[ so sorry it took so long !! bc i was working on this over the weekend, the crimson update might come a bit later. btw i think majority of the story will be in y/n's perspective, but if it changes, i'll write the change down. majority of this book will also be on earth. also !! i think last book i established they were thirteen, but i think they need to be older, so i've changed their ages to sixteen now. ] 

Strangely, the happiness lasted for days.

It lasted when I was explaining to my family about the whole situation, it lasted throughout the plane ride back to Sydney, and it even lasted for the couple of days that I spent at home, not at school.

Of course it would last for days, I get the opportunity to have a normal love story now. At least I know Shu Kurenai really does exist.

But now as I stood in front of the familiar school gates, the happiness that had been going to strong was crashing down on me. It made sense, though. School is the place where all of my problems happen. When I kissed Shu Kurenai, I had temporary relief from school. But now that the big hassle is over, I'm returning back to my usual life, including school and all its problems.

My fairytale was over.

It's not really over, is it? I wondered. But what if Canberra was the only chance I got to see Shu? What if he's whisked off to some other continent for information about the beyblade realm or whatever?

The knot in my stomach tightened. Then I tried to convince myself that school would be fine. I hadn't been checking my social media over the past few days. Maybe the whole drama with Chanel and Ashley has calmed down.

I managed a smile and I walked off into the familiar school campus. Then, standing in the morning sun, I saw some familiar figures. Five girls that were standing on one side, ten on the other.

My heart sank and my weak smile faltered. The drama hadn't seemed to have calmed down. Rather, it looks like it escalated.

Ashley leading the bigger group, a small smirk on her face and Layla and Harper by her side. Ashley's blonde hair was brushed down, shining like strands of gold in the sun. Her chin was lifted up high, and her icy eyes glittered in pride. She looked like a queen, ready to conquer and rule any empire.

Chanel was standing in front of the other four girls, her silky dark hair tied in a high pony. Her posture was ever so straight, and her demeanour seemed frighteningly calm. She looked like a leader. 

Except, her eyes were sad.

For a second, I thought it was stupid. I thought that Chanel was so dumb to look so sad after losing a friend like Ashley, Ashley who seemed to be a snake in human form.

I thought it was stupid for both of them to be treating some schoolgirl drama like a battlefield. My battlefield had alternated from being in my head to between two different dimensions. 

But then I instantly took back my thoughts. Chanel has never known the feeling of family. Her parents are always travelling around the world. It's left her with money and with freedom, but it's also left her wanting to belong somewhere.

I think Chanel's school friends became her family. The eleven of us, that was where she thought she belonged. But then she lost Ashley, Ashley who was like a sister to her. And from seeing who else was with her, Chanel's lost more friends, she's lost more family. 

I knew what it felt like to lose a sister too. I lost her to fame and wealth. She's back now, but I still remember the pain of having another person walking in her body. 

"Ashley, please," Chanel was pleading. Chanel who always stood so strong, was pleading. Her voice was breaking, and I think in the inside, she was breaking. "You don't have to do this. You've made your point already. You can step down from being Queen Bee."

"And what, give it to you?" retorted Ashley. At this moment, Ashley seemed like the polar opposite of Chanel. Ashley's every move seemed to empower her, while Chanel was breaking down from moving. "Last time you were Queen Bee you established this stupid thing where you classified people according to their wealth. The only way I had a chance of belonging at this school was to lie."

"I realize my mistake, I really do," Chanel said. "But you're doing the same thing."

"Because you deserve it!" Ashley smirked maniacally. "Have a taste of your own medi- (y/n)."

She had noticed me. Her cruel eyes had landed on me, smug and unforgiving. She spouted my name as if she had planned something harsh especially for me. Which she probably did.

Slowly, everyone's attention turned to me. Some people looked at me in shock, others in relief, and others in disgust. 

"Done kissing that alien?" mocked a girl besides Ashley. She had blue eyes that shone and auburn hair tied in a low ponytail. I had never spoken to her before, but I knew she had wanted to be an Elite, but Chanel shut her down and sent her into a lower popularity class because she was too poor. Her demeanour spoke levels of her anger. I vaguely recalled her name being Andrea. 

"I wouldn't blame her," Ashley said airily. "(y/n)'s been deprived of male attention and seems to open her legs to every male that comes her way. But mind you, that alien's rather hot."

Agrees chorused around Ashley's group, and it angered me. Because Shu Kurenai was more than just hot. Ashley leaned towards me. "Hey, (y/n). Mind telling us the alien's name? I don't want to call him alien anymore, considering he looks just like us."

Her group leered at me, wanting the name of Shu Kurenai. As if I would tell them. They don't deserve to know. 

"Oh?" Ashley raised an eyebrow and I realized that I had said that aloud. "We don't deserve to know? You kiss an alien and all of a sudden you think you're some sort of queen that we all should obey? I would roast you so bad that you realize I am the queen, but the bell is going to ring, and frankly, I don't want to spend any more time with trash. We're in the same class, though, so don't think you can avoid me. I will have you tell me all about that alien."

She spun on her heel and sashayed off into the school building, her blonde hair swishing and her other friends following after her, each one glancing disapprovingly at us. Silence ensued for a moment after they left.

"Are you okay?" Chanel asked me suddenly. "I heard you had to go see the government in Canberra. Did the alien give you some foreign illness or something?"

"No," I shook my head, realizing that everyone else had been in the dark about me. "They just wanted some information, like as to why we kissed."

"Why did you kiss?" Chanel said suspiciously. 

My lie flew off my tongue. "I kinda tripped and landed with my lips on his."

Each time I told this lie, it seemed more and more unbelievable.

Chanel looked at me, unconvinced. "Okay."

"Anyways," I said nervously, wanted to move onto another subject. "Are you okay? Ashley's being a little bitch lately."

"I'm fine," Chanel assured me, but her eyes were still dull. "Ashley's always been that way to you, hasn't she? We've just been too stupid and blind."

"Well, it looks like that 'we' has decreased," I commented, glancing around at the people surrounding Chanel. 

It was the first thing I had noticed. Chanel had ten close friends, including me, which used to be the upper tier of the Elites. Out of those ten friends, four remained. 

Lilian, Esme, Celeste and Brittany. "Where are the others?"

"You know about Ashley, Layla and Harper," Chanel gestured sadly to the place where they had been standing before. "Mikayla left our group. Turns out she likes anime, and she didn't want to hide it anymore. She didn't want to be with a group that hated on what she liked. So she moved groups, from this group to the anime frea- I mean, anime lovers."

I nearly told Chanel that I liked anime too. I loved it, in fact. But Chanel still seemed in shock about the whole situation, so I decided not to reveal it. "And Georgia?"

"She moved schools," Chanel said, shocking me. I gaped. 

"What?"

"I know, right?" she sighed. "Georgia left without an explanation. But Esme said that Georgia hated it here, and she hated it even more now that Ashley was making the hierarchy worse."

I turned to Esme to see if it really was true. Esme solemnly nodded, a grave look on her face. It must be hard on Esme. She and Georgia were close.

The bell rang, and everyone besides me and Chanel started moving to their home class. I was about to go too, when Chanel spoke up. "You know, I truly am sorry for my actions towards you. I'm not lying about that."

"I know you're not lying about that," I said. "A week ago I heard you having an argument with Ashley in the toilets."

"You heard that?" she said incredulously.

I nodded. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"I know, but damn, I even took the precaution to argue against her after school. I didn't even hear anything. You've got game when it comes to eavesdropping."

"James Bond who? I only know (y/n) (l/n)."

We laughed together, and it felt weird. Chanel and I have never laughed like this, when it was just us two. Or maybe we have, but it's just been forgotten over the chaos that had been unfolding these past weeks.

Either way, I took it as a sign that Chanel and I's friendship was slowly repairing.

------------------------

Lunch was awkward. 

The cafeteria had an uneasiness hovering in the atmosphere. Part of it was due to the fact that 'aliens' were among us and I had kissed on. A bigger part was because of the popularity switch.

The table for twelve where I usually sit - it was the first place I looked - was occupied by the new top Elite group. Ashley was at the head of the table, smirking as she surveyed the cafeteria thinking that she was superior to everyone.

 "(y/n)!"

I heard my name being called out by Lilian and I turned to see the others sitting in a dark and overlooked corner of the cafeteria.

Unfortunately, my name gathered several stares. Stares of disgust, stares of shock, stares of all kinds of emotions. Whispers rippled across the cafeteria, gossip and rumors flying around in the air.  

Everyone, even the teachers, were judging me right now for kissing what they thought to be an alien. I hate the fact that everyone thinks that Shu Kurenai is a monster with green skin and three eyes, when really, he's just like a human. 

With difficulty, I ignored the judgement being thrown my way and sat next to Lilian and Esme. Everyone in the room was still staring at me. Ashley's stare was the most unnerving. It was like her icy blue eyes could see into my soul. Harper's stare burnt too.

Layla's stare stood out the most, though. Hurt was in her eyes, hurt that I couldn't even comprehend. She had no right to feel hurt when she was the one who abandoned.

And then right in another corner was Mikayla. Mikayla's gaze held absolutely nothing in it. It was dull, but intense. She was seated with other anime-lovers and people called nerds, including Hannah Mitchell.

I had heard that Ashley had offered to make all of them Elites, but they rebuked Ashley and said that she was worse than Chanel. Ashley got mad and now she intends to make them a low class again. But of course, my group will have the lowest class. I don't think we really care anymore, though. 

Sitting in the corner of the cafeteria with many stares directed at me, I realized something had changed. Looking at the several groups and cliques, I knew that things will never be the same. Drama and arguments were only going to increase with the way this situation was unfolding.

The happiness I longed for disappeared, replaced by nerves.

Shu Kurenai being on Earth was the best thing in my life, but it seemed like the worst time of my life was about to come too.

[word count: 2088]