Becoming Ellen by Shari Shattuck

had thinned to slits. “Uh-huh,” he said suspiciously. “Sure she was. Do me a favor?”
    â€œWhat?” asked his sister, starting for the door.
    â€œTry not to get involved in any”—Justice counted on his fingers as he reeled off his list—“murders, knifings, shootings, robberies, rebellions, or general mayhem.”
    Temerity’s long-suffering sigh took a full four seconds. “Well, we’ll try, but you know how it is.”
    Justice turned pleading eyes on Ellen. “Not really. It’s a mystery to me how much trouble you two can find.”
    â€œGot a date tonight?” Temerity asked in a thinly veiled attempt to change the subject.
    â€œNo. Amanda’s working, again.”
    â€œHow’s things at the Institute for Saving the World?” Temerity asked.
    â€œThe Institute of
Educational and Behavioral Research
is fine, thank you. I’ve got a ton of archived information to go over. We’ve been asked to prepare a list of possible suggestions for teachers to integrate into their classrooms. Bullying in schools is a huge problem now.”
    Ellen leaned over to pick up her bag. “Not just
now
,” she was surprised to hear herself say under her breath.
    Justice heard her. “Too true, as usual, my intuitive friend. Sadly, it seems that problems must become desperate epidemics before anyone pays attention to them. Until then, people pretty much just suffer or look away, depending on whether they are the bullied, the bullies, or the ‘afraid to get involveds.’”
    Ellen thought,
I used to be the first one, now I’m the last.
But she sensed that wasn’t
exactly
true.
    â€œWhat about political upheavals, revolts, and mutinies?” Temerity challenged. “Aren’t those examples of people getting involved and saying ‘No’ to bullies?”
    Justice clapped his hands together. “My point exactly. Generally, a well-fed and fairly treated populace doesn’t start guillotining the aristocracy. It’s usually a
really
hungry, angry mob that takes on the well-armed powers that be, even if that’s just a big kid stealing lunches on the playground. Anyway, the institute wants an overview by the end of next week so that we can prepare a list of suggested inclusions in the curriculum.”
    â€œSo . . . you’re supposed to isolate the cause of ignorance and cruelty, fire up some Bunsen burners, and come up with a vaccine?” Temerity asked.
    Justice’s face went all starry for a second and he said, “Wouldn’t that be great? A society where you could send a kid to the school nurse for an injection of kindness. Or a power-crazed egomaniac could be injected by court order, for that matter. Of course, we’ll need a shot for apathy, too.” He made a thoughtful humming sound, as though it might not actually be impossible, which impressed Ellen. Always, Justice’s positive, yet realistic, attitude impressed Ellen.
    He turned to her. “You two be careful out there. Are you taking the bus?” Ellen nodded. “Well, call me if you need a ride back, I’ll be home.”
    They gathered their things, Temerity her shoulder bag and stick, Ellen her medium duffel bag with her work clothes, and they set out.
    The ride took over an hour. They switched buses twice, each change lowered the size of the apartment and office buildings through which they snaked, until the third bus made its way out of them altogether, into neighborhoods that had strip malls with parking lots, then individual homes. Ellen, who had spent her entire life in the city’s urban or industrial areas, shrank farther and farther down in her seat. It wasn’t that she hadn’t been in big open spaces, she loved the city parks, some of which were large enough to get lost in. But this wasn’t a park, just . . . space. Finally, they got off and Ellen looked around.
    She and