ALEX FROZE, WILL BLINKING in surprise, but Levi's expression somehow didn't change. He looked more curious in what she was thinking than anything else, his gaze on her in the silence that passed. A second later it was over, Will and Alex both talking at once as the bell rung, both too busy to notice the teacher trying to shush them in front. Not that it really mattered, everyone was still talking, though it was becoming more and more clear that they were also all starting to stare at her.

At the camp she had already discovered that the guys always were the center of attention wherever they went and she supposed that wasn't any different at the school. Murmurs rose up, but none of the boys seemed to either notice or care as they continued speaking, the noise in the room too loud for anyone to catch their conversation anyway.

"Did she try to kill you?" Alex said.

"Yeah, are you alright?" Will fretted," Isis is quite passionate about her friends."

"Except her and Levi aren't friends," Alex interjected," and she's totally crazy."

"Don't call her crazy, Alex," Will chastised.

"No, but you don't understand," Alex said as he shook his head," this isn't even a toxic 'oh all Levi's exes are crazy' thing, it's the 'this girl broke in our dorm room to wait for Levi when he was late and emotionally scarred me for life' thing."

"I remember you yelling," Levi reminisced," Clarkson came because he thought that sound came from a girl who had sneaked in."

"In my defense, I had watched a horror movie the night before where people were murdered in their own house and to be honest, Levi, I can see you get targeted easily."

"Me?" Levi frowned," what about you? Once some weird stranger on the street tried to tell you the earth was flat and you discussed with him how it was hexagon-shaped instead."

Alex grinned. "Best twenty minutes of my life."

Ella chuckled, but her attention was still on Levi. The way a guy talked about his exes said a lot and even if Isis was apparently intense, she was curious how Levi would talk about her. Alex was joking, that she knew, but Levi wouldn't; even if that was more because he didn't like to joke than anything else. He glanced at her, interpreting her interest as stress somehow as he shook his head.

"Alex is exaggerating," he said," Isis is just a bit protective sometimes. The only reason we aren't friends at the moment is because I thought it best for us both to move on separately, but we broke up a while before the summer, so I doubt she's still hung up on me."

"Oh Levi, you womanizer," Alex sighed," you don't even know the effect you have on women."

Levi frowned at him, before just deciding to ignore his friend.

"Anyway," he continued to Ella," did she say something to you? I'll talk to her if necessary."

"Awh," Ella cooed as she placed her hand on Levi's wrist," you hate talking."

"You know me so well," he drawled, a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

Ella chuckled, but already knew involving Levi wouldn't do much good. She didn't want to ruin their friendship by coming in between or make Isis angrier than she already was, so for now it would be best to leave it this way. Hell, she knew nothing of what had happened, so it didn't feel like her place to tell on the girl.

So she simply shook her head. "No, Isis didn't say anything."

Levi stared at her, like he was trying to guess what she was thinking. After a moment he gave up, sighing as he leaned forward, nose almost brushing against hers.

"I suck at reading people," he said," so if there is something, let me know, Eleanora."

"I will," she promised.

That answer seemed to be enough to satisfy him as he nodded, sitting back down again. It was cute how honest he was, a smile on her lips as she leaned her cheek on her hand and looked at him.

"He isn't kidding, babe," Alex said amusedly," his total obliviousness is the cause of many problems, but especially with the ladies."

"It's because you talk like that that you're still single, Alex," Levi clapped back.

Alex' lips parted in shock, before he dramatically started a speech, but right at that moment the teacher finally managed to quieten the classroom down. Somewhere during it all he had gotten Clarkson to come and the man, despite his grumpy attitude, had managed to silence them all immediately with his booming voice. Alex' gaze snapped to their vice-principal, but Clarkson spoke before he could say anything.

"Farrow, no," he said, holding up a finger," I can see you trying to concoct a plan in your head and it's too early for this."

"Sir!" Alex exclaimed, placing a hand on his heart," your accusations hurt me."

Clarkson huffed, but it was easy to see that he didn't really mind it that much. With a wave at their teacher he glanced around the classroom, his intimidating scowl not seeming to work on anyone, all the students looking almost affectionately at him.

"Listen to your teachers," he said," I better hear nothing but the scribbling of your pens when I pass this classroom later."

"Can't wait for your lesson, Clarkie," one student piped up.

"Did you have a nice weekend?" Will beamed.

"I'm really curious," Alex said," do you simply not get cold or do you have like thermo tracksuits or something?"

"You better be, Harrison," Clarkson began," your running time has improved greatly since last year, so look forward to a more rigorous training session." He turned to Will then, scowl softening a bit. "And yes,  Tyler, I actually did, thank you. Got to spend some time with my wife."

"You have a wife?" Alex exclaimed, eyes glittering with interest," please tell me more. Is she like a female version of you? And why did you only ignore my question? This feels like bullying."

Clarkson didn't bother replying, instead pointing at his own eyes and back at all of them in a quiet move to let them show he was watching. After that he was off, the teacher looking stressed at the thought of having to handle them all alone. Still, the man straightened his back, voice becoming more clear as he waved at Ella.

"I see one of our transfers is already here," he said," why don't you come here and introduce yourself?"

All eyes were on her as Ella made her way to the front of the classroom, but she didn't mind it that much. Once she stopped beside the teacher she turned around to face the class, amused to see the state of general chaos it was in. Even Clarkson probably wouldn't be able to get them to do more than be quiet, but she didn't think he really cared that much about doing so. Everywhere she looked people were either slacked in seats or sitting on top of tables.

The girls were all bubblegum-pink lips and nails so sharp they could cut through skin, loud laughter and bored looks, flashy jewelry and short skirts. The boys were all clad in duller colors, gray and black hues flattering against sun-kissed skin, adorned with faint scars like the sky with silver lightning. She could see the bruised knuckles and cheeky grins, pupils dilating with every rule they broke, like bones cracking one by one.

With a smile she let her gaze wander over all of them, only recognizing a few in this class from camp, though even they looked different at her now than they had done before. Probably heard what happened to Trevor, but more importantly, they knew her full name now.

"I'm Ella Martinez," she said," your new transfer. It's nice to meet you all."

"So you're Levi's new girl?" the guy from before shouted, looking her up and down.

"Are you deaf, Harrison?" Levi said coolly," last I heard she just said her name."

Harrison flinched a bit at Levi's icy expression, but tried to hide it quickly as he continued. "Is that a no then?"

"Tell me," Alex said amusedly, leaning forward as he spoke," are you looking to get beat up on your first day or are you just stupid?"

"What?" Harrison scoffed," are you bragging about how quickly you and Levi resort to violence?"

"No, he's talking about me."

Harrison's gaze snapped to Ella, her smile sweet.

"What?" he said.

"Guess that answers your question, Alex," she said with a slow shake of her head," he's just stupid."

Harrison's lips parted, but he didn't say anything, instead scoffing and quickly looking away. The teacher looked nervous by the whole incident, scraping his throat as he told Ella to take her place again. She was halfway to her seat when the door opened, the teacher's voice sounding relieved as he spoke to whoever had entered the room.

"There you are," the teacher said," here's our other transfer, class."

"Yeah, sorry about being late," a familiar voice said, freezing her in her tracks," I got lo - Nora?"

She turned around slowly, not believing her eyes as they landed on her ex-boyfriend.

"Sam."