Goldschmidt-Pauling contraction of the H-O polar-covalent bond elongates and polarizes the other non-covalent part of the hydrogen bond (O:H-O), i.e. the O:H van der Waals bond, significantly, through the Coulomb repulsion between the electron pairs of adjacent oxygen (O--O). This process enlarges and stiffens those H2O molecules having fewer-than-four neighbors such as molecular clusters, hydration shells, and the surface skin of water in liquid state. The shortening of the H-O bond raises the local density of bonding electrons, which in turn polarizes the lone pairs of electrons on oxygen. The stiffening of the shortened H-O bond increases the magnitude of the O1s binding energy shift, causes the blueshift of the H-O phonon frequencies, and elevates the melting point of molecular clusters and ultrathin films of water, which gives rise to their elastic, hydrophobic, ice-like, and low-density behavior at room temperature.