Page 20 of Betraying Bexley

“Good. Mr. Stewart.” Mr. Parker’s gaze narrowed.

“What’s up teach?” Jacolbi capped the marker in his hand.

“This is Homeroom, not art.” Mr. Parker adjusted his glasses before moving to the podium in the middle of the class.

“Well, crap.” Jacolbi winked at Bex. “I guess you can see it now. It’s a little rough but I think it’s cool.”

She glanced down at her cast and gasped. A small red dragon lay curled up with its head on the back of her hand. Clutched in one of its feet was a small spear. It was cute but powerful. The detail was exquisite for only taking ten minutes. She didn’t know what to say. Thank you hardly seemed like enough.

“Well?” He edged toward her while Mr. Parker turned his back. “What’s the verdict?”

“It’s b-beautiful.”

“I’ll take beautiful. What class do you have next?” Jacolbi slipped back into his chair when the teacher faced them.

“S-science,” she whispered. “You?”

Jacolbi frowned. “English. Sucks. We could have walked together.”

The announcements for the day began, allowing Bex to stare at the dragon. It reminded her of the phoenix on her leg, but there was no way he could have done it too. The only people at the house were Bronx and Alé. Besides, that would be a little too freaky.Everything about you is freaky, she chided herself.

When the bell rang, she started for her science class. The idea of being in the same room with Alé after waking up in his clothes and spending three days in his bed, sleeping, it made her a bit self-conscience. Even seeing him at the door to the school had been a bit unnerving too. He was big and overwhelming. Not to mention the tattoos she’d spotted. She was... Disappointed. Yes, the word fit exactly how she felt. When she sat between them, Bronx and Alé, she’d been content. She liked both of them. They were nice and funny. She even thought Alé was handsome or sexy maybe. She didn’t know what to call him.

She didn't have experience in those things—finding people attractive. Bex didn't have a specific sexuality. If she had to pick, which she didn't like giving herself a label, she was more pansexual than bisexual. Explaining it though was another thing. Not that she had many people to explain it to. The only time she expressed herself, she'd been filmed and, well, the whole school found out about her thanks in part to Jannica, the girl she'd experimented with and The Bitches. There was more to it though and that night, she tried never to think about what happened, because even a year later, she had nightmares from the event.

“Feel better now?” Alé placed his hand on her shoulder, startling Bex. “Yo, sorry. I forgot.”

Bex pressed her hand to her chest and glanced around, sure someone caught her jumping at being touched. “N-No, n-not n-now.”

Alé laughed. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I-It’s okay.” She’d been so caught up in her thoughts, she hadn’t seen or heard him join her.

“T-Thank you for breakfast.” She glanced up at him.

"You're welcome. It was Bronx's idea though. I guess she's got the girl intuition." He shrugged. "You ready to conquer the day?" He peered at her cast and tilted his head. "You got tagged up already?" Alé gently grasped her casted hand and looked at the dragon. "I guess I gotta drop my tag on it now."

“Uh...”

“You’ll like it. I’ll do it at lunch while you eat. Relax.”

Sure, relax. It'd only been a little over a week since her run-in with the bitches and now things had drastically changed. She entered the classroom with Alé and took her seat. The more she thought about him, the more she couldn't quite peg him either. Was she losing her touch? Sure, her father only wanted her around because she was good with numbers. But, she'd also learned to read people too. She used to be able to tell if someone was running a con or had a genuine want to assist her father or be her father's associate—he never called them friend.

“So, I was thinking,” Alé said. “We should hang out or something.”

Bex stared at him. “H-Hang out?” Why? Sure, she spent time at his place, but it wasn’t necessarily a social visit. “W-Why?”

He shrugged. “Why not?”

Again, she didn’t understand him. They didn’t know each other. Sure, she appreciated him and Bronx helping her out and not taking her to the doctor’s, but that was the extent of their relationship. “I-I d-don’t k-know.”

“You’ll have fun,” he said. “No, scratch that, we’ll have fun. I promise.”

She didn’t have to work anymore, however, the idea of her father showing up or her bodyguards tailing her gave her pause. She didn’t want the people who called her friend to be hurt because of her evil father. She also yearned for a little companionship. Someone to talk to instead of no one at all. “M-Maybe?”

Alé grinned. “I’ll take maybe. We’ll talk about it at lunch then you can think on it some more, okay?”

She nodded. “O-Okay.”

---