Elliot tried to remember the last time he had to entertain a 12 year old. Olivia gave him a schedule of what Noah did on an average summer day, and he had to laugh a little because he was positive his kids didn't have any sort of schedule.
Noah was a good kid though, and dutifully worked through what needed to be done before he could use any electronics. They were somewhere in the thirty minutes of requisite reading when he glanced over his book at Elliot. Elliot sat on the couch with his legs propped on the ottoman. He bribed Jet to send him the files from the case they were working on so he read those while Noah read his book. Well, he was supposed to be reading, but really he was periodically glancing over the edge of his book.
After the third time Elliot called him out on it. Keeping his eyes down on his paperwork he asked, "Something going on Noah?" He glanced up and the boy's cheeks flushed.
He didn't mean to embarrass him so he tried to reassure him. "You can ask me anything you want," he smiled and sat the files on the end table, scooting closer to where Noah sat in an armchair.
Noah watched him for a second before putting a bookmark in his book, setting it on top of the case files. He pulled his legs up underneath him, sitting cross legged.
"Why do you want to go on the camp out with me?" He looked nervous. "I know my mom and I are a package deal. Team Benson, you know, and you probably only wanted to come because you want to be with my mom…"
Elliot stopped him before he could take the thought any further. Noah had basically invited him before his mom approved it. On some level Noah knew that Elliot cared about him, not just his mom, but Elliot suspected the insecurity they all felt right now was jumbling up a lot of feelings.
"Hey. You asked me, remember? Your mom didn't make me go." Elliot grinned. "I wanted to go. I was excited for the whole trip."
"Why? No offense but you kinda seem like one of those guys who wouldn't be excited to sit through a three hour dance recital." Noah shrugged. "I know we talked about me wishing you were my dad and stuff. I just don't know if you mean it or if you're just saying all that because you want to be with my mom."
Elliot thought carefully. It was important for him to be genuine here. The kid would know a lie or half truth when he heard one. He was Olivia's kid after all. "I do want to be with your mom. It's not a secret that I love your mom. I'm pretty sure it's broadcasted somewhere, or on a bulletin board or something."
"A what?" Noah asked.
"Nevermind." He was getting off track. "You're right though. I'm not the kind of person who would be excited to sit through a three hour dance recital…" Noah's face fell a little. "But Noah? I would love every damn minute of a dance recital you were a part of." He scooted away from Noah to make room for him and motioned for him to sit with him on the couch. "I was excited to go on this camp out because it was a chance to spend time with you." He chuckled, "I also really like camping."
"I liked it too." Noah admitted but then his eyes dropped to his hands. "I don't know now though."
Elliot sighed. This event was horrifically traumatic, and he wasn't sure he could ever go to that campsite again, but he didn't want Noah to give up on something he so obviously loved because something tragic happened. "I know. I think it's going to be a while for me to want to go out again, but…" he lifted his eyes to Noah's. "I know when I am ready to go out again I want you to come with me." He bumped Noah's shoulder, like he'd done to Olivia so many times before. "We can wait until your ready, but I'd really like to go camping with you again."
"I think," Noah nodded. "I'll want to try again, but maybe just us next time," Noah suggested. "Oh, and maybe my mom."
Elliot outright laughed. "I'm not sure we will ever get your mom out in the woods." But it certainly wouldn't stop him from trying.
-000-
Olivia wasn't sure she was ready to sit through watching another interview with Lucas. Fin could hold his own on that front, so she decided to sit in on Chirlish's interview with Ella.
The first thing she noticed was how timid the girl seemed. She wondered if that was her actual personality or a remnant from Abby's bullying. She sat quietly on the couch next to her parents, and Churlish sat in a chair next to Bruno and across from Ella. Olivia wanted Churlish to take the lead on this so she hung back in a chair more towards the corner of the room. Bruno could back her up if she faltered. Olivia was just there to listen. She glanced at her watch, noting the time. They need to keep the interview shorter than an hour and a half. Abby was coming in two hours and she didn't want any overlap.
Ella spoke quietly, but she had very little trouble recounting the events surrounding Abby's expulsion. "We were friends and then it was like we suddenly weren't. Abby has lots of friends, and if you were her best friend that was the best thing in the world. People noticed you and talked to you. It was really cool." Ella's eyes dropped to the table. "She started leaving me out of stuff and then all the sudden she would want to talk to me about everything. I would go to school not knowing if it was going to be a good Abby day, or a bad day where she ignored me."
The mom piped in. "She started getting anxious before school everyday. She didn't know what to expect, and that's just, so so stressful. We sat Ella down and talked to her about friends and what real friends are. We told her she should still be nice to Abby and talk when she wanted to talk, but she should look for a friend who wanted to be her friend all the time."
Olivia wasn't sure she remembered Elementary school this hierarchical or manipulative. Maybe she just blocked it out.
"I started spending time with a girl from my art class. She likes all the same stuff I do and she draws some of the best comic book stuff." Ella's dark brown eyes sparkled a little, and Olivia could tell she had found a little niche where she belonged.
"But that's when Abby really started picking on her." Her mom added.
"It wasn't that bad mom," Ella tried to minimize the situation.
"Baby, it was. People don't get to treat other people that way." Olivia suspected this was the topic of conversation often in their house. She was thankful these parents were at least trying to teach things like boundaries and appropriate behavior.
"She's right Ella. All the things Abby did were hurtful and wrong. When someone mistreats you, it's never okay." Bruno reiterated her mothers thoughts.
Ella seemed to understand, either that or she just wanted to get the conversation over with.
"It started with stupid stuff. She would tell the other girls not to play with me at recess. I didn't care about that. Sam didn't listen to her and played with me anyway. Then she would write mean things on my paper." Ella looked up shyly, "I didn't say anything to anyone at first. I didn't want to make things worse, you know?"
Bruno nodded, understanding the aggressor victim dynamic.
"I really wasn't sure what I should say if I told anyone. She was just being dumb and writing dumb things in my notebooks. So, I thought I'd just ignore her." She shook her head. "That was really stupid because no one ignores Abby." She took a couple deep breaths and her mom rubbed her back softly. They were getting to the hard part. The part no one could ignore. "I just pretended she didn't exist. She'd steal my eraser, and I'd just act like I lost it. She broke my colored pencils, and I made an excuse about my baby brother breaking them. I guess not getting a reaction from me is what set off the….the whole picture thing."
Olivia waited, hoping Churlish would step in to offer some sort of redirection of blame. When she didn't Bruno jumped in again. This girl had been through enough, she didn't need to think she brought it on herself. "Ella," he said softly as he slid his chair a little closer. Churlish moved her chair to allow Bruno more space. "Hey," he waited for Ella to lift her eyes to hers before continuing. "I'm Detective Bruno I didn't get to introduce myself before we got started."
Ella only nodded, acknowledging that she heard him.
"I need to know sweetheart, do you think all of this is your fault?"
Ellla's eyes filled with tears and she bit her lip. "I mean. No it's not, but if I did something different maybe she wouldn't have hated me enough..."
Bruno leaned forward and reached for her hand, "Hey. Look at me." Once Ella's attention was on him he spoke. "You are not responsible for the choices that she made. What happened to you, what she did to you wasn't okay, and it wasn't your fault. She made a choice to hurt you like this. You didn't ask for it to happen."
Ella bit her lip and tried blinking back her tears. Once she had some semblance of control she whispered, "Okay." Bruno let go of her hand and Ella brushed the tears away. Her voice sounded detached when she told the rest of the story. "In sixth grade they started to make us change for PE. We have school gym uniforms. Apparently that's when she took the picture." Ella looked a little embarrassed about the next part so Bruno backed off a little, and let Churlish take the lead back.
"I know she'd been making fun of me for not wearing a bra yet. I heard all of her friends laughing about it before the picture thing. I obviously don't need a bra yet." She gestured towards her still undeveloped chest, "and the fabric bugs me so I never thought it was a big deal to leave the house without one on."
Her mom popped in, "I've always left it up to her. I figured I'd encourage it more when she was a little bit older, but for now she didn't really need it and it's her body. Maybe it was a bad idea. I just felt like she should have the choice on that. Especially since she's just eleven. She's one of the youngest ones in the grade."
"No no." Liv suddenly found herself in the conversation, "like detective Bruno said, what happened is about Abby. None of this is your fault or Ella's. And you're right. It's her body, and if it hadn't bothered her to change braless then it shouldn't have been a big deal." Olivia didn't intend to speak through the interview, but the words just popped out. Honestly, she wanted to scream hallelujah upon finally meeting some parents allowing their child body autonomy.
"The next week I came to school and all the other kids were looking at me weird. I just kinda thought Abby said something dumb again, and it would go away."
"But it didn't." Churlish guessed.
"No." Ella pressed a hand in her stomach and Olivia knew she was probably getting anxious.
"Do you need a break? It's okay if you need a break to get some water," Churlish dropped a hand to the girls upper arm.
Ella shook her head. "No, it's fine. I just. I want to finish telling all this and go home."
"Okay then," Churlish's voice stayed smooth and reassuring.
"I didn't know about the pictures until lunch. Some boy made a comment about my boobs. I thought it was dumb because, hello, flat chest here."
Olivia bit back the chuckle. She knew Ella was trying to lighten things up. The reality was too harsh.
"That's when my friend found one of the pictures and showed it to me." Her voice started shaking. "I ran to the bathroom and locked myself in. I mean the whole grade saw a picture of me in my underwear. I can't think of anything more embarrassing."
"What happened next?" Olivia asked.
"I stayed in the bathroom. There was no way I was going back to lunch or class. My teacher came looking for me after a fight broke out in the lunchroom."
That was a turn Olivia didn't exactly expect. "Sammy was so mad during this whole thing. She kept telling me I needed to get back at Abby for all of this. I just wanted it to go away," Ella said miserably. "But Sam brought one of the pictures to Abby and asked her why she did that, and Abby just laughed. She said it was just a joke. Uh… Sammy punched her in the face."
Olivia kept a straight face even though she was cheering on the inside. If anyone deserves to be punched in the face, it was that budding sociopath.
"Abby fought back, but Sammy has three older brothers. She told me once that they taught her how to break someone's nose. I think it was a sort of joke self defense thing, but I think Sammy wanted to break Abby's nose."
Olivia was reminded of a certain friend of hers who was known to fight with his fists for the ones he loved, but she was also reminded of Colton standing up for Clem, and her heart broke a little more.
"We all got sent to the principal's office. They let me go first…" Ella closed her eyes at what must have been a pretty painful memory. "I spilled out everything. All the stuff about the mean notes, and calling me names. And then I took the picture out of my pocket and showed her what the whole school received that morning." Ella shrugged. "I got to go home. Sammy was suspended for a few days and Abby was expelled."
She brushed it off like the ordeal wasn't horrific and potentially life changing. "Thank you for coming in and telling us about it. It really helps us understand things better." Bruno said softly.
"I heard about the other girl, and how badly she got hurt. If Abby did something to her…" Ella looked to her mom and dad. "If she hurt that other girl then something needs to happen this time. She's just going to keep hurting people."
"I agree. Thanks for being so brave and sharing your experience." Bruno added.
"I hope it helps," Ella's mother chimed in. "If you need anything else from us just call." Ella stood and her dad who had remained silent through the interview wrapped her in a hug. "Ella isn't always up for talking about it, but I can answer most questions." The woman suddenly teared up, as the father escorted Ella out of the room.
"We talked to her psychologist about coming here today. He thought it might be good. You know, telling her story in a formal setting like this. He thought it might give her a little more control over the narrative, since the whole thing stripped her of any security she once had."
"She did well," Churlish reassured. "It's going to take time but keep doing what you're doing. She'll get past it."
"I really hope so." The mother gave her a sad smile before catching up to her husband who was already exiting the other end of the squad room.
The trio stood in the interview room, still trying to process everything they just heard. The ping of Churlish's phone echoed through the now silent room. Her screen lit up as she unlocked her phone. She paused for a beat and then said, "DNA results are in."