My Neighbor is an Alpha

Chapter 4

The entire classroom felt like it was at a stand still.

The students who were just pretending not to notice were now staring openly. Most out of shock. Some out of disbelief. But none were directed at me.

They were on the boy who’d just spoken.

Stacy’s hard gaze on me lingered for half a second before she huffed, then crouched down to my surprise.

My pulse was still settling from the rush of adrenaline when my gaze drifted back to the stranger.

The same boy I’d met waltzing through my backyard like he owned the place. He looked exhausted, dark circles around his eyes, a bruise on his cheek but overall, his expression was neutral.

When Stacy and her minions scrambled back to their seat, I settled into mine. He didn’t look at me but his body stiffened.

I ignored the confusion and anger on Stacy’s face and angled slightly towards him. He finally glanced at me. It was for only half a second but it felt longer.

“Hey,”

Hey? What was that?

“Hey,” he replied, already placing his head back on the desk.

“Thank you,” I mumbled hopelessly. “For, you know…”

He peeked at me, his lips twitching. “I was contemplating on letting things sizzle. Maybe I’d be lucky enough to watch a live brawl.”

I laughed before I could stop it, not missing the way his eyes softened just a bit. “Well, you wouldn’t have missed much.”

Something unreadable passed his eyes. “Somehow I doubt that.”

My stupid stomach did a flip. But just as I was about to no doubt make a fool of myself, the teacher walked in.

“Alright, settle down!” The teacher said, slamming his books on the podium. Then his eyes flicked to me.

Oh god no.

I resisted the urge to shrink into my seat as the stranger beside me settled back into the sleeping position. The teacher, for some reason, didn’t pay him any mind. No teacher at my old school would’ve tolerated that.

“Since we have a new student, we’ll be going over our curriculum for the semester.”

The class collectively groaned and once again, I felt like being anywhere else than here. I didn’t know how much time had passed. The rest of my classes dragged painfully along but I could only think of one thing.

Stacy.

Bullies like that made my skin crawl. People who had no idea what the story actually was. People who jumped into conclusions and let their twisted judgement get the best of them.

I couldn’t stand it.

And unfortunately I wasn’t a very forgiving person. So the moment I stepped into the school cafeteria, I scanned the tables until my eyes caught Diane.

She was already waving for me to sit beside her, shoving the girl who was already occupying the spot. I hid my grimace and made my way to them.

“So,” she said way too loudly. “How are you enjoying our little old town school?”

I shrugged, placing my tray on the table. “It’s… promising.”

She flashed me a tight smile. “Not up to your standards?”

Her friend jumped in before I could say anything. “Of course it isn’t. I can only imagine giving up city life for the fuckass town.” She stretched her hand out eagerly. “I’m Cassidy.” She gestured to the other girl stabbing her salad with a fork. “That’s Gretchen.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said slowly. “I’m Valerie-“

“Moretti?” She provided, then giggled. “I know. I’ve been your follower ever since you did that tour in Venice.”

My stomach turned and suddenly the food in front of me looked like slop.

“Can you be more obvious?” Diane didn’t bother hiding her growing annoyance. “You acting like you met a celebrity.”

Cassidy ignored her. “I just want to let you know that the justice system is messed up and I’m certain all of this is just a big misunderstanding.”

Someone wake up from this nightmare.

Gretchen finally looked up from, her gaze bounced off the three of us, then settled on Cassidy. “She’s uncomfortable. Stop with the twenty questions.”

Cassidy let out an awkward chuckle, then thankfully retracted. But my appetite was already ruined. They spent the rest of lunch talking about the seniors party and who was who.

I wanted to ask about the stranger, but slowly came to the realization that I didn’t know his name.

“Can you believe Tyler dumped Stacy?” Cassidy asked in a hushed tone like she expected her to appear out of thin air.

My ears perked up at the name.

Diane looked invested in the gossip. “After she begged him?”

I pretended to be busy with my food but kept my ears open. Apparently the star quarterback had just dumped her the week prior to my arrival. She begged him publicly but he was done. No surprise there.

Then I got a very valuable piece of information that I held onto until the last class drew close. The model and make of her car. So before students started piling out, I slipped out the school and went straight to the parking lot.

My heart wouldn’t stop hammering in my ears as I repeated the words. A black Hyundai. Hyundai…. Black. My pulse skidded to a stop. Found you.

I scouted the area, making sure there were no witness. No cameras spotted. Thank goodness for small town people.

I crouched beside the car, digging into my bag until my fingers brushed against pocket knife I always had with me.

A smile crawled up my face.

My fingers tightened around it. I hesitated, my heart threatening to break from my chest. But in the end, I shoved the metal piece into one of the tires. Satisfaction sizzled under my skin as the hiss of air filled the parking lot.

Music to my ears.

I yanked the knife out. It didn’t budge. My smile fell.