The moment we stepped inside of the classroom and all eyes turned to us, I wanted nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow me whole and save me from that embarrassment. At least I knew Mia was in the class, but I didn't dare to look up at all.

I mean, they had every right to be shocked. I, a nobody, had come into the class with the king of the school who was my main bully a week ago. What hell Lara will create for me because of appearing with her boyfriend what beyond my imagination. I just hoped Chris can stay on his words and protect me against her.

"Okay, sit down, both of you." said the teacher and that was all I need before I rushed and sat on my usual seat beside Mia which was thankfully empty. Now I could see her. Her eyes were squinted from both anger and shock.

"You will explain everything after class, missy." she hissed in my ear as I sat down and I nodded before the two of us turned to the board again. I tried to concentrate on what the teacher was saying. Keyword: tried.

All through the class, I could feel a pair of eyes drilling into the back of my head. I knew it was Chris. He and Chase were the only ones behind us. I didn't turn to him at all, afraid of all of the eyes that still were glancing at me curiously from time to time.

Maybe it was a wrong idea to come into the class with Chris, but I wanted to. He looked so hurt when I told him to go in first and somehow it hurt my heart as well. Plus, I don't know what you may call it, but I had an odd urge to be seen with him.

Maybe I wanted to prove to everyone that he was not my bully anymore and we were friends now, so maybe others stop looking down at me as well. The whole class, I tried to calm down my thumbing heart that was beating hard in my ribcage, not being able to concentrate at all.

A minute before the bell rang, Mia began to shove our stuff in our bags, and right as the bell blared, she grabbed my hand and yanked me off of my seat, dragging me outside.

"Mia! God! slow down." I squeaked, trying not to trip over my own feet.

But Mia ignored me and pressed her phone to her ear. "Ethan, meet me in that empty classroom you took Ella and me the day she quit school" she said sternly and end her call after.

Soon we were in the classroom where we met the last time and Mia shoved me inside. Ethan who was already there and was pacing around franticly looked up sharply and his mouth hang open at seeing me.

"Hello, Ethan." I waved shyly and smiled.

"Okay, now that we are all here." said Mia and squinted her eyes again. "Will you mind telling us how the fuck you came back to school with that douchebag, looking like a couple in love?"

"What??!!" asked Ethan more confused and looked between me and Mia. "Who is the douchebag?"

"Chris fucking Harrington!" yelled Mia and threw her arms in the air.

Ethan turned back to me, his eyes looking even wider from behind his glasses. "What is she talking about, Ella?" he asked. "You came with Harrington?"

"YES!!" exclaimed Mia. "And God, you should have seen his face when he would glance at her. He was giving the vibes of a protective boyfriend."

"Okay! Okay!" I said a bit loud and raised my palms in front of my two friends, stopping their wild assumptions. "Sit down. It's a long story. I will tell you everything."

So, the three nerds we are, skipped the next class and didn't mind as well. Ethan and Mia were staring at me with wide eyes and their mouths a bit ajar as I told them everything. Thankfully, Ethan had told Mia about the night that Chris had lashed out at me in front of the club, so I just started from yesterday morning in the hospital, till an hour ago when we appeared together.

"And now, I'm with you guys." I sighed and smiled at them weakly. "The End."

They both were silent for a moment, just staring at me. "This.is.unbelievable." said Mia, emphasizing each word. "It's like the devil suddenly decides to be Archangel Michael."

"Well, the devil was once an archangel," I mumbled and dropped my head.

"Are you kidding me, Eleanor?" asked Mia in disbelief. "You can't trust him. How can you be sure he won't hurt you again? How can you be sure that this is not yet another plan of his?"

"He won't. He promised and he was sincere in all of his deeds." I protested way too quickly and blushed once I found out what I did. I couldn't help it. I had this urge inside of me to protect him.

Mia gasped and looked at me shocked. "You like him." she whispered and I gulped and blushed more. Did I like him really? "Of course you do. You are fucking blushing."

"Can you stop using the F word?" I whined and gave her my best glare which obviously didn't have any effect on her.

"No!" she scoffed and crossed her arms. "By the way, you will hear it so much if you want to be around him all the time. He isn't the politest person on earth."

She then glanced at Ethan who was silent and was only staring at me with worry in his eyes. "Don't you want to say anything?" she asked him. "Tell her that trusting Harrington is wrong."

"What can I say?" he sighed and took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He had helped her and his actions seem sincere. Plus, she is now dealing with Jax Harrington as her boss and he is a good man."

He then looked at me, and the worry in his eyes intensified. "But that doesn't mean I'm not worried." he said. "I trust you and your judgment. He saved you by offering that job and his own salary to you. Just be careful until you get to know him well."

"God! I can't believe this." huffed Mia and stood up and began to pace around the classroom.

I looked at Ethan, seeking some sort of comfort or reassurance. As if he got the message from my pleading eyes, he stood up and sat beside me, and grabbed my hand, giving me his warm smile.

"Don't worry, Ella." he spoke softly, making my insides relax at hearing his comforting tone. "I don't know why, but I'm sure Harrington is sincere in his behavior with you. He wouldn't take you to his big brother and offer you his salary just to prank you. It's so out of mind."

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, making me smile at him. "Besides, you have us by your side." he said and gestured between Mia and himself. He then glanced at Mia smugly. "I'm not sure of Mia, but I'm by your side no matter what."

Mia stopped immediately and glared at him. "What do you mean, Miller?" she huffed. "Of course, I will have her back no matter what. she is my friend as much as she is yours."

She sat down next to me and grabbed my other hand, looking at me with worried eyes. "I just don't want to see you hurt, Ella." she said. "Just be cautious, okay? don't put all of your trust in him before you get to know him the best."

"I will." I gave her a bright smile which she returned.

We were silent for a moment before Ethan broke the silence and changed the topic. "Okay," he said and pushed his glasses up his nose while looking at me. "You were out of school for almost two weeks. We need to tutor you so you can catch up."

So we sat there as Ethan and Mia set a schedule for me so they can help me to catch up in the free times we had at school. Soon the bell rang, indicating lunchtime. We decided to have our lunch in the classroom, mainly to keep me away from all of the students who were surely staring and whispering at my sight.

Mia went out of the class to buy lunch from the cafeteria for herself, leaving me and Ethan alone. When she was out of the door, Ethan turned to me and began to speak.

"There is something that I wanted to tell you today." he said and glanced at the door for a second before turning to me and continuing. "But I wasn't sure if you wanted to talk about it in front of Mia."

"What is it?" I asked confused and tilted my head to a side.

"The cost of your mother's surgery," he began and I felt my heart begin to beat faster. "How much is it?"

"Why do you ask?" I asked quietly, feeling a twinge of pain in my heart, remembering the number.

"Just answer me please." he insisted.

"Ethan," I sighed. "I can't accept any ..."

"Ella!" said Ethan seriously and cut me off. "Just answer me. How much?"

"It is 70000$." I sighed and rubbed my face. "Our insurance will cover most of it thankfully, but still we need to pay 15000$."

"And how much have you saved?" asked Ethan.

"2054$ to be exact." I mumbled and fidget on my seat uneasily. I looked up into his eyes as hope bubbled in my heart remembering Chris offering me his salary. "But now that Chris is giving me his own salary, I think I can save up something about 4000 each month. This way I can pay for surgery in 3 months."

"Or sooner." answered Ethan with a smile and his own eyes shone with excitement. He raised his hand quickly as he saw me opening my mouth to protest. "let me finish first."

I nodded and he continued. "Last night I talked with my father about you and your mother's condition." he said. "I told him that you are working hard to save enough money for the surgery and don't accept help from anyone. My father said he will be happy to help but besides that, he mentioned something that made me more excited."

I bit my bottom lip and listened eagerly. "There is an NGO called kind souls." he explained. "It's some sort of charity. People donate the amount they want and the people of the NGO help those in need by giving them the money. Their main area is helping people with hard diseases who are unable to pay for hospital expenses. You should just submit and they will give you the money. My father said they probably can give up to 7000$."

"Oh my God." I gasped and put a hand on my mouth. My heart was jumping out of my ribcage and my eyes were wide.

Ethan sat at the edge of his seat and stared at me intently while planting his elbows on his legs. "Look, Ella." he began seriously. "I know you don't like to feel like a charity case. But this is your mother's life we are talking about. You are saying you have 2000 already and it can become 6000 by the end of this month. If we get the charity money my father will gladly give the rest and your mother can have her surgery."

Mother can have her surgery by the end of the month? This was truly a miracle. It was awesome. The doctors had already told me to hurry up and I had felt helpless, but now this was a blessing truly.

I hadn't noticed the tears running on my face until Ethan wiped them gently with his thumb. "Hey! Don't cry." he said softly. "You can pay my father back when your mother is safe. You need this help, Ella."

"Thank you." I sniffled as my bottom lip quivered. "That's amazing, Ethan. I don't know what to say. It's a miracle. I feel so relieved. You don't know what kind of pressure will be taken away from my shoulders if we can take the money you say."

I cling to his shirt as his arms wrapped around my frame, pulling me to his chest. I cried into his chest, mumbling thank you over and over again while he mumbled reassuring words into my ear, filling me with comfort.

After a while, I calmed down and looked up into his eyes. "What should I do to submit?" I asked, not wanting to waste any time. "What documentation do they need?"

"They will probably want your mother's medical reports." said Ethan. "My father didn't know much about them. He had just heard about it from a friend. I will go to the NGO today and will talk with them. I will let you know what is needed so we can submit it as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Ethan." I said and threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "I don't know how to thank you."

Ethan pulled away and opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly the door of the classroom burst open and Mia rushed inside, startling both me and Ethan. She closed the door quickly and leaned on it like a dangerous predator was after her.

Ethan and I were on our feet immediately. "What's wrong?" Asked Ethan worriedly and quickly walked to Mia.

But Mia's wide eyes were fixed on me. "Harrington just broke up with Lara in front of everyone in the cafeteria." she squeaked, making my eyes grow wide.

"He did it because Lara began to say shit about you." said Mia as she quickly walked toward me and grabbed my hands. "You should have seen his raging face when he pinned Lara to the wall and yelled at her about how you are the purest soul and how she should shut up."

"What?" asked Ethan shocked.

"Then he said you and him are only friends." squealed Mia, her voice growing louder as she said the next words. "But he said if he wants you to be more, no one can say shit about it."

"Oh, God." I mumbled, unable to utter more. I must have paled visibly because the next second Ethan grabbed my arm and forced me to sit down.

He crouched down in front of me and looked up into my eyes with concern. "Hey! are you fine?" he asked.

"She maybe be fine now," said Mia in panic and threw her arms around. "But how can we tell what Lara is capable of? She will see Ella as her number one enemy now."

"Okay, don't panic, both of you." said Ethan sternly and glared at us. "She can't do anything to hurt you physically, Ella, or she will be expelled. We don't leave your side in school and I'm sure Harrington will make sure Lara stays away from you."

"Yes!" said Mia firmly. "You won't leave our sides until the dust sets off. We don't let Lara hurt you. She will not have the same effect now that Harrington is not by her side."

She plumped herself on a seat and spaced out. "But I should say I'm impressed." she said. "He looked like a raging bull when Lara called you bad names. He was ready to hit her."

She then looked at me and smirked. "I think he likes you too, El." she said and wiggled her eyebrows, making me blush.

"Don't go ahead of yourself, Mia." I said quietly, trying to calm down the butterflies that were dancing crazily in my belly. I was so fluttered by his action. "You heard him. We are just friends."

"Yes, for now." responded Mia. "He announced the possibility of you becoming more. God! he just raised his rank in my mind. I think you can trust him."

I blushed more and nodded my head. I frowned instantly when I saw Ethan and Mia staring at me while smirking. "What?" I huffed and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Nothing," said Ethan and stood up. "let's eat. I'm starving and the next class will begin soon."

No one tried to hide their rude staring or stopped whispering with their friends as we walked in the corridors toward our next class. I would have run away if it was not for Ethan and Mia on each side of me.

Thankfully, I didn't see Lara and her minions or Chris and his friends in any of my last two classes. I just wanted that day at school to end so I can run away. Maybe it was not a good idea to return to school after all.

Mia and Ethan were acting as my bodyguards, escorting me to my classes and never leaving my side, true to their words. The three of us had the last class together and I felt protected with them beside me.

When the last bell rang, Mia said goodbye to us and left to talk to one of our teachers about her project. So it only left me and Ethan, walking down the corridors to our lockers. I hated how the students were gawking at me and whispering between themselves shamelessly.

I always was invisible at school except for those times that Chris or his gang would have bullied me in front of everyone. But now being the center of attention was literally killing me. I scooted closer to Ethan's side trying to hide as much as possible as if it was possible.

Feeling my utmost discomfort, Ethan wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me more into his side, making me sigh in relief a bit.

"Just take deep breathes." he whispered in my ear. "Don't show them weakness. We are almost at lockers. We will take our things and will leave quickly."

"Okay." I mumbled not bringing my eyes up from my shoes.

Suddenly Ethan's footsteps slowed down and I looked up at him, only to see him frowning deeply. "Look who is waiting for you." he said stiffly and I turned my head in the direction he was staring, only for my heart to beat faster.

There, leaning on my locker, was Chris Harrington in all his glory, glaring daggers in our direction, or better to say at Ethan's direction.

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A/N: Hi, everyone. Please vote and write a comment if you liked the story. It will give me so much energy to update more and know that you like the story.

Thank you so much

Ella :))))