"ARE YOU READY FOR SCHOOL, SWEET CAKES?" Bonnie yelled up the stairs to Elliana.

"Yeah. One second," Elli respond back as Bonnie made her way to Marilyn who was making Elliana her lunch.

After the debacle in the flower shop in December, Elli started to live with the married couple. Elli explained how she had "lost her "siblings" while moving to (what she now learned was Texas) Texas from her home state. New York." 

She was really good at acting sad and convinced them that she couldn't remember anything from the day before. Hence, why she didn't know the date. She told them how she "hit her head while walking around then stumbled into the convenience store when the two boys started to chase after her out of nowhere."

They felt bad, truly, and offered to let her stay until she were to find her family again.

They wanted her to still have an education as Marilyn was a tutor and could help her if needed.

After they closed the flower shop, they were going to drive Elli to their house so she could get settled.

Elli hesitated a bit before getting into the car, as she still wasn't quite used to it yet, but in the end she got in. After the twenty, twenty-five minute drive, she got out feeling a light headache, though it went away quickly. She was now in front of a house that was painted a bright pink and yellow color.

It was adorable, not gonna lie. It had two mini pine trees in front and had a painted yellow garage door. Bonnie parked the car and got out, opening Elli's door and allowing her to get out. Bonnie fiddled the keys in her hand as she want down the pathway to the stairs that lead to the front door. 

Bonnie put in the keys and pushed open the door to reveal a living room of to the left side and a kitchen straight ahead. There was a couch that sat to the left and a tv that was positioned on a stand with book shelves barricading it.

"Hope you like our humble abode," Marilyn smiled as Elli hugged her tightly.

"It's amazing! Thank you," she smiled as Marilyn squeezed her cheek.

Elli won't admit it, but she reminded her a lot of Grace. They both had blond hair, an amazing smile, and were very beautiful and kind.

Bonnie on the other hand reminded her of Mace. She joked a lot and love to scare Marilyn all the time. Elli loved the relationship that Bonnie and Marilyn had because, even though they were a married couple, they acted as of they were married for years time.

An old married couple as Elli described it.

They had date nights, movie nights, cuddle nights dinner dates, everything in the book. They have only been married for two years and only had one fight. It was over something stupid and Elli witnessed all of it.

The screaming, yelling, arguing, right from wrongs, even Bonnie slamming the front door and driving away to somewhere.

She held Marilyn as she started to fall to the floor in tears, saying it was all her fault and she wished none of it had happened. Only wanting Bonnie to come back.

After three horrible days of Marilyn sulking to herself, a knock was heard from the front door.  Mary and Elli were on the couch watching 101 Dalmatians for the third time as Mary stuffed her face with cookies and cream ice cream. She had already finished two tubs and told Elli to buy more over the three days.

They both looked at each other as Mary took the spoon out her mouth and ran to the front door. She unlocked the door and opened it to see Bonnie with a bouquet of sunflowers. Her eyes were as red as Mary's as she looked towards her lover.

"I'm sorry," They both spoke at the same time. Mary rushed forward and wrapped her arms around Bon, almost crushing the flowers completely.

"You're back!" Elli jumped off the couch and ran towards Bon who opened her arms up for the girl as well.

They ended the night by going to a dinner, sorting out their differences together.

•••••

"Do you have everything, Elli? I bet Shirley is waiting for you," Bon spoke as Elli came to the kitchen with her school uniform on.

"Yep. All my homework is done and I have my biology project right here," she waved the poster paper in her hand that she soon placed in her bag pocket.

"Alright. You'll do great with the presentation. I know it," Mary said as she handed Elli her lunch.

"Thanks. I hope I do," Elli moved to give Mary a hug. "Love you," she said and moved to Bon who gave her a hug and a kiss on the head.

"Love you too," the couple announced as Elli ran towards the front door. "Have a great day!"

Elli pushed open the front door to see Shirley sitting on the steps. "Finally! You take forever!" They began walking down the walkway onto the sidewalk.

Shirley was Elli's best friend. She lives next door to the left and introduced herself when Elli was outside getting the mail one day. She had bright, red hair and was very dramatic and funny sometimes. She was also very forgetful sometimes. Like Dory. She reminded her of Klaus with a mixture of her moms personality.

Elli chuckled and checked her watch that she had on her right wrist. "We have. . . twenty-six minutes until the bell rings. And it takes ten minutes to get to school. Plus, we have to stop by the bagel shop which is an added five minutes."

Shirley groaned and threw her head back. "Ugh, please don't make me do the math." Elli laughed as her friend complained. "I'm failing right now."

"How're you failing, Tempy? It's March fourth, we just started this unit last Friday," Elli looked at her friend as they began to cross the street to the bagel shop.

"Math is hard. You're smart and everything, so that's why I don't ever see you complaining," Shirley spoke as she walked up to the bagel shop.

"Oh, please. I'm not that good. Fractions are my enemy," Elli pulled opened the door for her and Shirley.

"Morning, Gilbert," They both said to the young boy who sat behind the counter.

"Morning, Elliana," he noticed Shirley next to Elli and turned bright red. "a-a-and Shirley. D-Didn't forget you Shirley. Never forget you," he stuttered as his voice squeaked and he looked down in sheer, horrible embarrassment.

Gilbert had black hair and white skin. He was only a few months older than the girls but was homeschooled since he had to help in the shop. His father, Anthony, owned the bagel shop and the two girls decided to try it before school one day.

After that, it became a routine and everyone with an eyesight could tell that Gilbert was catching feelings for Shirley. He would blush furiously and get sweaty palms while seeing her.

It was like the best part of his day.

Elli and Shirley chuckled to themselves and looked towards him. "We will have—"

"A plain bagel with butter and a sesame bagel with cream cheese," Gilbert filled in and smiled. "I know. You guys order the same thing everyday." the girls rolled their eyes playfully at the same time and Gilbert rang them up. "That will be one-fifty."

Elli took out exactly one-fifty from her pocket and placed it on the counter, taking the bagels in return. "Thanks," she pulled down the bagel wrap and took a bite. "Have a good day," she turned her heal, connecting arms Shirley.

"You too! Both of you!" he spoke as they left the shop.

Shirley took a bite of one of her bagels. "Mhmm, I could eat these until the day I die. They are so good!"

Elli nodded in agreement. "I know right. Everything is better with a bagel to start your day!" Elli and Shirley snickered as she said that aloud, receiving weird looks from by passers.

El looked at her watch and saw that it was now eight nineteen and school started at eight thirty. "We better hurry. It's eight nineteen."

Shirley's eyes widened. "Hmm! I have to meet my literacy teacher at eight twenty-five! Let's go!" Shirley grabbed Elli's open hand and began to start sprinting.

"Shirley! Hang on!" Shirley let go and Elli began to run after her. "Shirley! Wait!"

Shirley ran up the long street to where the school, John Neely's School for Girls, resided at. "What time is it now?"

Elli panted heavily as she went up to the trash can and threw away her bagel wrapper. "Shirley, it's Monday. You have to meet with your literacy teacher on Thursday."

"Ohhh right!" Shirley nodded as she spoke. "Well, why didn't you say anything?" she looked at the dark brown, curly headed girl.

Elli blinked at Shirley. "I don't know. Maybe because you were running five-thousand miles per hour!"

"Oh, please. I'm not that fast."

"You're the fastest in the school! Hush!" Elli looked at her watch and saw it was now eight twenty-four. "Oh! We gotta go!" Elli ran inside with Shirley following behind.

•••••

Not gonna lie, but Elli was bullied a bit at school. Mostly from girls who were jealous of her being really smart but also some girls who would bully her because of her race. She knew that since she was in the sixties now, she would be experiencing all of racism—but still—it hurt. And, she was only one out of six colored girls who went to the school.

She one time had to hide in the bathroom because these three girls were threatening to hurt her if she came to class. Also, when Shirley had to stay after school for tutoring lessons sometimes, two boys would chase her home and try to scare her.

They would sometimes throw water balloons or push her onto the side walk, leading her to scrap her knees or get bruises.

Now, everyone's probably thinking, "why doesn't she just tell Marilyn and Bonnie?" Now, the married couple might be all jokes and fun, but they're protective.

Very protective.

They treat her as if she's a two-year-old sometimes. It bugs Elli a bit but then she knows that they're just looking out for her. So, over the course of months Elli went to school, she still continued to get bullied.

•••••

It was now the month of May and they were beginning to have their finals and major tests so they could move onto the next grade. Elli had all A's and were some teachers favorites and some girls didn't like that.

So, while walking to school by herself one Monday—ready for the day ahead, a girl came up to her claiming to be new to the school and wanted to know if she could walk with Elli to get to school.

Elli, being the kindest, said yes. As they walked, the girl said she knew a short cut and proceeded to push Elli towards the woods. Elli had a sick and horrible feeling in her stomach, telling her not to go but not being able to get out of the girls strong grip, she had to go along with it.

As they were closer into the woods, Elli looked around to see nothing familiar to the school. "Uh. Are you sure this is the way?"

"Yeah. My mom told me," the girl proceeded as she held onto Elli's arms tightly and dragged her deeper into the woods. As they neared a creek, two more girls came out from behind trees.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" one of the blonds came up to Elli, twiddling a small paring knife in her grasp. "Looks like Teresa lead you out here. Didn't think she really had the guts."

She began to step closer and Elli began to slowly take a step back but Teresa kept Elli's arms in her hold and held her still. "Where do you think you're going?" she breathed down the back of her neck. "Bev, Vickie, and I are just getting started," she pushed Elli onto the ground.

Elli tried to quickly get up but Vickie held her down so that she was now on her back. She started to fidget and try to get up but Vickie held her arms above her. "Stop moving you big baby."

"Stop it! Please!"

"Shut up," Bev spoke as she moved over to her. "No ones going to help you," she gave a fake sad look, replacing it quickly with a smile.

"Pass me the knife," Vickie smiled as Bev passed her the knife and Elli began to scream. Vickie lifted up her school uniform button up and showed her stomach. With a quick slash, she cut her stomach.

"Stop it! Help me!" Elli yelled in pain as tears left her eyes. One more slash was met with her stomach and Elli looked at the knife to see her own blood.

Her eyes widened as she started to get flashbacks from when she was kidnapped with Klaus. The torturing and getting hit. Seeing her blood all over her face and the bruises beginning to form everywhere. The pain. Oh, the pain. She couldn't bare.

"Please. Stop," she begged as Vickie gave a chuckle and make another slash, digging into her skin.

"Oh, please," she got off of Elli and left her on the ground. "Now," she picked up her back pack. "let's see what's in here. Anything we could destroy maybe?" the three girls laughed as something fell from Elli's side pocket.

"What's this?" Teresa picked up the pictures that Elli and Kyla took in the photo booth. She looked at the faces they made and her eyes landed on the last photo. The one of them making kissy faces to one another.

"Oh, look," Vickie spoke from behind Teresa. "We've got a lesbian on our hands. What should we do?"

At this point, Elli was starting to get up as the girls started to move towards her. She grabbed her backpack from the ground and snatched the photo from Teresa's hand, pushing her harshly to the ground.

"You're so going to regret that," Vickie and Bev gave her death glares as Vickie started to move towards her.

Elli took off running and Vickie was hot on her tail. Bev stayed a second behind to help Teresa up but then joined Vickie in running after her. Elli ran up a big hill that lead to the sidewalk and began to run back home. She was getting slower and slower as blood dropped down her skirt, bleeding through her clothes.

She couldn't go back to school. They would know where she'd be and hurt her more so home was the second option.

"Come back here, you little shit!" Vickie yelled as she ran up the hill.

Elli noticed and began to run down the sidewalk. She heard the colliding footsteps of the three girls behind her and ran as fast as she possibly could—ignoring the pain to the best of her ability.

The house. Finally. It was right there. She hoped she kept the front door unlocked because if she were to grab a key, call her someone from a horror movie because she would've dropped it multiple times out of fear and would've been killed.

She ran through the grass and to the front door. The door was unlocked—thank Christ—and she sprinted inside, locking the door behind her.

Doing so, she saw the reflections of the three girls on the other side through the two see through glass windows.

"Open the door, you faggot!" one banged on the door loudly. "Stop being a pussy so we can teach you a lesson!"

All the insults lead Elli to cover her ears, jumping every time one would bang on the door. She watched as the door knob jiggled and the door moved slightly when one would bang their fist against it.

She kept moving backwards that she suddenly bumped into something—or someone—and screamed, hurriedly covering her mouth. "Elli! What the hell is going on?"

"Please. These girls. . ." Elli lead on to Bonnie who held her to her chest as Marilyn looked at the door.

"I've got this," Bonnie spoke with a hard Jersey accent as she gave Elli to Marilyn and grabbed the bat from the coat closet, moving to the door. She opened the door and looked at the three girls with glaring eyes. "How can I help you?"

Teresa chuckled. "You live here?"

Bonnie mimicked the chuckle. "Yeah. I do. Now," she clapped the back onto her left palm. "how can I help you?"

Vickie stepped forward. "We're friends of Elli—"

"Gonna stop you right there," Bon put a hand out. "I know you're lying, sweet girl, so we're gonna make this quick," she placed a hand on Vickies shoulder and leaned in closer, gesturing the other girls to do so as well.

"You ever, and I mean ever, hurt my little girl again. I will bash your brain outs with my bat and put your guts on your front door for your parents to see," she whispered into their ears and they gave her wide eyes. "Am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," They all said in a barley hearable voice.

"Am I clear?" Bon raised her voice causing the three girls to jump.

"Yes, ma'am," They all said loudly in fear making Elli and Mary to give wide eyes from inside.

"Good," she leaned back up and gave a sweet smile as if nothing was wrong. "Now get off my porch!" Bonnie announced and the three girls ran.

She smiled as she watched the girls run down the road and away from her view of vision. She closed the door and set the bat to the side, turning to Mary and Elli.

"Problem solved," Bonnie put the bat back into the closet.

•••••

"Baby, why didn't you tell us you were getting bullied?" Mary asked as she placed a cleaning solution on Elli's scars.

They had been cleaning her for about twenty minutes and were sitting—Elli laying on Bonnie's
lap—on the couch watching I Love Lucy.

"I thought you guys would get mad that I wasn't defending myself. I also didn't want you to overreact," Elli admitted as she winced slightly from the solution.

"Sweet cakes, we're going to overreact sometimes, but that's what some guardians do. We care for you very much and don't want anything to happen to you," Bonnie moved her hand up and down Elli's crown of her hair.

Mary agreed. "She's right," she began to sit Elli up so she could wrap her stomach with a medical bandage.
The tape wrapped around the three marks and Elli winced as they were applied kinda tight. "Okay," she taped down the bandage and pulled Elli's shirt down. "all finished," she patted her leg.

Elli looked at the wrap before pulling her shirt down fully. "Do I have to go back to school tomorrow?"

Bonnie nodded her head. "Yes. Only because we are going to talk to your principle about pulling you out of the school."

Elli's eyes widened. "Pulling me out of school? I can't leave school. I still have to take my finals and I have tests to do."

Mary nodded. "We know. Which is why your going to go in to take those next week. Then, once you're finished, we're going to take you out."

Elli oh'd. "Well, then what school am I going to then?"

"No school. I'm gonna teach you. Hope you didn't forget I'm a tutor, baby," Mary smiled as she tapped Elli's nose.

"Oh, right. Well, okay. I'd love that," Elli smiled.

Two knocks on the door were heard and they all turned their heads to the side to look at the door. They saw the outline of a girl and saw their hair blowing in the wind. Mary got up slowly and moved over to the door, grabbing the bat as Bonnie held Elli close.

Mary gradually unlocked the door then violently swung it open and held the bat at a ready.

"Wait! Don't hit me! I still haven't met Elvis Presley!" Shirley shrikes and shields her face as she saw the bat.

"Oh, Jesus. Shirley, you scared us," Mary took a breather and let her inside.

"Oh, you're alright," Shirley moved towards Elliana and gave her a hug. "I heard what happened. I brought you some Now and Laters to help you feel better. I know you like them," she passed them to Elli who quickly opened them and popped one in her mouth.

"Thanks for coming over to check on me," she smiled.

Shirley nodded. "I also have something to tell you, but I can tell you tomorrow when we go to school."

"Uh, that might be a problem."

"Why?"

"I. . . might not be going to school anymore after what happened."