The next day, it was Ella's very first day of high school. She was terrified, of course, but Ian stayed by her the entire time she was there. As they walked down the halls, the other students stared at Ella as if she were a monster or the main attraction for a freak show.
"It's alright. You'll be with me the whole time you're here and nothing bad is going to happen to you. Okay?" Ian whispered.
"Okay." Ella whispered back.
"Ian!" A shrill female voice cried.
Ella and Ian turned around to see a girl with very tan skin, brown eyes, and pale blonde hair with like pink streaks excitedly running towards them. She then jumped up and gave Ian a big (almost strangling) hug. Ella was both confused and startled by this sudden action of this stranger and she took a few steps back.
"Oh, hey, Amanda. What's up?" Ian asked in an uncomfortable tone.
The girl dubbed as Amanda stopped hugging Ian, looked him straight in the eyes, and smiled a big giddy grin at him.
"Nothing much. How about you?" She asked.
"Same. Hey! Have you met Ella yet?" Ian asked, referring to Ella.
"Who?" Amanda asked, raising an eyebrow.
Amanda turned her attention to the girl with the scissors for hands and her expression changed from happy to terrified on a dime. She screamed in terror and she clung onto Ian again. Ella was startled again and she gasped in fright as she took a few more steps away from the girl.
"What the heck is that thing?!" She shrieked, backing into the wall behind her.
"Hey, watch it! This is Ella, she's not a thing; she's a friend. And don't worry; she won't hurt anyone." Ian said reassuringly. "And calm down, you just scared her."
"I scared her?!" Amanda cried, clearly shocked.
Ian looked back at the terrified girl and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "No, no, no, it's okay, Ella. Amanda didn't mean to scare you; it was just an accident. Are you okay?"
Ella shyly nodded her head and smiled at Ian in response; he put a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her.
"Is SHE okay?!" Amanda shrieked.
"Look, Amanda, I know this may be kinda weird for you, but who could blame you? It's weird for me too and I'm sure Ella feels the same. But this is her first time in town and she's really shy, so can't you at least try to be nice to her?" Ian asked.
Amanda looked at Ella wearily before turning her attention back to Ian and letting out a soft sigh in defeat.
"Only for you, bunny boo." She said, still eying Ella suspiciously.
"Bunny boo? What does that mean?" Ella asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Don't ask." Ian whispered to her, his face starting to turn red.
"Not very bright, is she?" Amanda commented.
Ian glared at Amanda and said, "I said watch it. She's sensitive."
Later that day after a few classes, Ella was on her way to the cafeteria for lunchtime and had accidentally wandered into the school greenhouse during pass time and she saw a few shrubs. She looked at them curiously for a moment, then she got an idea. She started to carefully snip at one of the potted plants and within a few short minutes, the shrub looked like a large beautiful butterfly. When students walked by the greenhouse and saw Ella at work, they stopped and watched her and they all marveled at her sculpture the moment she was finished. Ian walked into the greenhouse and gaped in awe at Ella's topiary work.
"Whoa, Ella! This is amazing!" Ian exclaimed.
"Really? Thank you." She murmured, trying to sound humble.
"Yeah! I've never seen anything like it! I want one like that!" A random boy said.
"It's gorgeous! Can I have one of those?" A cheerleader girl added.
"Hey! Hey! What's happening? I can't see!" Another boy said; he was way in the back.
Other students started to take pictures of the tiny sculpture with their cell phones and Ian asked Ella if she could make another sculpture, to which she happily obliged. Ian used a stray bandana to tie back Ella's messy hair and she started to snip at another potted shrub, only this time, students were recording the whole thing on their phones.
Over the next few days, Ella had become quite popular around the school and the town. She made friends with most of the students at school as well as the many housewives from the neighborhood barbecue a few days back. There was only one person who didn't like Ella, in fact, she started to hate Ella. It was Ian's girlfriend, Amanda Dylan; she loathed the fact that this stranger who seemed to come from a carnival freak show was getting so much attention… especially from Ian. To Amanda, it seemed that Ian was slowly falling out of love with her and developing feelings for Ella instead.
After a little bit of topiary art, Ella had decided to try out styling hair as well. She asked the principal is she could give her a haircut and the principal reluctantly obliged. After Ella had gotten used to the feel, she began sniping away at the woman's hair like it was nothing and after a few minutes, she was done. When the principal looked in the mirror, she was shocked and pleasantly surprised at what she saw. Her new hairstyle was beautiful and unique all at the same time. After that, Ella was asked to cut other women's hair as well as style the fur of many various animals.
Ella had become very successful and as she was growing more and more popular by the minute, Amanda grew more and more jealous of her by the second. Whenever the two girls crossed paths, Ella would try to be friendly and nice to her and say 'hello' only to receive a dark hate-filled glare from Amanda. She had no idea why Amanda was giving her these dirty looks, but she decided to keep quiet so as not to get into trouble.
