"But you know Eloise, the Plaza now seems quiet," Estelle said. "Kind of spooky."
"Yeah... It does..." Eloise agreed. "You think it's because of me?"
"Most likely..." Vincent nodded.
"I'm too tired to run around in the lobby..." Eloise sighed a little.
"We know and most of that energy has been used in school and homework." Vincent said.
Eloise frowned and nodded, but she did comfort against Skipperdy and Weenie. Bill was on the way with their dinner as the phone rang.
Nanny answered it and spoke for a moment, but then put the phone down for a moment. "Kids, it's your parents!"
"We're coming!" All four of them called out.
"Just a moment, dears." Nanny told the proud parents on the phone with a whimsical smile as always.
All four of the kids then ran into the room, ready to talk to their parents.
"Hello, dears..." Darla's voice came on the line.
"Hi, Mother..." Eloise greeted, not sounding as cheery as she usually was hwen her mother would call.
Darla could tell something was wrong. "What's the matter, dear?"
"Nothing, why do you ask?" Eloise asked.
"You sound sad about something..." Darla prompted. "Did something happen on your first day of school?"
"No, it was just more of a challenge than what we were expecting." Eloise said.
"Well, don't give up just because of one bad day," Mo encouraged. "We're very proud of you, just remember, Nanny and Aunt Darla made it so if you don't like it, you can always change your mind."
"We know..." the Fudo siblings said, hoping they wouldn't disappoint their parents if they didn't enjoy their school experience.
"And remember, kids, no matter what you do; none of you could ever disappoint us, except if any of you turn evil." Atticus said.
"Thanks, Dad." the Fudo siblings then said.
Eloise twirled her finger into the phone cord. "Thanks, Uncle Atticus..." she said, still soft about the school subject though.
"Sorry we couldn't be there on your first day, but maybe on one of your breaks we'll stop by..." Mo suggested.
"If we get that far..." Akito and Estelle murmured.
After more talking on the phone, the adults had to get going, so they hung up, leaving the kids go back to bedroom part of the room just as Bill came with their dinner.
"Dinner anyone?" Bill asked.
"Hello, Bill." Nanny smiled to him.
Eloise, Akito, Estelle, and Vincent came out in their school uniforms to see him.
"Hello, Bill." Eloise plainly greeted.
Bill's own smile disappeared. "Someone's really blue..."
"Yeah, school's really taken a lot of energy out of her; along with the rest of us especially while we were doing our homework." Vincent told him.
"Oh, school can be like that..." Bill was no stranger to public schooling. "Just wait though, because you four are some special little young men and women. I'm sure you have a few tricks up your sleeves..."
Eloise gave a small smile to him. "Thanks..."
"So, who are you exactly?" Vincent asked.
"I'm in the kitchen a lot, but someday, I'm gonna leave this hotel behind and become a master thespian." Bill replied in an overly dramatic voice.
"What?" the Fudo siblings asked.
"He wants to be an actor." Eloise explained to them.
"Oh, yeah, wait... You're Bill." Vincent said, now remembering the man.
"It's okay, you still have time to get used to me." Bill didn't take it too personally that Vincent nearly forgot about him, he didn't know him as long as the other kids did. "Enjoy your dinner..."
The kids sighed and ate all they could until it would be time for bed and they would go back to school tomorrow morning.
"I wish we could cheer up Papa, Aunt Estelle, Uncle Vincent, and Cousin Eloise." Larvitar said to Vulpix.
"Yeah..." Vulpix agreed. "What if we snuck in their backpack?" he then asked, a little mischievously.
"Yeah, but if we do that, then they'll get in trouble; then again, their first day at school was a nightmare, I can already tell that." Larvitar said.
"True..." Vulpix's ears drooped. "I just hope school gets better for them."
"Me too." Larvitar agreed.
The next day, Eloise carried her paper as she walked with her cousins and nanny back to school. One day down, many more to go... Would they be able to handle the stress of being school students?
"At least we know her rules now..." Estelle tried to make the most of it.
The others quietly shrugged about that. A limo pulled up and Jenny came out.
"Bye, Winston!" Jenny waved as soon as she came out of her ride.
"Hey, Jenny!" Vincent said.
"Oh, hi, Vincent, hi, guys..." Jenny waved to them and decided to walk over to them.
"Notice how she said your name first?" Estelle asked teasingly to her oldest brother.
Vincent blushed and rolled his eyes to her, but smiled to Jenny.
"I actually didn't think you'd come back," Jenny said to them. "No offense though..."
"It's okay, we're not giving up that easily." Akito said.
"Yeah and we're not going to lose the bet to Bobby." Estelle said.
"Bet?" Jenny asked.
"It's a long story." Vincent said to her.
"Well, good luck..." Jenny said to them. "I prayed for you guys before I went to bed last night."
"Oh, you didn't have to do that..." Eloise smiled to her.
"But thank you anyway." Estelle smiled.
"Of course..." Jenny said to them. "I'm sure your second day will be better than your first one..."
The Fudo kids weren't too sure, but they gave smiles to her. The kids Eloise befriended at recess got together and Jenny went over to them to talk with them now.
'I sure do hope this day is much better than yesterday.' Akito thought to himself.
Nanny waved to them and went back to the hotel for the day. Edwin glanced to the Fudo cousins, but he kept his distance from them as he was going to his own friends. The Fudo cousins looked relieved and went to their own friends until the bell would call them into class.
'There is no way we are going to let Bobby win this bet.' Vincent thought to himself.
The bell then rang and they all entered their classroom.
Mrs. Hedwig of course came after the class bell, she made them rise and then be seated. "Now, I'm sure all of you remember what happened yesterday..." she told the students. "Eloise, will you and your cousins come up with your story for the class and I hope this time, it's in proper English?"
"Yes, Mrs. Hedwig," Eloise said, taking her paper and walking up to the front of the class to read her paper outloud. "I even had someone grade and proofread it for me." She gave a small wave to Vincent then.
Vincent gave a small wave back with a smile.
Eloise cleared her throat. "'My Life in the Tippy-Top of the Plaza Hotel, by Eloise Fudo'..." the girl read the title and started to read her story, having the full energy and cheerfulness she was known for back in her home.
The Fudo siblings smiled as Eloise read her life at the Plaza and was being herself with every word that would not get her in trouble.
"Eloise," Mrs. Hedwig called to the girl once she finished her little story. "Didn't you remember what I told you yesterday about those words?"
"Yes, Mrs. Hedwig, I did," Eloise replied rather snootily. "And I checked my dictionary and the words I used are real words and I can even give you the definitions! It means 'run with tiny steps'. I can bring the dictionary to show you."
"Fine..." Mrs. Hedwig adjusted her glasses, actually settling for that answer. "I'm giving you an A minus."
'Well, that's better than a bad grade.' Akito thought to himself.
Eloise wasn't going to stand for it. "But why?" she asked her teacher. "Everything happened just as I said!"
"That's enough, Eloise!" Mrs. Hedwig shut her up.
Eloise wanted to say more, but she narrowed her eyes and sat back down, at least she wasn't going to be punished.
'Well, at least an A minus is better than a bad grade.' Estelle thought to herself with a shrug.
The rest of the day wasn't much better. The Fudo kids just didn't seem to fit in around school and even the other teachers had to scold them for being too different. No one could tell what was worse. The emptiness and quietness in the hotel or that the kids were slowly slipping through the cracks of being too different for a school with tons of rules. The day ended and they were all let out, much to the relief of them.