The bell screamed again — the end of lunch, the beginning of madness.
Elian didn't remember walking back to class.
His legs moved automatically, but his mind was a storm.
Fiancée? Seven days? Death?
Was this another cruel joke? Another humiliation arranged by the universe?
Because honestly... it wouldn't have surprised him.
---
In the classroom, things had shifted.
The arrival of Celestine Vale was like dropping a live grenade in a room full of gasoline.
Boys who had never once looked at Elian were now glancing at him with open hostility.
Girls who once ignored him entirely were whispering, stealing glances at his ruined backpack, his patched uniform.
The rumors had already started.
"Why did she sit next to him?"
"Maybe he's some secret heir..."
"Pfft, impossible. Look at his shoes."
"Maybe he's blackmailing her..."
"He must have dirt on her!"
Elian felt every word like a slap across the face.
And worse?
Celestine smiled at him in public.
A slow, dangerous smile that said, I dare you to do something about it.
It was a declaration.
A warning.
A challenge.
---
By the time the final bell rang, Elian wanted to disappear.
He grabbed his battered bag and bolted for the door, but he barely made it a few steps before a heavy hand slammed into his shoulder.
"Where you going, loser?" sneered Blake Hart — Garnet High's crown prince of cruelty.
Blake was the kind of guy who drove a custom black Mustang with vanity plates that said KING.
Daddy's money dripped off him like cheap cologne.
Today he wore a blood-red jacket and black jeans, and his smirk was sharper than broken glass.
Behind him loomed Drake Sutton, all muscle and no brain.
Classic high school thug backup.
Elian didn't have time for this.
"I'm leaving," he muttered, trying to shake Blake's hand off.
Wrong move.
Blake shoved him hard, sending Elian crashing into the lockers.
A few students laughed.
Some winced.
Most just looked away.
Because everyone knew: once Blake picked you as a target, there was no saving you.
"What's your game, Frostbite?" Blake snarled, stepping closer. "Think you're better than us now? Got yourself a freaky little girlfriend?"
The words burned.
But Elian kept his head down.
He knew better than to fight back.
Stay small. Stay invisible.
It had always been his survival strategy.
But today... something in him snapped.
Maybe it was the seven-day countdown hanging over his head.
Maybe it was the way Celestine had looked at him — like he was someone.
Maybe it was just the years of silent humiliation finally catching up.
Whatever it was, Elian looked up.
He met Blake's eyes.
And he smiled.
A small, cold, terrifying smile.
---
The hallway went dead silent.
Because for the first time, Elian Frost didn't look like prey.
He looked like something else.
Something dangerous.
Blake blinked, thrown off for a second.
Just a second.
But it was enough.
Before he could react, Celestine appeared beside Elian — out of nowhere, like a ghost in a horror film.
Her violet eyes glittered with amusement.
"You're in my way," she said sweetly.
And then, without warning, she slammed her palm into Blake's chest.
It wasn't a hard shove.
But somehow — impossibly — Blake flew backward, hitting the lockers with a sickening thud.
He slid down, gasping for air, eyes wide with terror.
Drake moved to step forward, but Celestine just turned her gaze on him — and he froze.
Frozen like a rabbit staring down a cobra.
Celestine leaned close to Blake, her voice dripping with mockery.
> "Touch him again," she whispered, "and you'll be eating through a tube."
Blake whimpered.
Actually whimpered.
The students watching didn't laugh.
They didn't even move.
They were too busy trying not to breathe too loudly.
Celestine straightened, brushing imaginary dust off her skirt.
Then she turned to Elian, smiling like she hadn't just shattered the social order of Garnet High in under sixty seconds.
"Coming, fiancé?"
She offered him her hand.
And like an idiot, like a fool, like someone who had already fallen too deep — Elian took it.
The hallway parted like the Red Sea.
And together, hand in hand, they walked away.
---
Later, outside...
They stood in the cracked parking lot, under a flickering streetlight.
Elian finally found his voice.
"You didn't have to do that," he rasped.
Celestine tilted her head, considering him.
"No," she agreed. "But it was fun."
Elian stared at her.
"Who are you?"
Celestine smiled again — slow, wicked, beautiful.
"I'm the beginning of your salvation," she said.
"And maybe," she added, almost kindly, "your end."
Before he could answer, a sleek, black luxury car pulled up beside them.
No plates.
No driver.
Just... the car.
Waiting.
Celestine opened the door and slid inside.
She looked back at Elian, one eyebrow raised.
> "Coming?"
Elian hesitated.
Every sane part of him screamed run.
But something else — something deeper — told him to get in.
Because if he didn't...
He'd regret it forever.
---