WARNING: EMOTIONAL CONTENT.
Includes homelessness, alc*holism, self-esteem struggles, the foster care system, abandonment and pressure.
NOTE: This is quite a long chapter, but please try your best to read it all and comment on the interactive part!
After helping Aahan with his award goal, Eloise thought today was would be a much better day.
As always, nothing in Eloise's life could stay perfect for long.
Her results for her latest maths test was her worst yet—twenty three percent.
It's not like she didn't want to improve, she just wasn't very good at the academic side of school.
Ask her to sub in during a football match and she'd be the one scoring most of the goals, but give her a few algebraic equations to do and she breaks out into a sweat.
Her brain just wasn't wired for this stuff.
Eloise picked up her football and headed for the door.
As soon as her hand touched the handle, a powerful force came down on the football, pulling it out of her hand.
Swiftly, Eloise turned around.
"Kerry!", she exclaimed.
A woman only a few inches taller than Eloise, stood opposite her, ball in hand.
Her skin was pale, with very faint green veins visible the closer you were to her.
Her eyes were pale green and reminded
Eloise of a doll's eyes.
She had blue jeans on and a black and white checkered shirt.
Her hair was jet black, although you could see strands of russet hair sprinkled throughout her hair.
It reached just above her chest.
"What do you think you're doing with that ball, huh?", questioned Kerry.
"I'm going for a kick-about with Ivan and some of the year eights", she replied.
Kerry shook her head.
"Oh, I don't think so.
You're not allowed to play, or have any sort of fun.
Not after your abysmal grades."
Eloise rolled her eyes.
"Aw, Kerry!
Look, I told you I'd work harder to bring my grades up."
"Eloise, listen, I was your age once.
I know that you've got a lot going on, and all you really want to do is have fun.
But school?
It matters."
Eloise frowned and looked down.
"I know."
Kerry's face softened.
She reached out and gently tilted Eloise's chin up.
She smiled softly.
"Chin up, love.
Colin and I are going to be out of the house today, so why don't you invite some friends over for a study session?"
"Study session?"
Kerry nodded.
"Yeah.
Might help you stay motivated?"
More like mortified.
Eloise hated studying with people.
It just made her feel even more stupid.
"No thanks."
Kerry sighed.
"Look, I'm really trying here.
I know things have been a bit tense between us since..."
"Since you told my social worker you were having doubts about fostering us?"
Kerry frowned.
"Colin and I... we only ever really wanted one kid.
When you two came along, well we could hardly refuse, could we?
You're Eloise and Ivan—a package deal.
We just couldn't split you up."
Eloise's face softened.
"I-I know.
I really am grateful, I promise.
It just... it wasn't nice to hear."
"I'm really sorry, Eloise.
I never meant to hurt you."
Kerry wasn't a monster.
She was far from it actually.
When Eloise and Ivan first arrived here, Kerry and Colin waited on them hand and foot.
They fumbled over their words every time they mentioned mothers, worried that they had brought up some kind of trauma for the siblings.
It went over Ivan's head, but it made Eloise laugh.
Kerry drilled it into them that they need to work hard in school.
She helped Ivan with his homework every night.
But when it came to Eloise?
Her parenting approach was different.
She adopted a more hands off approach, not wanting to encroach on the teen's personal space.
It had gotten to the point where, even if Kerry did offer to help Eloise with her homework, she'd politely decline.
Eloise hated people seeing her vulnerable.
"It's ok", said Eloise.
"I'm going to head out now."
¤¤¤
Despite only having a few minutes to get to school, Eloise stopped to walk a year eight child to the bus stop.
She faced him, kneeling down just a little so that they were the same height.
Eloise reached up and fixed his tie for him. They may not have an assigned uniform, but the boy's mother was adamant that wearing a tie would make him feel more intelligent.
"Alright mate, good luck for your appointment", said Eloise.
The boy waved goodbye to her, before running onto the bus, almost knocking down on old lady as he did so.
Before Eloise could apologise on his behalf, Sandra walked off the bus, catching her eye.
"Morning, Miss Mills!", beamed Eloise.
"Ah, 'ello Eloise, love", she smiled.
"Shouldn't you be in school?"
"Just dropped Connor off", said Eloise. "Kerry said to thank you for the lasagne you gave last night, by the way.
Ivan scoffed most of it before we could get seconds, the fat bugger."
Sandra chuckled.
"Oh well I'm glad he liked it.
I've got to go now, I'm house-sitting for Mrs Crowshaw."
"House-sitting?"
Sandra nodded.
"She's doing some shopping with her daughter but a painter's supposed to be popping in.
I said I'd look after the house for her."
Mrs Crowshaw was very well-known around here, but not for the right reasons. She was judgmental, stroppy, and saw most people as 'beneath her.'
She nicknamed Ivan 'Aladdin' and lobbied hard for the main part in the Church's annual nativity to go to her nephew—the shy white boy who hated acting, instead of the fan favourite Ecuadorian boy who was far more entertaining.
You picking up what I'm putting down here?
Eloise couldn't believe that someone as lovely as Sandra would actually offer to help her.
"Miss Mills... you know she's like, a total cow right?
I don't like being rude but she is."
"Sure, she isn't the nicest person... but she's allowed to need help too."
"You're something really special, Miss Mills."
After chatting for a couple more minutes, Eloise realised she was really late for tutor group.
She sprinted as fast as she could, but stopped when she noticed a young girl crying.
Eloise recognised her as the girl she defended against a group of bullies.
Her hair was blonde and it reached her hips-prompting her friends to give her the nickname Rapunzel.
Well, some girls thought it was a good idea to pull on it, and even go as far as cutting a large chunk of it off when she fell asleep on the bus.
They learned very quickly that as long as Eloise was around, they would not be getting away with anything.
"Cara?
What's wrong?", she asked.
"Are those girls picking on you again?"
Cara shook her head, her breaths short and sharp.
"N-No..."
"Then what's going on?
Maybe I can help?"
"Mum said I'm g-gonna be l-like her!", she exclaimed, pointing at something in the distance.
A woman sat on the floor, next to a bench. She had a grey hoodie on, with the strings torn and shrivelled.
Her cheeks look like they had sunk inwards, her cheekbones unnervingly pronounced. Her skin was very pale, making her look sick.
Her lips were chapped.
Her black hair was in a low ponytail, her roots a little grey.
Eloise recognised her.
Rhea.
She didn't know her that well, but she had seen her around a few times.
It was common knowledge that she was homeless.
"Cara, why did your mum say that?"
"I keep getting in trouble with my teachers for messing about in class.
Mum shouted at me and took me to that woman.
She said I'd end up like her if I didn't start behaving."
Eloise couldn't believe what she was hearing.
That must've made Rhea feel awful.
Realising that they were both very late now, Eloise decided to walk to school with Cara. She turned back to get one last look at Rhea. A gasp caught in her throat when she saw that Rhea was staring right at her.
¤¤¤
After getting shouted at by her English teacher for arriving late, Eloise sprinted to her science class.
Just as she reached the top of the stairs and turned towards the corridor, the bell rang. She pushed past random students, hoping to slip into the classroom without her science teacher knowing she was late.
Spencer looked up to see Eloise.
Sensing she needed help, Spencer grabbed his pencil case and threw it as far as he could.
It landed on the other side of the room, catching the teacher's attention.
As soon as the teacher turned to look at it, Spencer nodded at Eloise, who jumped over the desk and sat in her seat.
"Thanks, Spence", said a breathless Eloise.
Spencer gave her a subtle wink, before gently nudging.
"No worries."
"Can we stop acting like zoo animals please? Throwing things around and being noisy—you're year elevens!", shouted Mr Marconish.
The class lowered their volume, although there were still some students who raised their voices even louder when they spoke. With a long sigh, Mr. Marconish started handing out test papers.
"I've marked the papers who did two weeks ago.
I've got to say... I'm very impressed.
We've still got a long way to go, but keep this up and you'll pass your science GCSE with flying colours", said Mr. Marconish.
Mr. Marconish placed Eloise's paper in front of her.
She looked up at him, a bright smile on her face.
Her smile fell when he gently shook his head, letting out a small sigh.
She looked down at her paper.
Her heart sank.
Twenty percent.
The rest of the lesson went by smoothly, although Eloise couldn't tell you a single thing she learned.
She just went... numb.
Her mind couldn't really process anything at the moment.
That was, until she found Mr. McConaugh.
Mr. McConaugh nodded his head at Eloise as they passed each other in the halls.
"You alright, Eloise?"
Mr. McConaugh was a strict teacher who was quite mean at times, but Eloise liked him.
They bonded ever since she joined the basketball team in year seven, and he eventually learned to like the nickname of 'Coach' that she gave him.
So when she looked up at him, their eyes meeting for a split second, Eloise felt her facade begin to crumble.
Her lips fell into a frown and her eyes filled with tears.
A lump formed in her throat, which she tried to clear away by coughing.
Mr. McConaugh's brows knitted in concern, and he quickly looked around to see how many people were around.
"Come on, let's have a chat in my office."
Mr. McConaugh's office was less of an office and more of a storage room.
It was tiny.
He just about fit in it, and there was room for a small desk and computer.
He had pictures of the school's sporting achievements plastered all over the walls. His office was in the same room as the boy's changing room, but he closed the door when they were changing.
He gave them five minutes to change before he opened the door again.
This wasn't a rule he came up with, but it's one he supported.
Years ago, there was an incident where a group of boys peeked into the girl's changing room, which was right next to theirs.
The P.E teacher at the time had set up the lesson beforehand, so didn't put a time limit on how long the kids had to get changed. The incident created a huge issue—rightfully so, which led to the new rule being created.
"Here, go on", said Mr. McConaugh, guiding Eloise to his wheelie chair.
"You can sit on my throne, go on."
Once Eloise sat down, Mr. McConaugh sat on his desk, facing her.
"You're normally bouncing off the walls and doin' my head in with all your enthusiasm. So what's up with you now?"
Eloise picked at a loose bit of skin next to her index fingernail.
"Just one of those days, Coach."
"The last time you had 'one of those days' you quit the basketball and football team, Eloise", said Mr. McConaugh.
"Is it stuff at home?
Everything good with your brother?"
"Y-Yeah, everything's fine", said Eloise, but her shaky voice gave her lie away.
"Eloise..."
"I think I've just got, like, hay fever or something.
Maybe a bug or like a headache", she rambled, suddenly becoming aware of how blurry her tears made her vision.
Mr. McConaugh's face softened.
"Eloise, I'm not going to make you tell me what's wrong.
But you know I'm here for you, don't ya? Just cos you gave up on the football and basketball team doesn't mean we gave up on you."
Eloise felt the tears roll down her face as soon as those last words left his mouth. Unable to hold back any longer, she let out desperate strangled sobs.
She quickly covered her mouth, in an attempt to stop muffle the sound.
"El..."
Mr. McConaugh leaned closer to her, making sure to leave enough space between them.
"El, it's ok!
It's alright, shh, you're gonna be alright, ok? I'm gonna help you.
Just tell me what you need."
"Th-there's n-nothing you can d-do, Sir.
I'm, I'm t-trying to be better, I really am.
I've just g-got loads I need to do, and there's just not enough time."
"Ok, Eloise, slow down, hold on... breath for me."
"And my brain just w-won't work p-properly!
I-I'm so stupid, Sir.
My foster parents are gonna g-give up on me and I don't even blame them.
They've done s-so much for us and I keep letting them down."
"That's enough, Eloise!", exclaimed Mr. McConaugh.
"You are not stupid.
And your foster parents?
They wouldn't give you up."
"Kerry said I needed to try harder in school, and I can just tell that she's sick of me.
And then today, I failed my science test."
"Oh... is that what this is about?
Eloise, it's ok to fail a test every now and again.
You can't be great at everything.
These tests are designed to help you figure out what you need help with, and then the teacher can help you."
"I got a twenty, Coach!
I can't go home and tell Kerry and Colin I failed.
Again."
"Well, how about a retest?"
"Retest?"
Mr. McConaugh nodded.
"If we go together and convince Mr. Marconish to let you take the test again, and then you study your socks off... he'll change the grade.
A fail won't show up on your record that way."
"I don't think he'll let me take the test again, Coach.
We aren't really, like, friends.
We've kind of got a love-hate relationship going."
"Well for your sake let's hope today is love."
¤¤¤
All Eloise could do was wait for Mr. Marconish's email telling her she could take the test again.
Or, that she wasn't allowed.
Either way, it was a waiting game from here on out.
Her phone vibrated, and she felt her heart rate increase.
Could Mr. Marconish have reached his decision that quickly?
No.
It was just the group chat.
HISTORY HÒES
ATLAS
Hey guys. Anyone wanna come over to mine to watch a movie?
ELLIOTT
My house is bigger we could watch it at mine?
ATLAS
Gotta stay at home and look after my sister sorry
ATLAS
But I'll bring out the fancy plates for you, Elliott
SPENCER
I'm down
ROWAN
I've got a lot of work to do I'm sorry
IRENE
Me too
IRENE
Let me know how it goes though!
ATLAS
Will do!
ATLAS
El? You're in right?
ATLAS
Wait, why don't we just turn it into a study thing? An hour of studying then we can watch the movie?
ROWAN
Um
SPENCER
Come on Ro
ROWAN
I can stay for the studying but not the movie
ATLAS
That's cool with me
IRENE
Still can't come sorry
ATLAS
Aww too bad
ATLAS
El?
Eloise wanted to say yes.
She wanted to have fun with her friends like a normal teen.
But she had responsibilities.
To her brother.
To her foster parents.
To literally everyone else who wasn't her.
That's why she declined.
It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she didn't want her friends to see her struggling with work.
Right?
"Excuse me?
You don't have a pound I can have, do ya?", asked someone.
Eloise looked up from her phone and saw Rhea.
She remembered that this was where she had seen Rhea this morning.
"Oh, uh, one sec", said Eloise, before reaching into her pockets.
After rummaging for a few seconds, she pulled her hands out, revealing crumpled tissue and a wrapped piece of chewing gum.
"Ah, too bad", said Rhea.
"No worries."
"Um, I-I have a card.
I could pop into the shop and buy you something if you'd like?", offered Eloise.
"Nah, it's alright."
When Eloise looked towards the nearest shop, she saw that people around her were staring at Rhea.
Some of the older people—mums, fathers and older siblings of people from her school, where whispering to their children and siblings.
All of them pointed at Rhea.
Eloise felt her irritation rise.
All of these people were judging Rhea, acting like the sun shone out of their own arses!
She marched towards the shop, her fists clenching when she heard one of the father's call Rhea a very rude word.
Eloise emerged from the shop only a couple of minutes later.
She was worried that the constant stares would've made Rhea leave.
She was still sat there though, her knees pulled up against her chest.
"I got you a cheese and onion sandwich, some ready salted crisps, two water bottles and a pot of pasta", said Eloise, handing Rhea the bag.
She took her backpack off and placed it on the ground.
She quickly undid the zip, just enough for her to reach in and grab something.
She pulled out a small bar of chocolate.
"The chocolate selection in the shop wasn't that good.
This one's really nice though", she said, holding the bar out to her.
"You don't need to give me your food, love."
"No, I-I want you to have it.
Your blood sugar could get low, or–"
"You're a worrier, aren't you?", chuckled Rhea.
"Alright then, I'll take it.
Cheers."
Eloise smiled as Rhea put the chocolate bar in her pocket.
"Can... can I ask you something?
Something personal?"
"You wanna know how I ended up here?"
Eloise felt her face get hotter, and worried that her face had turned pink.
"Um, y-yeah.
If you don't mind."
Rhea inhaled deeply and shrugged, before exhaling softly.
"Uh, didn't really have the best start in life. Never knew my mum, or my dad really, but it was the lack of a mother figure that hurt me the most, I think.
I got adopted when I was little, but I always felt like I was missing someone who actually wanted me.
Uh... I was sh*t at school.
Could never do anything right.
Dropped out as soon as I could.
I turned to alcohol to cope... only made things worse though.
Had to steal to get by, but... that really ruined my relationship with my family. Things were just awful since then."
Eloise was at a complete loss for words.
It wasn't like she didn't know these things could happen, but it was different hearing it first-hand.
Eloise prided herself on being able to look after others and comfort them, but right now she felt like all her efforts would just be futile.
Rhea chuckled.
"Speechless, huh?"
"I-I just... I don't know how you can let other people treat you so badly.
I mean, if they knew what you have been through-"
"They don't care.
As soon as they hear I dropped out of school, they take that and run with it.
I've become something of a cautionary tale for kids."
"What, they just use you as a lesson?
That's messed up.
What do they do when you tell them off?"
"I don't.
It's kind of just easier to let them think what they want.
Plus, if I get to help some kids to not make the mistakes I did, then that's good, right?"
Eloise furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What mistakes?
Sounds to me like you just had a tough life."
"Oh I definitely did.
But I didn't ask for more help when I needed it.
Maybe I had too much pride, or maybe I just didn't feel like I was worth it.
I don't know.
Doesn't really matter now."
¤¤¤
It was the next day, and Eloise had just found out she was allowed to sit the test again.
She wasn't really sure what she felt. Excitement?
Nerves?
Dread?
Atlas, Spencer, Irene and Rowan were all huddled around Elliott and Zee.
They were all looking at a laptop screen.
As soon as Zee finished typing and clicked enter, Elliott leaned closer to the screen, his arm brushing against hers.
"Little close there, Ethan", said Zee.
"Oh, sorry", he mumbled, before quickly moving back.
"What's going on?", asked Eloise.
"Elliott saw a social media post about Valerie's", replied Rowan.
"The bakery?", questioned Eloise.
"Yep.
It's facing some financial difficulties", said Spencer.
"It's a shame, really.
Apparently it's been there for ages.
My mum used to go there when she was our age."
"We should try and do something about it", said Atlas.
"Maybe we could help out?"
"Not sure what we could do.
We're just a bunch of schoolkids", said Elliott.
"Well we have to try", said Spencer. "Someone needs to help!"
"I need your help, guys", said Eloise.
Eloise's voice was like a pin dropping in a busy train station.
It was the tiniest drop in deepest ocean.
It was the quietest, and most unsure Eloise had been.
But it was heard.
"What's wrong?", asked Spencer.
His previous look of determination had melted, his features becoming softer.
Small lines appeared in between his eyebrows, and his lips formed a frown.
"El?", called out Atlas.
"I'm uh, I'm... I'm really failing science.
Well, pretty much every subject actually. But I... I don't want to fail.
I want to be good.
I thought I could do it on my own, but um, it turns out I don't have the brains for it.
I really, really need your help."
Just saying it felt like a huge, unbearable weight had lifted off of Eloise's shoulders. There was still an uncomfortable twisting feeling in her stomach, but the pain wasn't as intense now.
"Of course we'll help you", said Spencer.
"Dude, why is that even a question?", asked Atlas.
"I'll tutor you in science", said Elliott.
"And I'll check over Elliott's notes.
You know, just in case", said Irene.
"Why do I feel like Irene just called me stupid in her own personal language?", asked Elliott, making the others chuckle.
"I'll draw up a plan for you", said Rowan.
"And we'll be your moral support", said Atlas, wrapping an arm around Spencer.
The group turned to Zee.
"Uh, I can get you the answers to the test?"
"Oh God, please no", said Irene.
"That's like, a crime."
"Guys, she's joking", said Atlas, before looking at Zee.
"You are joking, right?"
Zee shrugged.
"We'll never know."
"Hang on, I could still say yes", said Eloise.
Zee shook her head.
"You won't need them."
--------------
Hi.
This chapter is really long. I didn't want to break it into parts though because I felt like it worked better as one. I'm sure I've asked this before, but are you ok with reading longer chapters like this?
I was hesitant about this chapter because it felt like I was springing it out of nowhere. We know that Eloise struggles academically, but until now she has been this positive force of nature. After thinking about it more, I think it actually makes a lot of sense to do it like this. I see it as Eloise silently struggling with all of this whilst events in the previous chapters took place. Choosing to focus solely on one character for an entire chapter is something I will probably do more throughout the book, so we get enough time with each of them.
We haven't seen much of Mr. McConnaugh, but we will soon. We'll see how he is as a teacher versus colleague. I do regret writing this chapter before Aahan meets him, but I wasn't sure where else to put it.
What do you think of his moment with Eloise?
Rhea is one example of how judging people solely on their grades can be damaging. Not everyone will be amazing when it comes to academics, but that can often lead them to be written off as stupid. That has a direct impact on the individual's self-esteem. In sociology, there is something called self-fulfilling prophecy. This is when you are given a label, such as 'troublemaker', and you start to internalise it and believe that you cannot be anything else. This drastically limits your future prospects, because you don't believe that you can achieve more than what you've been told. The opposite is self-refuting prophecy, which is when you go against the label you are given. Self-fulfilling prophecy is what applies here.
Rhea is also important, because when we see homeless people nowadays, we often see them as people who have made loads of mistakes, or are bad people. But Rhea was once like Eloise. Seeing the 'before' and 'after' essentially, helps us to see people as humans who are capable of change, but who are equally capable of making mistakes.
Hey, Mr. Patel, take notes. What I just did there? It's called * T E A C H I N G *
I went through a few title changes for this chapter, so thought it might be fun to share them:
1) Help
2) The Ballad of Eloise Bhasin
I liked this one, but felt like the 'ballad' bit didn't make sense.
3) Keeping Up With The Bhasins (I actually only changed this a short while before writing this)
There will be a bonus content chapter for this! It is actually very important to the relationship of two characters, and it's something I wanted to put in the actual chapter. It just got very long and I wasn't sure that it would work where I wanted to put it anymore.
What are your thoughts on this chapter?
Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: Truyen2U.Pro