Chapter Text
It’s not that Eloise doesn’t have friends. She does—the problem is that none of them live in Schitt’s Creek. Eloise’s friends from hockey were all from Pine Glen, an affluent suburb just outside Elmdale. Eloise had been playing in the Pine Glen rep league for around four years now, which meant her dads drove an hour each way three times a week to get her to practice. The team had become her second family, and she had no trouble fitting in with her hockey friends. The kids at Schitt’s Creek High School were another story.
With her hockey team, they had all started out on equal ground when they tried out, and Eloise had a place from the beginning. The kids at school, on the other hand, had known each other practically all their lives by the time Eloise joined them in grade two. At first, it didn’t bother Eloise that the other kids kept their distance. In fact, she preferred it that way. But as the years went on and Eloise came out of her shell, her attempts to join her peers were rejected.
Before joining the Pine Glen Comets, Eloise’s social life was essentially non-existent. Now, though, her phone was blowing up with texts from her teammates, asking if she was coming out to Mackenzie’s party later that night.
Eloise stuck her head out of her bedroom door and called down the hall to her dads. “Can I hang out at Mackenzie’s tonight? Olivia’s mom can drive me home after!”
“Sure, Ells, I’ll drive you over after dinner,” her dad replied. Eloise grinned and texted the good news to the team group chat.
After her dad drove away, Eloise went around to the side door and slipped inside, taking the stairs down to Mackenzie’s basement. Andrew, their goalie, met her with an enthusiastic grin and a vodka cooler, which he pressed into her hand.
“Hey, Eloise,” Mackenzie called as she bounded over to her.
"Hey, Kenz!" Eloise replied with a smile, giving her a quick hug. Mackenzie was one of those people with a seemingly unlimited energy supply. She thrived in a crowd, fortified by the chaos and excitement. It was one of the things that made her a good hockey player — she was a total powerhouse both on the ice and off. She chatted with Mackenzie for a moment before she went off to greet some more of their teammates, and Eloise headed into the den to join everybody else.
Eloise bit down on her lip gently when she spotted a baggie of weed on the coffee table, knowing she’d most likely be offered some at some point tonight. Normally, she’d only drink at these parties—the smell of weed made her stomach turn, distant memories of her mother smoking in their apartment drifting into her mind uninvited. Tonight, however, the sting she normally felt when she thought of her mom wasn’t there. Instead, there was a pang of emptiness in the pit of her stomach. She shrugged and sat on the couch next to Andrew, cracking open her cooler and taking a long swig.
As she’d predicted, she was invited to go smoke up outside with a couple of friends, and for the first time in her life, she accepted.
***
It was nearing 3 am when David’s phone started buzzing on his bedside table. He groped blindly for it, face still buried in his pillow.
“What?!” he grumbled into the phone when he answered it.
“Abba, I- I need...I need a ride home,” Eloise sobbed into the phone, and David flinched at the far-too-loud music blaring in the background.
“I thought you were getting a ride home with Olivia?” Patrick had started stirring at the sound of David’s voice, and now he was propped up on his elbow, hair flattened on one side, brow furrowed in confusion. David would’ve found it cute if he wasn’t so worried.
“I don’t know when Olivia left, but she did and I don’t wanna be here anymore!” Eloise inhaled sharply and David made himself get up and pull on a pair of jeans and an old hoodie of Patrick’s, not bothering with selecting something from his own wardrobe. “Ells, honey, calm down. Do one of your breathing...things, alright? I’ll be right there.”
Eloise ended the call, and Patrick sat up. “What’s wrong? Where’s Eloise?” he asked his husband.
“Still at that party, I think. She sounds pretty wasted.”
Patrick’s eyebrows shot up. “She sounds what?!” he exclaimed, and David shushed him. “Patrick, you’ll wake Mariah. She’s a teenager at a party, don’t tell me you didn’t see this coming,” David said matter-of-factly. Patrick looked horrified.
“Of course not! I thought our daughter had more sense than this!” Patrick shook his head. “Just...call me when you pick her up, ok?”
David nodded. “Of course I will.”
David pulled up to Mackenzie’s house and texted Eloise to tell her he’d arrived. She emerged from the house a few minutes later and stumbled to the car, clambering into the passenger seat.
“Hey, Abba,” she said, fumbling with her seatbelt.
“Really? ‘Hey Abba’ is all you’ve got to say for yourself?!” David cringed inwardly. When did he become such a dad?
“What did you take?” he asked seriously as he pulled away from the curb.
“I, uh, drank a bunch of vodka coolers then...smoked some weed with some kids,” Eloise said, leaning her head against the car window and closing her eyes, willing herself not to be sick to her stomach.
David raised an eyebrow. “That’s all? You can tell me if you took something else, honey. It’s important to know in case you have a bad reaction.” Memories of all the overdoses he’d witnessed over the years flashed through his mind—all the times he’d seen people lie to the paramedics about what they were on, only to be given an incorrect dose or the wrong medication altogether. He didn’t always find out whether or not these loose acquaintances had made it out okay. One or two, however, hadn’t made it at all. He couldn’t bear the thought of Eloise in that situation.
“No, that was it, promise,” she replied, eyes still squeezed shut.
“Okay,” David said. He had never been more happy to see that god awful town sign than he was in this moment because in this instance the sign meant they were almost home. He sped through the last few kilometres until he reached their house. After parking in the driveway, David got out of the car and went around to the passenger side. Opening the door carefully, David leaned in and unbuckled Eloise’s seatbelt for her before helping the half-conscious teenager out of the car.
After a couple of wobbly steps with David practically holding her up, it became painfully clear that Eloise wasn’t going to be able to make it up to the door. With a sigh, David lifted his daughter into his arms. He carried her to the door and luckily, Patrick had waited up for them and he opened the front door for them. David awkwardly carried her over to the living room and sat her down on the couch. Patrick followed, a horrified look on his face at the sight of Eloise this inebriated.
“How are you feeling, Ells?” David asked calmly, reaching out and stroking her hair.
“Sick,” she said softly. Patrick grabbed an empty wastebasket and brought it to Eloise.
“Here, honey, use this if you need to throw up,” he said.
Instead of throwing up, Eloise began to cry. David rubbed her back, shushing her softly. “Shh, I know. I know, Eloise, just let it out. It's alright.” They sat like that for close to an hour, until the first rays of morning sunlight filtered in through the window. Eloise’s cries had finally come to a stop, and Patrick gently guided her to her feet.
“Come on, let’s get you to bed. We’ll talk about all this when you wake up.” Patrick helped Eloise up to her room and into her bed, still in the clothes she wore to the party, and she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.