Chapter 9

The morning progressed as it usually did for Alex, with the exception of her feeling slightly hot and a bit strange. She was finding it difficult to process what was being said to her during class. At first she thought it was because of a certain annoying boy who, coincidentally happened to be in both her morning classes. The fact that she even found him attractive made her even more frustrated. Who wouldn't find a tall guy with amazing green eyes and messy black hair, but like a sexy messy... Alex smacked herself in the forehead... and immediately regretted it. "That did not help the headache," she mumbled to herself as she wandered into the cafeteria.

"Alex?" A gentle voice reached her ears. Alex instantly knew who owned that wonderful voice and she cringed. Too late to run, Alex hesitantly looked up and found Dylon Smith smiling gently at her.

"Hey, Alex, look I'm really sorry about yesterday. Please don't be mad. " Dylon's voice sounded genuine, but Alex had a hard time trusting his words. It wasn't the first time Alex had suffered at the hands of bullies, and their apologies rarely meant much more. Then again, Dylon wasn't someone she thought of as a bully. In fact, he was typically one of the nicest guys in the school, which was probably why she had been so hurt in the first place.

His beautiful violet eyes and perfect smile showed no signs of malice. In fact, he looked guilty and concerned. Alex looked away, pulling her hoodie forward and mumbled quick "It's fine" before attempting to make her escape. She was still confused about her feelings for him. She had such a huge crush on him, but at the same time he had made her cry. She just wanted Dylon to leave her alone.

"Alex, please. I really can't bare the thought of your staying mad at me. I never meant to hurt you. It was just a joke. Please..." Alex felt Dylon's hand gripping her arm just a little too tightly. His voice sounded almost desperate. Alex felt eyes on her as students began turning their attention to the commotion.

"Let me go, Dylon," Alex felt her heart start to race like a scared rabbit. Please not this, please not another scene. Alex felt tears forming more out of anger and frustration at being brought into the spotlight again.

"Alex, I like you. I thought maybe..."

"I don't think she's interested," A cold voice interrupted Dylon. To Alex's surprise the new boy, Koa, was now standing next to Alex, his hand had grabbed Dylon's and was now removing it from her arm. By this point anyone who was not previously paying attention was now watching. In fact, Alex noticed students had stopped moving to see what was going on.

"Is there a problem here?" The supervising teacher cut in, interrupting the tension.

"Gentlemen? Do we have a problem here?"

"No, sir, of course not. I am merely welcoming the new student. " Dylon spoke up first, the smile on his lips not reaching his eyes.

Koa's expression remained blank; however, the threatening aura seemed to dissipate somewhat. Still glaring at each other the boys backed away from each other. Just before Dylon turned away, he looked at Alex, "I'd really like to talk to you. Maybe we could go out for a coffee after school tomorrow? I have practice today. Just think about it, please."

Without even bothering to look back at Koa, Dylon turned and left the cafeteria.

"Hey, you okay? You look pale. Did that guy hurt you? " Alex turned to look at Koa, but for some reason she couldn't make out his face properly. Black spots started dancing in front of her vision. Then her world tilted sideways and consciousness left her.