Blessing in Disguise (MM)

Chapter Nine

ARIS' POV

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After picking Elodie up from school and making dinner for the both of us, she sits on the floor in front of me and practices her drawing on a colouring book. I smile as she grabs the pencils and uses them until they're blunt.

On the TV is a kids program that she enjoys. I mean I've watched two episodes and I'm already invested. This beats sitting at home and doing nothing important with my evening–at least I'm getting paid for this.

My phone buzzes and I pull it from my pocket to find Luca's name.

Luca: How's everything going today?

Aris: Yeah, it's going well. No doubt Nick will shout at me later for something I've done.

Luca: It was your first day and we both know that he's a perfectionist. Today will be better, I know it.

Aris: I'll hold you too that

I place my phone down and look down to find Elodie sitting back against the edge of the sofa and watching the TV. My eyes fixate on the scene of the program before me. The main character is getting pushed out of the group by a bunch of bullies.

Elodie's lip pops at the show then turns her head to me. "Why do people have to be so mean?"

"I know," I nod in agreement. "But this show isn't real, Elodie. The girl isn't getting treated like this in real life. You know that?"

Those big green eyes glimmer at me before she climbs onto the sofa beside me. "I'm not talking about that."

I reposition myself and twist my body towards her, letting my elbow rest on the back of the sofa and pressing my face into my fist. "Then what do you mean?"

"At school," she starts, her gaze falling. "There is this girl called Faye and I want to be her friend but she won't let me join the group."

My heart aches at her confession. "Does she say things to you?"

Elodie pauses and then shakes her head. "I try to talk to her but she turns her back on me. It's like I'm not there. Why doesn't she want to be my friend? I'm so nice to everyone."

I scoot closer and offer her a generous smile. "You know that not everyone on this planet is a nice person, right?"

She nods once, waiting for me to continue.

"So those people who aren't very kind to you, you shouldn't give them any of your attention or energy. They aren't people you want to be surrounded by, in a way it's sort of doing you a favour. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah..." she trails off sadly.

"Do you have other friends at school?"

Elodie nods, her curls falling over her shoulder. "Yeah, Kaia. She's my best friend. I love spending time with her."

"Then focus on Kaia and your friendship."

"But I want more friends."

"Quality over quantity."

Her brows crease as she studies me. "What does that mean?"

"Well, would you rather have one really good friend like Kaia or five really mean friends like Faye?"

Elodie pulls back as if the question is a no brainer. "Kaia."

My lips curl into a smile. "I know you might want to make more friends, Elodie. I totally get it. When I was in school, I didn't have many friends either. But stick with the people who you enjoy spending time with and those who make you happy."