WARNING:
EMOTIONAL CONTENT.
Includes mentions of death of a parent, bereavement, foster care, abandonment, bullying, fat shaming, emotional distress.

ELOISE'S POV.

On days when I'm not running around helping some of the other kids at my school, I like to go to the greenhouse. It's just a small, makeshift garden area on the far end of our school premises, away from the main building.

Our old Principal had it built about three years ago. It's pretty cool. The vegetables that grow there are used by the teachers for the food tech classes, and the year seven's have been known to have atleast two of their biology lessons out there.

It isn't protected by any gates, so some of the teens from other schools hang out there, and a few older teenagers even drink and smoke there.

I love going to the greenhouse.

My mum loved plants. She loved nature and wildlife in general. When we were younger, my mum used to take me to the local garden centre every weekend. She'd buy loads of plants every time, and gave me the task of picking out a special plant just for myself each time.

My dad lost his job so we had to be a lot more careful about what we spent our money on. Mum still made sure we always went to the garden centre though, and even though she stopped choosing her own plants, she still made sure I could get the plant I wanted.

My dad left when he found out my mum was pregnant. She had to work three jobs just to provide for us. When Ivan was born, she brought him along to our garden centre trips, but he was too young to appreciate the magic and beauty of the visits.

I feel like I'm the only one who remembers those things.

It's not Ivan's fault. He was only four when she died.

It was up to me to share stories about her.

"Do you think they'll have any leftover seeds for us?", I asked Spencer.

I often came to the greenhouse alone, but Spencer had come with me a handful of times. I was nervous about bringing him along at first. I mean, I don't really care if people don't like the things that I like, but the greenhouse was such a special place to me.

I actually asked him if he wanted to come with me, about a week or two after I first saw him having a panic attack.

He definitely hesitated at first, but then he said yes. I'll always remember that day. I rambled on and on about my mum's favourite plants, and some of the gardening tips she told me.

He didn't look at me weird or tell me to stop talking. He actually wanted to know more.

That was the day I knew we'd be good friends.

Spencer shrugged. "Guess we'll find out soon."

We walked along the path that led to the greenhouse. A trio of boys from Pepperden Private school, if their uniforms were anything to go by, were stood near the greenhouse.

One of the boys scrunched his nose up and wafted his hand in front of it, shaking his head.

"Ugh, can you guys smell that awful smell?", he asked. "Oh, it's just the Moorside Secondary kids."

The other boys laughed, turning their heads to look at us. I opened my mouth to say something to them, but Spencer tapped his hand against mine. I looked at him, sighing when he subtly shook his head.

Ok, yeah. Spencer was right. It was not a good idea for me to get in trouble. Kerry and Callum were still concerned about my bad grades, so the last thing I needed was for them to hear I got in trouble.

When we went inside the greenhouse, a familiar sense of happiness washed over me. Near the entrance, there was a long row of vegetables buried in the soil. On the other side, there were different plants and flowers.

My absolute favourite flowers are dandelions. They were my mum's favourite too. She loved their bright yellow colour. I like dandelions when they turn white though. When I was younger, I liked them because when they turned white, my mum let me make a wish and blow on them.

Whenever we went to our local park, I'd rush over to the dandelions that grew on the grass there, and I'd blow on all of them.

When my mum died, the first thing I did was run to the park. There was only one untouched dandelion there. I so badly wanted to make a wish on it, but a little boy ran up to it. He had so much joy on his face when he saw it.

So I stood back and let him make his wish.

I know now that the wish I wanted to come true... it just wasn't the kind of wish dandelions had the power to fulfil.

"Ah, good morning Eloise!", beamed Maurice. "Great to see you again, Spencer."

Maurice was the coolest old guy I had ever met. He had bright white hair, pale skin, electric blue eyes and a greying beard.

He was like Santa!

He spent most of his life working at his family's farm. Then, he spent ten years of his life working in a garden centre in Moorside. He moved here about four years ago, and took a job here, working in the school's greenhouse.

He also helped the school cleaning staff a few times, but he really only stayed in the greenhouse.

"Those smug private school boys are outside again", I frowned.

"Ah, let 'em come", he said, waving his hand in the air. "They're harmless."

"No they aren't. You know the kind of things they say about us", I said. "How are you so calm about it all?"

Maurice chuckled. "Eloise, you don't get to my age without learning a few lessons. One of 'em is that you can't let other people get you down. You're not living your life for them, you're living it for you. Care about the things that matter but the rest of it? Pay no mind."

Maurice was always coming out with these really insightful lessons. I believe him too. If I lived my life the way he did, maybe I'd be as happy as he was. Not that I hate my life now or anything. I guess I just always feel like I need to be perfect in front of my foster parents.

I know the only reason they fostered me was because they didn't want to split Ivan up from his family.

"Anyway, do you want to have a look at the dandelions?", asked Maurice.

We walked over to where the dandelions were. I smiled softly as I looked at them. Another magical thing about dandelions, is that they never truly die. When you blow on them, the seeds get dispersed, and if they fall onto soil they can grow again.

"Anything you want to wish for?", asked Maurice.

I nodded. I plucked one from the soil, before closing my eyes and thinking about what I wanted to wish for. If I thought long and hard about it, there was plenty I could wish for, but all I cared about now was Spencer's mum. 

I wanted everything to be perfect with her baby. Partly because I knew how excited Spencer was about being a big brother, but also because I knew she'd be a great mum. She already showed she was with how much she loved Spencer. From the moment I first met her, I could tell she was just one of those mothers who loved their children with all they had. 

Like my mum. 

"So, what did you wish for?", asked Spencer.

"If I tell you it won't come true", I said, earning an eye roll from Spencer. 

"I won't tell anyone", said Spencer. 

"That's not the point!", I exclaimed, before looking at Maurice. "Help me out here, Maurice. Wishes are sacred secrets you can't tell anyone, right?"

Maurice nodded. "She's right, Spencer."

"Alright fine", chuckled Spencer. "Well you know what's not a sacred secret? The fact that we'll be late for tutor group if we don't go now."

I rolled my eyes. "You think you're so clever don't you?"

We walked towards the door, playfully bickering like usual. I turned to face Maurice, waving goodbye before we left. 

The private school boys were still outside, but this time more of them had joined. They laughed loudly when we walked past them. One of the boys pointed at my trainers. They weren't the prettiest, and I could definitely see a hole developing at the front of my left shoe.

Students from the school always poked fun at how we dressed. They looked down on us because most of us don't come from super rich backgrounds. No one is exempt. Even some of the year sevens—the smallest, most adorable people at the school, were subjected to cruel teasing by that smug private school lot.

"I'm gonna punch them", I said.

I felt Spencer's hand on mine almost instantly. He steered me down the path, using himself as a barrier between me and the boys.

"They're lucky you're here or they'd be on a liquid diet for a month", I said.

A girl walked towards Spencer and I. Her light brown hair was in two French braids. Her chubby cheeks were bright red, with small blood vessels creating a cracking effect on her skin. She had a skin condition called rosacea, which caused her skin to flush red or pink sometimes. She was bullied mercilessly for having rosacea and being overweight last year, but I defended her against the bullies, and she became somewhat cool because she had an older student watching over her.

"Hey, Lizzy", I smiled.

One of the boys from Pepperden snorted when he saw her, before making a point to laugh loudly at her.

"What's Peppa Pig doing here?", he jibed.

Lizzy's smile fell instantly, and she looked down at the ground. I whirled around so that she was facing the boys.

"You can't say stuff like that", I said. "Apologise to her now."

The boy looked at me, then at Lizzy. Lizzy visibly closed up, hugging herself. Instinctively, Spencer stepped in front of Lizzy, putting some space between her and the boys. The boy scoffed and rolled his eyes before looking at me again and smirking.

"Oh, you want me to make you apologise, do you?", I asked, surging forward. I noticed one of the boys holding an energy drink. Without hesitation, I grabbed it and poured it all over the first boy.

The other boys stepped back, not wanting to get drink on themselves. They just watched as their friend stood there, soaked. Spencer pressed his lips together to stop himself from laughing. I smiled proudly.

"You're crazy!"

I shrugged. "If you like, that's what I'll be. Now get lost."

"What's going on over here?", shouted Principal Rogerson, who was walking across the courtyard. The Pepperden boys ran, but Principal Rogerson was able to catch a glimpse of the boy that I drenched.

Spencer quickly grabbed the can from my hand and hid it behind his back.

"What? Nothing, Sir", I replied. "We were just talking."

"Don't mess about with me, you really expect me to believe Eloise Bhasin was just speaking to the private school boys?", questioned Principal Rogerson.

I smirked.

"You lot have got this feud going. You have done pretty much since year seven", said Principal Rogerson.

"It's not my fault they're all stuck up idiots with gold bars shoved up their–"

"El!", hissed Spencer.

"Eloise, you need to control this anger of yours", said Principal Rogerson. "And that mischevious nature of yours."

"What are you on about, Sir?"

"I'm 'on about' you helping the year sevens pull pranks", he replied. "You helped them out twice last week."

I chuckled. "Oh, come on, Sir! I couldn't say no to them."

"They were pretty harmless pranks to be fair", said Spencer.

"I don't remember asking you", said Principal Rogerson. "Look, Eloise, I've already had to call home twice about your poor grades, and I've called three times about you pulling similar pranks. I haven't taken further action because, granted, your pranks were harmless... but this is a school. You can't be acting like this."

I frowned. "I'm sorry, Sir."

Principal Rogerson stared at me, his face softened when he saw how genuinely sad I looked. He sighed, shaking his head.

"If you promise not to pull any more stunts, I think I can let this little incident go", he said.

"What incident?", asked Spencer.

"Please, I can see the can behind your back Spencer", said Principal Rogerson.

"It won't happen again", said Eloise. "I promise, Sir. Like, really, really promise."

Principal Rogerson nodded. "Good. I don't want to be having this conversation again."

¤¤¤

NO ONE'S POV.

"And then, Maurice reclaimed his family's honour by growing the best vegetables at his village's fête!", exclaimed Eloise.

The students were filing into the history classroom, exchanging either confused or expectant looks in regards to Eloise's excitement.

Elliott sat down in his seat, shaking his head at Eloise's rambling. He pulled out a textbook and notebook, before reaching down to put his backpack on the floor. When he sat up again, he jumped at the sight of Zee standing in front of his desk.

"Ah!", he yelled, earning a pleased expression from Zee.

On his desk, there were three brightly coloured sweets. They were chewing gum, in red, green and yellow wrappers. Each wrapper had a cat on it. Elliott got closer to them, inspecting the writing on one of the wrappers.

"Ding Dong?", he read.

"You have bad taste in cookies", revealed Zee. "If you want something that's actually gonna satisfy your sweet tooth, try these."

Elliott picked one up, running his finger along three slightly deep dips in the gum.

"You bought these for me?"

Zee immediately shook her head, her face screwing up in disgust at the very notion.

"No, they're really popular in Pakistan, so my Grandma sends them from there all the time", she clarified.

A tingling sensation ran through Elliott's body and he felt a burst of excitement rise in his chest. Even though Zee couldn't have moved back to her seat fast enough, Elliott had a renewed sense of hope that maybe she could grow to like him. His plan could finally fall into place.

"Do you think Maurice has any family here?", wondered Atlas, as Eloise turned to face him. "I've seen him in town a few times, but he's always alone."

"Being alone doesn't necessarily mean he doesn't have any family", said Irene.

"He's spoken about his granddaughter before, so he must have some family", said Eloise.

"Does he seem lonely?", asked Aahan.

Eloise shrugged. "Not really."

"He's always alone in the greenhouse", said Elliott. "How can he not be lonely?"

"I visit him all the time", said Eloise. "If he was lonely, I'd know."

"Ah yes, I forgot you were the all-knowing Eloise", joked Elliott, earning a playful eye roll from Eloise.

"As much as I enjoyed hearing about this Maurice, we've got a lot that we need to get through today", said Aahan.

After history class, which happened to be the final class of the day, Eloise made her way to the greenhouse. Today hadn't been particularly stressful, but she was still looking for some peace and quiet. She was often so busy helping others, that she never really allowed her brain some much needed time to take a break.

Eloise let out a loud gasp when she stepped into the greenhouse. The vegetables in each section had been dug up, sprinkles of soil spread everywhere. Some of the vegetables had been uprooted and left on the side, while others seemed to have been taken altogether. Eloise rushed over to the flowers, her heart shattering when she saw that all of them, including the dandelions, had been trampled on.

"Maurice!", she called out, taking a step back. Her foot hit a mini trowel that the culprit seemingly left behind. The handle was blue, but the ones that Maurice used were always green.

Eloise knelt down and picked it up, inspecting the gardening tool.

"What on Earth happened in here?", exclaimed Principal Rogerson.

"Principal Rogerson! Someone dug up–"

"I have had enough of your pranks, Eloise!", he shouted, leaving Eloise stunned.

"M-Me? N-No, Sir, this wasn't my fault!"

Principal Rogerson scoffed, placing one hand on his hip while he used the other to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"It's never your fault, is it Eloise?", he questioned. "I have tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, given your situation–"

"My situation?", interjected Eloise.

He frowned, exhaling sharply.

"Eloise, I'm not stupid. You're not the first student to struggle at home. Younger sibling getting all the attention? It's frustrating. So you lash out and misbehave as a result–"

"Oh my God, Sir! That's not what's happening!", yelled Eloise.

"Don't you raise your voice at me!", shouted Principal Rogerson.

"But you're being stupid!"

Eloise regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. Principal Rogerson's face turned a bright red, and his eyes were bulging so much that Eloise thought they'd fall out of their sockets.

"I'm not going to stand here and be disrespected by you", said Principal Rogerson. "I've given you so many chances already. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to suspend you from school, starting next week."

¤¤¤

An irate Eloise paced up and down the courtyard, pressing her hands together in an effort to try and distract from the anger she was feeling.

"How dare he say it's my fault?", questioned Eloise. "Where does he get off talking to me like that?"

"El, he's just trying to do his job", said Spencer.

"Pointing out my home situation and basically saying I'm messed up because of it is 'doing his job'?"

"I don't think he was saying that", said Spencer. "Come on El, you know he's been cool about the pranks and stuff in the past. If that was the old Principal, he would've expelled you ages ago."

"Yeah, well now Rogerson's sold his soul to the devil."

"Bit dramatic mate."

"Well he has!", she exclaimed, kicking a random pebble she found on the ground. "Look, I know I messed up before, but I wouldn't do something like this!"

Noticing how upset Eloise was getting, Spencer stepped closer to her. He gently nudged her, making her look at him. Her eyes scanned his face, but when he tilted his head down just a little, Eloise looked into his eyes.

"Are you trying to convince me your innocent here?"

Eloise shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well forget that. I know you didn't do it."

"Yeah?"

"El, you love the greenhouse! You'd have to be an idiot not to see that, and the last time I checked, I wasn't James."

Eloise chuckled, making Spencer smile.

"What do I do now?", she asked. "What am I supposed to say to Kerry and Colin?"

"I can get my mum to speak to them? She's really good at calming people down."

Eloise shook her head. "Nah, I don't want to involve other people. I just have to bite the bullet, I guess. They're coming to talk to Rogerson now."

Spencer gave her another nudge, smiling softly at her. A small smile slowly appeared on her face, and she nudged him back. The pair walked back into the school building, nudging each other every so often.

Upon returning home, the mood was very sombre. Colin took Ivan's coat and hung it up on the clothing rack near the front door. Kerry and Colin exchanged a look, which made Colin nod. He turned to Ivan and smiled.

"Right, come on little man. Let's go read some comic books in your room", he said.

Ivan grinned. "Really? What about homework?"

"We can do it later", he replied.

Ivan pumped his fists in the air, his smile brightening.

"This is the best day ever!"

Eloise's eyes widened, and her face froze as she thought about just how wrong her younger brother was. When Ivan and Colin went upstairs, Eloise felt Kerry's eyes on her.

"Eloise, can we talk?"

Eloise just stared at the spot where Ivan was standing.

"Eloise, can you look at me please?"

"I've got a lot of homework to do so..."

"Eloise, please", pleaded Kerry. "I just want to know why you're rebelling so much. Your grades are slipping–"

"Maybe you should do little homework sessions with me, like you do with Ivan?", she teased.

Kerry frowned. "That's not funny. You know we've offered to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"Well what do you need? Tell us what you need from us, please!"

Silence crept up on them, but it seemed to only be uncomfortable for Eloise. After a painfully long time, Eloise finally looked at Kerry.

"I don't need anything from you."

Eloise turned away from Kerry and headed upstairs, narrowly avoiding bumping into Colin as he walked down the stairs. Colin looked at Kerry, who just shook her head.

Once upstairs, Eloise knocked on Ivan's door. She quickly plastered on a smile, but admittedly, seeing Ivan happily reading his comic book did make her actually smile.

"Hey there, Ivan", she smiled. "Good day at school?"

Ivan nodded. "The best! Mrs Miller said my poem for English was great, I almost got full marks in my maths test and Simon got hit in the face with a basketball in P.E!"

"Wow. Sounds... eventful", said Eloise, making her way over to his bed and sitting next to him.

"Your day was crazy as well."

"How do you mean?"

"I overheard Kerry and Colin saying they were so scared when Principal Rogerson called them into the office because of you."

Eloise's eyes widened. "Oh..."

"Did you do something bad?"

"No!", she exclaimed. "It was all just a... misunderstanding."

"Can you say sorry to Kerry and Colin?"

"What? But I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Please!", begged Ivan. "I don't want them to give us back."

Eloise furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Give us back?"

Ivan nodded. "Like the McDaniel's!"

Eloise's face softened. "Ivan, that was different. The McDaniel's just didn't have enough space to take us full time."

Ivan frowned. "I thought it was because you got into a fight with their daughter."

Eloise's eyes darkened and she clenched her jaw at the mention of their daughter. After noticing Ivan's frown deepen, Eloise exhaled softly, trying to regain composure.

"No, that wasn't why they didn't adopt us."

Ivan stuck his bottom lip out, doing his best puppy dog eyes. Eloise sighed, shaking her head.

"Fine. You want me to apologise? I'll apologise."

Eloise made a point to drag her feet dramatically as she left the room, making strangled groaning noises that made Ivan chuckle. She walked down the stairs, purposely taking her sweet time. When she got to the hallway, she could hear Kerry and Colin talking in the kitchen.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take, Col", said Kerry.

"I know, I know. But she's seventeen, what do you expect?"

"I get that, but I thought it would be easier than this. I thought she'd help us with Ivan, you know?"

"Yeah. I just think we really need to present a united front."

"United front? You've hardly been here the past couple of weeks. You work till late, the kids hardly get to see you except in the mornings. Plus, I know she likes you more than she likes me."

"Ah, well that'll be my naturally funny charm", said Colin, chuckling as he dodged a tea towel that Kerry playfully threw at him.

"I'm serious, Col."

"Look, how about I cut down my hours at work?"

"No, no, I can manage. I think. I just wish she wasn't so difficult. I mean, her behaviour is out of control. Destroying a greenhouse? I've heard teens rebel but this is just too much!"

"I know, I know. She's not made things easy lately, has she?"

"No, she hasn't. I'm trying to stay strong, for Ivan, but I'm not sure how we're going to move past this."

Eloise's face started to sting as it got hot, her irritation taking over. She couldn't believe they were siding with Principal Rogerson. Even if they didn't get on, she still thought they'd atleast believe her!

That's it.

Eloise vowed to clear her name before confronting her foster parents.

¤¤¤

The next day, Eloise left the house without saying a word. Colin had been driving Eloise and Ivan to school for the past few weeks, but there was absolutely no way Eloise was going to accept a ride from Colin or Kerry after what she heard yesterday.

The same group of private school boys were at school, but this time they were just outside the school gates, instead of near the greenhouse.

"Oh, look who it is! The deranged psycho", teased one of the boys.

"If I'm such a deranged psycho, then why are you testing my patience?", questioned Eloise.

The boys laughed, but the leader of the group, who coincidentally happened to be the boy Eloise poured drink on, placed an arm in front of the other boys and mock gasped.

"Stand back boys, she'll smash our faces in like she smashed up their precious greenhouse", he teased.

Eloise's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, before shooting right up when she processed what he had said.

"How would you have known about that? Unless... you're the one's who actually trashed it!"

As the boys laughed cruelly at her, Eloise noticed Principal Rogerson telling students to get to their tutor groups.

"Principal Rogerson!", she called out. "These lot wrecked the greenhouse, not me."

"What are you talking about now, Eloise?", he asked, seemingly already annoyed.

Eloise pointed to the group's leader. "He knows that the greenhouse got destroyed. Me, you and my foster parents are the only ones that know, so the only way he'd know is if he was the one that actually broke in!"

Eloise grinned, rather pleased with herself for her expert deduction skills. When Principal Rogerson frowned, and the private school boys chuckled, Eloise's smile fell.

"Eloise... news travels fast. I tried to keep a lid on the situation, but you're not the only person who visits the greenhouse. Other students went and questioned why it had been closed down. And, given how interwoven our schools have been in the past, it's not too far fetched that students from the Pepperden school also found out."

"Oh..."

A tinge of red appeared on her face as she stood there, embarrassed.

"I can't believe you would sink so low as to accuse someone else of doing something you so clearly did yourself."

"But, Sir–"

"Get to class, Eloise. You're older than most students in your year group, yet you lack the emotional maturity I expect someone of your age to have. You did something wrong, Eloise. The best thing for you to do now, is to accept your punishment and do better."

At break time, Zee was sitting alone. Irene was going to come into school late today, because her dad really wasn't doing very well—something only Irene and Zee knew. Aurelia and her boyfriend Max joined her, big smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Zee", smiled Aurelia, before looking at Max, who nodded his head at Zee and gave her a small smile.

"Hey. So how was art class? Did you manage to finish your project?"

Aurelia fiddled with her fork, trying to poke the small potatoes. Max chuckled and picked up a potato from her plate. He gently placed it in her mouth.

"Aww, thanks baby", she grinned.

The pair turned to each other, giggling as they lightly rubbed their noses together. A visceral feeling of disgust crawled along Zee's body, making her screw her face up at the sight of them.

Elliott approached the table, albeit a little slowly due to the nerves that he didn't properly realise he was experiencing. He fiddled with his shirt when he finally reached Zee.

"Uh, h-hey."

Zee instantly turned to face him, desperate to focus on anything else other than Aurelia and Max. Elliott, who mistook Zee's eagerness as genuine excitement to talk to him, was momentarily taken aback.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Um, I uh, well I just thought you should know I tried the chewing gum."

"Oh, right. And?"

Elliott frowned. "Oh! Yep. Uh, ok. Cool talking to you", he said, turning to walk away.

"What? Wait, no, I meant and as in tell me what you thought of them."

"Oh! Uh, they were really good. I might have had them all already", he laughed. "I'm impressed with your snacks."

A small smile appeared on Zee's face. Before she could respond, Eloise came running to the table.

"Zee, I need your help", said Eloise, a flash of confusion on her face when she saw Aurelia and Max rubbing their noses together at an unusually fast speed.

"With what?"

"Everyone thinks I destroyed the greenhouse yesterday but I didn't. I need your detective skills to help me find out who the real culprit is", explained Eloise.

"Mm, I don't know", said Zee. "Not really a fan of free labour."

Eloise groaned. "Oh, please Zee! The smug little buggers from Pepperden think I'm unhinged or something, and I can't have them thinking that. They already think we're all beneath them just because we weren't born with silver spoons in our mouths."

Elliott shifted uncomfortably, trying his best not to seem offended.

"Maybe I could take a quick look. But the only reason I'm not charging is because I don't believe you actually did it."

Eloise's mouth opened in surprise.

"Really? You believe me?"

"Don't get all excited, I just said you didn't do it."

"Trust me, that means more than you think."

"I could come too if you like?", suggested Elliott. "Three heads are better than one."

"Not sure that's the saying, but sure. I could use all the help I can get!"

With just twenty minutes left of lunch break, Eloise knew they'd have to work fast if they wanted to find any clues before the end of the day. Eloise frowned as she looked at out all of the destruction again. Elliott circled around one of the vegetable sections, and Eloise knew he had no idea what to do. Zee's eyebrows furrowed, and she squinted when she saw one of the trowels.

She walked over to it, kneeling down and carefully picking it up.

"Yeah, those are the weapons of choice I think", said Eloise.

"These are different to the ones we usually have", said Zee.

Eloise's eyes widened. "You go here too? Wow, didn't know that. But what's the big deal about different coloured handles?"

"It wouldn't normally be an issue", said Zee, turning the trowel around. She smiled to herself when she saw the inscription on it. "But sometimes seemingly insignificant things end up being the most important."

Zee held the trowel up, showing Eloise the inscription.

"Property of Pepperden Private school...", read Eloise. "Those liars! I knew they had something to do with it!"

"You still need more evidence", said Zee. "But I have to say, I'm surprised Principal Rogerson thinks it's you. Didn't you tell him you were in history class, so you wouldn't of had enough time to run out and dig everything up?"

Zee's words felt like a slap to the face, the realisation suddenly setting in. She wondered how she could have been so stupid?

"Oh my days, how flippin' stupid am I?", exclaimed Eloise, slapping the palm of her hand against her forehead. "I didn't even think about that."

"Because you're hot headed", said Elliott.

"What do you mean by that?", questioned an offended Eloise.

"You act impulsively. You act on your emotions", clarified Elliott. "It doesn't hurt to think things through first."

Zee nodded in agreement.

"The whole world isn't out to get you, you know", said Elliott.

Eloise frowned. "Yeah well, Principal Rogerson definitely is."

"Maybe that's just what you think", said Elliott.

Zee nodded. "Brown's right. If you go to him with actual evidence, he's probably going to believe you."

Eloise nodded, knowing that this was the best way to clear her name. She circled the greenhouse again, going into the special little makeshift shed that Maurice usually sat in. She frowned when she saw how empty it was.

She wasn't just doing this for her. Principal Rogerson also removed Maurice from his role looking after the greenhouse. Something about him not being trusted. Maurice was adamant that Eloise wasn't at fault, and Principal Rogerson couldn't trust his judgement anymore.

Next to the shed, wedged into a corner, was a navy blue school blazer. She scrutinised the blazer further, her eyes widening when she saw the school's emblem. Rushing out, she held the blazer up as she reached Zee and Elliott.

"I found more evidence!"

Elliott took the blazer, raising an eyebrow at Eloise, who was doing a quick victory dance.

"Good. Check for any writing inside it, like a name a parent might have written on the label", said Zee.

Elliott examined the label, his eyes widening when he saw the name.

Jacob Brown.

______

Hi.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I loved delving into Eloise's life a bit more. I think her relationship with her biological mother is so beautiful, which makes it all so difficult for her. She can't accept Kerry and Callum as her family, and it worries her that Ivan seems to view them as family. I would love to hear your thoughts on this, and also her home life with Kerry and Callum.

I can't lie, Eloise & Spencer might be one of my favourite friendships to right. They're just so relatable to me, because I've either had friendships like theirs, or seen them in school. I really enjoy writing the different friendships in this book, probably because I feel like they're the most natural friendships I've ever written. What are your thoughts on this?

The trio seemed to have found the culprit, but what will Elliott do? Can he get his brother out of this? And if he does, what will happen to Eloise?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

starryeyedturtle

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

niallhoranslovebot

Tornado-Jockey