THE GIRL'S BATHROOM CERTAINLY wasn't a place where Ella had thought she'd be pushed in by five delinquents before eleven o'clock, but here she was. Mia looked shocked as the girls shooed the people in the bathroom away, one of them leaning against the door once it was only them, to keep them from getting out. The other three surrounded them, the apparent ringleader pulling herself up on the sink, watching them amusedly. With her buzzcut and lips the color of venom it was easy to see not many people were going to mess with her and as her bubblegum popped, she smiled at them.

"Eleanor Martinez," she drawled, tilting her head to the right," isn't it?"

"You actually are pronouncing my name like I'm white," Ella said," it's Elea -"

"Shut up," one of the girls behind her hissed, moving to slap her.

Ella caught her hand before she could do so, the girl flinching at her tight grip as she tried to pull herself loose. Without sparing her another glance she looked back at the girl in front of her, eyebrows raised. She had come along willingly, but mostly just because Mia was with her and she couldn't risk her getting hurt. Besides, she wasn't one to avoid confrontation, especially when she would be stuck with these girls the rest of the year.

"It's fine, Tess," the girl in front said, gesturing lazily at Ella," let her go, Martinez."

"I thought we were having fun?" Ella said, Tess yelling out as she tightened her grip. She could see the girls tense, Mia's eyes widening, but before anyone could move she let Tess go, complying with an easy smile. "No need to get all riled up, I was just kidding."

"Bitch," Tess murmured under her breath, a hand on her wrist, which had now colored red.

Still, she didn't move to attack her again, so Ella supposed the buzzcut girl's authority was worth more than her anger. Pushing herself off the sink the girl neared, only stopping once she stood face to face with Ella.

"I've heard quite some things about you," she said," so I thought it only right to welcome you to St Joseph officially. We haven't had some new kids in a while now, after all." When she smirked it was more feral than anything else. "I'm Yelena."

"I'm honored," Ella replied," I haven't heard about you though, but I'm sure that doesn't surprise you."

"You may have gotten away with that smart mouth of yours in your old schools," Yelena laughed, no humor in it," but you'll find out quickly that here it'll just end with a broken bone of yours. Levi won't be around to protect you all the time, no matter how much you cling to him."

Ella frowned. "Don't tell me Isis send you."

"I honestly don't understand how he chose you over her," Yelena said, shaking her head slowly as she walked back to the sink," men, I guess I'll never understand them."

"Ask him," Ella said as she rolled her eyes," why are you and Isis so intent on making this a competition?"

Yelena turned around so quickly one of her friends almost jumped back in surprise, fury flaming in her eyes as she looked at Ella. "Don't take her name in your mouth."

When she blinked her anger was carefully concealed again, replaced with a smile.

"Anyway," she said, eyes flicking towards her friends," I think we should teach you a lesson. It is your first day after all."

Ella was already moving into fighting position as Yelena raised her hand when a gentle voice interrupted them, causing them all to stare at the source of it.

"Uhm," Mia began, looking around," why are we fighting? I mean, this isn't quite welcoming."

"Who are you?" Tess frowned.

"I hadn't given you a closer look before," Yelena said pensively, something glimmering in her eyes," but what do we have here? Did you get lost on your way to your mansion, little girl?"

Ella's gaze flicked towards the golden necklace on Mia's neck, her dress which was clearly designer even without the logo visible; Clarkson really had needed to prepare his niece better before sending her here. Before she could speak and get the attention away from Mia, the girl continued, surprisingly still smiling.

"Oh, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself!" she said, extending her hand," I'm Mia, a new transfer as well. By the way, I love your buzzcut, it really suits you."

Yelena seemed taken aback, blinking. Only after a moment did she laugh, shaking her head.

"Do you even hear yourself?" she chuckled," you talk like a fucking pixie from some dreamworld far away. Wake up, before someone here smashes your head against the mirror."

"Damn, who hurt you?" Ella frowned.

"You think I talk like a pixie?" Mia said, placing a flattered hand in front of her heart.

"That was not a compliment," Yelena hissed, before flicking her gaze to Ella," and I don't remember when I asked you to come in between." 

"I don't remember needing your permission," Ella replied.

Tess grabbed a fistful of Mia's hair then and Ella quickly responded, punching the girl right in the face. Once Tess let Mia go out of shock, Ella whipped around to Yelena and kicked her in the face, landing a solid hit against her head. Yelena surprisingly stopped herself right before she smashed against the floor, but remained still for a moment on the floor as she tried to get over the dizziness, her hands holding her up.

"O my God," Mia said as she touched the place where her hair had been pulled, eyes startled," I can't believe I'm in a fight. Do I need to help, Ella? I am not that strong, actually, not strong at all, but my backpack is quite heavy, I can use it as a weap -"

"You bitch!" Yelena spat out, interrupting Mia's rambling as she got to her feet. She wiped away the blood from where she had accidentally bit on her lip, looking ready to jump her," just you wait -"

"Wait for what?"

Their heads snapped towards the door, where Ava was standing, her smile undecipherable as she looked around the room. Slowly she walked towards them, one of the girls in her way immediately moving once she caught Ava's gaze, until she was standing beside Yelena. With a chuckle she glanced at her, shaking her head.

"What are you doing, Mikhailov?" she said," don't tell me you tried to bully someone and failed now."

"Go away, Nichols," Yelena scowled," this isn't your business."

"Or what?" Ava said, folding her arms, her smile amused. "What will you do? Spare no details please, you know I like it graphic."

Yelena blinked, before snarling at her. "Oh, fuck off."

Ava reacted so quickly Yelena couldn't stop her, placing her arms on both sides of her on the sink and locking her in between. She leaned forward, smirk sly and voice a whisper, her thumb gently wiping the blood on Yelena's bottom lip away.

"Come on now," she murmured," you can do better than that."

Yelena's face flushed red and she pushed Ava away. Once she had put some distance between them she pointed at Ella accusingly, eyes blazing.

"Next time you won't be so lucky, Martinez," she hissed.

"Last I checked I wasn't the one on the floor just now," Ella said.

"Just keep talking like that," Yelena snapped," this school is quite big and you are very small."

"What does that even mean?" Ella frowned," Jesus, at least do it better if you're trying to threaten me." She started walking forward and let her voice drop to a soft drawl, Yelena being pushed back. "You know, like, I recorded your whole conversation just now and can show it to the principal, or that Clarkson will be quite happy to hear how you told his niece you were going to smash her head against the mirror. Or, rather, how I can tell Levi what happened here and that it was Isis' fault. I'm sure you and Isis know how Levi thinks about sneaky things like this, so it'll be up to you to explain to Isis why Levi will be angry at her." She smiled, stopping right in front of her. "Those are threats."

Yelena parted her lips, but no words left her, a dumbfounded expression instead on her face. She attempted to stammer something, but Ava's laugh interrupted her, a wide smile on her fuchsia lips.

"I got to say I love you, new girl," she chuckled," I haven't been this amused in a very long time."

"I genuinely have no idea what's going on," Mia said," but isn't this like our first day of school? Why is there drama? Who is Isis?"

It was then Yelena snatched something from her bag, the whole room falling silent as everyone stared at the pocketknife in her hand. Ella remained still, the knife quite close to her cheek as Yelena spoke, eyes gleaming almost crazily.

"I will destroy you if you do so," she said quietly," I don't care if you ruin me, but you will not pull Isis along in this."

"Yelena," Ava began, but Yelena immediately put more pressure on the knife, silencing Ava immediately.

A drop of blood welled up on Ella's cheek and she felt it fall down, not daring to move. She would need just a few seconds to twist Yelena's arm and take the knife, but first she needed to calm her down a bit. Right when she was about to do so, someone closed their hand around the knife, all their gazes snapping the person who did it.

Levi was standing beside them, having entered unnoticed during all the tension, hand dripping with blood from where he was holding it, but he didn't seem to notice that much. Instead his gaze was on Ella, on the red line on her cheek, before flicking back to Yelena. She let the knife go in panic, stepping back as he let it fall, the metal clattering on the floor.

"Tell me what you think you're doing, Mikhailov," he said, the temperature in the room dropping once he spoke. "Right now."