TEACHER TEACHER! [re-uploaded due technical issues with first upload]

Chapter 6- Paint The Town Pewter Grey

WARNING: UPSETTING CONTENT.
Mentions of illness.

Hardened chunks of food were stuck on the walls, and the paint was starting to peel off.
The carpet needed fitting again, but a brand new one, because this one looked like it hadn't been cleaned in months.

"This wall is disgusting", frowned Eloise.

"Food should not be stuck to walls", said Spencer.

"What even happened here?", asked Atlas.

"The Mosque committee held a meeting here.
They were thinking about reserving a room to use for praying.
A bunch of racists got their kids to trash the place", explained Zee.

Eloise frowned.
"That's horrible!
Why couldn't they just mind their own business?
A prayer room isn't going to hurt anyone."

Elliott turned to Aahan.

"Was Marleyport like this when you were our age?", he asked.

Aahan nodded.
"Afraid so.
People were just confused, that's all.
We were different, you know?"

"We've got brown and black skin, believe in a different God, and have different cultures.
We're not aliens.
They act as if they'll grow a second head just by talking to us", said Zee.

"She's right", said Eloise.
"I've been to a lot of foster families, and not one of them tried to embrace my Indian background."

Eloise never felt tied to her Indian background.
She liked it, because it was her only connection to her mother, but she never really got to experience her culture.

She would've been grateful if even one of her foster family's would've read up on her history, or tried to cook an Indian dish.

That didn't make them bad foster parents.
Not in the slightest.
It just meant that it was another thing she missed out on.

Atlas watched as Aahan walked to another room, paint bucket in his hands.
He turned back to see a pensive Eloise. Her brush was squashed against the wall, and her eyes were looking at the ground.

Atlas looked at his own paintbrush, a mischievous smirk appearing on his face.
He reached over and swiped the paintbrush against Eloise's forehead.

The older girl froze, or started buffering, as Atlas would say.
Atlas' laugh seemed to pull her back to reality, and she used her brush to scoop up a large blob of paint.

She flicked it, sending it flying onto Atlas' face.

"Hey!"

"You started it!"

As if the pair attacking each other with paint wasn't chaotic enough, a bored Spencer decided to get in on the action.

He wiped his paintbrush on Atlas' arm, making Eloise laugh.

"Yes!
It's two against one!", she exclaimed.

Spencer shook his head.
"Nope!
I work alone", he said.

He snatched Eloise's brush and flicked paint at her as well.