Georgia was popular. 

Of course she was. She was the perfect Elite. Pretty, rich, cool, and with a personality that wasn't snobbish? That's a pretty rare combo for an Elite.

Many people liked Georgia, me included. Even hard-to-please people like Ashley and Hannah had at least some respect for Georgia. She fit well with everyone. She knew exactly how to become friends with the people she wanted. And she wanted to be friends with everyone.

So when Caprice Alderidge and her inner circle pushed past Georgia, glancing at her in disgust and throwing some insults at her, I couldn't help but be shocked. Of course, Georgia returned the favour and it was about to turn into a full-out argument when Caprice said, "Leave it, girls."

Immediately they obeyed her like some sort of servant and they pranced away, swinging their little branded purse and handbags. 

"(y/n)," Georgia turned to me, wide eyes mirroring my own. "It's been a while."

"Why don't they like you?" the words flew out of my mouth. Normally I wasn't so nosy, but this was just shocking. "You're a perfect Elite."

"But that's the thing," Georgia sighed. "I quit being an Elite. Esme told you that I left Claritate because I was sick of the hierarchy, didn't she? Well, guess what I found at St. Catherine's."

"Another hierarchy," I realized. "So you just...didn't become an Elite? You didn't talk to the Elites there at all?"

She scowled, as if remembering some unpleasant memory. "I did. To tell them that I wasn't an Elite anymore. And then, to make matters worse, one of Caprice's best friend's, Lana, ex asked me out. I declined, of course."

"So the male Elites still like you," I concluded. It made sense. Elites go after looks rather than personality, and Georgia was beyond pretty. She had light brown hair with blonde highlights, hazel eyes and a flawless face. She wasn't hot like Chanel, or cute like Layla, but she was an ethereal kind of pretty. Of course, that would irritate other female Elites.

Georgia sighed. "Unfortunately. It's a situation kind of like Shu Kurenai's, except reversed."

"Oh!" I snapped my fingers. "That's why I followed you. I wanted to talk about him. I swear I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I overheard you talking to some Elites about some kind of plan for him."

"For you too," Georgia reminded me, not looking too surprised at the idea that I had overhead things. Then she smirked in amusement. "Wait. You're worried about him and not at all for yourself? (y/n), (y/n), (y/n). Moving on from Jack so fast?"

I scowled. "I was never hooked onto him in the first place."

"Alright," Geogria held up her hands at my harsh tone. "Just kidding. Anyways, I don't have that much of an idea about what plan they have. Caprice and her inner circle, the masterminds obviously, don't associate with me anymore so I haven't heard more than a few whispers. Though, I do know that it's going to happen at the next social."

"I've been hearing about that," I bit my lip. "It's going to be at St. Catherine's and all the four schools are invited, right? Great. A perfect opportunity for Ashley and Caprice." 

Georgia threw me a sympathetic look. "Just ignore them. Knowing them, they'll probably expose you, but whatever dirt they have on you, it can't be that bad right?"

She's right. The dirt they could have on me was that I have a crush on someone they called an alien. That doesn't even seem that bad. But then all of a sudden I think of how uncomfortable Shu would be.

We haven't even talked that much. He hardly knows me, other than the person who pushed her lips onto his as soon as he stepped off the aircraft. Yeah, he may want to get to know me better, but it's probably just because I'm one of the only people he knows on Earth. 

And even if we get closer, I don't want to be forced to confess in front of hundreds of people. I don't want to be rushed or forced. I want it to be special. Caprice and Ashley would force it in a way that our relationship will for sure be crumbled.

That might not even be the dirt they have on me. Only Jack knows, and I don't know for sure if he told Ashley. So what other dirt do they have on me?

My face must've revealed my troubled emotions because Georgia pulled me into a quick hug before saying, "No matter how bad it is, I'll support you."

"Thank you," I smiled. In the distance, the bells of St. Catherine rung. My eyes widened, realizing what that meant. "It's eight forty already? Crap! Class starts in fifteen minutes! I gotta go!"

I started running in the opposite direction, but Georgia called out to me. I turned around, and she was staring at the floor, fiddling with her uniform. "Um...how is Esme going?"

"I mean, she misses you but other than that, she's going fine," I replied before frowning. "Aren't you two talking?"

"N-No," Georgia chewed on her lip. "We kinda had a falling out. She was mad at me because I didn't tell her I moved schools until school started again. I-I just didn't want to make things hard, but...I should have told her. You said she misses me? At school, can you...please tell her that I miss her too."

"Of course," I promised.

"And!" she shouted out again before her cheeks turned slightly pink with embarrassment. "Sorry to keep you from going, but I'll try and find out Caprice's plans."

"Once again," I smiled. "Thank you so much."

Then we waved to each other before departing to a school we each considered hell.

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

As soon as I entered the classroom, Mrs. Norris beckoned me to have a chat. I silently cursed, knowing that she was going to tell me off for more than just the fact that I missed the rollcall.

"You've been acting quite strangely lately, Ms. (l/n)," she remarked. "You haven't been feeling well, you've haven't been paying attention in class, your test scores are lower than usual and your coming late to school now. You're not like that, Ms. (l/n)."

It pissed me off, really, how she wanted me to fit into an image of myself that she made in her head. As tempting as it was to tell her to shut up, I decided to keep my mouth shut. 

"I thought that you were just a bit shocked because of the incident at socials, but it's been over a month now since that happened," Mrs. Norris continued. "You've been distracted by something else. Don't tell me it's a boy. It is, isn't it? Oh my, is it Shu Kurenai?"

On another occasion, I would've noted down that the last sentence rhymed. But, even if I knew Mrs. Norris meant no harm, it was getting extremely annoying to have people constantly prying into my life and making their own assumptions about not only my relationship with Shu but everything about me.

And by this point the whole class was listening, especially Ashley and Hannah. I opened my mouth to tell her to mind her own business when Hannah interrupted with a laugh.

"Oh, I hope it's not Shu Kurenai," she smirked and all eyes curiously looked at her. Her smirk widened despite her claims of hating the spotlight. As usual, she wasn't afraid of what people were going to say. "You see, I watched the anime he was in and I have my heart set on him."

Before I could even begin to process what she had said, Ashley cackled. "You have a crush on a 2D character? Pathetic."

"Language, Ms. Holdfar," Ms Norris warned, but nobody heard her over the angry yells of the insulted anime fan girls. (In my heart, I was also yelling at Ashley.)

"He's not 2D anymore though," Hannah pointed out, and all of the fan girls fell silent and nodded, agreeing with Hannah. "He's real, and I can have a real relationship with him. Ashley, you're just jealous because Shu is hotter than Jack."

"Actually, you're both just jealous because (y/n) has them both," Chanel sniped savagely, joining in the argument. If looks could kill, I'm pretty sure Hannah and Ashley killed me many times. 

"That's not true, Chanel," I said nervously, trying to calm down the argument as I mentally face-palmed at Chanel's decision to join the argument.

Ashley looked at me like I was vomit. "No way my Jack likes her. The two of us are dating, and we are couple goals!"

"Shu doesn't deserve to be with a loser like her," Hannah flicked her hand towards me. "I'll show him that."

"Class!" Mrs. Norris' voice finally overtook everyone else's. She shot a sharp glare towards Ashley and Hannah. "Stop this pathetic boy nonsense. Ms. Mitchell, do not call Ms. (l/n) a loser, and Ms. Holdfar, please refrain from using possessive terms over your boyfriend. I want silence for the rest of the lesson. And now, as a result of your actions, there will be a test tomorrow."

There was an instant uproar of complains.

"I didn't even do anything!"

"It was just Ashley, Hannah's group and Chanel!"

"I did hardly anything!"

"We just started this topic a week ago!"

"It's scientific notation, it's not that hard," Mrs. Norris pinched her nose bridge. "You will not complain anymore. Like I said, silence for the rest of the lesson. Study hard if you want to pass the test. Ms. (l/n), take a seat next to Ms. Darlington."

I nodded and obliged, sliding into the unoccupied seat next to Chanel. Even though Mrs. Norris had asked for silence, I quietly whispered, "I need to talk to you. And the others."

"What about?" she asked, gesturing the others of our friendship group that were sitting close to us to listen in. 

I told them everything Georgia had told me about the plan that Ashley and Caprice was cooking up. 

"No way," Chanel whispered. "Even Caprice is involved?"

Celeste frowned. "I haven't talked to Caprice myself. Is she really as bad as everyone says?"

"Yeah," Lilian winced. "She's a prodigy at psychology and mind stuff. Once she even figured out that one of her classmates had a crush on their teacher through their eye behaviour."

"And then she humiliated that classmate in front of everyone at Petunia Mall," added Brittany in disgust. "And to make it worse, the teacher and their principal was there."

"Okay, that was way too far," Celeste bit her lip before looking at me worriedly. "So what is she going to do to Shu Kurenai and (y/n)?"

I sighed. "I wish I knew. She's joining forces with Ashley, obviously, but I have no idea what kind of dirt they have on me."

My gaze wandered around the room, landing on Ashley. She was whispering something to Harper before the two giggled and Ashley scribbled something down. We made eye contact and she smirked. That's when I knew.

The plan was already in the works.

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

It troubled me for the rest of the day. How could it not? Ashley was always writing something down that wasn't school related, and then taking a snap of it to send to someone, Caprice probably.

It was the end of the school day, but my head was still going over countless possibilities. I approached the bus stop, yawning, ready to head home and sleep even if it was only four in the afternoon.

But then I saw something and my heart stopped. I stopped. 

Shu doesn't deserve to be with a loser like her.

I'll show him that.

All this day I had forgotten about Hannah's words. I had brushed it off, thinking that Hannah was only playing around to see my reaction. She didn't really like Shu. Right?

Wrong.

At least, that's what the sight in front of me said.

[ word count : 2004 ]