Why Can't They Shut Up?

[François Laffont]

François felt completely trapped. At home, his father was getting more and more afraid something would happen to him. And here? Well, let’s just say with what the recent disappearance of his two best friends Erika and Frank, it was not easy, not easy at all. The worst part was that he couldn’t even find a way to be alone and process his own feelings. And everywhere he went, all he got was waves of fear from everyone. He could barely take it. It was as bad as his first days here at the Academy, when he couldn’t even be in a small class group.

All he wanted was one moment of piece. But everywhere he went, there was another student and even if they were not talking to Franck, even if they did not even sense his presence, he would get their feelings. His own emotions weakened his control and he had so much to deal with that he felt like drowning. He tried many places. But the roof reminded him too much of Erika as she was the one who first showed him the place and walking around the lake or the forest still brought a risk of ending up in front of someone. Not to add that he feared another attack from SPECTRE at any moment so being totally alone kind of scared him. And he was easily scared enough already.

He was at the library, trying to focus on work and some research he had to do for class. He really had to force himself to get a grip. But it came to him again. Waves and waves of fear, coming at him, feeding his own. There were some students sitting together at a table, busy talking what was going on instead of working and Franck had the bad luck of passing by them. He just couldn’t take it anymore. He hit the wall and dropped on the floor, his hands over his ears. It was useless since he was not hearing emotions but feeling them. But it was like getting your head down while it rained. You were still wet in the end but it was a reflex. He closed his eyes and pressed his hands harder against his ears, resting the back of his head against the wall, just wishing for people to shut up and leave him alone.

[Ellen Banks]

These days Ellen’s emotions were all over the place. Not that she particularly had strong fears about SPECTRE she view them in the same way a person locked in a cage with a lion might view their situation. As long as Ellen remained perfectly calm accommodating and didn’t do anything stupid and reckless to antagonize them. She should be fine, if SPECTRE’S intention was violent then they would have stormed the gates a long time ago and killed everyone in sight. There was an unesasy truce between Bellefonte and SPECTRE and as long as people remained calm then it would stay that way.

Besides Ellen wasn’t worried in the least about her own personal safety, after all it was all well and God if a Frank Cox or Francois Laffont got shot by a gun happy agent but her? She was a Bank. A member of one of most the richest and powerful families in the area, they wouldn’t dare touch a hair on her head. Ifanything happened to hear. Then her father would practically open up the gate of hell in order to get pay them back for killing his precious little girl. SPECTRE thought the US government was powerful? Just wait until they felt the full collective might of The Bank families legal team.

But that didn’t mean that Ellen’s emotion wasn’t going haywire, she was practically beside herself with worry on what happened to Erika, the more days past without sign of her, the more she began to believe Elsa theory that something happened to her and that thought is the thought that keeps Ellen up at night, there wasn’t many things that Ellen cared about in this world but Erika was one of them, she cared deeply for her (Perhaps more so then she would ever be willing to admit) and the thought of her in pain was utterly horrific to her and if she was in any trouble Ellen would move hell and high water to help her, despite herself she was slowly but surely began to let the worse creep into her mind and as a result her sleeping pattern was messed up something awful, she needed to know exactly what happened to her for the sake of her own sanity more then anything else, and who better to know then her friends?

Ellen had interrogated many of the people Erika is known to hang out with and Francois was the next name that happened to be on her list, she had witnessed him heading into the library in some distress clearly his power coupled with the general low morale of the school was quite painful for him.Good. Vulnerability would no doubt yield more answers. With purpose in her step she made her way into the library and soon came across Fran in quite a compromising position, Ellen crept close to her until her shadow fell over him before crossing her eyes and her face twisting into a disgusted sneer. He was pathetic laying on the floor bumbling like a infant, Erika didn’t know how what Erika saw in such an emotional figure of a man, but then again Ellen didn’t see what Erika saw in most people “Get up” Ellen spat at him. “You’re embarrassing yourself.

[François Laffont]

What is SPECTRE doing? Will they kill us? Where are the students that disappeared? Is SPECTRE involved? Maybe Franck only got people’s feelings but he didn’t need to be a genius to know their source. Everyone was afraid. Anxious and afraid. Some liked to think they would be crazy to attack mere students. They were not a threat, they were not terrorists or soldiers or whatever to deserve that kind of treatment. But the truth was everyone feared they would attack despite all that. Because it was so easy to believe the rest of the world would go against them. Even the pro-life people wouldn’t mind this kill.

This was doing terrible to Franck. He already had to cope with his worries about where could Erika and Frank and the others be, if they were together or not. Elsa could try to portray her sister as much as she wanted, he knew this was not Erika. He could feel she was not her. As for the theory they ran away or something, this was just crazy. Sure, going out without warning anyone seemed like the kind of thing Frank could do. Still, Franck could not believe she had been able to resist the urge of telling anyone. As for Erika... no, she never would have left without telling anyone, at least without letting Felix or he know she was all right. She had to know they would worry, right?

Franck could barely sleep at night, making himself actually sick with worries. There was something going on. No need to be an empath to feel it. He tried to put on a happy face, to act as though it was all fine. He tried cheering people up. And he was getting tired of it. He wanted a break, to get away from here, from SPECTRE, from anyone with feelings. He wished Guy’s ability to suppress any power could be permanent. But Franck could not stick around the man forever just so he could have a break. It only made the emotions hitting him harder each time.

Franck didn’t notice Ellen at first. He was so caught up with the despair that he didn’t feel her getting near him. His hands did not muffled sounds so well, not enough for him not to hear her. He could not understand what she said but it was enough to open his eyes and see her. For once, he was almost happy to see her. Sure she was just one big ball of negative energy but anything other than gloom would be good for him right about now. Even her disgust and anger towards, well he assumed towards him right now. Her feelings were building up in him and Franck grabbed her arm to make it stay like this. “What do you want?” he asked, somewhat aggressively and in too loud a tone for a library. He was not angry, it was her emotions acting up. But he supposed it’d be weird for someone asking such a question as if not liking the person’s presence around them yet he was the one clinging onto her.

[Ellen Banks]

Watching Francois on the ground reduced to a weeping mess on the library floor Ellen almost felt a savage breed of sympathy toward him, Poor Francois, it must have been more then painful that have every small worry and hardship attacking him day in and day out on a constant basic must have been quite hard for him to feel every whimpering little feeling and worry that flutters through the mind of the student body. Ellen honestly didn’t know how he coped, because if Ellen was in his shoes she would have point a gun against her temple a long time ago. People’s feeling was no concern of hers and she had no time to dwell on their emotions, whatever they may be losing her concentration, she had more important things to focus on them that and clearly it was something a weak mind like Francois couldn’t exactly handle the strain his power put him under pressure and this was how a fundamentally weak mind reacted under extreme pressure. It was sad really? But what if it wasn’t just the weight of all those emotions? What if it was guilt too…



Any sympathy (Frail as it may be) for Francois was lost when she pictured Erika stuck in somekind of ditch in god knows where, and she remembered she had a job to do and until proven innocent Francois was as guilty as sin. Ellen was determined to get any information Francois had to offer. Ellen would open up the gates of hell to get her back, so as usual Ellen back would not so any mercy. Especially to Francois, a foe was never as dangerous as they were when they were wounded and vulnerable.



When Francois suddenly grasped Ellen’s arm, Ellen herself recoiled in disgust as if Francois was a disgusting plague sufferer and that there was some chance that Ellen might contract it. A spike of rage shot through her as she raised an eyebrow. How dare this snivelling little child talk to her in that way and then lay a hand on hwe. She should slap him right in the face via principle alone, but no. she wouldn’t lower herself to the lever of violence like some common thug. Besides, She wouldn’t want to soil her hands by putting them on Francois face. (besides she just got her nails done, they were more or less like talons at this point) “Get your hands off me. Right now” Ellen hissed softly very aware of some people at a nearby table beginning to take notice, she certainly didn’t want to do this in such a public place and it could hurt her public image if she was seen harassing a man already on the floor crying “Maybe we can take this to a more private place? Clear yourself and follow me” Ellen said already making her way through the room not looking back to see if Francois was b

[François Laffont]

Getting sympathy out of Ellen seemed like a very strange thing. But right now she was one of the few people not giving him fear right off the bat and even if her emotions were still not very joyful, it was better than more worries. For once, he was happy for her to be mad at him. She could even throw a tantrum if she wanted. Anything would do as he’d pick up the vibes and react accordingly. And François was just tired of feeling depressed all the time. He felt like his head would blow up otherwise.

He was not expecting any less from Ellen when she acted almost disgusted as he grabbed her. But he actually wanted it. He never liked rage and tried to avoid violent people as much as he could but right now it was all he had other than depression. It would do. She did hiss at him to let go of her but Franck didn’t do it. Having a physical contact with someone made it easier for him to feel their emotions and he didn’t want to break the link just yet, even if he had to struggle not to get mad and lash out as well.

He took a deep breath as she suggested going elsewhere, a more private place. He knew he should worry. A girl like Ellen doesn’t invite someone without something in mind, especially not Franck since she hated him. But he would then lose the only person was not either paralyzed by fear or trying to comfort him because he looked pitiful right now. So he tried to get a grip and stood up, finally letting go of her arm but still staying close enough. He closed his eyes as he passed by people. They had been watching them. Who’s to say what they had in mind right now. “Don’t go too far,” he asked of her. He didn’t want to admit it was for his mental sanity because he then half-expected her to run away laughing at his torment. “What do you want?” he asked again as they were exiting the library. He wanted to know. He knew it had not to be very nice for him, he couldn’t picture her doing anything good to him. But he still wanted to know.

[Ellen Banks]

If there was one thing Ellen couldn’t possibly abide is someone not doing something that Ellen explicitly told them in no uncertain terms that Ellen wasn’t comfortable with and the fact that Francois insisted on putting his disgusting paws all over him, only served to make Ellen madder and madder, clearly he was of unsound mind, his mind overrun by all manner of worries especially giving what was going on, any person would be just a little unhinged at the worries of them all. Ellen could sympathise or as well as Ellen banks could ever attempt to. But her patience was being tested. If he needed something to calm him down, Ellen might show him a few yoga techniques or give him a drink. Hell if Francois ever asked Ellen would be willing to hypnotize him and tweak his mind to cope with these issues much better. But she refused to be his crutch.



Thankfully Francois seemed to have come to his senses as Ellen was quickly released from Francois vice like grip and wasted no time in straightening her attire with gusto, her clothes better not be creased. This was designer clothes she was wearing. She ould kill Francois is they got wrinkled. Before beginning to walk to the most secluded part of the library, smirking amused by the clear whining tone in his voice as he begged Ellen to stay around him. Honestly. Ellen would have thought that Franscois would be used it by now. Were the cries and fears of others that upsetting? In Ellen mind they would be like angelic music to her eyes.



“Don’t tell me you’ll miss me too much” Ellen smirked before reaching her destination and turning towards Franscois. “Now that were alone, I need to talk to you about something. Erika.” Ellen said hoping the worry for someone she truly loved apparent in her voice “I know you two talk quite often and I can only assume she’s been confiding in you about her recent issues and I need to know if you noticed anything strange or unusual

[François Laffont]

Franck still couldn’t believe the irony in all of this. It was not as if he hated Ellen since the first moment he laid eyes on her. He extended a hand of friendship. And she crushed it. Apparently, having someone who could tell she was more vulnerable than she pretended to be meant they were an enemy to her. Franck could argue all he wanted that he would not use said knowledge against her he knew she disliked him. And so decided it didn’t matter whether he shall talk or not. He still didn’t do it much, since this was Ellen Banks and you clearly don’t want to see her mad at you. But he understood the two would not be friends. He was fine with that. At most, he was sorry for her, who had to constantly make enemies of everyone or so it seemed.

He didn’t think one second to ask for her help. Why? Well, he’d figure it was obvious by now. He doubted she would ever help him. Or it would come with a terrible price. Still, for now, she was helping him, kind of against her will. He could feel some rage and disgust coming at him, and even some sort of twisted, cold pleasure at his disarray. He had to concentrate not to let those emotions take over. He could usually do it well, especially when dealing with only one person’s feelings. But he felt so weak and had not much of a control over things right now. Her anger however helped him stand straight and regain said control.

And now that it was so, he started to think going in a room all alone with Ellen Banks might not have been the brightest idea of all. He startled a bit however when she mentioned Erika. He should have thought so, there was no other reason for her to take him away like this, he supposed. Despite her cold demeanor, he knew she cared for the girl. He still was not an Ellen fan and didn’t consider her that great of a friend after what Erika told him, but he could not deny how she liked the girl. He frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know much more than what others do. I know all the recent talk was weighing on her and she did wish to escape it but I can’t believe it to be an excuse to run away,” he said, knowing it was the popular rumour lately, that the missing students just ran away. “You don’t believe it either, don’t you?” At this point, Franck let his guard down. He didn’t think she’ll come after him with a battleaxe. She was simply worried for her friend. And so was Franck.

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen’s problem wasn’t with Francois persay but rather Francois power, Empaths, mindreaders, telepaths, all of these powers were constant irritations in Ellen Banks life. Ellen would like nothing better then to keep her cards close to her chest at all times, if they don’t know what she’s thinking, they can’t predict or prevent her movements that’s was just another reason why Ellen was so dangerous, she rarely showed ecactly what she was thinking. If she wished death on someone she would smile at them and treat them as a long lost sibling. If someone knew exactly what she was motivated by or what her fears were, they had power over her and that was something Ellen could ever allow.

Clearly Francois didn’t know Ellen Banks as well as he thought she did. True that Ellen Banks rarely did anything that didn’t benefit her or some way shape or form, truly selfless actions were beyond her but if Ellen did indeed have some soft spot it belonged to Ellen Banks. She would have done anything in order to make sure Erika her best friend was ok, Erika meant the world to her and if that meant she had to collaborate with Francois then so be it, the means did indeed justified the means totally. Erika was missing and everyone seemed more or less helpless or unable to do a thing about it, God why was she constantly surrounded by morons? Felix was in the mists of some clear despair and François looked so helpless. God Ellen just wanted to slap Francois and snap him out of it. She felt like she was the only one actively trying to help Erika.

…and it looked like Francois had as much information as anyone else or at least information she wasn’t already acutely aware of already she would have hoped with François power he would have provided her a bit more deeper insight then she was stressed out. “She came to me a few days before she disappeared” Ellen said crossing her arms and leaning against the wall breathing a deep sigh shaking her head “She told me she was confused and told me she wanted to leave the school for a few days while she thought things over, I’ve managed to convince Elsa to cover for her until she reappeared, for a awhile I just thought she was taking an extensive leave, but now…” Ellen said closing her eyes her forehead creased in clear worry lines as she thought about the amount of time Erika had been missing “She’s been gone for so long….Something is wrong; you’re a empath aren’t you? Surely you felt something strange in her or…or..Something! Anything at all.”

[François Laffont]

François couldn’t believe that Erika would have just run away without telling anyone. Maybe not everyone would know but certainly a few people. Alright, he couldn’t believe she wouldn’t have told him so he would not worry. At least later on, after she left. How could she assume no one would worry! And if you had some comforting words to say to Franck, telling him his friend was certainly fine somewhere and shall come back anytime soon, well the boy simply had to look at Ellen to guess it was not the case. You could argue Franck didn’t know her for that long therefore could be wrong. But Ellen... As much as he disliked the girl’s attitude, he had to give her credits in the fact she knew Erika for much longer than he did. If she was worried of her friend’s whereabouts, then he was right to be also.

He frowned as she shared the last time she saw their mutual friend. He didn’t even understand why she would have Elsa pretending to be her twin. And how did people fall for it? Oh wait, she did say they pretended to be the other one on occasions. Of course, Franck felt it was not so but alright, maybe others could fall for it, if they didn’t have some kind of mind power. “I actually advised her the opposite,” Franck confessed to Ellen. He could see how the girl would help her friend do it however. And it actually pissed him off in some way.

He knew it was not entirely due to Ellen’s current feelings. It wasn’t the fact she gave Erika a way out by covering her tracks, but what followed afterwards. Something happened to Erika and thanks to Ellen’s little trick, there was no way of knowing when it happened. It annoyed Franck. He normally wouldn’t say it out loud but that is where Ellen’s feelings came into play, making it harder for him not to show how it bothered him. “So you’re saying that, because of you, not only there is no knowing where she is but we can’t tell when she disappeared for real!?” he let out. He was making real efforts not to lash out but the truth was lashing out was something he wished to do on Ellen for some time already. The girl chose to hate him almost right on the spot for no reason. Well, he was ready to give it back at her.

“She could have been injured badly and what you do, you ask her sister to pretend she’s Erika! What were you thinking?” he added. Something is wrong, he couldn’t agree more. Leaving the school for a few days to think things through was one thing, but surely she would have brought a phone or something to stay in touch. He passed a hand over his eyes, let it run in his hair. “What do you want me to feel? She seemed a little better after we talked but it’s not like I would’ve known if she intended to run away,” he replied. He did taste the irony in Ellen asking for his help. Sadly, he didn’t quite see how he could.

[Ellen Banks]

There was a reason why Erika went to Ellen instead of Franscois or so there was in Ellen’s mind. Despite the fact that Ellen and Erika had a well known falling out, the fact still remained that they were friends for the entire life and there was a bond between them that François couldn’t even hope to replicate, so Ellen was the natural choose to go to. Besides maybe Erika recognized that if she went to Franscois with these concerns she might have knowed that Francois might have tried to talk her out of it. Yet with Ellen whose mortal compress wasn’t as direct as Franscois was. Ellen thought it would do her good, clearly the stress of recent events had gotten to her so Ellen could perfectly understand her want to get away from it all so Ellen facilitated that need. Clearly Erika wanted help and Ellen would always tried and be there for her. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less” Ellen said thinly adding to the long list of arguments and disagreements that have had



Oh yes, she had been expecting this from Francois, she was quite frankly surprised it took so long, giving how pale and emotionally vulnerable he was that he would lash out at the first person he could find. Emotionally people often responded that way, looking for blame in a blameless situation. It was an only natural response and what better bogeyman then Ellen Banks. “An emotional person opens their mount and closes their mind” Ellen said with a calm and measured tone. If you want to make me the focus of all your pent up emotion then by all means vilify me all you want if it makes you feel better. But you and Both know that you’re really upset that Erika left with out telling you.” Let’s say that she isn’t in trouble, let’s say she just needed some extra time away and we raise the alarm on her. When she gets back do you have any idea how much trouble she’ll be in? Were covering all possible situations, just making sure that if it’s not the worse case situation were prepared.”



Ellen knew that this was about more then Erika, this was François opportunity to get every single pent up thought Franscois had about Ellen to get out in the open. Everything was about to come out now Ellen could feel it Francois was about to explode and Ellen tried to undercut his words with logical reasoning, she believed it’ll be in vain. “Of course you didn’t she wouldn’t have told you in a million years. She knew you would have stopped her”

[François Laffont]

François tensed up as she talked of him. He had no idea what he did to Ellen but she never liked him. Nothing of him. Not even that he was here for their mutual friend, it would seem. She probably thought him weak and pathetic, among many other things. Still, he felt insulted by her tone as much if not more than what she said. Clearly, she thought she was better for Erika. Not that Franck particularly thought he was better or worse, he was not in a competition to know who what the best friend the girl could have. But Ellen proved many times she didn’t know how to be a proper friend. Oh, Franck didn’t deny she loved Erika and probably wanted her best. But she had a terrible way of showing it. You don’t hypnotize your friends. And you don’t make them run away from their problems, you helped them get through them. It was his opinion and he was not surprised to see that yet again they disagreed. But it still didn’t like the way she said it.

“No,” he argued when Ellen said he was lashing out mainly because Erika didn’t tell him she left. Well, he was hurt a bit, of course. She was not running away from him, after all. He wouldn’t have minded that she left had she simply told him she needed time away from it, to think, and preferred not to be called after until she was ready. He would have waited. But he heard no such thing from her, not even when he called her, or emailed her. “I’m angry because something might have happened. Even you think so, otherwise you wouldn’t have come to me. But because of this little scheme, we have no idea what happened,” he added. Not that he expected Ellen to believe him. She never had, why would she start now?

She then said he would have stopped her. Well, he supposed he would have tried, at first, to talk things through. But if she really needed a break, he didn't think he would have stopped her. Of course, it was easy to say now. But he still shook his head at Ellen.“Had she or even you told me that she needed to step away for a time, to think things through, I wouldn’t have worried so much. But you had to show you were the one who loved her the most and it’s backfiring on us,” he replied. At this point, he didn’t really stop to think what he was saying, or how much he shall regret these words later. This was an evidence to him since almost the very beginning. And as it often happened, he was surprised no one else picked it up before. But not everyone else was able to read people’s feelings like he did.

[Ellen Banks]

Yes go on Franscois. Go on and blame Franscois for every single thing wrong with the world. It must feel quite therapeutic for him to detox himself of every pent little emotion you’ve been holding in from the very second he met Ellen Banks. Quite frankly Ellen was insulted by Franscois words, sure if he wanted to believe that Ellen was the sum of all pure evil. That was his look out. But the fact that Franscois excused her of not looking after Erika’s well being, that was just damn right not true and VERY insulting to say the very least. If there was one thing Franscois should know is that, she wanted only the best for Erika, that’s all she wanted. That explained half the things that Ellen ever did was to make things more simple for Erika. If she was happy Ellen was happy. That how it worked. That’s how it always worked.

“You do realize that argument is flawed.” Ellen said feeling her face slowly starting to feel her face grow more and more red, but willing herself to remain calm “According to you, or at least what I’m hearing is that I’m the sole reason why Erika isn’t found yet. Is that what you mean?"

It was honestly so irritation that Franscos dared to blame Ellen for anything that has happened to Erika, when she had done nothing but trying to help Erika in everyway she possibly could, she worked her fingers to the bare bones to make her life as comfortable as possible and for Fransois to blatantly spit in her face was making Ellen’s heart race. Her face was growing red, her eyes were narrowing “I am the one that loves her most. I love her not you." Ellen said slightly louder then she meant to, and the instant the words were out of her mouth, her eyes pressed together winching as she momentary let her emotions override her mouth and she had allowed her big secret to roll out….Still, the situation was not dire, true it was quite a large slip of the tongue she would imagine that at some level he already knew that at some level or another. She could always simply hypnotize that information away from him like she had done with Trevor. But no, maybe something a little extra would be more effective. Ellen took a deep breath to clear her mind before calmly walking towards the door to the room they were in and shutting it so they wouldn’t be disturbed before walking forward and looking Francois

"Francois. It’s important you understand that you just heard something you were never meant to hear. I’m not sure if you’re aware of my familes feelings on this subject but just know it’s very important that, that doesn’t leave this roo,. Now obviously I could just wipe your mind clean of that memory. It’ll take no more then a moment and you’ll never know this conversation took place. But I won’t need to because you know if ever one ever finds out that I Love her…”

Ellen made it a point to get in even closer and speak in a low mummer “I’ll burn you. I will burn your life to the ground, this you know I can do. Quite easily. I can make you the most hated person in the school and have you get thrown out. Of course you can tell them that I had something to do with it..but they won’t believe you, after all. This is my school. It always has been and always will be. I’m just letting you live here. I’m a perfect grade A cheerleader on the student council and you?
Ellen’s face split into a wide, tooth-filled sneer as she looked up and down Franscois You’re just a nobody... unimportant, unseen, unloved. Weak. Why, I almost pity you. So I trust you won’t do anything you might regret

[François Laffont]

If Ellen said she cared for Erika, he believed her. But she had one crappy way of showing it. Erika told him a few things she did in the past, such as hypnotizing her into doing the opposite of what she might have wished to do. She pushed people away from her, caused her some problems. She could argue she was there for Erika, but at some point, she had to understand Erika needed more than just her around, that she didn’t love her enough for this to be only an “Erika and Ellen” story. He sighed when Ellen questioned his argument. “I’m saying that if it wasn’t for you we’d be looking for her already,” he pointed out. It was not as much the fact she protected her friend by hiding her, it was the fact something might have happened and thanks to her they might never know.

“I love her,” Franck nearly screamed back at Ellen. Sure, his feelings for Erika were that of a friend whereas he knew Ellen loved her a bit more than that. He was aware of it. He watched as she close the door and more or less... threatened him he supposed. He scoffed as she talked. He had no idea what her family was like and couldn’t care less. Just like he couldn’t care less about her little secret. That cat was out of the bag a long time ago with him. But then she threatened to destroy him and it angered him more than anything. If he could be afraid of horror movies and thunderstorms, if you could make him jump by just saying boo in his ear when he didn't see you get near, threatening him the way Ellen did only brought anger in the boy. Or perhaps it was her emotions taking the best of him.

“You think I care you love her, or that I didn’t know?” he let out. Man, did he want to wipe that smile of hers. “You have a terrible way of showing your love. You’ve hurt her, many times from what she said, yet she came back because she still considered you a friend. You can say what you want about this school being yours but I wonder how she’d feel if she knew you what you’ve just said to me,” he told her, getting his face closer to hers. He knew she had the power to make his life a misery. He could feel in her she wanted to as well. But he had something against her. “You can wipe it out of my memory all you want you forget I’ll just have to walk past you to know your little secret. So you want me to keep my mouth shut, you leave me alone. And you find a way of undoing what you did about Erika right now because it takes a sour turn,” he let out. Franck would be happy if he never saw Ellen. Luckily, he assumed the feeling to be mutual. So they should have no problem if they both kept their side of the bargain.

[Ellen Banks]

Of course she might have known that Francois would be too proud to cower in fear and beg for forgiven. People generally warm, especially when what or what not they were afraid of was brought into question. Being afraid and having fear was something of a dirty word people automatically denied that they were afraid of anything. Which was truly a shame as far as Ellen was concern. If they took the time to know fear, they would not think of it as such a negative emotion. Fear protects you, keeps you in check. It holds you back from making stupid, life-threatening decisions. Take, for example, confronted with a wild bear. Fear keeps you from outright attacking, keeping you safe from harm. If they felt no fear at all, you would simply lunge at the bear and get yourself killed in the process. Nature has provided all living creatures with fear for a reason—to help you survive.

So it was perfectly logical for Francois to leave aside his stupid pride for the moment and let fear lead him to the most sensible conclusion but evidently he wasn’t backing down one inch. Instead Ellen’s words seems to have lit a sizable fire under Francois and he was shouting right back at Ellen. An irritating habit that more then a few people had started. Why couldn’t they just back down like they did in the old days before this year. Clearly Ellen had lost some form of the power she had picked over the years. Ellen was toying with the idea of showing the school some of form of force to educate her school mates and reformed exactly who she was and she was not to be crossed. There was something to be said about letting Francois be her victim of choice….not the least of which being her own personal enjoyment she would get out of it.

Love...The way franscois said that she knew she was meant to be impressed when really, he could only dream of having the same relationship as Ellen and Erika had, what did him loving her have to do with anything, did he somehow think that this somehow gave him some kind of authority over Ellen? His delusional feelings that he was mistakenly misinterpreting as love? Ellen knew it was worthless arguing against him. Any word Ellen spoke to defend herself Franscois would turn against her. In his mind Ellen was irredeemable for her actions, (Like most people considered her she would assume) She would be sure to let people know when Ellen started caring. “You’re not the first person who has taken pleasure in letting me know how much I supposedly hurt her and I’m sure you won’t be the last person to read out a laundry list of my supposed “Sins” At this point it’s just annoying to hear this all repeated back to me” Ellen said and indeed she meant it. She was tired. So very tired of being vilified and being viewed with scorn by those closest to Erika. Like it was somehow her fault for what happened to Erika and she was sick of it…and yet Franscois things she could threaten her with the revelation of that information? She honestly didn’t think Franscois had it in him to resort to those minds and if she wanted some information to make her think twice about bullying Franscois that would be it, yet Ellen kept her poker face on her face nicely as she raised her eyebrow as if intrigued by this turn of events. “So, this is how you choose to deal with a matter in a mature way? Blackmail? How exactly does that make you better then anything I can do. Clearly someone never told you two wrongs do not make a right. But I’m sure you’ll find someway to justify it yourself. People like you always seem to do.” As she spoke she advanced on Franscois with surreal calmness “So. Why don’t we let things take turn sour. Do it. Take your phone out right now and text all your contacts what you know.” Ellen was steadfast in her belief that Franscois was bluffing and Bluffing hard. No doubt that Franscois would be able to feel the fear within her at the prospect of her feelings for Erika being revealed. And it wasn’t just a mild fear. It was a deep all encompassing nightmare nothing more or less then Ellen’s wore nightmare. So she choose to use that fear against him. Could he really damn someone in such a fashion could he really do something so cruel and brutal to Ellen even if it was for a good cause? Could he really sleep at night knowing the consequences that Ellen had to deal with? If he could Ellen was sure he would have done so already.

“I’m serious. What are you waiting for? This is your chance to get me out of your hair for good. To get me to leave Erika alone. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? I’ve basically handed you a loaded gun and if the roles were reversed I wouldn’t hesitate in pulling the trigger. A fitting punishment for what I did don’t you think? Only…you won’t do it would you? No, That’s the different between me and you;you're too noble to sink to my level.…weak. ”

[François Laffont]

Franck was angry but he knew a good part of it came from fear. And the fact Ellen had very strong emotions right now even if she tried to act coldly around him. He wasn’t used to act that way and he was stupefied that he was. But something in him refused to just let it go. She opened up the door, now it had to come out, all of it. Franck had some innocence about himself. He refused to think people were purely evil or would always choose to take the evil or selfish path. He put them on a pedestal, expecting them, at the right moment, to pick the right decision. He was often proven wrong and was certainly meant to still be proven wrong in the future. But still, he wanted to believe there was some good in everyone. Including Ellen.

He was ready to say she loved Erika. He bet she did. But she was used to have things her way all the time and if that didn't work, to force people to give it to her. That made her heartless and selfish and also possessive. And she applied that to her friendship with Erika. It was no surprise then that things went wrong between the two girls. Erika was meant to be fed up eventually. To act like she was the only one truly loving her, that was insane. He scoffed when she brought up the Dirty Laundry. “That’s nothing to do with it. Can’t you see? She has the right to befriend people you don’t like. You don’t own her, she doesn’t have to do everything you say. Using your power against her and the people she loves, that was your mistake,” he replied. He was making efforts to calm down and he did seem less aggressive than at the beginning. But there was still some venom ready to be thrown at her. And, Franck was ashamed of it, it was great. He wasn’t one to blow up on people like this. He was embarrassed but it was also strangely liberating.

He startled a bit when she said he was blackmailing her. He didn’t see it that way. He couldn’t care less whether she loved Erika or not and frankly saw no reason to be ashamed of it. Ellen of course was not seeing things the way he did and her love could be seen as a weakness from her point of view. He frowned as she told him to call everyone he knew and tell them. He never meant to do that! He could sense her fear and he almost sympathized with her. He was sorry she saw love as a weakness when he considered it a strength. He sighed as she kept pushing him only to say he didn't have the balls for it. “I’m not doing it because I know somewhere that you truly care for Erika. Maybe one day you’ll understand what friendship is really like. You’re free to love whoever you want, you’re the one ashamed of it, not I,” he pointed out, shaking his head at first to show he would not do it. “But get off my back. I mean it. I never did anything to you and don’t mean to so if you want to piss someone, find another victim,” he added. In his opinion he never did anything to her but she chose to hate him. He was nobler than her, he would not sink to her level and hate someone just for the fun of it. She was free to think whatever she wanted out of it.