Monday, 7:53 A.M, Alexa's House
"Okay, sweetie. If you're really not feeling well, you can stay home from school today." Alexa's dad, Tyler said sympathetically.
Alexa coughed before she spoke.
"Thank you, daddy. I hope I feel better soon. You know I don't like missing school. My education is important.
Tyler gushed.
"That's my little girl. Even when she's sick, she's still worried about school. I'm so proud of you."
Alexa was cringing on the inside from her dad's sickly sweet affection. She truly did love the man, but sometimes he really got on her nerves. Yet again, so did pretty much everyone's she's ever known as gotten on her nerves. Still, she had to keep up appearances. Her plan was almost complete.
"Okay, Lexi. I gotta go to work. I made you tea, and it's on your dresser. Feel better. I'll see you when I get home."
As soon as her dad left, Alexa sighed in relief. If you hadn't realized by now, Alexa was faking her way out of school. The reason being, she didn't have the courage to face the three boys who had protected her two days prior. Understandably, the young girl still hadn't fully recovered from the events had taken place.
"Oh God, what would've happened if they didn't show up? Would I be alive right now? Would I still- Would I still be a virgin?" She thought, her mind going into worst case scenarios.
She shivered at the thought of one of those dirtbags stealing her innocence from her. Ironically, it made sick to her stomach, the very thing she was currently pretending to be.
She shook her head.
"Whatever, that was in the past, nothing happened, and I'm okay." She tried to assure herself in her head.
Yeah, she wasn't okay. Her mind still wandered to those 3 boys. Those 3 boys who saved her. With emphasis on a certain boy named Price.
"He's always there. How? Is he a stalker? I literally haven't gone a day without seeing him, and that's including weekends!" She thought as she blushed, remembering the day she saw, ALL, of the young boy's well, features.
She continued to try and wrap her head around how this keeps happening.
"Like, seriously. It's not even like a, "We leave to go to school at the same time so we see each other everyday", kind of thing. It's a, "You always seem to be wherever I am, at the weirdest times possible", kind of thing. Why can't I get away from this boy?! Is God trying to tell me something? Are we destined to cross paths with each other for the rest of our damn lives? And it's not like I can be a bitch to him anymore. He saved me. He, Big E, and Seth saved me from whatever those 3 sickos had planned for me. But I can't be nice to him either. As far as my friends and the rest of the school know, I still hate his guts. It wouldn't make sense if I just randomly became friendly with the kid."
That assessment brought about a new fear for the girl.
She gasped.
"Oh my God! What if they told everyone what happened that night?! My reputation would be ruined! I'd be seen as some fragile little girl who can't take care of herself. They're probably all laughing at me right now, I bet. I can hear them now. Stop! Stop laughing at me! Stop it!"
She was yelling out loud at nothing, with tears dripping down her tired face. What happened that night really messed her up, big time. She eventually calmed herself down and starting thinking rationally again. She took a deep breath.
"No, no they wouldn't do that to me. I've known Seth since 2nd grade, I haven't done anything bad to Big E, and Price... Price is too much of a good person. He definitely wouldn't hurt me. He's... He's... Oh God! Why?! I ask again, why can't I get away from this boy?!
Then she came to a question that she was scared to ask herself.
"And do... do I even really want to get away from him?"
At the school, Hallway Outside Homeroom, 8:13 A.M...
Shane was worried sick out of his mind. He hadn't seen Alexa since that morning he took her home after the incident and he was concerned. He'd gone to every room in the school, checked the cafeteria, and the auditorium. Checking the bathrooms crossed his mind for a split second, but he quickly shut down that idea, thinking of all the problems that would cause. He now found himself pacing up and down the hallway, looking like a psychopath.
"Come on, where is she? I hope she's okay. Please be okay. Please be okay." He muttered to himself.
As he was seemingly losing his mind, his best friend walked up to him and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Whoa, bro. Slow down. You're acting like a lunatic. What's wrong?" Dean asked perplexed at his friend's behavior.
Instead of answering the question, Shane responded with a question of his own.
"Hey Dean, have you seen Alexa at all today?"
"Can't say I have. Why are you looking for her anyway? She's just gonna yell at you and insult you like she always does."
Shane realized that Dean had no idea of what happened over the weekend. He knew he couldn't tell anyone, but he was struggling to explain his way out of the truth.
"Uh.. Uh, I just needed to see her. I have her calculator, because she left it behind in Geometry on Friday."
Dean shook his head at how nice Shane was to Alexa.
"I still don't know why you continue to do this. I would've dropped her ass the second day in. Shane? Shane? SHANE!"
Price hadn't heard a word he said. He was still frantically searching for the pint sized princess.
"Yo, Dean? What time is it?"
Dean looked at his watch.
"It's 8:19. Why?"
"I don't think I'm going to my classes today." He said as he slung his bookbag over his shoulder.
"Hold on, hold on. Are you about to skip out on school?" He said as he started to form a slightly devilish grin on his face.
"Yeah, I guess so."
Dean laughed.
"Now you're speaking my language, my friend! I don't really care for your reasons for doing it, because I don't like Alexa very much, and I can't believe you're doing this because of a calculator, but this is still a way to screw with the school. I can't pass that up. I'll help you, but we gotta move quick. I'm not tryna get detention for being late to homeroom again. Normally I'd go with you, but I have a girl I promised to see today during lunch. A girl by the name of Alicia Fox. No way in hell I'm missing out on that."
Shane raised his eyebrows at Dean.
"Fox? You know she's out of her fucking mind, right?'
"Hey! You don't listen to me when I say stop trying with Alexa. Don't think I'm gonna listen to your advice about Alicia. She's hot! End of story!"
Shane shrugged his shoulders.
"Alright man, but don't say I didn't warn you. Anyway, how are gonna get by Strowman?"
Braun Strowman was the school's main security guard. He was only 22 years old, but he was, for a lack of a better term, BIG AS FUCK! What made him even more scary, was how alert he was. One wrong move, and he'd catch you. He could be a friendly guy, but when you stepped out of line, he's anything but.
However, Dean wasn't scared in the slightest.
"I got that covered. Just get your stuff and let's go."
Shane collected his phone and hat from his locker, and followed Dean to the exit/entrance where Strowman was standing.
Dean cracked his knuckles.
'Time for me to work my magic. Ay yo, Braun! What's up?"
Braun saw Dean and smirked at him. The two of them had gotten to know each other a lot over the last year, on account of all the times Braun caught Freshman Dean trying to do something, well stupid. One time he had gotten them both locked in the gym because Dean insisted on trying to spray paint, "AMBROSE RULZ", on to the bleachers. Strowman ended up stopping him, but unfortunately, he forgot his keys outside by the desk by the entrance he sometimes sat in. Somehow, they became friends after that.
"What up, little man?"
"Nothin much, nothin much. I just got something to tell you, and I think you'll want to hear it."
"Well? Spit it out."
"You know a kid named Ettore Langston?"
"Big E? Yeah. What about him?"
"Well, you didn't hear it from me, but word around school is, he's claiming he could easily out lift you."
Braun started seething. Now, you're probably thinking, "That's not a big deal, why would he get angry over that?" You have no idea how seriously Braun takes weightlifting. The thought of someone questioning how strong he was, sent him into a psychotic rage.
"What?! No one in New York can lift more than me! No one! Where is he?!"
"I'd try the 3rd floor. His locker is up there."
Strowmam stormed up the steps, completely abandoning his post.
Shane was shocked.
"How the hell did you know that would work?"
Dean pointed to his head.
"A great magician never snitches on himself."
Shane stared at him confused.
"I don't think that's how the saying goes, dude. And you know Big E's gonna kill you, right?"
Dean groaned.
"Whatever, just go before someone comes over here. Be safe."
"Alright, I will."
The two fist bumped, and Shane ran out the school. He ran until he got to the train station. Luckily, the train didn't take more than 3 minutes to get there. He got on the train, and sat down on the bench.
"I'm coming, Alexa. Please be okay." He said to himself.
