Crystal

Ean felt weird after turning around to meet the gaze of the newcomer. They were in close proximity with each other, since he still held her wrist. And she was not given the chance to think about what exactly felt weird because the newcomer had begun to speak.

"Who exactly are you? I don't believe this!", Mason raised the phone in his hand, and the chatroom of a group came into view.

Ean glanced over it and finally understood what was going on.

'So it was that girl's doing as well.'

Even though Crystal laid the foundation, they were the ones who took advantage of the road. Unfortunately for them, it was a road that led to nothing but trouble.

She nodded to herself whilst thinking of how to get back at them.

Although she had never really experienced society, she had been taught by both her mother and sisters how to not suffer a loss, and it seems she was innately blessed in that area, because she never ran out of people to get back at.

Crystal served as an example of a repeated offender, now look at this girl called Ciara, who planned to walk the same path.

'Hmm, maybe being low profile wasn't such a good idea… sniff', Ean thought to herself with regret, and slightly rubbed her itchy nose.

Mason was fed up with Ean's silence and interrupted her thoughts.

"Unbelievable right? I don't know what was happening at school, but my advise to you is to stop. If you want to survive at Arcane, the best chance you'll get is to be on par with or higher than mid average families. It would even be better if you acted overbearing or arrogant that would at least prevent some people from bullying you."

Ean swept her gaze over her wrist which was still in Mason's grasps, and then moved it to Mason himself. He appeared to be anxious and concerned about her well-being.

'And what's his deal?'

She wondered what Mason meant by all that. If she went ahead announcing she was a Kinston, that would defeat the purpose of coming to school, especially on scholarship and would make her ignore Crystal's challenge, which wasn't possible.

Ean and Crystal had a one year gap, and were as close as they could get. As far as Ean could remember, Crystal had always challenged her to all sorts of games and impossible tasks.

She sometime played, and other times ignored her– which wasn't entirely possible– but would end up being manipulated by Crystal, one way or the other.

It wasn't fun, nor was it nice. But Ean indulged Crystal because of the kind of person she was. Although smart and intelligent, she was childish and weak-minded. She had also been subjected to the horrible nature of high society, which made her even more feeble and reckless because of her identity.

Ean had become silent once again, which was something that she'd never do, but only did, because it was Mason she was conversing with. She did not care for the person in front of her, and only immersed herself in her thoughts which she did not want to lose.

Mason, in his annoyance pulled Ean closer to himself and held her shoulder instead, to shake her out of her dormancy.

Ean was caught off guard and felt dizzy after he shook her, once she stabilized herself, she moved her gaze over to Mason and stared at him dangerously.

"By any chance, do you want to d-", Ean was cut off by Mason who was determined to get a positive reply out of her.

"Are you really planning on letting them underestimate and bully you?!"

"And if I am, what's it to you? I don't recall hiring a nanny to take care of-"

"Of course it concerns me! I saw you this morning in front of Milo's Cafe, I could have given you a ride but I didn't make it and you had already left…", he spoke guiltily.

Ean finally understood why he had accosted her this morning, and why he was still pestering her in the afternoon.

She scattered the fringes of her hair in annoyance, and wondered why people didn't know when to give up.

'Is that what had ruffled his feathers?!'

But he looked genuinely concerned so telling him off wouldn't be very good for her, but she wasn't interested in entertaining his feelings of righteousness either.

Who knew idiots like this existed? Can't they just mind their business?! What if he ended up going for shorn instead?!

Mason could sense Ean's change in emotions and did not know how to react. He was truly angry at himself for not helping out when he could, because as he watched all that happened to Ean happen to her, he felt it was his fault.

"Mason right? Thanks for your concern, even though I don't need it. And I don't really care what people think about me, as long as they don't bother me I think the possibility of coexistence is still… possible. Y'know, it would be great if you actually minded your business and leave me alone, sniff… I actually appreciate you not doing anything at all and would like to-", Ean had started off in the most gentle tone she could muster, which was not at all gentle and was impatient, filled with helplessness and dripping in sarcasm. But she was interrupted by a soft voice full of worry.

"Young Miss!"

Upon hearing Ms Gigi's voice, she turned around immediately and spotted Ms Gigi, and the driver who was coming from afar.

The slight frown on her face turned into a bright smile.

For the first time, Ean was glad to have Ms Gigi interrupt a conversation, her timings had always been bad, but it seems Lady luck finally smiled in her direction.

Mason had also turned to Ms Gigi's direction, then to Ean who forcefully removed his hands from her shoulders and walked off without saying a word more.

Mason followed her but stopped when she stopped for a bit, turned around then walked towards him.

'Did she forget something? I doubt she'll be able to go back into the school? Maybe I should help out…'

He waited at first then walked towards Ean to ask, "Did you forget s-"

When they got to the other, Ean did not waste words with him and stood on her tippy toes, she wasn't short but Mason was quite tall.

She pulled him by his arms and sniffed him.

Thump

Mason was flustered, he had no idea what Ean was doing, but he still tried to balance her by holding her by the waist. Ms Gigi who was afar was shocked, and wondered if she should walk over or not.

A sniff or two later, Ean finally stood properly. Her steps were a little unsteady, but that did not stop her from looking at Mason with a cold expression.

"Your perfume is weird…"

"It is…?", Mason had not recovered from whatever happened here, but he was not dazed enough to ignore the blood that slid from her nose.

Ean wiped it off with her sleeve and nodded, "Yeah, can you te-"

"Not like that", Mason had brought out a handkerchief from his back pocket, he came closer to Ean but she moved back.

The pain she felt when she inhaled that odour, was much worse in comparison to the blood she bled, hence she stepped back instinctively.

Unknowingly, she thought; she preferred to bleed than to have her heart beat painfully anytime she inhaled it.

Maybe Mason figured out what she was concerned about, because he removed his blazer, moved closer to her, held her head up, and pressed the handkerchief to her nose. He did all that before she could react.

"Are you allergic to the perfume? Has it been affecting you since I approached you? I'm sorry I did not know…", Mason felt terrible. He honestly felt guilty towards Ean's circumstances, but he felt even worse when he found out he wasn't helping her but hurting her instead.

Ean tried to pull Mason away from her but he wouldn't let her, so she could only respond, "It's no big deal, so can you tell me the name."

"It's called Lynn. But it isn't made on the island… And it isn't really available to the public… but I can help you get it if you want.", Mason was picking his words, there were some things he did not want to say and some things he did not know how to say.

"Lynn… that would be great, now can you let me go?"

"Yeah yeah sure", he let her go and folded the handkerchief before handing it to her.

She received it, adjusted her fringes then said goodbye to Mason. Then she walked towards Ms Gigi who had been waiting for a while.

As she approached her she sensed the warm liquid about to slide down her nostrils, but quickly wiped it off.