Isabella

3

"Hello, is this seat free? May I sit here as it's full over there?" Steven said politely.

"Oh, yes, please take a seat," Thomas replied somewhat friendly.

"You're a new student from Avalon, aren't you?" Laura enquired, Steven simply nodded while sitting across from Princess Isabella. "Who do you live with in Neverland?"

"I live with my aunt and uncle here," Steven answered Laura's question.

"Where are your parents? Why don't you live with them?" Thomas asked, also being nosy like Laura.

"My parents are in Avalon, they're busy, very busy like a king and queen," Steven answered, remembering his parents and their duties in Avalon.

"What do your parents do?" Thomas asked again.

"My parents... well, they have ordinary jobs, but they act like they're royalty," Steven replied awkwardly. Princess Isabella just looked at Steven without saying anything, but she sensed that he was hiding something, although she couldn't figure out what it was.

"Oh, I forgot that we haven't introduced ourselves yet. My name is Thomas Ray Henderson, and the one wearing glasses is Laura Anne Mason," Thomas introduced himself and his friends to Steven. "And I'm sure you already know her name, the beautiful one," Thomas added, referring to Princess Isabella.

"Yes," Steven replied nonchalantly, occasionally glancing at Princess Isabella's face. After that, there was no further conversation between them as everyone was occupied with enjoying their food.

School time was over, and now it was time for everyone to go home. Princess Isabella was walking towards her locker to get her belongings when she saw Denise standing near her locker, hugging herself. Denise had a sour expression on her face and clearly didn't like seeing Princess Isabella.

"Why are you standing by my locker? Move aside!" Princess Isabella said firmly and sternly, not appreciating Denise's presence there.

"Isabella, I think you already know that I don't like beating about the bush. I don't want you to be close to Steven, so it's better if you stay away from him. If possible, I want you to leave this school!" Denise said, staring at Princess Isabella with a mocking gaze.

"Excuse me, you have no right to prevent me from being close to anyone or from attending this school. It's my right to be friends with whoever I choose and to study wherever I please. And who do you think you are to try and stop me?!" Princess Isabella retorted fiercely, fixing Denise with a piercing stare at her unattractive face.

"Who am I to stop you? Hey, please have some self-awareness. You're just a poor girl, while I come from a wealthy family. You're lowly, and I'm noble. Our statuses are different, you know! You come to school on foot, while I arrive in a Ferrari!" Denise said, using insulting words to hurt Princess Isabella's feelings. "Look at your clothes, everyone else comes to school wearing nice clothes, but you wear shabby clothes like you don't have anything new. Did you buy those clothes at the market?" she added.

Princess Isabella, upon hearing the disparaging remarks directed at her by this unattractive girl, could only maintain her composure. To her, engaging in an argument with this unsightly girl would be futile. She had more pressing responsibilities as a princess to tend to in the palace than to entertain the disrespectful behaviour of a girl from a common background. For Princess Isabella, the wealth possessed by Denise held no significance. It was solely the property of Denise's parents, and in truth, Denise had nothing to boast about.

Princess Isabella, with her elegant and slightly haughty demeanour, approached her locker and nudged Denise, who was standing nearby, causing her to almost stumble. Luckily, the plain girl managed to keep her balance and avoid becoming the target of mockery among the school pupils. Otherwise, it would have been a blow to Denise's pride. Nevertheless, it was clear that Denise would harbour resentment towards Princess Isabella.

"Damn you, Isabella, you poor girl! How dare you push me!" Denise exclaimed loudly, intending to grab Princess Isabella's long blonde hair and hurt her. However, she was stopped by someone.

"DO NOT TOUCH HER!" the person said. Denise, surprised to hear someone's voice preventing her from harming Princess Isabella, turned to look at the person. Princess Isabella also couldn't believe that Denise had the audacity to attack her.

"Steven?!" Denise exclaimed in astonishment. It transpired that the individual was Steven Alistair, the new pupil who had previously caught Denise's eye.

"YOU BETTER NOT LAY A FINGER ON ISABELLA!" Steven said, approaching Princess Isabella and placing his hand on her shoulder. Princess Isabella was taken aback by Steven's actions. After all, she had only just met him that morning, and now he was protecting her from Denise's harm and touching her shoulder as if they were in a romantic relationship. Could this be real?

"Steven, what are you doing here? Why are you defending her? She's the one who pushed me, you should be protecting me!" Denise exclaimed, trying to free Steven's embrace on Princess Isabella's shoulder, but she couldn't succeed because Steven's grip was too strong in protecting the princess.

"What am I doing here? To protect my Isabella!" Steven said firmly, which left Princess Isabella and Denise dumbfounded. This chap had the audacity to claim Princess Isabella as his Isabella.

" Since when did I become your Isabella? " Princess Isabella asked, looking at Steven's handsome face.

" Since when? Since we became mates earlier! " Steven said casually, then he looked at Denise with a sharp gaze. " And you, if you dare to disturb my Isabella again, you'll regret it! " Steven warned Denise, then he helped Princess Isabella open her locker, ignoring Denise who was left feeling embarrassed and hurt.

After assisting Princess Isabella with Denise's bullying earlier, they both walked towards the school gate together.

"Steven, thank you for defending me against Denise earlier. If you hadn't been there, she would have really harmed me," Princess Isabella expressed her gratitude to Steven for protecting her.

" That's not a problem, besides, I wouldn't let a lovely girl like you get hurt by her, " Steven replied, playfully teasing Princess Isabella.

" Oh, so you helped me because I'm attractive? If I wasn't attractive, you wouldn't have helped, is that it? " Princess Isabella said again.

"No, that's not what I meant, I helped you because you don't look like any other girl, you're special," Steven said softly.

"What do you mean?" Princess Isabella asked with a slightly slower and softer tone.

"I don't even understand what I mean, but one thing's for sure, you look special, Isabella," Steven replied.