Royals (Ellen&Everett)

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

(OOC: Because screw logic.)

As if it wasn't bad enough that Erika had to share a dorm with Ellen, she also had to go to every club activity and sport practice with her as well. And cheerleading was no different. It was just stressful. So god damn stressful. And with everything else that had been going on, she really would do without Ellen's glares, attempts to pull her attention away and just... Ugh. It was such a nuisance Erika really wasn't in the mood for.

For a while, she had ditched practice and activities to avoid the blonde, but as other things, certain things she preferred not to mention in fright of punching holes in the walls within the school, ditching was no longer an alternative. She needed something, anything to occupy her busy mind, and this was the best she could come up with. So now she was back to dealing with being around the little devilspawn she had once considered a friend.

Walking out of the gymnasium, Erika kept her eyes forward, keeping up her pace to once again avoid any form of contact with Ellen, though as she rounded the corner, she could feel the familiar presence of Ellen's energy and quickly after, she could feel the warmth of her hand pulling at her own.

Swirling around, Erika glared up at Ellen's taller form and pulled her hand back, her lips twisting back into something similar to that of a snarl, ''What?'', she growled agitated, her entire body screaming of hostility.

[Ellen Banks]

She had to say that Erika’s recent capacity to surprise Ellen wasn’t running out of stream anything soon, Ellen was convinced that after a few days of throwing a temper tantrum she would eventually calm down, after all, she could hardly stay mad at Ellen forever could she? Take Ellen for instant, over the years she had out of the goodness of her heart had forgiven Erika of all of her transgresses over the years,because she was under the impression that, that is what good friends did, but apparently Erika didn’t hold such ideals as close to her heart as Ellen did. Once again. Ellen forgives her of that. Apparently she was still mad at Ellen as she ever was.



How long did Erika think she could maintain this little silence treatment of hers? It was almost amusing in a way. At the start of the school year they had made sure to take pretty much all their classes together not to mention all the activities they did together. They were more or less in a room together 99% of the day. Did she honestly think she could just ignore Ellen for the rest of the school year. Ellen somehow doubted it.



She had tried to strike up some form of a conversation with Erika every now and again if nothing else to break the frosty silence that pierced their once pleasant dorm room that’s not to say that Ellen found uncomfortable. If nothing else she was attempting to remain patience. It was only a matter of time where Erika realized how childish she was being she would come around .



And maybe that could happen sooner rather then later as thanks to sneaky glance Through Erika’s stuff she had discovered a rather interesting letter written by Erika’s squeeze. Thus proving what happens when Erika didn’t listen to her. She was sure that Erika must be tired of her being right so often. But now that her point was proven she was sure that Erika and Ellen would soon make up with her.



But the situation called for a careful approach; She wasn’t what you would call a gloating, why point out the obvious. But this time she wasn’t going to rub it in her face. Erika was no doubt in a vulnerable place emotional…therefore would leap apon the first friendly face she could find.



So when Erika snarled at Ellen, she had a response at the ready. She tilted her head slightly to the left and pursed her lips in a extremely sympathetic face. “He broke up with you didn’t he? When you know someone as long as we have it’s impossible not to notice little tells….Oh Erik…I’m so sorry.”

[Everett King]

Paris had been more boring than he was expected.
Probably because his head had been filled with orcas and letters. 

Either way he was back now, which ultimately defeated the purpose of leaving in the first place. More or less. Perhaps it had been beneficial after all; though he highly doubted he'd be able to go back to work in the kitchen unnoticed. 
Even at this point there was only one person he cared about being noticed by.

Unwilling to go back to his room, Ever had begun wandering around the campus. He purposefully avoided the cafeteria and kitchen. He still had his duffelbag over his shoulder and was wearing his bummy clothes designed for comfort. He was in no clear way presentable or ready for any form of human contact. It was only by really unlucky chance that he ended up outside the gymnasium at the same time that the two females began their conversation. 

Of course he recognized her voice, and as such quickly stepped back around the corner. While he'd never met Ellen himself, it wasn't unusual that he had heard of her, and it didn't take a genius to recognize her as the person talking to his dove. She sounded slimy, incredibly so, and her words annoyed him.

Woah, woah. Broke up? Technically they'd never been together in the first place. Surely she wasn't going to use that against him? Ever bristled, chewing on his bottom lip as he considered his options. Clearly he couldn't leave Erika -whatever her reaction towards him would be- alone with something with the voice of something that slithered out of the sewer.

With a sigh he dropped his bag and rather reluctantly stepped forward, one hand ruffling his choppy hair rather sheepishly. Strolling up to the pair he cocked one leg and lifted an eyebrow, staring with half amusement and half annoyance at the pair. There was no way he was going to get away shit-free from either of the two, which just made today that much more of a pain than it had already been. But then, he couldn't just leave her.

"Yo."

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

At this point, Erika expected about anything to come out of Ellen's lips, except for that. Rendered unable to answer for a few seconds as the different thoughts swirled through her mind. First of all, how did she know? Erika hadn't exactly spent much time around the girl or their dorm, she had made sure of that ever since their fight. Second, why did she even bother? She ought to know that she'd only agitate her further, right? Well, whatever reasons the blonde had, Erika was in no mood to deal with it.

''Oh Ellen,'' she began, with a sugar sweet voice, as if she was speaking to a child, ''Even you out of all people should know how to separate facts from gossip.'' Putting on a smile to match her voice, Erika looked at the girl as if she was nothing but a nuisance. Like a child throwing a tantrum, ''One needs to be in a relationship to be broken up with, or maybe that fact skipped your egoistical little mind,'' she finally added with a sigh, ''You can cut the crap Blondie, I've already made it clear that I don't want to have anything more to do with you, so please, do us both a favor and get over it,''

Seriously, just looking at Ellen making that feigned expression had Erika's blood boiling, but she was determined not to let Cruella Deville get to her - not matter what. No matter the risk. ''You remember what happened last time, right? We wouldn't want that to happen again, now do we?'' This wasn't as much a reminder as a direct threat. She didn't care. She just wanted this to be over with and move on with her life.

''Don't you have any minions you need to tak-'' The familiar voice had her stopping and her head cocked in the direction it came from. Honestly? Erika wasn't sure what she was supposed to feel, or how she actually felt right there, right then. It was as if someone had punched her in the guts, dragged her intestines up her throat and out her mouth and left nothing but the bitter aftertaste. She felt completely drained from energy in the matter of seconds, and the previous annoyance she had felt towards the blonde had been replaced with helplessness. Her lips pressed into a hard line and her brown eyes grew darker, almost to the point of being black; The hallway was suddenly filled with a suffocating tension.

Wasn't he supposed to be in Paris?

[Ellen Banks]

Ellen had of course, anticipated Erika’s less then friendly response. Ellen was first and foremost a realist. So expecting Erika to greet her with a hug and a smile was the height of footlessness. It was only a natural response. Giving the way there meeting ended the last time they talked, so no doubt Erika held some kind of grudge towards her. This coupled with the way her emotions had been strained recently it was expected for her to lash out in the manner she did. So Ellen just stood back and took it, letting Erika have her little temper tantrum. It was best to get the obligatory snark out of the way. It could help her actually listening when she was done…or maybe if the need called for it, she could use Erika’s emotional state to her advantage by using her power. It would certainly speed the forgiving process just a little bit.



So Ellen just nodded long with her armed held sweetly behind her back and a innocent smile playing on her lips, in fact she even managed to choke out a good natured chuckle at some of the comments as if to say “Yup that’s fair. You got me” (Even though she didn’t believe anything of the sort) But she can still see the pain behind her eyes….there have been so many broke ups that Ellen could more or less paint “Erika’s break up face” through memory alone. “Well,I see you still retain your wit…Erika…you do know this can’t go on, don’t you. This silent treatment really isn’t working for either of us. Especially after today…you need a friend. Let me help”



“Why Erika…” Ellen said in a mock shocked tone “If I didn’t know any better, I would say you were threatening me…I certainly hope no teachers heard you say that….they might just get the wrong idea.” Of course Erika wouldn’t attack Ellen. She would hope that Erika was a lot smarter then that. Sure she might enjoy it for a moment…but the long term effects would not benefit Erika in the least.



Just when Ellen was about to make her move, a strange man with a bag over his shoulder approached them, at first Ellen was confused as to why he felt the need to interject into a private conversation when she saw the reaction on Erika’s face and the tense silence that seemed to cut through the air, and with a raised eyebrow Ellen realized the identity of the man



….him?...this was the mysterious cook, that had single handily stole her best friend from her? She will admit his face was indeed handsome in a gritty and dirty sort of way…but his clothes…his face…he wasn’t presentable in the least. Oh Erika, Ellen thought you had standards. For a secord Ellen was honestly tempted to toss a coin in his direction in the hopes he would leave them alone.





Yet how dreadfully inconvenient this may have been for Ellen, there was a way in which she could make this situation work to her advantage



Necessity is the mother of invention…



Ellen threw the cook a e look before leaning forward near Erika’s ear and began to speak softly into her ear in a voice laced with a small amount of hypnotic suggestion


“That’s him isn’t it? Didn’t he say he was going to France? Not even bothering to tell you to your face and now he’s suddenly back. Is this a game to him? Does he find tricking you amusing? Why didn’t he tell you he was coming back? Doesn’t he trust you?
Lies...Tricks...deceit. Aren't you trying to avoid all  of those?

[Everett King]

He'd expected the reaction he'd received from Erika. Outwardly she looked so blank, so calm. He doubted it was the same inside her head, but perhaps it was safer for him not to know. Either way he deserved whatever she gave him, and more. 

He really had no business here, perhaps he was overlooking thing. It could be that they had just been talking about periods, or going out tomorrow. Whatever it was, it was more than likely something he didn't want to be touching with a ten foot pole. But he simply couldn't help himself when Erika was involved, and he was going with his gut on this one. 

Slowly he slid his hand back into his pocket, rubbing the slip of paper he had in there. The ink came off on his fingers, ready and eager to be of some use. It wasn't much, just a small drawing he had scribbled on before stepping out to face them. In all reality he didn't want to use it. He'd never applied a drawing to himself before, or anyone else.

In all honestly Everett wasn't planning on staying. Erika had seemed to make a habit out of telling him how she could 'take care of herself', and he was in no place to step on her toes now. He didn't have the right.

"I'll go in a moment," he promised quietly. Reaching behind his head he pulled a small cream box tied with a bow from his bag. Ever held it out, shrugging uncomfortably in an aloof manner. "It was your birthday a few days ago, right? I understand if you don't want it, but I bought you a gift."

He'd never been a good shopper, and the presents were mediocre at best. At least by the standards of what he believed she deserved. He'd bought them before leaving, and hadn't had the heart to return them. It reminded him of her. Just a simple ring and necklace set. Aquamarine. Her birthstone.

His eyes narrowed and he was distracted by Ellen as she leaned in to his dove, whispering something to her. He couldn't pick it up, but it was doubtfully anything pleasant. Things so rarely were these days. 

"Erika?" he prompted again, slightly nervous.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

It didn't matter what Ellen has to say, Erika wasn't interested in her schemes, her games or her obvious fake words. The entire facade was simply sickening to watch. The feigned worry, the feigned expression of good will, it was just so... Incredible hilarious in a very pathetic kind of way. What had she ever seen in the girl to begin with? What on earth had gone through her mind each and every second she had spent with her?

It was so hard to wrap her mind around, she truly did not understand why they had ever been friends to begin with.

Frozen solid, the brunette stood there, completely paralyzed. At first, she was unsure what to think or to make of the situation, then the alarm rose within her when she realized that this was the worst situation possible. For him to be here. Ellen wasn't dumb, Erika knew that, and it was only the matter of seconds before the blonde would put two and two together, and hell would break loose. She already knew that Ellen would stop at nothing when it came to getting things her way, and having the blonde use her as a target was one thing, but what if she decided to use her little devil magic on him?

Erika felt the suspense and the distress of the situation grow as Everett continued to speak and her eyes dropped to the small package in his hand, and she scrunched her brows in a frown. She stood still, staring at it for a few seconds before her eyes lifted again. She knew it would be rude to reject, but she also knew that if she did accept it, it would only feed the blonde's drive to pursue him further.

Uncertain of what action to take, Erika was left standing there, looking at him with a dumbfound expression, and then Ellen leaned in and started speaking with that familiar tone of voice she knew all too well. In an instant, her mind went into a defensive mode mode and her brain - as she had been practicing ever since the fight - put up a wall to shield the apparent hypnotism in her words. Her hand clenched into a fist, and before she could stop herself, her lower arm swung up and her fist was planted against the blonde's face.

Pulling her hand back, Erika rubbed her now sore knuckles as she turned her head towards Ellen, ''I suggest you stop snooping through people's stuff,'' she said with a bilious tone to her voice. Lies, tricks, deceit? Well, that sounded familiar. Hilariously so. ''And to answer your question, as a matter of fact; Yes, I am. Hence why we aren't friends anymore.'' Pulling away, Erika put her hand on Everett's upper arm, pushing him sideways to move him away from the devilish little girl, whom hopefully would wake up the next morning with a black eye or a broken nose. Whichever came first. Turning her head once more towards Ellen, Erika pursed her lips before smirking, ''And learn some new tricks, will you? That power-crap is growing really old, really fast,''

All that was left to deal with now was figuring out a way to deal with him.

[Ellen Banks]

In a strange way Ellen should really be thanking young Master King (King, a fittingly ironic surname for this shabby, dirty figure of a man) for making his pressures known when he did. She had no doubt that his reappearance had stirred up quite strong feelings in Erika, therefore she’s been more open to Ellen’s suggestions and her mind being more open to Ellen’s influence. Just like the old days, where Erika would slyly manipulates and controlled and her thoughts and behaviour moulded to Ellen’s liking. It was a wicked one two punch to be sure. Ellen would say a throw away comment in order to lower Erika’s self worth and pretty soon she was putty in Ellen’s hands.



And Ellen was inclided to agree with Everett. Despite how useful him being here was to Ellen. He really had no business being here. Clearly this was a private conversation between two friends on an intensely personal matter. He didn’t need to mae the situation any more complicated then it needed to be.



Ellen had to force herself not to roll her eyes at Everett choosing to often Erika a gift. Oh please, How sad and transparent can one person be, clearly this wasn’t some kind of sincere and thoughtful gift. There was a agenda behind it. Of course there was. In Ellen’s mind no one did something with purely nice intentions. There was always a nice agenda behind every so called “Good deed” Erika liked to throw around words like Selfish and self serving to describe Ellen, but really That was just human nature. Everyone is selfish, everyone is looking out for number one. Anyone who said different was fooling themselves. Clearly Everett was trying to bribe his way into Erika’s books by bribing her with presents and from looks of it. He hasn’t even bothered with an expensive one. It paled in comparison to the beautiful golden bracelet that Ellen had got Erika had gotten from her birthday (Which she noted she didn’t appear to be wearing)



Just as Ellen was about to bring that comment up, in a blur of moment Ellen saw Erika swing her arm, and next moment she felt a sharp pain smash against her nose causing her to stumble back slightly and her head to whip back to the side. Staring at the ground.



Blinking Ellen didn’t fully understand what just happened to her, had someone just thrown something, but eventually something clicked in her head



She hit me…



Ellen prided herself on being able to read people, to control there moments like they were a winded up clock, able to know their moments before them. But more often then not Ellen liked to keep them in fear of her. To instil in their head that the idea of standing against her would bring untold misery down apon them, and that exactly what she did. She was the judge, jury and executioner of the school and Ellen performed these with a flourish, which Erika had help her do from time to time…she had showed Erika so many times what happened to those that ran-afoul of her not to mention the constant destruction of her selfworth over the years. No one had ever resisted Ellen like this. No one would DARE and the last person Ellen thought would ever resist her.



…She hit he…she actually hit her….she had never been hit before, her father would die first then strike her little princess. Ellen could feel a bruise start to grow over her perfect face like some obscene growth…spanting. he could even feel dashes of bloods across her pale skin…she felt…degraded…humiliated



..but quickly those feelings were overridden by a slowly mounting white hot rage overcome her…



and the mask came off….



Still staring at the ground her face began slowly became red as a tense silence filled the air as if Ellen’s fury had somehow silenced the room. Soon her breathing became heavier and heavier until she was practically panting. Still staring at the ground Ellen pointed a trembling finger towards Erika shaking from head to foot “You…did..not just do that….Erika Bellefonte you did not just punch me…”



Quickly Ellen swung her head in the direction of the two but, this was not Ellen banks as they know her, gone was any sort of charm and beautiful that had become of signature and her eyes no longer sparked. Instead Ellen’s face had twisted and contorted in rage, in such unbridled hate. This was not the face of a girl. This was the face of the beast that walked through the school halls and fed off the misery of others. Ellen quickly snapped back up and walked right up to Ellen trying to resist the urge to tear her head off her shoulders and spit down her neck. “Ever since we were four I’ve protected you, from the monsters under the bed, from the bullies from the parasites that just wanted to use you…or laughed behind your back…I even made you feel better everytime you cried…after everything I’ve done for you…all we've been thorough...you…you  have the nerve to hit me?! IS THIS HOW YOU REPAY ME YOU UNGRACEFUL LITTLE SLUT?! I put so must time and effort making sure you were happy, that you were safe…being a good friend. Let me share something with you that you already know.”



Ellen lowered her herself and looked Erika right in the eyes. “Without me? You’re nothing, you’re worthless, you’re just another spoiled rich kid riding off your last name. You…you see him” Ellen said pointing to the cook “Him right there? I’ll..give him a month….TOPS! before he gets bored of you and your money and leaves you high and dry. Like so many others. Because they don’t care about you. No one does. No one gives a damn about you, the only person that ever cared about you was me! Without me, you wouldn’t have lasted as long as you have here…so just watch…just watch what happens without me around. Just see how much this…this” Ellen’s face wrinkled in disgust before chocking out the next words with as much venom as she could “…Cook. Cares about you. Maybe when he leaves you weeping into your pillow you’ll realize that I was right all along.” Ellens voice suddenly turned into a icey cold voice that almost seemed to trembling with fury “…and if you EVER, lay your hands on me again, I. will. Burn you. I will burn everything you care about to the ground. My father will sue your family for all it’s worth and leave you on the streets and THEN you’ll come crawling back, BEGGING to come back where you belong. Do you understand what I’m saying to you right now…whore?

[Everett King]

Was it wrong that he had found Erika strangely sexy when she punched Ellen? No, he didn't think so. Besides, she could be dressed in clogs and wallowing in mud and he'd still find her beautiful. He could only blink in dumb-founded surprise when Erika began pushing at him, though he didn't actually move under her weight. She hadn't taken her present yet and that seemed more important than running away from a crazy bitch. With a sigh of disappointment he pocketed it, attempting to be understanding.

While he wanted to do nothing more than hug her close and spirit Erika away from this crazy scene, but the adult inside him wouldn't allow it. Thank goodness he wasn't a teacher, or he'd probably have something to say about her punch. Today he could just be proud, but more so than that, he was worried. 

His worries proved quite accurate when Erika swayed back, bloody and ugly. Like a zombie, he realized with something if an inappropriate smirk. He recognized the fury in her eyes; had seen it in the mirror and in those around him. Instinctively as Ellen neared Everett growled and shifted his weight in front of Erika. He did not block Ellen's path to Erika, but he became more of a presence by Erika's side.

His scarred fingers curled into fists as Ellen continued to speak, and if he hadn't been such a gentleman, he would have hit her. In fact, so far he was showing remarkable constraint, if only for Erika's benefit. 

There wasn't anything he could say to defend Erika, or himself. She was strong, and he'd left her once before. He did the only thing he perceived he could do, reaching his hand down to grasp Erika's hand gently. 

"I'd be shutting up now." he murmured quietly in a dark voice.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

When Ellen realized what had happened, and decided to speak up, Erika turned around to face the blonde in all her bloody fury - and she found herself surprisingly calm as she readied herself to meet with the beast whom lay behind the fake mask Ellen had worn for so long, it was a surprise it was still a mask. Watching the blonde speak, and spit and hiss, Erika's lips turned upwards into somewhat of a smirk. After everything that had happened - after all the words that had been said, she still believed she had the right? Fine.

''How about, ever since you could you have been using your power for your own sick, little game? Forcing people to do as you please, taking away their free will? You keep saying you did so with the best of intentions, but when did taking away someone's freedom of speech, their memories and choices become acts of friendship?'', Erika said calmly, keeping her gaze steady as she watched Ellen, ''So don't even dare telling me everything you ever did was for my own protection. We both know that Ellen Banks doesn't have a selfless bone in her body. Everything you do - or have ever done has always been for yourself. You never do anything without having nothing to gain from it.'' She continued and sighed.

Watching Ellen in her last attempts of stirring up any insecurities, causing more bad blood, Erika felt more like laughing. It was just incredible saddening. Ellen was trying her best to grasp at anything - anything to keep the little she had of her dignity intact. But what the girl seemed to completely fail to understand was that whatever dignity she thought she had, had never been there to begin with.

''You are a selfish excuse for a human being. You are a pathetic, scared little girl who have nothing, no one. You know that feeling you've had for the past couple of weeks? That lonely aching? Do you know what that is? That's you realizing how insignificant you truly are. You might be a big deal here, Ellen. But what happens when you graduate? When you're tossed into the big bad world where no one cares about who you are or what you can do? What happens when you're nothing but a pale memory no one cares to remember? Then what will you be left with?''

However, when Ellen directed her anger towards Everett, that's when Erika's voice grew less calm, darker even. She then realized Everett had moved to stand next to her, and maybe she would have lashed out her power at the opposite girl, maybe once again, let what happened in the cafeteria happen again, but feeling Everett's hand against her own, she managed to keep her calm. She managed to keep her ability back, and keep the venom in her words to a minimum, ''I find it funny how you claim I am the one riding off of my last name when you're the ones tossing daddy's money around, buying your way into everything, threatening to sue whoever dares to go against you. You're a hypocrite, and the worst part is that you have your head stuck too far up your ass to see it.''

Taking a deep breath, Erika met Ellen's cold eyes with a pair of her own. There was no longer any pity in her eyes, no anger, no nothing. She looked at the blonde as if she was the most insignificant being in the world, as if the past fourteen years meant nothing, and as she had so quickly realized; They didn't. Not a single moment of them mattered anymore. Why? Because Erika was past caring. She was done.

''And if you ever dare to speak to, threaten or hurt anyone I care about ever again, I will burn you,'' Erika said, using the blonde's words against her, ''And go ahead, Ellen. Run to daddy with your problems and prove to the world once and for all just how cowardly you truly are, and show them how incapable you are of dealing with problems on your own without having your father fix your every mistake. Do you think anyone will miss you when you're gone? Do you think people care? The only person who cares is your father, and that's only because he has to.'' Erika growled, feeling no sympathy for the blood stained girl in front of her. She felt nothing but disgust.

The temptation to rid the world of its demons and choke the girl was hard to resist, but then again, she didn't want to fall down to that kind of level. Ellen was just not worth it. She never had been, and she surely never would be.

''Walk away, Ellen. Walk away before I make you.''

Erika was sure things would have ended up a lot worse if Everett hadn't been there. At this point, he was the only thing holding her back from outwardly murdering the slimeball with the face of something that seemed as if it belonged in the laboratory of Dr. Frankenstein.

''Better hurry up, unless you want the rest of the school to see that their queen have fallen.''

And with that, the bell rang, signalling that the classes were over. It was only a matter of seconds before the hallway would be filled with students and teachers.