, another young man, and an older couple who looked like the parents of the young man.

"Mr. and Ms. Baker, this is my youngest daughter, Eliza. 

“Hi,” Eliza said, waving shyly.

“Eliza, this is Mr. and Ms. Baker, our neighbors who moved in after the Smiths left, and their son Miles. And this is their son, Miles.”

“Nice to meet you Mr. and Ms. Baker,” Eliza said, “you too, Miles.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Miles said.

"Mr. and Ms. Baker, have you seen my tree?" her mother said.

"I don't believe we have," Ms. Baker said.

“Let me show you, then,” Eliza’s mother said, "with all three children out of the house, I’ve had an extraordinary amount of time on my hands, and I’ve taken on this tree as a sort of hobby.”

Eliza’s mother ushered the Bakers away, and within a few minutes, Max and Emmett had disappeared as well. Max winked at Eliza as he left, and she began to feel vaguely uncomfortable. She felt like everyone but her knew she was walking straight into a cobweb.

"So, Eliza," Miles said, "what are you studying?"

“English.”

“You’re a reader then.”

“I am.”

They talked for a while about college, and all the changes they hadn’t expected, coming from high school. They spent a solid ten minutes talking about the huge gap between high school cafeterias and college cafeterias.

“Speaking of cafeterias and food,” Miles said, “there’s something I want to show you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It’s in the kitchen.”

Miles held out his hand, and Eliza took it, tentatively. What was he going to show her? This was her house, and she knew it much better than he did. But she followed him, stopping just under the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room.

“What is it?” Eliza said, “did my mom get a new blender?”

Miles smiled.

“Look up.”

Eliza did. On the ceiling was hung a small collection of green leaves and red berries in the shape of a circle.

“Mistletoe,” Miles whispered.

“What-“

Eliza was interrupted by the feeling of a warm something in her mouth. It probed about, touching her teeth and the tip of her jaw before she was able to pull away. She stumbled away from Miles, hitting her head against the wall, but she didn’t notice. She didn’t notice anything except the growing feeling of nausea in her stomach. 

“What was that?” Miles said. 

“You,” she stuttered, “you-“

Everyone in the room was staring at them now. Max had a a salacious grin on his face, evidently pleased by something. 

“But- I thought-“

“You thought what?”

“Your mother-“

“My mother?”

“Well, she said-“

Eliza’s mother was standing with the Bakers, a faint smile playing about her lips. The Bakers looked concerned, but she was whispering to them, and they relaxed after hearing what she said. They all smiled approvingly over at Miles and Eliza, and she realized what had happened. Why Max had made so many obscene references, and why her mother had pulled her over to the Bakers so quickly.

Putting a hand to the wall to steady herself, she tried to make sense of what had just happened. Her mother was not long in coming over to her.

“Isn’t he dreamy? As soon as I saw him I knew he was right for you. You’ll have such beautiful children together, I can see their faces now-“

“I need some air.”

“Eliza?”

“I’m going outside.”

Eliza hurried outside, where she saw the ground was covered in a thin layer of snow. It crunched underneath her feet, but she didn’t stop until she reached the edge of the driveway. There, she felt her strength collapse, and she leaned against the side of a red Volvo. 

She’d told her mother about David, and yet her mother had still tried to set her up with someone else. The stupid neighbor boy, someone she’d never met or heard about until half an hour ago. 

Eliza could feel the tears crowding out the corners of her eyes. Fumbling through her pockets, she pulled out her phone and dialed David’s number.

“Eliza?”

She tried to say something, but all that came out was a high pitched sob.

“Are you ok?”

Eliza nodded, but then remembered that he couldn’t see her.

“I’m ok, I just-“

She paused. How was she supposed to tell her boyfriend she just kissed someone, even if it wasn’t by choice?

“I shouldn’t have called you, it’s nothing-“

“No, tell me. Whatever it is, I want to know.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m listening, Eliza.”