"No- I was just trying to take it off!"
"Oh really?"
Ella couldn't help but wonder what she walked into. Marinette looked pissed, glaring at a blond boy before she moved and laid a handkerchief over something on their row seat.
"What's going on, Alya?" Ella asked, coming up and tapping the red-head on the shoulder.
"Looks like Chloe's model friend is here..." The girl grumbled, moving over to join Marinette at their desk. Ella made to follow, but her eyes met the boys.
In her pocket, Kiismet jolted up- her eyes glowing almost bright enough to see through the fabric. Even if she couldn't see the boy, the kwami knew. This was the one destined for Ella; her chosen partner and her savior from all her pain.
Ella unconsciously patted her packet, trying to keep Kiismet from moving too much, but her gaze never left the boy across from her. There's something about him, his bright green eyes meeting her own, drawing her in... it made her heart race and her face heat up- like the first time she looked into Kiismet's eyes...
"Ella!"
Marinette's call started the other girl bad, drawing her gaze from the unknown boy to her friends, and feeling all the eyes in the room on her, Ella darted out of the classroom.
"No no no no no! No this is not happening!"
Poor Kiismet didn't know how to handle angry-upset Ella. Granted, the kwami had seen this destiny for her master- one of the many, actually- but it was clearly not the one Ella had been expecting.
"No romance! No attachments! I'm already breaking that rule with Marinette and Alya- but this is crossing the line, Kiismet! Why is this happening?!" Said kwami sighed; the teen looked ready to jump off the school roof.
"This is one of the paths your destiny could take, Ella. Your fate is never set in stone- you could start on this path but move to another based on choices made. But that boy will be on every path from here on out. He is your chosen partner- your light in the dark."
"Stop saying that! Mom was- she said she was his- and look what he did to her!"
"Ella."
Kiismet's calm tone cut through Ella's ramblings, drawing the girls gaze back up to meet her kwamis.
"Breathe. I know you don't want to fall in love or even make friends out of all this fear you've grown up with, but this path- the path I see you on now, it will be your happy ending. Meeting that boy, has started you down the path to leaving your father's care and out of this pain and panic. Becoming close to that boy will launch you into a better life. You are afraid right now, yes. Your fear is justified. But I can promise you, as your kwami and the Raven of Destiny, this will end up being the best thing that can happen to you." Kiismet finished, her eyes shining as bright as the day she first met Ella. And the teen stood there, her mind comprehending her friend's words before her shoulders dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.
"If you say so, Kiismet..."
The kwami smiled, flying over to give Ella's cheek a hug.
"Now, I think you deserve a fly after all this chaos."
Marinette felt like her brain stopped functioning. One second Ella was there, the next she was gone. And she looked so... scared.
"Marinette?" Alya's voice broke through Marinette's thought process, and the girl placed herself back in her seat as Ms. Bustier entered the room to call roll.
"Agreste, Adrien." She called, drawing all eyes once again to the blond sitting in the front row. He was silently startled, before the boy next to him whispered something, causing Adrien to stand with a loud exclamation of 'present!'
The class couldn't help but giggle at the over-exaggeration but were quick to forget it as another name was called.
"Aurelle-Maunt, Ella."
"Ma'am, I think Ella went to the bathroom. She should be back soon." Marinette quickly covered. Ms. Bustier nodded and checked Ella's name as present.