Are you with me

30

Ellis and her friends were having fun. They were close to their destination but her back was bothering her from sitting in the same spot, she just needed to stretch but she wasn't gonna ask to stop so she just pushed through

She felt her legs starting to spasm but ignored it despite some stares of others

"Em, give me my phone back!" Ellis gasped as Emma grabbed her phone

"Nope! You need to tell us your crush first" Emma laughed

"Emma!" Ellis sighed and leaned forward but felt her back protesting against it. "Emma, please give it back" She sighed

"Hey girls, is everything okay here in the back?" Ms Stone walked towards them and saw how Emma tossed Ellis' phone back

"We're fine" Emma giggled

"Everything's okay" Grace smiled

"Ellis, is everything okay?" She asked as she walked towards Ellis

"I'm fine" Ellis forced a smile on her lips

"I think we've arrived" Ms Stone turned around as the bus stopped "Ellis, I'm gonna help you get out" The teacher smiled and did so

Once the lift had helped Ellis out of the bus she wheeled after her friends while the teachers started checking in

"Ellis, do you wanna go for a walk once we bring our luggage to our rooms?" Grace asked

"No Grace. I think I'm calling my parents first" Ellis smiled

"Okay guys, the teachers will give you keys to your rooms" Ms Stone announced and then came to Ellis and her friends "Ellis, Emma and Grace, can you come with me?" She asked

"Of course" They smiled and Emma pushed Ellis' luggage

"The three of you have the biggest room" The teacher smiled and walked with them through the hallway but they came to a small stair

"I- I can't-" Ellis quietly said as she saw the three stepping over it and not thinking about her

"Oh-" Ms Stone gasped

"Can't you lift your front wheels even a little? It's only a small step!" Grace smiled

"I can't, my core muscles are too weak-" Ellis looked hurt

"Can I help you, sweetie?" Ms Stone asked

"I guess" Ellis mumbled and hated the feeling of someone taking control of her wheelchair but there was no other way for her if she wanted to get into their room "Thanks" She quietly said and took over once they passed the step

"Wow!" Emma gasped as their teacher opened the room and they all went inside

"Cool!" Grace smiled

"I'll see you girls at dinner, okay?" The teacher smiled and left the room

"Come on, we should go explore!" The girls jumped up

"You can go, I'm gonna lay down and call my parents" Ellis smiled and watched them leave

She wheeled herself to the bed closest to the bathroom and claimed it. She winced as she almost had to throw herself onto the bed that was nearly too high for her and called her mom

"Hi Ellie!" Meredith appeared on the screen "I paged your dad as well" She smiled

"Hi mom" Ellis smiled softly

"Hey monkey, what's wrong?" Meredith frowned

"Nothing.." Ellis sighed "Just- It's been a lot" she said quietly

"Hey monkey!" Derek joined them "How's the trip?"

"Yeah.. It's okay" Ellis quietly sighed

"Is something up?" Derek frowned

"Just- My back's been hurting a bit" Ellis forced a smile before quietly adding something more "And there's a stair to get to the room"

"They said it was wheelchair accessible" Meredith's blood started boiling

"Well.. it kind of is. Maybe there's a ramp or something but Ms Stone helped me" Ellis quietly said "I can get off but not up" She admitted

"Honey, I'm so sorry" Derek quietly said, none of them really knew what to do

"Ellis, do we have to call your teacher?" Meredith asked

"No. I'll go talk to Ms Stone. It's just one stair, the other things are okay, really" Ellis assured them

"Ellie, are you sure?" Meredith asked concerned

"Yes mom.. I don't want to make a scene" Ellis quietly said

...

Ellis wheeled herself out of the room. She had emptied her catheter and changed her clothes. She wheeled herself off the small stair outside to where everyone was sitting in the grass field. She had a hard time pushing herself over the grass towards her friends

"Ellis!" They smiled

"Hi guys" Ellis smiled at them

"Come, sit with us!" Her friends smiled

Ellis was debating this, she was feeling pretty tired already and knew if she got out that would mean she also had to get back in. She slowly lowered herself and felt her body droop. She fixed her legs and laid down. Which was the easiest thing to do since she was paralyzed from the chest down

"Ellie, look!" Emma crawled next to her and showed her a video on her phone as the others kept talking

The two girls kept laughing until the teacher yelled that they had to collect. Everyone ran away except for Emma who stayed with Ellis

"Will you be okay?" Emma asked as she saw Ellis struggling to get herself in the wheelchair

"Of course" Ellis groaned as she lifted herself in her chair and placed her feet on the footrest

"Ms Shepherd, Ms Renay, you two should be with the others" Ms Roxy told them sternly

"But Ellis was-" Emma tried

"Go to the group, now!" Ms Roxy scolded

Ellis didn't even have time to properly put on her seatbelt before the teacher repeated herself so Ellis didn't bother to fix it and just started pushing herself away from the grassfield, struggling with the terrain

thanks to my amazing co writer mermcwidow