Can she help with that? If she pitches it as a practice project her mother might let her use some family resources.

"Do you have any more specific goals than just out? I might have some way of helping but I can't make any promises."

Does she dare hope?

"Never see my relatives again," she murmurs.

She has other goals than that, but that makes everything else easier, and she doesn't know how Elemi feels about trans people.

Practicing blackmail and manipulation is absolutely something her mother would support. She's not entirely sure it would work in this case and she's a little reluctant to commit to hurting people she hasn't met but it's a better chance than framing it as helping Hailey.

Her mother will absolutely see right through her but she'll appreciate it if it Elemi makes the attempt. She does want Elemi to be better at lying.

How much of this can she say? If she's going to talk to her mother having shared family secrets will make everything worse.

"I can't explain, at least not yet. And if I do try... I don't know quite what it will turn into. It's hard to keep secrets from my mother and she and I don't always see eye to eye." And isn't that an understatement. "I guess it comes down to what you're willing to tell me, what you're willing to risk and how much you're willing to pay... probably as a debt for that last one."

She arches an eyebrow in surprise for a moment, not having expected an offer, then frowns suspiciously. "I... don't know how to feel about that. Last time I tried only made things worse."

Worse how? She wonders but doesn't ask. "I won't do anything for now then. Maybe I'll get better at keeping things from my mother. Or find other ways to try helping. I won't do anything without your permission though."

She scowls and looks down at her hands, shoulders tensing.

"All that needs to be said about last time is that I still live with them, and my back paid the price for trying."

Elemi's eyes widen at that. If she was looking in Hailey's eyes she might have lost control again. So the abuse is physical. That... doesn't actually make it worse, easier to prove maybe but not worse. And it is clearer that it's abuse. She wasn't sure before. That makes her more willing to do something.

"Are you willing to tell me what you tried before?"

She takes a slow breath.

When she eventually speaks, it's slow and quiet and toneless. "Tried three times. Once, first-grade teacher turned out to be a member of Aunt Eloise's bridge club, asked her about what I'd said. Second-grade math teacher actually asked me about it, reported to a social worker, but Uncle Carter somehow got word about when the social worker was coming and made me clean everything up. They "passed". Last time, third-grade thought he could reason with them. This obviously failed."

"My mother says official channels are unreliable." That's... edging towards a secret but mother also says it's a widely held belief.

She huffs and nods. "Your mother's right about that, at least."

"I hope I can find a way to help."

"If you think you can get something done without them finding out until it's too late to stop you, if you're sure of that, you can try."

"I'll see what I can figure out." Them not being allowed to find out might rule out blackmail. Her mother says people react unpredictably to blackmail. She would need to have a backup plan.

"We'll see what happens."

She'll see how many new scars she gets for trying this.

Elemi lapses into silence for a bit. She was hoping her mother was presenting the world as being worse than it was. Of course, Hailey's relatives might not be representative. She still doesn't agree with her family's priorities but if they're right they at least make more sense.

Hailey's fine sitting in silence as well. There may be good people in the world, but she sure as fuck doesn't live with any of them.

Enough moping, "What do you do for fun? I do a bunch of reading and watch TV but I also like dancing."

She arches an eyebrow. "Well, once in a while I manage to make it to the library despite my aunt and uncle's best efforts. I've never had a chance to watch TV before. Haven't danced either. Walks are maybe nice."

"I guess that wasn't the best question. Maybe I can teach you some dancing or take you to a movie sometime. If you can spend that much time away from home."

"I will happily spend every second away from that house I can get away with. And many I can't."

"You're more able to avoid going home now that you're in high school then?"

"Slightly. Mostly I'm resigned to the fact that they'll make up an additional chore to punish me for not having done if it seems like I had fun, or if I complain too much about not having fun. Might as well have the fun if they're gonna punish me anyway."

"I can agree with that. I have my own reasons to spend more time away so I'll be happy to spend it with you."

"Huh. Maybe I'm actually managing to make a friend. Fuckin' weird."

"Oh good, I thought that was happening."