Alex is like a prime male hyena—pursued by all the feral females in the pack. For example, Kristen Hadley, despite having a boyfriend, has been staring at him while biting her lips, a typical mating call; even the emo girl, staring at him with a silly smile on her face, shows the early signs of affection. And where do I come in all of this? I'm sitting right behind him!
"Stop staring at him like that! You'll scare him away!" Damien exclaimed, pushing Janis's head toward the desk, earning a scowl from the emo girl who snapped back, "Don't worry, he's not into gays!" But Damien didn't bite the bait; instead, he shook his head, turning to Alex who was sitting beside Janis, "I'm sorry about that, golden boy. She can get weird sometimes," which earned him an elbow jab from Janis.
CHUCKLE
Alex chuckled at this, a little amused by his nickname, 'Golden boy,' "it's fine," he said, turning to Janis, "I don't mind." Janis was a little flustered by his gaze, her cheeks reddening slightly, "Oooh, look at her, she's blushing! Our little Janis is blushing!" Danien teased, which only made the emo girl blush more, "Shut up!" she yelled, causing her best friend to laugh out loud, followed by Alex, who gave her a small smile.
Damien then turned to Alex, suppressing his laugh and introduced himself, "I'm Damien," then pointing his finger at Janis, he added, "This mess here is Janis," which got him a glare from Janis while he just grinned.
"I'm Alex Stinson!" Alex introduced himself to the duo, who smiled back at him, "So, Golden boy, where are you—"
"I'm Cady!"
The trio went still, snapping their heads at once towards Cady, flustering the ginger. She tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why Janis was staring at her with narrowed eyes and Damien was giving her an amused smile. Weren't they introducing each other? she wondered.
But then, "Hello Cady, nice to meet you," Alex greeted her back, extending his hand towards her for a shake, while his blue eyes shone brightly (at least to her). She grabbed his hand, "Y-you too," she replied with a nervous smile while Damien's gaze went back and forth between the beaming Cady and a frowning Janis, his smile widening with each second, "Looks like you've got competition," he whispered, leaning towards Janis, and got a reply of "shut up!"
"Soo, Golden boy, as I was about to ask before I got interrupted by our Cady here," Damien said, eyeing Cady, "Where you from?"
"New York!" Alex answered, turning to Damien. "My mother moved here for work so," he added, earning a nod from Damien and Janis, "Well, if you need any help—just don't ask Janis! One smile from you and she might chain you and feed you some weird love potions!"
"Alright, I've had enough of this!" Janis yelled, throwing a punch at Damien, who quickly dodged but couldn't really get away from the second one she threw at him. Watching this, Cady's mind whirled, her imagination kicking in, 'They seem like the grey parrots of Africa; they bicker and tease each other to deepen their bond.'
Alex too watched the duo's fighting with interest; then suddenly, a quick glint passed through his eyes while his smile turned into a sly smirk, "Well, I don't think I'd mind."
The duo froze; Janis' punch hung mid-air while Damien leaned back into his chair, lifting his hands for defence, but, "W-What….?" Janis glitched, her face turned to Alex, her cheeks ripening like a red tomato. Damien too turned to Alex, a little surprised by his comment, but one look at him was enough for him to understand he was teasing her.
And of course, why would he leave this opportunity, so he leaned in close, his smile turning devilish, "hear that, Janis? He says he doesn't mind," he whispered in her ear, which made the poor girl blush harder, but he wasn't done yet; he further lowered his voice, "so, what are you going to do to him? Will you butter him up, naked, and give him the 'Janis' special love massage' or—-"
But before he could finish his sentence, Janis had glitched so hard that she slumped back into her chair, her face twitching with embarrassment, "Oh noo!" Damien yelled exaggeratingly and began to shake her violently, "Wake up, Janis!"
Alex burst out in laughter, really enjoying the duo while Cady followed with a chuckle, amused by them. But she soon turned to Alex, watching his back with a smile.
The rest of the day was a blur; I got into trouble for the most silly things, it was weird not having adults trust you. But Janis and Damien made things easy between classes, with him teasing her about Alex and Janis only blushed while asking Damien to shut up! Alex was smart; he mostly took classes that I did and always had the whole class' attention, like it was natural for him, like a male lion. And now, it was time for lunch. I wanted to sit with Alex, and so did most of the girls in our class, but before they could ask him out,
"Hey, Cady, why don't you join me for lunch? We're both new here, so we should get to know each other!"
And I was quick to answer.
"Yes…!"