Ellie was a child when she heard it.

A ringing in her ears, soft and subtle, much like herself. It echoed around the closets she hid in, and it never dampened from the clothes hung above her. If anything, it grew louder. It seemed to appear without warning, ebbing and washing away before crashing into her brain.

She was convinced it was the electricity. It had to be.

Ellie was a lithe child, skinnier and shorter than most her age. Her skin was white as a ghost, and she had charcoal hair and dim, sparkless green eyes. Her words were gently spoken, with random bursts of energy. She didn’t get along with kids her age, as her parents would tell the family odd things about her that seemed to chase the others away.

Ellie’s mother was an austere woman. With a stern voice and strong, demeaning words, she remained intelligent and ran the house like a puppeteer. To argue meant nothing to her but a challenge of wit.

Her father was a weak-hearted man. A precious daughter of his own could not override his need to follow others. Whether it was following his alcoholic brother or Ellie’s angry mother, he bowed his head down, as if his tail was tucked between his legs, pretending he didn’t see any fault.

Some days, Ellie was happily ignorant of the harsh words and harsher hands in the house. Other days, she felt it in her bones.

This was one of the latter.

She woke in the morning in a good mood. Today was her first day of high school, and she figured it would bring her some solace after the empty summer that bore no escape. She had showered under the hard water of the faucet, had fixed and sewn up holes in her clothes, and she iced away the bruises on her temple.

Nevermind that; Ellie was in quite a good mood.

She walked down the stairs carefully, quietly, and the ringing in her ears rose once again. It harshened over the years, subtly becoming more and more piercing. She stopped at the last step, grabbing her bag off of the railing. Her shirt was a simple uniform navy, khaki pants to boot.

Her mother stood between her and the door.

“You look terrible, sweetheart.”

Ellie frowned, tilting her head. “I look fine,” she mumbled.

“Your hair is matted, and your shoes are a mess,” her mother noted.

“Mom, I can’t do anything about it. My hair is stuck like this, and my shoes- I don’t need to clean them, they look okay.” Ellie looked down, huffing a sigh. Her shoes admittedly were dirty, as she had walked around the country land the night prior.

“Upstairs, love.”

Ellie followed her mother up the stairs. Ruth was a confusing woman, who said terrible things with a spoonful of honey. Ellie was not a fan, but loved her mother regardless. She knew she could be an emotional handful herself, and her mother took care of her.

The two travelled to her mother’s room, where Ruth dug a brush out of her haphazardly sorted dresser. Ellie sat on her bed, looking around the room. It seemed that her mom’s depression had gotten worse again, her clothes covering the floor and bottles of wine staining the floor beneath them. Ellie had a bad feeling.

Ruth sat behind Ellie, untangling her hair gently. Ellie hummed, pleased with the soft moment. Her scalp ached, but the matts came out slowly. She glanced at the clock and her eyes widened. “Mom, I’m gonna be late! So late,” she said, covering her face with her hands.

“I’ll drive you if you miss the bus. We need to make sure you look appropriate. You can’t go in looking like you don’t take care of yourself.” Ruth sighed behind her, muttering, “Even if you don’t.”

The bad feeling in Ellie’s stomach persisted. “Mom,” she started, hesitating. “I can’t be late on my first day.”

Ruth let out a deep breath, giving up on the hair that still tangled and frizzed. “Sure. Let’s get on our way, then.”

They went down the stairs once more, Ellie nearly forgetting her bag on the way. The screen door creaked open, the ringing in Ellie’s ears squealing equally as shrill.

The car doors slammed shut behind the two, Ruth adjusting in her torn leather seat. “So, what are your plans?” her mother asked.

The teenager breathed in, letting it out slowly. “Make friends.”

“Darling, you know you won’t make any on your first day. Maybe just try to survive first, get a layout of the school.”

Ellie looked out the window at the burned fields flashing by. Her jaw clenched tightly. “Mhm.”

“Don’t hum at me, Elizabeth. Acknowledge what people say. This is why you never make friends.”

Ellie huffed. “Maybe if you didn’t tell them and their parents awful lies about me, I’d make them!”

“Elizabeth,” her mother warned.

“Maybe, if you just listened to how bad I want to be normal, we could pretend! Maybe if you actually cared about what I have to say, I wouldn’t have to hide from everybody!”

A hand flew across the car, the back of her mother’s hand colliding with Ellie’s cheekbone. The car swerved one way before being redirected back into the lane, a car horn blaring behind them.

Ellie’s own hand shot up to cradle her face, eyes involuntarily watering as the ringing in her ears screamed. “Fuck you,” she whispered.

“Speak up?” her mother snarled, voice gravelly with sudden disdain.

“Nothing,” Ellie muttered, eyebrows furrowing.

“That’s what I thought,” Ruth said, her hands gripping the steering wheel hard.

The pit in Ellie’s stomach dropped.

Today only had to get better.