"Almost Bad luck," Jareth said laughing with Isla. She heard their giggles, forcing to open her eyes and shot a cold look at them.
"Huh!"
Rip
'What was that?' She thought, 'My head doesn't hurt that bad. Was the ground too covered by the bubble?'
Ella could see the blue bubble up ahead. A firm grip was on formed her bare waist giving her different chills running down in her stomach. Her face was burning hot. The most uncomfortable position where someone could stand or even bend was both of them.
Ella was literally lying down on the ground with Kellen tightly holding her by her waist with his one hand as well as his other hand rubbing the land. It was not a dramatic fall, where a charming hero catches someone from falling.
His bent knee was between her legs which was unfortunately jolted on the ground. On the contrary his other leg was straight in a push-up position trying to balance his front.
He was too close to her face that she could smell the strong herbaceous woody scent driving wild into her nose. She couldn't believe her eyes that in one short moment he was this close to her. Her rhythmic heartbeats were going wilder than any thing.
She looked down and found herself inches away from the surface where she could have hit her head hard. The tough land could have easily managed to give her a stroke.
"Uhuh.." Her soft voice was now choked on words.. Her face went straight towards him. Everything was so sudden and still it felt like someone froze the time..
There they were.
Those eyes.
The definition of pure warmth was in his hazel green eyes. No one could persuade them to look away from his gaze. It was like he plunged her towards his eyes.
His face was slightly clenched from the sudden grip of her weight. 'How can he have the same pair of eyes matched with the book? How can someone look so similar just like how it was described in that book.' She thought to herself
"Ohhh, how lucky to be in that position and that too with Kellen." Both of them heard a girl say to her friends, flashing a look at the girl in his arms.
"Almost a month of her Academy and she is already in the arms of the heartthrob. " said another girl.
"I heard she seduced Jareth and Kellen to be in their group." Someone casually bolted, clearing their confusion.
"Isn't she the one who caught a huge fight with the Shimer queen on her first day?" Kellen heard a guy behind her whispering to his group.
"Ohhh yeah, the heartthrob helped her against the Shimer sisters and Shimer queen." The girl in the green hood replied.
"Maybe she seduced him after the fight to enter her group." Kellen's hands were clasping tightly on her waist. To this time, Ella's face dropped down which wasn't that hard to notice.
Someone scoffed behind her which almost raised the tension between the duo more. Kellen pushed his bent leg up while pulling her up quickly. Ella ignored the unprecedented talks while straightening her clothes.
"Kellen and Jareth were shifted last month from the Wand level to here." Ella avoided looking into Kellen's eyes who was worriedly looking at her and kept his ears ignored to the merciless talks over her. His clenched fist was digging more in to his palms with every new comment over Ella's character.
"That's why he is with her group of friends so no wonder she is in his arms this early." A guy said with a scoff.
A short release from his hands escalated his hold and that was it for Kellen who shot a narrowed look at the back of where Ella stood. It was the last sentence she ever heard during their whole session.
"Don't listen to them, they are just jealous of you," He mumbled quietly, looking at her. She nodded.
'Gossiping Fucktards! If it were in my hands I could have blown their fuckin asses off!' She thought.
Even after Kellen's narrowed glare. She can still feel a lot of penetrating stares on her which rose the hair on the back of her neck.
"They can't stand your braveness when you talk back against the shimmer queen. Everyone knew Cassandra was doing wrong but they still followed her, except when you came. She forced you to obey her but you dauntlessly opposed her orders and fought back."
He frowned his head and continued, "People don't encourage that kind of behaviour because they hate to take risks. So when you took one, it scared them and now they are more scared of you."
Kellen could feel rage taking in over him by the amount of taunts Ella had received and it was not even her fault. He wanted to thrash each of their mouths with his whistle blade or his takt infused punch but he kept his calm and focused more on how Ella must be feeling about this comments.
Ella almost laughed at his justification, closing her eyes and then she shook her head, "Doesn't seem like they are scared of me."
A short glance was all it took for Ella to scan her surroundings where she could easily see the unwanted eyes of almost every student in between with Cassandra's glare. Minutes ago her eyes were upbeat but now her penetrating stare was enough to avoid any long eye contact with her.
Kellen followed her gaze and said, "Of course they are, look at them glaring at you, they don't like your boldness." She suddenly blushed after hearing his last word.
"Cassandra now has a strong intent to banish me out of the Academy." Kellen twitched his lips. He bluntly narrowed his stare at Cassandra and continued to look at her till she moved her eyes away from Ella.
As soon as the Shimer Queen felt Kellen's glare over her face, she stretched her lips and moved to her group with her eyes penning down another worry.
"That's not gonna happen." His tone was serious while his jaw clenched.
As the glares and peaky stares started to cool down, Kellen after scanning through the lawn around them finally took a good look at Ella. "I was there too. If she tries to banish you, then I will take the responsibility." The tinted cheeks of Ella started to fuel up after his sentence.. She slyly looked down to hide her blushed face.
"It was you who helped me that day." The caramel skinned girl added with a wily stare at him.
He smiled and said, "Well of course, I was highly impressed by how you handled her." Her face was turning more red.
She closed her eyes tight and said, "I didn't do anything. I was.." Her mouth failed to add any words and was taken off. She kept her stare down over her feet being embarrassed about everything.
"It's alright." 'She is too bold and cute at the same time.' Kellen thought after he saw Ella struggling with the right words to say.
For Kellen it was normal for someone to stutter when they were being praised of their behaviour and personality. He didn't even had the slightest idea about this girl standing in front of him having a huge crush over him.
He gently placed his hand on her head. His arms even if they were not that muscled, still looked flexed. His palms caressed over the top of her hair which opened her tightly shut eyes.
'This was what I needed in the moment of tension.' She thought to herself
Someone putting their hand over her head and then saying that it will be all fine. Immediately her face was filled with a huge smile which wiped out all the worries.
"Thank you, Kellen." She said finally moving her head up and looking at him with a straight face.
A hefty smile was present on her face which released his small frowns. He too smiled back at her. He glanced at her up and down which brought another frown on his jaw edged face. "I am sorry, Ella," He said with a genuinely worried front. Ohh it felt like someone just put ice on my neck. She thought
"It's okay.." She pulled her eyebrows with a tilted face. His frowned look was back again.
"You have to make this shell today itself," Mr Samuel sharply ordered, looking at all of them. His eyes did recognise that Ella almost slipped but chose to ignore the situation. She nodded while he rounded on every student and their practice.
"How on earth did you stumble?" Aubrey murmured with an angry tone. From the looks of it, she still wasn't over fighting with Kellen on their different preconceptions.
'Still no progress.' She thought
Her lips stretched in a thin line as she watched them narrowing her eyes.
"Stupid stone came in my way." The jacket bearer complained putting his hands in his pocket.. His black-brown hairs always were forming a different structure on his head due to their silkiness.
Isla nudged the locket bearer as she strolled beside her.
"Told you, you look amazing for him" She grinned, staring her eyes at Ella and then at Kellen. Ella saw him peeking glances at her closely in between with his furrowed brows. Her body became stiffer while her hands started to sweat. She became more conscious of her body and started to check if something was really wrong with her.