“This will be your last meeting with her.” His dad explained as they pulled up to the social welfare office. “After this the lawyers will be handling everything.”

Eli understood this was his dad’s way of saying ‘stop bloody asking me about it’. “Okay”

Mrs Grant had been the first person Eli spoke to when he left home, and she’d been the one working with the lawyers in handling his case. He liked her. From the start, she’d been the only person actually supported him moving in with his dad. He was comfortable with her, more so than anyone else, and he was sure that she was on his side.

“As it stands,” Mrs Grant looked up from her binder, “You’re going to be back with your mother at the end of this all.”

Eli’s stomach dropped. He jerked up from the couch he’d been relaxing into. “What?”

“Your parent’s homes are in a similar situation financially and otherwise, but you’ve lived with your mother since you were a child, and despite how unfair it may seem, that’s going to hold a lot more weight than your own personal preference.” Mrs Grant explained, “Putting it together with the time and effort your mother and Jackson are putting into building their case with the lawyers, the outcome is already apparent.”

Eli swallowed hard, fighting down the panic gripping his senses. If he went back now Jackson would be… he shuddered. “But Dad…”

Mrs Grant fixed him with a stare, and Eli knew the meaning of it immediately. His dad wasn’t exactly as pushed to win this case as his mom was.

“I want to live here.” Eli gave her a pleading look.“Isn’t there anything you can do?”

Mrs Grant flipped her folder closed and placed it down onto the table. She straightened her skirt and leaned forwards onto the arm of the chair. “Eli, I know how much you want this, and I remember how desperate you were the day you came in here. But as a social worker I don’t have much sway in this decision, aside from monitoring your condition.”

Eli’s spirit continued to crash. Shit.

“But,” Mrs Grant’s eyes glistened, and she made sure Eli was looking directly at her. “You can still influence the decision. I said your households were similar, but they aren’t identical. The system typically favours families that have siblings in them.”

“Noah—“

“Yes, Noah. Get along with him, foster a good, strong relationship.” Mrs Grant instructed, “Make sure when he’s called on to talk about you, he wants you to stay.”

Eli recalled Noah’s scornful gaze at dinner last night, then immediately pushed it to the back of his mind. “I can do that.” He nodded. Making his own brother like him shouldn’t be that hard.

“And the other thing is school. Having terrible grades is an excellent opportunity, since if you can improve here that shows this home is a healthier one for your academics.” Mrs Grant tilted her head. “The system loves academics.”

“I can do that too.” Eli answered immediately. Studying was never something he was motivated to do, homework wasn’t either, but if it meant staying here instead of going back, then he’d be happy to put in a few hours. “Will that be enough?”

Mrs Grant leaned back with a small smile. “Alongside my recommendation, it will be more than enough.”

Eli let out a shuddering breath. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, you’re the one who’s going to have to do all the work.” Mrs Grant stood. Eli followed as she led them out into the hallway. His dad was sitting on the bench outside her office staring down at his phone, his meeting with the lawyers must have ended quickly.

“Good luck, Eli” She gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “You can do it” She added much quieter, so that it would have been heard only by himself and not his dad.

Eli felt as though she’d been more upfront with him than was usual. “Thank you” He was filled with the urge to hug her, but his dad’s appearance made him hesitate. Mrs Grant dropped her hand, and the moment passed. As she stepped back Eli wished he’d just done it.

They didn’t talk on the way home. Once he got his head around what he needed to do, his mind was consumed with what his dad wasn’t doing. He didn’t even tell Eli that he was going to lose the case, and if wasn’t going to bother why not just send him back straight away? Eli tried to squash down that thought. Getting annoyed at his dad would only make this harder, and he didn’t want to risk any outbursts towards him. Besides, wanting to live here was his own selfish whim.

*

Eli had only just cracked open his maths book, and he was ready to implode. He’d been given worksheets by all the teachers of work they’d done this year, and things he could start trying to catch up on, but since he sat down at his desk, he couldn’t even struggle through the few sums that had been given for homework. “I should have paid more attention in class.” He opened his laptop, keying in the equation he couldn’t solve.

“No.” He immediately covered his eyes. “This won’t help me learn.”

He heard Noah’s footsteps as he came up the hall. Oh. He recalled the gushing Miss Davis had been doing, and Eli saw a way to kill two birds with one stone. “Noah” Eli called his name as Noah walked by.

Noah leaned in the doorway. “What is it?”

“Do you think…” Eli trailed off. His voice lost volume as he watched Noah’s facial expression. His brother glanced at the open laptop on Eli’s desk, and his expression twisted into an annoyed, irritated mask.

“What?” Noah’s voice held even more snap in it than it had after the party.

Eli flinched. “It’s nothing, sorry for bothering you”

Noah’s footsteps even sounded angry as they went down the hall. Eli rubbed his mouth as he started at the screen of his laptop. This was going to be a problem. Clearly it was a sore spot for Noah, and even if it wasn’t too late to return it Eli was certain that Jenny wouldn’t let him.

His dad’s footsteps were the next to ascend the stairs. “Dad.” Eli called out.

“Yes?” His dad leaned inside the exact same way Noah had, though his eyes didn’t waver from Eli or twist into something hateful.

“Would you mind if I got a part-time job?”

“A part-time job?” His dad repeated, though it sounded more like he was talking to himself than Eli. “I don’t have anything against it in particular,” He said hesitantly, “So long as it’s weekends only and doesn’t interfere with your school work.”

Eli let out a relieved breath when he left. He thought his dad would refuse. He slid back his chair and pulled the case for the laptop from under the table. He bit his lip and turned over to the side he’d refused to look at. The price made him groan. He thumped his head against the wood and stared down at it. It would take months to pay this off if he was only working weekends.

“Well, everyone’s been saying this will take months.” Eli murmured to himself stroking the figure that seemed to glare up at him. If he had any savings at all, this wouldn’t be so daunting. “Oh well,” He sat back up and returned to the maths problem. “It’s not like this was going to be easy.”