In the place with the blue floors, white walls, squishy mats, trophies, and more, she is her most genuine self. She’s loud and talkative, confident. In the place with the desks, homework, teachers, and students, she changes, she’s different. 

At the place with the blue floors, she feels at home, she lets all her worries fly away. She is safe here. In this place she is known as the owner’s daughter. The one that is on the top team, a coach now, and has worked her way up to that spot. She is known as someone who is confident and comfortable. This is her sanctuary, a place that is another home to her. Her place to be herself and to grow. Through all of this comfort, there has been plenty of uncomfort. She has been pushed out of her comfort zones and molded into the person she is today. That’s why at the place with the blue floors, white walls, squishy mats, trophies, and more, Elli is known as the confident, comfortable, and loud person. One that is unapologetically herself and would never change that.

 But, It wasn’t always like this. She would walk into the same exact room with completely opposite feelings. She was not confident and tried to keep to herself when she could. Elli was the one who didn’t contribute as much as other people and was seen as sensitive and quiet. A background character in the main story. The stories that she has been a part of and told for the last ten years. Elli was the one who struggled and the one who tried to fit in. It wasn’t until the people, not the place, changed. She suddenly was free to be herself. She’s free. She got to finally tell her story. It was finally hers. She could be a main character in this one. She could be herself, and people enjoyed that about her. She could walk into the room and feel as if everyone in the room is no longer against her. She decided to be herself, and it worked. She finally feels as if she’s made it. 

Until she gets to the place with the desks, homework, teachers, and students. Here she is quiet and reserved, occasionally popping out of her shell. Ever since she began school she was shy and kept to herself. She works hard, leaving little to no time for conversation. She is the one who has it together, but doesn’t flaunt it. She is the one who doesn’t dress nice, or look pretty. She is there to be there and she’s okay with that. In this place Elli means someone who doesn’t have a place in just one friend group, she is friends with multiple different ones, but doesn’t have that place. She is the friendly face in the hallway, but can sometimes be intimidating due to her quiet nature. It is almost as if, at school, she has reverted back to who she used to be. Or maybe she just didn’t feel free there, she felt as if she had something to prove and no way to do it. She felt stuck, so she stayed stuck to her old ways. 

In both of these places Elli has a different connotation. One loud and confident, the other quiet and reserved. The contrast and balance between her two worlds.