butterfly// 5SOS

6

Jasper got in the car and Lauren squealed happily, playing dolls with him all the way home. Completely opposite, I was trying my best not to throw up, and headed to bed as we got through the door.

Mum brought my packages through but we agreed to look tomorrow. Instead, she laid beside me and properly hugged me.

"I don't think I can go to school,"

"Why not?"

"I can't,"

"Can you give it a go? You can be addressed as Elijah if we say so, even if it's not your legal name yet,"

"So people will know I'm Elijah?"

"Yep,"

"I don't feel like I pass, though,"

"Well tomorrow you can try on your clothes, and we will figure some things out if you are struggling, okay bud? You're probably not going to school for a few days, maybe Friday so you can have one day to figure it all out and have a fresh start on Monday,"

My brain was too mushed to be able to argue, so instead I just shut my eyes and melted into the hug. Their hugs were nice.

Dad came home and was occupied by Lauren, who made him play music on his phone for the dolls to dance to, and then he came upstairs to my room with a bag.

"I stopped by the store to pick up some treats. This is your medicine, and I got you some tomato soup for tonight, but when your stomach is settled you can have these sweets and ice lollies,"

"You bought them for me?"

"Yeah, how have you been?"

"Thankyou,"

I looked at him and he smiled, crouching beside me with my hand in his.

"That's okay, we will always get you what you need,"

"Please can Jasper come in?"

"He's just doing homework, but after you've eaten perhaps you two can chill in the playroom,"

"Elijah was saying earlier that he feels like he's been given a reputation, by his social worker and other homes, but I don't think he's a bad kid at all," Crystal said, "Perhaps we could talk about that briefly all together?"

"Do you want know what Crystal and I understood from your profile?"

"Yes please,"

He kissed my head and sat on the end of the bed, holding mum's hand.

"We got the impression that you struggle a bit with school, and adapting to new places. However, after conversations with you, we think that you've never been able to express and understand yourself freely, which is so hard on you as a teenager especially. Do you agree?"

"Yeah,"

"So we don't think you're a bad kid,"

"But I've had detentions and had a failed adoption,"

"Well we'll try not to get detentions, but you're a kid. You're not perfect, we aren't perfect," mum said.

"We reward you for effort and grades at the end of each term, but we don't mean that they have to be straight A grades. Asking you to get an A grade in a subject that you genuinely cannot is way too stressful,"