─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────
──EPISODE TWO

TO SAY ÉLODIE WAS NERVOUS for her first day back at school would be the understatement of the century, and she was more thankful for Miguel's existence than she could even fathom.

She knew arriving at school with the 'new kid' would probably make people stare only more, but all the same, she was glad she'd have someone to take her first few steps back into the school with.

She knew Sam was 'popular' now and could think of nothing worse than associating with the girls with whom she hung out now. All those years playing in her back yard, training in the dojo, eating dinner with her family... she wondered if it would even matter now.

She hoped Aisha was okay, excited to see her, but she knew Aisha had been at camp and having not had a chance to talk to her much anyway, she was worried about their reunion. After all, Sam had always been the rope that tied the two together.

Maybe this year that would change.

"You ready to go?" she asked as Miguel opened his door, "Sorry it's early I—uh..."

"Nervous?"

"A little."

"Same here," he laughed, slinging his bag over his shoulder as his mum approached his side, "Who is it? Oh, you must be Élodie! Im so glad Miggy has made a lovely friend here!"

"Thank you Ms Diaz," Élodie grinned with a blush, "I'm glad to have met him too."

"You should join us for dinner, Élodie. As a thank you for showing my Miguel the ropes here," she offered, a warm smile on her face as she dusted off her uniform, "I might finish late today, but I'd love to have you here."

"I'd love that," Élodie nodded, warmth spreading through her heart at the acceptance, "Yes please."

"Right, well thanks mom. See you later, love you," Miguel dismissed her with a half-hug, turning to follow Élodie out of the complex, "It was lovely meeting you Ms Diaz!"

"Call me Carmen!"

They chatted idly as they walked, trying desperately to distract eachother from the nerves.

"I'm gonna be straight up and warn you that I'm not really sure where I stand on friends... so don't expect me to help you on your way to popularity," Élodie joked, avoiding his gaze as she was slightly embarrassed.

Miguel shook his head, "I've already been beaten up once, Élodie, and I've been here a weekend. I'm hardly set up for success anyway."

Élodie's head snapped towards him now, "What?"

"It's okay... Sensei— uh, Johnny Lawrence helped me out a bit... got into trouble, but he helped me out," Miguel assured her, "He's training me in karate now."

Élodie chuckled, "Really? You must've really got beat if Johnny's teaching you karate as a result."

Miguel furrowed his brows, "You know him well, then?"

"I used to bring him food when I'd cook for grams, before I went away," she explained, trying to suppress the bubbling anxiety in her stomach as they approached the school, "He's a... character."

Miguel smiled, but remained acutely aware of how closed off she seemed.

"That he is... have you heard of Guns n Roses?" he asked, remembering the band Johnny had mentioned that previous night as he tried to keep conversation flowing with his first friend in the Valley.

"Don't tell me you hadn't? And Johnny's still teaching you karate... You must be special!"

———

"I told you not to get your hopes up, Miggy," Élodie giggled as they scanned the cafeteria for somewhere to sit.

They'd had every class together so far and, far from surprisingly to Élodie, she'd not spoken to anyone yet — just been stared at.

"What about them, over there?" Miguel queries, eyeing up a table with two boys sat at it, "There's room at their table?"

"Oh— uh, yeah?" she agreed, more as a question than anything else, "Sure. I don't really know them."

"Is it cool if we sit here?" Miguel asked, placing his tray on the table as the two boys looked up.

Eli's eyes fell almost immediately to Élodie, and he gulped before looking back down.

"Ooh, sorry, table is really blowing up right now. I can put you on the wait list, but it's probably next semester at the earliest," Demetri said sarcastically, gesturing to the empty table, but Miguel looked down for a moment, "Okay."

He put his hand on Élodie's arm, a movement Eli watched carefully.

"No, l'm kidding. Sit," Demetri chuckled, and the two sat down as Élodie rolled her eyes.

"Miguel." he introduced himself.

"Demetri. This is Eli... Élodie, I didn't know you were back," Demetri noticed the way Eli was silently watching Élodie, and the fact he'd not spoken yet, "Eli here is a man of few words."

"When did you move back?" Eli's voice was barely above a whisper as he anxiously looked over at the girl he'd not seen in over a year.

"Just got back this week," she bit her lip, "Feels strange, to be honest."

"I'm glad you're back," he smiled nervously, and she returned the smile, just as everyone's attention suddenly moved away from her.

The boys eyes all moved away now to the girls walking through the cafeteria past them, Miguel's particularly bright.

"Dude, don't torture yourself. Those are the rich girls."

Miguel hardly took any notice, "Do you ever talk to them or...?"

Élodie scoffed, "What do you think, moron?"

"Oh, yeah, all the time. What're you talking about Élodie? We hang out after school...Make out, give each other hand jobs. Eli here is the homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right, Eli?" Eli was laughing now, and Élodie enjoyed the sight of his smile.

"Talk to them? You realize what table you're sitting at, right? You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college."

Eli looked down again for a minute nervously after catching the eyes of the girls they'd been ogling, "Oh, shit, Yasmine's looking at us. Probably just making fun of me."

"I don't think she's making fun of you," Miguel shrugged, "I mean, just because they're hot doesn't mean they're mean."

Élodie scoffed, "Are you sure you moved from Riverside and not Wonderland? In what world are hot girls not mean?"

"Well you—," Demetri started, before shaking his head and not continuing his initial sentence, "Anyway she's right, Miguel."

"Oh, my God, you guys. You see that guy over there who looks like he went down on a lawnmower? He's literally wearing the ugliest sweater l've ever seen," Élodie overheard, fists clenching at the screech of their laughter, "That is so wrong."

She didn't dare hear more, eyes meeting Eli's sad face and instantly both calming her down and enraging her only further, "Ignore them, Eli. Seriously, they're assholes."

He half-smiled up at her, heart skipping a beat.

"I don't care if Yasmine is the meanest girl at school," Demetri quipped, as if oblivious, "I'd kill all of you just to get her to spit in my face."

"You're such a boy," Élodie grunted, resting her chin on her palm, "They're evil, man. I don't get it. Why are boys so into torturing themselves by liking girls they have zero chance with— Ow!" Miguel nudged her side and she grunted, "It's true!"

"Sure, El," Miguel replied with a sigh, before focusing back on the girls he was suddenly so enamoured with, "Yeah, well, if you don't make a move, you're never going to have a shot with her."

Both Élodie and Eli were just looking at eachother again now. Her gaze was soft, eyes almost pleading with him not to let the comments made get to him as she could see they were lingering on his mind.

She hoped he knew she still cared, even after all this time.

"True, but l'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection. I'm at peace with my depression...Last thing I need to be is suicidal."

Miguel rose to his feet, and in the short time she'd known him Élodie realised more now that he was a force to be reckoned with. He was clearly going over to the mean girls' table... Did he have a death wish?

"What are you doing?"

"Striking first."

"Oh, shit, I hope we don't get hit with the shrapnel."

"We will definitely be getting hit with the shrapnel," Élodie rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time, "God... even the quiet boys are annoying."

Desperate not to look at the events about to unfold, she smiled across at Eli again, "Well, except for you Eli."

"Puke." Demetri fake gagged.

"Shut up, 'Metri! Oh god... Unsuccessful?" she watched Miguel's frown as he was laughed away.

When Miguel returned to the table looking defeated, Élodie shook her head, "I warned you! My heart bleeds for ya, Miggy."

"Okay, okay, I hear you," Miguel groaned, embarrassed, "Point taken."

"Welcome to the virgin table, fellow loser. Nooow you fit right in," Demetri said, an I-told-you-so expression on his face.

"Oi," Élodie smacked his arm, taking a bite of her food, "Speak for yourselves."

She didn't notice the panicked confusion in Eli's eyes, or the awkward blush on all three boys' faces, but hey, things had changed a lot for her in the year she'd been gone.

She realised the awkwardness in the air at her words, though.

"I am not a loser," she poked her tongue out jokingly, surprised by her sudden comfort around the group considering she'd not long met Miguel and the other two boys she'd not spoken to in forever, "I'm the scary girl who used to be popular and then apparently went 'off the rails', duh!"

"Hmm," Miguel squinted at her, "Sure, El."

─────── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───────
AUTHOR'S NOTE !
thanks for reading! this is the shortest chapter
i think i've written for this fic but i hope it's okay,
i didn't want to oversaturate it with unnecessary
extra bits just as filler! here's her first proper
interaction with the group... eee !!! i am far too in
love with eli as you'll probably tell from the way i
write him sometimes hahahah. x