Iced ✓

Chapter Three | Baby Steps

"Estella."

She looked up from her book. She had her hair in a neat, tight French plait and looked perfectly posed as usual. She had seen him a little bit earlier from the corner of her eye, when he had opened the classroom door but he had been called away by someone. She expected him to stay away, knowing that someone should've warned him by now, instead here he stood in front of her.

Cyprus had thought about arriving to class early and finding out the girl's name but before he could do so, he had been called by Aziza. Cyprus thought better than to ignore her and went to socialise with her, she had helped him out after all. He managed to find out a bit about Estella.

"Aziza, who is the girl in that classroom right now? I know it's a big school and you might not know but I have to do a school project with her," he asked bluntly. There was no point in beating around the bush. He wanted to know what her problem was, and if it was with him or everyone after they way she had treated him from the moment he had sat down next to her.

"Oh, I know her. Her name is Estella," she replied with a mischievous glint. She had found Estella very interesting to watch over the months she had been here. This school had a weird agenda when it came to her but it was such a shame she was so lonely.

"And?" he prompted, he knew Aziza was holding back by the way she twirled the end of her ponytail in thought.

"Well, she's know as an Ice Queen here. She doesn't socialise with anyone, from what I've seen so she's always by herself. Let's not even get started on the long line of suitors she has," Aziza explained. She didn't want to overwhelm Cyprus and scare him away from a simple girl, because of her reputation, but Aziza didn't know that Cyprus didn't care for such things.

"Oh, I see," he said thoughtfully. It was obvious that Estella was lonely and that maybe he should try and offer her some sort of friendship. It would be a shame for someone to go through school without a friend.

"Thanks Aziza, I'll see you around," he greeted her as the bell went. He already had a plan formed in his head and he was going to try and execute it. He wasn't going to listen to this Ice Queen nonsense, because there was more to a person than their reputation.

Back in class, Estella ignored Cyprus, because the teacher walked in behind him. Cyprus took his seat next Estella, like yesterday and then class started. They both vigilantly took notes as time passed. It was closing towards the end of class, that the teacher gave them time to work on their projects together.

"Estella, you can't ignore me, unless you want to fail this class and I don't know about you, but I would like to pass," he tried to talk to her again, using a different tactic. This time he used school work as an excuse because there was no way that she was going to him about anything else. He loosed his tie and removed his blazer.

"Fine, but this doesn't mean we are going to be best friends from now on or whatever," she replied. She knew better than to jeopardise her education over something minor even though her grades were decent. Also no one wanted to look like a fool in a class presentation. She hated it, when people were unprepared and she wasn't going to look like a fool.

"I agree, it's only a class presentation, Estella," he replied, brushing aside her defensive words. He knew she was going to try and push him away at every step, that's why he needed to take it slowly, or else they would easily go back to square one.

"Can you stop doing that?" She wasn't used to people addressing her directly, let alone using her name so much. It was foreign to her and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"Doing what? Using your name? That is your name right?" He didn't know her problem and for a second, thought that Aziza might've given him the wrong name. He didn't want to go on, calling her the wrong name.

"Right." She realised how stupid she had sounded. This is why she stayed away from people. They confused her too much.

"Come on, let's start planning," he said, changing the topic before it got awkward quickly. He pushed his notebook from his old school next to her and they started discussing the different ideas they had. They easily fell into a sort of comfortable conversation regarding their presentation and soon the bell rang.

Estella soon transformed after the bell rang and was back to her usual cold persona. She packed her things without a word and pulled out a mirror. She checked that her appearance was in place and gracefully walked out the class, without a backwards glance. It had been different having a partner, she wasn't sure if it was a good or bad different yet.

Cyprus watched her movements and reminded himself that he had to talk small steps with her. He should count his lucky stars for the fact she was even working with him. He would have to try again, until then, he decided to ask a girl who sat in front of him how to get to another class that he hadn't attended. There was no harm in making other friends in the meantime, as he refused to obsess over her. Tomorrow was another day, and he would see if he made any progress.

~*~

Who else likes the sound of their name?