Not good

Elena said, a sharp, wicked smile stretching across her face as Allie steered her into the middle of the circle. Her voice dropped into a conspiratorial whisper, dripping with fake sympathy. "Honestly, Allie is so pathetic. Did you know she actually practices her conversations with Julian in the mirror? She’s completely obsessed. It’s honestly sad how hard she tries to get anyone to like her."

Chloe’s eyes lit up with malicious glee, thrilled to hear the school's golden girl trash-talking her own friend. "Oh my god, Elena, I knew it! She is literally so desperate. We only hang out with her out of pity, honestly. She has absolutely zero self-awareness."

"Exactly," Maya chimed in, giggling over the fabricated gossip. "She thinks she’s so pretty and smart, but everyone just laughs at her behind her back."

Allie felt a toxic mixture of burning anger and twisted amusement inside Elena's head. Seeing how quickly her "best friends" turned on her the second they thought she wasn't looking was deeply frustrating, but it gave her total leverage. They were completely blind, talking to a puppet and exposing their own disloyalty.

Right at that moment, Allie spotted Julian walking down the hallway. He was adjusting his backpack, looking around the corridor as if searching for someone.

"Watch this, girls," Allie thought with a venomous smirk.

She marched right into Julian's path, cutting him off entirely and leaning back against the row of lockers right in front of him.

"Hey, Julian," Elena purred, tilting her head back to look at him through half-lidded, incredibly teasing eyes. "Are you still thinking about our date, or are you just happy to see me?"

Elena leaned a little closer to Julian, keeping her eyes locked onto his. "You look completely frozen, Julian," she murmured, her voice dripping with a playful, smooth confidence that left him completely speechless. "Pick me up tonight at 9:00 PM, okay? And don't keep me waiting. "Before he could even stutter out an answer, Elena gave him a slow, knowing wink, stepped past him, and walked smoothly down the hall. Julian stood rooted to the spot, his face bright red, staring after her in absolute astonishment.

Julian froze, his cheeks instantly flushing a bright crimson as he stared at the sudden, breathtaking confidence radiating from the usually quiet girl.

Inside Elena’s mind, Allie was absolutely ecstatic. The sheer power of this helmet was intoxicating. She had completely bypassed her disloyal friends, utterly wrapped the school's most eligible guy around her finger, and no one had a single clue that Allie was the one pulling the strings."But if I'm going to pull this off tonight, I need to stay under the radar for the rest of the day," Allie realized.

For the remaining school periods, Allie forced herself to dial down the high-energy, teasing performance. She adjusted her mental grip on Elena’s nervous system, forcing her body to shift back into a quiet, timid posture. For the rest of the afternoon, Elena sat quietly in her classes, took neat notes, and spoke only when called upon, perfectly mimicking her usual shy, reserved behavior.

To the teachers and the rest of the student body, Elena was just being her normal, everyday self. Nobody suspected that her true consciousness was locked away in a deep, silent standby mode while Allie inhabited her skin, counting down the minutes until the final bell. When the school day finally ended, Elena walked out of the front gates with a gentle, polite wave to her classmates, heading straight toward the parking lot.