Ellen Outside the Lines

Thirteen-year-old Ellen Katz sits in her room, worried about the fact that she is ready for the upcoming class trip to Barcelona ahead of schedule. She has a plan to contact her best friend, Laurel, at 4:55 pm so that they can book their flight seats together, but Laurel isn’t answering her texts. Ellen thinks about the advice of her therapist, Dr. Talia, and tells herself to worry only about things she can control. She tries to soothe herself by rocking back and forth to the sound of the ceiling fan, but this doesn’t help, so Ellen calls Laurel’s home phone and talks to her mother. She learns that Laurel is at another friend’s house. At that moment, Ellen’s father (Abba) enters the room and can see panic on Ellen’s face. He takes the phone and talks to Laurel’s mother to confirm the seat bookings, then returns the phone to Ellen. Ellen is grateful to have a dad who knows just what she needs and is there for her like Abba is. She decides to help him pack in order to distract herself from the stress of the situation.