Episode 26 - Seemingly Alienated👽

"Even with whatever people want to label me with, there are so many other sides to me."

-Wiz Khalifa

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Elena smirked slightly, her face almost ready to break into her regular mischievous smile. Her job was done and now it was time to wait.

That is, wait for the target to arrive.

Upon seeing Ivan entering the auditorium, Elena quickly dropped her smile and her face turned serious.

She noticed Ivan moving towards the gum-boots that had come with Prince Philip's costume. She smiled slightly as she stroked her chin with her long, index finger.

Ivan placed his feet into the boots and tried to move forward, but couldn't. Elena, satisfied with this, turned towards the students and winked at them.

"No, aliens don't exist," one of them began.

"They do, I heard that they are present in the Bermuda Triangle."

"Nonsense, why would they be under water?"

"Hey, Susy, don't say that! Where do those ships and planes disappear to?"

"Shut up, Kyle, there might be another reason."

"Aliens don't exist, there is no extraterrestrial life," Jamie finished as he nodded at Elena.

"They do," Kate defended. "If Earth has humans, there might be life on other planets too."

The students had started debating upon the existence of aliens on Elena's insistence. Soon, the fake debate turned into a real one.

Elena glanced back to see Ivan massaging the side of his head with his fingers. He struggled to move with the boots and she scoffed at this.

She tried to stifle a giggle as Ivan could have his feet easily removed from the gum-boots instead of struggling to move in them.

She sighed as some of his childhood dumbness was present... even now.

She turned fully to face Ivan who finally walked barefoot towards the students.

He clapped his hands and raised his palm in the air. At once, all the debating ceased and there was pin-drop silence.

"If you all enact your lines assigned for today well, I'll throw a party," Ivan said in a single breath. He glanced at each of them gawking at him unanimously.

"My offer still stands," he said and tapped his finger against his watch.

Immediately, everyone grabbed their own scripts and began practicing, leaving Ivan and Elena alone.

"Do you believe in aliens?" Elena asked him, her eyes glancing seriously at his surprised ones.

She noticed Ivan's face break into a small smile as he answered, "Yes, there's one right in front of me."

She didn't smile back and continued drily, "You know what? It's you who looks seemingly alienated."

Her lower lip curled downwards and she tried hard to prevent sobbing in front of him.

The fact that her childhood best friend didn't recognize her and Kate, made her disheartened.

She turned her face, ready to move away from him, but found herself being pulled into his chest.

This came as a surprise as Ivan had never smiled at her warmly, so a hug from him felt too good to be true.

She found his arms wrapped around her waist, his head rested on her left shoulder, his hold getting tighter every second.

Elena was puzzled; she didn't want to break the hug as it felt so warm despite the usual coldness radiating around him.

She also didn't want to let the hug be longer as she was still mad at him.

She removed herself from his hug awkwardly, noticing his slightly pink cheeks and soft blue eyes that surprisingly sparkled with warmth.

She sauntered away, leaving Ivan's eyes gazing at her unmovingly.

She sat on the chair beside Ashley as the latter had pointed at it.

She felt Ashley looking at her intently. She raised her eyebrows questioningly to meet her blue eyes.

Yes, the lens was put in her right eye when Kate had handed it back to her.

Ashley had only smiled at the younger twin when she explained that she loved blue eyes-- a lie to save her mom's bad side being shown to others.

"He likes you," Ashley said to Elena with conviction.

"Who?"

"You-Know-Who."

"Voldemort?"

Ashley gasped at this dramatically. "Oh no! You'll be cursed." She rolled her eyes and said, "I meant Blue Eyes."

"Blue Eyes?"

"Are you always this dumb or are you pretending to be one now?"

Elena sighed, glancing at Ashley as she let out an incredulous scoff. "Do you notice the way he behaves with me? He's so icy. He will never like me."

"Do you notice what's he hiding behind that icy mask?"

Elena's face fell and she pursed her lips. She had no answer to that.

Ashley shook her head and continued, "I have been noticing him since many years."

Elena glanced at Max who was busy practicing his lines and Kate, who sat beside him, watched this with a smile.

Elena glanced back at Ashley when she felt her palm over hers lightly.

"Don't look at Max," Ashley said. "He joined this school only a year back. He doesn't know as much as I know about... Blue Eyes."

"What do you know?" Elena asked her hopefully.

Ashley removed her palm and folded her hands in her lap. "In these five years, he has changed a lot."

"He was a normal boy, one who talked in the beginning even though he seemed depressed."

"What happened then?"

"He didn't come to school for around six months," Ashley said with a sigh. "No one knows why."

Elena donned a defeated expression when she heard that.

"After he got back, he started ignoring everybody. He turned aloof and secluded himself."

"Over the years, he earned this reputation of an ice king and no-one tried to befriend him."

"What about you?" Elena asked her as she took in this new information.

Ashley sighed at her question. "At first I did try to befriend him, but he would never talk."

"Then as I got popular... I could only do what felt okay in my position."

"I tried to make him my boyfriend."

"So," Elena said, her voice filled with relief. "So, you never liked him?"

"I didn't," Ashley confirmed and smirked at Elena's relieved face.

"You pretended to like him to get his--"

"Attention, yes," Ashley cut in with a nod. "I was mean towards you and Kate for the same reason."

"You mean... you were faking all that?"

Ashley nodded at this. "I just wanted to be friends with you two..."

"You could have just been friendly..." Elena let her voice trail when she noticed Ashley shaking her head.

"I have been this 'queen bee' since years in this school," Ashley continued, her nasal voice laced with scorn. "People see me as a spiteful, mean and--"

"Why?"

"Because that's what I have shown them. They don't know who the real Ashley is."

"Why don't you show them the real you?" Elena asked, glancing at Ashley who let out a sigh.

"It's not as easy as you think. For years I have let people have this image of me in their minds. I can't change for them overnight, can I?"

"You can try, I can clearly see your decent side."

"That's because I'm not wearing a mask in front of you. I never will... from now on."

Elena glanced at Ivan briefly to find him already gazing at her. For a second, she saw his eyes shining with warmth before turning cold again.

"I told you that he likes you," Ashley said in a singsong.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Shut up. He's glaring at me. I don't see affection anywhere."

"You know the reason I had tried to befriend him was that I knew what he must have been going through."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at him. He's lonely but is too egoistic to admit. He is definitely more at ease now since you guys have joined than he was ever."

This made Elena smile, her dark-brown eyes sparkling with hope.

"You can break his mask, that icy exterior is nothing but a pretense, trust me. I know."

"I know because I have been hiding my true self too."

Elena hugged Ashley gratefully with a side-hug and patted her back gently. She was about to continue speaking, but Ivan's arrival stopped her.

"Everyone is done with their practice, except you two blabbing princesses," Ivan said as he glanced at them annoyedly.

"Compared to the others, we have bigger roles, Van," Elena said with a pointed look.

"Actually," Ashley butted in, "we are done with our practice."

Elena facepalmed and shook her head. She narrowed her eyes at Ashley who smirked and started enacting the lines of Maleficent.

Ivan, satisfied with Ashley's lines, turned to face Elena who didn't look very confident.

Elena noticed Kate gazing at her from the auditorium's exit. Elena raised her palm and beckoned her to come back on the stage.

When Elena noticed Ivan's gaze on her, she awkwardly waved her palm in the air, did the same with the other one and rotated her neck.

She noticed Ashley's amused smile and looked at her with pleading eyes, silently asking her to do something to distract Ivan.

"So, are you hosting a party?" Ashley asked Ivan who turned his suspicious gaze away from Elena.

"Yes, but--"

"Van is holding a party. Yay!" Kate, who had crept on the main stage, hollered and startled Ivan who stood a little away from her. She winked at Elena who sighed in relief.

"Come on! We've got a lot to talk about," Elena said excitedly.

Elena noticed Kate making a dash for the exit and did the same, dragging Ashley along with her.

Left behind was the ice king who had a party to host. He rolled his eyes and face-palmed at Elena's antics before exiting the auditorium.

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Hey, my dear readers! 💖How are you all? I'm back with an update.

Why do you think Ivan hugged Elena? Do you think that he's starting to melt?

What do you think of Ashley's thoughts about Ivan and his icy mask?

Do you think Ashley and the twins will become close friends? Why/Why not?

Are you liking this new side of Ashley? Or should I say: the real Ashley?

Why do you think Ivan decided to throw a party? The students were shocked to hear this from him. 😂

If you like this chapter and the previous ones, please do leave a vote by clicking on the star sign below. It will let me know that you appreciate what I write. 🙈

How was this update? Yay?/Nay? 😺/🙀

Please let me know if I can improve in any way. I'd love to have constructive criticism and your feedback.

Sneak-Peek of Episode 27:

Stay tuned to know how Ivan's party goes. Do you think it will be a blast or an awkward one?

Keep smiling! 💕
Lots of love❤💙
Sakina

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