What We Once Had

Eleanor Blake had not had the greatest childhood. She had been in the foster care system since age 5 after she had been found by police officers in the ruined apartment half starving with her parents dead around her. No one believed her when she told them what happened. They told her that it wasn't her fault, that a girl that young couldn't possibly be to blame. But, she knew they were wrong. She hadn't meant what she had said, but she couldn't reverse the effect her words had. She was the one who had told her fighting parents that they might as well die. In the spring, when Eleanor was nearly 7, a couple from Onibus adopted her. They weren't rich, and most of her clothes were from a secondhand store, but they loved her and Eleanor loved them. It was in the fall that Eleanor's life changed. For the first time, she was going to school.

Eleanor walked into the classroom the first day with a smile on her face. Her dress was a little bit worn and stained but none the less she thought she looked pretty. She was one of the last students to enter the class and shortly after her arrival, the teacher, Ms. Blanche, gathered them all in a circle to start introductions. When it was Eleanor's turn to speak, she had barely opened her mouth when she heard someone snicker, looking to another girl on her left and whispering, "She looks so funny! Where did she come from?" Eleanor paused, her smile fading before she realized she still had to introduce herself. "I'm Eleanor. I just moved from Crocus." A boy with dark hair jeered, "What did you crawl here from the sewers?" The majority of the student's started laughing and Eleanor whipped her head around to face him before saying sternly. "Shut up." Halfway through his laugh, the boy's mouth suddenly closed. "Eleanor!" Ms. Blanche said, "That is not the way to treat your friends. Class, be welcoming to our new student." The other students mumbled apologies before Ms. Blanche turned to the student next to Eleanor, "Now what about you?"