Page 5 of Betraying Bexley

“We’ll be seeing you.” Alé pressed the button for the garage level then stepped back.

The mood for their little group had sobered the minute Asher explained Iliana's mother and father had been killed. He had a feeling each of them would take five minutes at some point and send up a prayer to Iliana's mom and dad. Then, tomorrow, they'd return to their normal routine, though, with a different member.

Once they stepped off the elevator, they crossed the parking lot to where Alé parked his vehicle. He unlocked the doors for everyone and waited while Jacolbi, Bronx, and Alex got in back and Eito joined him up front. When they were all settled in Alé started the car and backed out of his spot. “So, do you know anything about this case?”

“Yeah, I read up on it on the flight over. Sucks for this girl, right? Father beats her. Two cartels want her and she’s all alone.” Bronx shook her head. “Sounds like a fucked situation to me.”

"You have no idea." He sped along the abandoned airstrip to the guard shack where he turned left onto the small two-lane highway. Even for the time of day, the road was empty. Come to think of it, it seemed any time of the day it was empty.

“There’s The Bitches,” Jacolbi added. “The jocks too.”

“All-Americans is what she calls them,” Alex stated. “They’re dicks.”

“So, she’s bullied as well?” Bronx grumbled. “What the fuck is wrong with people?”

Alé chuckled. “What isn’t wrong with people, is a better question. It’s all in the file.”

“You got me there.” She sighed. “So, what’s our cover? Ashamed to say it, but I think I got more caught up in the nitty-gritty than in easy parts.”

“We’re foster kids,” Jacolbi answered. “Jamie is our foster parent.”

“Uh... That’s working for such a prestigious school, Like Princess Anne High School?” Alé caught a glimpse of her confused expression in the rearview mirror.

“Yep. The principal knows we’re there and why, though the bastard will disavow anything if something should happen,” Alé answered.

“Fantastic,” she quipped. “Anything else?”

"Well, let's just say, seeing Bex and telling you about her are two different things. I hate to say sink or swim here, because it's Asher's go-to term, but your best bet is to read up on our cover then get ready for the action tomorrow. It's intense the first time you witness it." Alé merged onto the freeway, heading in the direction of downtown Virginia Beach.

“You make it seem like this is some kind of science experiment and she’s an alien. Have you guys been watching too many sci-fi movies lately?” Bronx quirked a brow. She had a crazy vibe to her. A mix of hyper and happy. Yet, the compassion in her voice when she talked about Bex endeared her to him.

Alex laughed. “I thought the same after the first incident, however, seeing how shit plays out in the school, well, it gives you a whole new appreciation for your parents and their strictness along with their demand for respect.”

“Ditto,” Eito replied.

“Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?” Bronx mumbled.

“Welcome to the team, Bronx.” Alé chuckled. “Now, who wants Catalina’s for dinner? I’m fucking starving.”

Bex touched her brow as she walked down the hall to her next class. The butterfly stitches Iliana used to close up her brow were long gone. The freshly healed mark itched sometimes. The pain was gone though. No one said anything to her after Iliana fixed her up, but then again, they never did except for Mr. Aquino, and honestly, sometimes she wanted him to shut up. It never got any better. Never would either. She was invisible when it came to the people at school and at home. Unless it was her bullies. They paid attention to her. Every day it was something else. Every day it was another opportunity to hurt her.

Until she met Iliana. Since the day in the bathroom, the girl made it a point to check on Bex, even if it was to say hi. It brightened Bex’s day, marginally. It pushed back a millimeter of her sadness. And, she was alive. The small bright spot she saw glowing above her most days while she stared up from the bleak existence of her life, became vivid and attainable. It also disgusted her. Every day she came home and found the bottle of pain pills she was supposed to take for her leg, but never did because pain equaled weakness in her father’s world, staring at her, beckoning her to take them. She’d take them all and go to sleep. But, she never did it. It should have been easy.

No one would miss her.

No one would notice she was gone.

So, why couldn’t she take the plunge?

On one hand, she'd been proud of herself for not giving into the dark abyss her life had become in the last year, on the other, she wanted it to be over. The physical and mental pain she experienced every day took a toll on her. No medication could fix her and if there was, her father forbade it. No doctor in the area would give it to her. Hell, the therapist she'd been seeing because Mr. Aquino helped her, tried to send in a prescription for her and it'd been rejected. It didn't make sense to her.

Then again, nothing made sense anymore.

Bex stepped into her English class, the only one she had with Iliana and frowned. Iliana hadn’t been there in a couple of days. Bex also couldn’t reach her by phone. It was as if the girl ghosted her, par for the course when it came to Bexley Alexandria’s life. She sat down at her desk and pulled her book from her satchel.Oh well, not the first time someone gave up on me.

As she leaned over to grab her notebook and pen, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Bex glanced up at the girl who smiled down at her. She had choppy kind of fizzy hair that came almost to her shoulders and was the color of bronze while small sections had stripes of hot pink and neon green. On her wrists were golden bangle bracelets and one red string bracelet. She stood out in a crowd, that was for sure. She also had a cute heart-shaped face and warm golden eyes.

“Hi, I’m new. Is this Mrs. Bradford’s class?” It was then Bex noticed the slip of paper in her hand with a list of classes printed on it.

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