Chapter 14：Untouchable Ice Queen

Ace is the type of guy that everyone envies.

Everyone wants to be like him, hang around him, and talk to him. When he walks down the hall, he will have more than one set of eyes looking at him. He does not particularly enjoy it, and if anything, he is indifferent to unwanted attention.

Class is over right now.

Everyone is heading outside, except for Ace and Xander. They both have to stay after school for detention since they disrupted class in the middle of a quiz. Now, they had another hour or so to clean up and arrange the desks.

The two are not doing anything at the moment, though.

"Man, this totally sucks..." Ace grumbled while sitting back in his chair, both hands behind his head.

"We wouldn't be here if you learned to control your stupidity."

"Hey! You're the one that started it! It's your fault!" Xander began to protest as he bolted out of his seat.

With a huff, he walked over to him and leaned on the side of his desk while he did not even bother to look at him.

Ace crossed his arms and heaved a sigh. Sometimes, he wonders why he puts up with someone like Xander. Contrary to what everyone believes, they are quite the childish troublemakers with how they banter and make messes all the time.

"By the way, Ace..." Xander started once more.

"Another girl came up with me earlier today, asking me about you again. Seriously, am I supposed to act like I'm their wingman only because I'm your best friend?"

"Also because you're too friendly and helpful for your own good. Girls and boys alike - you just can't say no. Can't you refuse for once?" Ace quipped with a smirk.

"You know how I am! I don't have any problem in helping them out, but those girls in particular are really starting to get on my nerves. They can't take a hint! Why don't you just settle down with someone already?"

"You mean get a girlfriend? You can't be serious. I don't have any interest in dating-"

"Man, you're one crazy dude! Any guy would have traded spots with you, you know! Girls are drooling over you!"

Ace only rolls his eyes at that and remains quiet. Xander spreads a smirk at his reaction, knowing quite well that he finds this kind of conversation bothersome. He knows that he is not lying about having no interest, but that does not mean he is completely apathetic about the subject.

"Hey, you might be good, but I know a girl that never even looks in your direction. She sits over there..." Xander continued before pointing to the first desk that was beside the window.

"Her name suits her. She acts really cold towards everyone, which I believe she did not before. For some reason, people began steering clear of her one day. Then, before I knew it, they started calling her the untouchable ice queen."

"Yeah, yeah! I think that's her name. So, you remember?"

"I sit beside her during some classes, moron."

"Oh, I see...! She is a little bit of a school geek, right? And she hates talking to people. I bet you won't even get three feet from her."

While Ace does think that Winter has become oddly aloof and withdrawn all of the sudden, giving her a nickname is taking it too far. Xander is more fond of rumors and idle exchanges than him, which is why he does not doubt that what he said is how people really began looking at her. Still, it's not good to support such assumptions without knowing who she truly is.

"Don't talk about her like that. She's not doing anything wrong," Ace suddenly muttered with an unsmiling expression.

Xander is taken aback by that. It is rare to see him looking that dead serious. Going by how he pouts and furrows his brows together, he appears somewhat upset by how he has portrayed someone who is sharing a close relationship with him.

'No, that's impossible. They barely ever interact,' Xander thought with his head tilted quizzically.

Right before he could ask about this, something piques their attention out of nowhere. There is some sort of noise going on about from a distance. It sounds uproarious - a commotion is happening outside.

Surprised, the two then rush towards the window and peer out to the field that is leading to the school gates. There, they find something more than what they have expected.

Indeed, there is a commotion - and it involves certain people from their class.

---

'Right, I completely forgot about this scene. Still, it did not fail to be as ridiculous as it was back then.'

Winter is standing in front of the school gates at the moment - with a vanilla-flavored ice cream cone in hand, the hot blazing sun up above, a considerably large crowd all around, and a heated fight in front of her.

It just happened that Courtney and her clubmates from the varsity's cheering squad are having a troublesome confrontation with Maxine and her fellow school delinquents. Apparently, they have been hating on one another's guts for a while now. This one is only the starting point of their rivalry.

Supposedly, it has nothing to do with Winter, but with them blocking the gates like this, she can't pass by and continue on her way.