Elliephobia Strikes!

"What is he doing?"

"Get away from him! You don't want to be a geek like that, right?"

The students around the hallway avoided him when he passed by. They saw strange about Ellie is mumbling like he was speaking to someone else while he's going in the hallway.

He seemed annoyed since he found out that he would be with Alexandria to clean the storage room. He knew that being with Alexandria will cause him trouble.

"I've heard a lot of gossips about her! Like she's a juvenile delinquent, a bad girl, and an adversary from a romance novel! She's only has a charming face, but she's the spawn of evil!" he yelled to himself with bitterness. The surrounding students became quiet.

"Well... those were just nasty rumors, though..." he held from going.

"No! The teacher ordered her over to tidy the storage room, just like that guy was!" he steps inside the classroom, and he took some cleaning equipment.

As he made his way to the storage room, he still did not stop speaking to himself.

"She will not come! No, this makes it way more convenient. I'm going to do my best to live in this non-fictional realm. I'm just breathing the same air and the same territory," he entered the storage room, and Alexandria was not there yet.

"See?! She's not here!" he said, and he laughs while looking at a pile of garbage.

"I'm right here, though." he shocked because she popped up out of nowhere.

Alex came closer to him, and she grabbed the broom that is being held by him.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked in fear and he was edging away from her. "I'm just going to borrow your broom so I can clean."

"Y-You..."

"What is it?" she seems that she is making him difficult.

"I-I'll... do it. Y-You can leave," he mumbled to her while he was gripping the broom.

"What are you saying? Just give it to me already!" she said as she tried to take the broom from him.

"Ugoh..." he pushed her a little.

Alexa let go of the broom, and she turned off with Ellie. Ellie turned around when the broom hit a great storage box, and it fell on them hard.

"O-Ouch... It hurts!" his head throbbed at the force of the descending box, and he immobilized when he saw that he and Alex were close to each other. He noticed their faces close together like a kissing scene in a romance story.

"W-WHAT THE— "he agitated, and he stood up. He felt his spirit got crazy.

After that horrible moment, they cleaned the room. Because of that incident, it covered their uniforms with dust, so they cleaned up.

Alex was about to remove her polo jacket to wipe the dirt while Ellie noticed her. He startled, and he avoided her. He turned back so he will not notice a thing.

"Why are you taking your clothes off?!" he asked.

"I still have my polo shirt on!" she exclaimed.

"Anyway, just don't do it!"

"You don't have any resistance to this?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" he becomes nervous.

"Like... do you have a girlfriend?"

Girlfriend? How can he have a girlfriend if no one girl would like to approach him? He's not the man that likes non-fictional girls. Ellie just kept quiet and ignored her question.

"You can't talk to girls either!" she said, edging closer to him. She saw to him he's not talking to her, nor face her.

"I-I can, you know!" he shouted.

"When? With whom?" she asked like she wants to tease him.

"Right now... with you..."

She burst into laughter. She develops an interest in him.

"You're funny! What's your name?" she asked with a pretty smile on her lips.

"E-Eleanor..." he whispered.

"What?" she can't hear a thing. Ellie's disease struck again when he encounters this kind of situation. It's called, 'Elliephobia' where he can't speak to people he doesn't know, except for Teddy.

"E-Eleanor!" he shouted his name on her.

"Eleanor. That's a girl's name, right?" she seems to be weird about why his parents named a girl's name to their son?

"M-My parents gave me that name because for them, I am their light and I'm giving happiness to them or something," he explained as he turns back to her.

"That's cute. I'll just call you Ellie, okay?" she said while cleaning her shirt.

"It's impossible!" his mind shocks about she said to him she will call him 'Ellie' from now on. He turned away again from her.

"You know what, Ellie? It's a good thing to fall in love," she mumbled, and she's giving him a piece of advice.

His mind snaps. He can feel his blood boiling when he heard that Alex wants to date him just like that. Ellie had a goal in his mind that he will never interact with actual life. He will not be a fool. As if she's trying to trick her with just a smile.

He confronted her well, and he abruptly surrenders his earnest emotions. "Don't screw with me!" he stated in irritation, and it astonished Alex that he dealt with her.

"Don't just smile and try to crawl into a man's heart! All you're going to do is trample over me! Suddenly I'll gradually fell in love with you! Then I won't be able to think straight! You're just saying that on a whim! Did you think I was going to say 'Yahoo!', and jump for joy?! Don't think you can do anything with your designed-fashioned figure and your perfect-looking face!"

The words she heard about her confused Alex. She didn't suppose that those words came out from Ellie's. Her tears shed to her cheeks, and she swiftly wipes away.

"That's true..." she whispered as her smile faded away.

"What?" he suddenly asked.

"I meant it as a joke... I'm sorry, okay?" she said, and she suddenly walks away outside the room.

Alex flew him in the room and he stunned by what had happened. He did not recognize if he had done the thing to tell her that.

The later period, Ellie invites Teddy to see some novels in the library. He even can't skip about what happened to them yesterday.

"Was I in the wrong? Was it my fault?!" he dreaded, as he yelled inside the peaceful library.

"Hmm… It's your fault," he retorted.

"What?!" he abruptly blurted.

"You're in the wrong, for now. The students are glaring at you because this is not a place to yell," he replied, and Ellie stares at the students. He shielded his shame by covering his face with a novel he's reading.

"Sorry,"

"That's not like you. Did something happened?" he asked.

"Hey Teddy… I kinda just went off on that girl and said some stuff,"

"Huh?! W-What did you say?!" he asked as he surprised from what he heard from Ellie.

"I said, 'Dont screw with me!'" he retorted.

"Waahh!!!" he moves away from him. The students are staring at them, and the librarian shushes him.

"This is terrible, Eleanor!" he still being nervous about him.

"The worst-case scenario is I yelled at her…"

"You should apologize to her! Right now!"

"But I had my reasons! A girl like that shouldn't talk to a dork like me!" he mumbled to him as he bangs the book on the table.

"Apologize!"

Ellie's mind is out of thought for a moment as he encounters his best ally. He realizes that he is in a danger zone.

"Listen, Eleanor. This is not a matter of principles. This is a matter of life and death! Don't take those non-fictional characters easily. Use all the information that you have on them!"

"But I have to meet up with her again to apologize! No! This boundary is steep for me to rise over, so I should just give up!" he abruptly swung aside from him.

"Eleanor!" he banged his face to relieve him up.

"Your excuses mean nothing! Apologize to her, now!" he ordered him to accept his proposal. Ellie suddenly settles down when he remembers Isabelle's magical enchantment.

"Dorinpa… Dorunpa…" they responded with harmony.

"I demand to survive under the guidance of the Goddess Aoife!" it sounds like that he'll take a troublesome road to fulfill his adventure that Teddy turned to him. He knew that this will not be smooth for him, but he'll manage his finest to conquer it.

After the last period, Ellie planned his mission. He ran to the bookstore to purchase some novel, and his idea looks to be impressive. As he predicted, he saw Alex reading some magazines while Ellie is smuggling in the romance department near to her. He disguised himself so she won't recognize her. He sighs and he can't take a step forward to talk to her.

"Shouldn't you just stop?" Isabelle said as she appeared next to him.

"I want to quit! I want to go home!" he whispered.

"You have a lot of recent novels in your bookshelf lingering for you to come home! The latest book you had is so fascinating!" she said, and she winked. She's trying to seduce him with novels so he can't accomplish his mission.

"Oh… for real?" he chuckles. He realises that she's trying to bribe him.

"Wait… I need to scoot and apologize to her like an ordinary person,"

He saw a student as if she is stealing a book from the bookstore and she carries it inside her backpack. She was in a rush to leave the store when she banged with Alex. The girl walked hard. And abruptly, someone is grabbing Alex's bag. It shows like it's the store employee. She was shocked about what is happening to her.

"Hey! Show me the inside of your bag!" the store employee asked her with anger.

"What? Why?!" she refuses to give her bag and she's gripping it tightly.

"You stole something, didn't you?"

"I don't!"

"I saw you! I saw you, damn it!" the store employee yelled, and she tries to get her bag.

"Wha—"

"This too! Get the hell over here!" she grabbed the bag and suddenly dragged Alex to the police station.

"No, it wasn't me!" she exclaims in pain as she being dragged down.

"Police! Police! It's the book thief! I found the high school girl thief!" she's still yelling while they passed Ellie that hiding still hiding on the corner.

Ellie just ignored her and didn't make a thing. He seems like it will drag him into her trouble if he talks to her. He feels that many butterflies have entered his stomach.

"Tsk tsk… A high school girl thief! You shouldn't get involved with actual life!" Belle said to him, and he feels like she's mocking her.

"How did this happen? I was about to give her an ordinary apology!"

"Just leave her already!"

"But this is a false accusation, right?"

"You reap what you sow, right? She gives off a bad girl aura, doesn't she?" she said, and she's waving her wand at him.

Isabelle chants some enactments to Ellie to brainwash him so he will leave her in her trouble.

"I stole nothing!" she shouted while she's being held by the employees.

"Humph! I'm going to make sure you'll be rot in jail!" she said and glares at her.

"You need not do that! I'll show you right now! Look!" she threw out all of her things outside her bag. She insisted to tell them she stole nothing. That is the first time to Ellie that she saw Alex like that. Many thoughts came to his mind, but there's one thing he did.

"It's not her…" he walked and appeared in front of them.

"What's up with you? How do you know that? Wha—"

"I know it!" he shouted as he interrupted the store employee.

He confronts Alex, and he pointed at her.

"It's because… I've been following her the whole time,"

It surprised the whole people inside the store for what he said.

"She left school at 3:00 then she withdrew for a park at 3:25. She reached at the train station at 3:55. Then she confirmed her smartphone for the time, then she came to the shop in 4:10. She read through the 'Candy Magazine' and 'Tips on what to do to conquer high school' magazine. She's doing that," he replies to them like he is a stalker. Alex knew what she did, and she amazed at him. Alex stares at him and she smiles.

"I-I've been watching her the entire time," he murmured.

The police arrive to the scene.

"What's the problem?" the police asked the store employee.

"This is bad! We have a stalker here who is stalking a high school girl…"

"He's stalking a high school girl!"

The surrounding people got the wrong idea. Ellie realizes that everyone stares at him, and he thought they looking at a stalker.

"NO!!!!" he yelped, and he ran away to the exit as soon as he can. His plan to apologize to her didn't succeed

Alexandria smiles as she figured out that he's concerned about her. It amazed her, despite Ellie's courage, that he confronted him.

The following day, as Ellie walks to the classroom, he keeps mumbling to himself that he wants to apologize to her even more. The problem worsens now that Alex saw him as a stalker.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so—"

A student suddenly crashes into his shoulder. But Ellie just ignored it and he got used to it, anyway. As he arrives at the classroom, he told to Teddy about what happened to them. Teddy wants to know if he has ever to apologize to her.

"You went to apologize to her after school,"

"I'm sorry…"

"Then while you were trying to find the right time, you stalked her,"

"I'm sorry!"

"And of top of that, you told anyone that you're a stalker,"

"I'M SORRY!"

"How did things end up like that?!" Teddy shouted as he stands up his chair.

"Teddy… Is there a reset button right here?" he said sadly, like he wants to disappear because of shame.

"There's not! This is an emergency, Eleanor! You need to practice so this doesn't happen again next time! Say, 'I'm sorry',"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" he keeps mumbling to himself and Alex suddenly appeared in front of him. Teddy immediately walks away from her because he doesn't want to get involved in them. It surprised Ellie when he saw her behind him.

��Ellie,"

Ellie had no response to her and he still staring at her.

"I want you to know that I like you. Can I please be your girlfriend?" she asked with a lovely voice. She confronts him and looks in his eyes. The whole classroom became silent as they watching over them. They looked shocked, even Teddy because they can't believe it. A gorgeous girl like Alex wants to date a nerd. Time stopped when Alex said those words to him. His heart pound non-stop as he stares at her. What will be his answer?

"I'm sorry!"