Element Walker

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Warning! Spoilers ahead.

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**Element "Ellie" Walker** is a second-year Ellingham Academy student who resides in the Minerva house. The summer before Truly Devious, she went on a vacation to Paris. She owns a saxophone named Roota and often plays it in the bathtub or when she is drunk (or both). In Truly Devious, Ellie is accused of writing Hayes Major’s show, and later viewed as a potential suspect in Hayes' murder. After being confronted about this, Ellie is detained in Albert Ellingham's office, from which she escapes through a hidden panel in the wall. Stevie was able to find a significant piece of evidence, a picture of the potential murderers, in a tea box in her room.

**Origins**:

Most of what we know about Ellie is communicated straight from Ellie herself, but is never verified with outside sources. Ellie grew up with a single mother, who has a series of boyfriends in Ellie's upbringing. At least one of these boyfriends is international, which led to Ellie spending her summer in Paris, France. Ellie also moved to multiple locations and schools throughout her life, including a commune, which she claims was the best place she ever lived. She also indicated her plan to eventually build a commune and lead it herself when she grows up.

**Appearance:**

Ellie is described as a young, petite woman with red hair, with brown eyes. The most interesting aspect of Ellie's appearance is how she dresses. Her apparel can be described as extremely alternative. The first time the reader encounters her, her hair is tied up with baby socks in loose bundles, and her clothes are somewhat similar to pajamas. She also has no qualms with people seeing her body. In the book's first interaction with Ellie, she rolls backwards and halts in a position exposing her butt, and in another instance, a character (Stevie) sees her fully naked in the shower, which does not bother Ellie in the slightest.

Ellie also has at least one tattoo. The one we are aware of is on her arm which says *"Mon couer est un palais fletri par la cohue,"* a Baudelaire quote which translates to *"My heart is a palace, debased by the crowd."* According to Ellie, she got this tattoo during her summer in Paris, and plans to get more when she is older.

**Personality:**

Ellie's personality can be described as "intentionally rebellious." Ellie puts considerable effort into showcasing her unique nature. Examples of this include painting "this is art" on marble statues spread across campus, and playing the saxophone loudly and regularly despite no formal training. Whether this behavior develops from an extreme want for attention is unclear. Despite being accepted as an Ellingham Academy student, Ellie doesn't possess any noticeable academic talents. In fact, she regularly breaks school rules, making her a strange but colorful addition to Ellingham Academy's students.

Ellie and David are both second-year students at Ellingham Academy, which means they have a minimum of one year's worth of unknown interactions and rapport with one another. By first impressions, Ellie and David are close companions, who are radically accepting of each other. Ellie borderline worships David, and is extremely fond of him. They spend large amounts of time together, alone and publicly, often in intimate positions. Whether there is a romantic connection between Ellie and David is never specified, but they are typically in positions where they are touching each other, indicating a level of attachment most readers regard as intimately close, but also strange. One example of their strange closeness in the story is when Ellie pushes her foot into David's face, and he bites her toe. That being said, Ellie never displays any level of jealousy when David spends time with others, including Stevie, for whom David actively develops a romantic interest.

**Stevie Bell:**

Ellie is acquainted with Stevie. Neither of them have the same classes throughout the academic day, so they do not see each other during class time. Therefore Ellie does not have any measurement of closeness or personal ties to Stevie, but they live in the same dorm (Minerva House) together, and as such see each other regularly. The most interaction Ellie has with Stevie is a lengthy conversation in the bathroom, which another student (Janelle) was privy to. That being said, there is no bad blood between the two characters until Stevie confronts Ellie about suspicious behavior with another student, Hayes Major, who unexpectedly dies in the first book.

**Hayes Major:**

Ellie and Hayes were both second year students at Ellingham, and lived in Minerva House together. Ellie's relationship with Hayes as a first year is unknown, but it is revealed that Ellie wrote Hayes' show "The End of it All" in exchange for $500. Hayes borrowed this money from his girlfriend (at the time), Gretchen. Ellie then used this money to buy her saxophone, Roota, and possibly agreed to keep her involvement in the story's creation a secret in exchange for the money. "The End of it All" became a viral internet sensation, which earned Hayes considerable fame and attention. With that in mind, Ellie has seemingly little to do with Hayes at Ellingham, and treats him as an acquaintance.

**Nell Pixwell:**

Pixwell (Pix) is Ellie's science teacher, and the dorm supervisor at Minerva House. Though this is not specifically stated, it can be surmised that Pix was Ellie's dorm supervisor last year too. Pix is reasonably flexible with Ellie and her strange habits, but Ellie has also learned which school rules Pix will rigidly enforce. One example of this is Pix strictly not allowing fires in the house, which is likely due to Ellie and something she did her first year at Ellingham. During certain portions of the story, Ellie gets rather emotional, during which time Pix steps in as a supporting authority figure for the students. In this respect, Pix serves as a stabilizing agent in the house. Outside of this feature, Pix and Ellie have little to do with one another, and Pix has a relatively professional relationship with Ellie.

## Trivia

* She thinks that even the cheapest champagne in France is better than most champagne in the US