The Thief and the Alpha (Book One of the Warrior Series) ✔️

- Chapter 12 -

That night, I got Jaxon to drive me "home", which I told him was one of the many apartment complexes a few blocks away from where I lived. I watched him drive away before walking to where I actually lived, relieved to find that nothing was awry when I entered.

The whole situation with Alexei had put me on edge, and I found it hard to sleep all night. There were too many questions running through my mind to sleep properly, so I decided that instead of wasting time mulling over things that I couldn't figure out, I would do a few more runs in the artistic district.

The streets were still rather crowded, though the crowds that roamed through were much more questionable than they were during the day. Still, I was able to make enough cash to make up for the runs that I had planned to make Sunday morning.

The next morning at school, as expected, Jaxon, Alex, Kasey and James were all waiting for me at the doors again. However, this time instead of ignoring them, I tried to make conversation.

"Hey, Adler."

"Reynolds."

"Yup, that's my last name."

Jaxon smirked. "I think that it would be better if it were mine."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Alyssa Adler? That's some alliteration for you. What am I, a superhero?"

"You are to me."

I rolled my eyes, starting to make my way into the school. Jaxon walked beside me, causing a lot of students to watch in awe. My change in demeanor was apparent, since I didn't push Jaxon away for once, which I guess was big news to the student population.

"So, wanna meet up after school at Java Jones again?"

I considered it for a second. "No. I'm busy."

"Reynolds, you said that you would give me a chance."

"This is me doing exactly that."

The bell rang, causing the rest of the group to split off from us. Jaxon and I both walked to English class, taking our normal seats together at the back of the class.

The first thing that I noticed when we walked into the class was that, for the first time in a while, Mr. Pather was smiling. Not the wistful smile that I had seen him wear multiple times ever since his divorce, but a full blown, eyes bright smile. On top of that, he in the class before the bell rang, and his shirt also looked freshly ironed and dry-cleaned; it was almost as if he was trying to make a good impression on somebody.

I noticed how his eyes kept flickering to the watch on his wrist, despite the fact that class hadn't even started yet. I also noticed how his work bag was slightly more stuffed than usual, as if he had packed an extra lunch. There were no noticeable shapes bulging out of the sides of the cloth material of the bag, meaning that there was probably something wrapping whatever was inside, like a picnic cloth or a blanket.

I smiled. He definitely had a date, most likely a picnic date, at lunch. I recalled how his car was still dirty, meaning that he hadn't thought of what impression that would make on his date.

This implied that he wasn't planning on using his car or showing his car to his date, so it would probably take place on one of the hills out back behind the school field. Far enough from the school that most kids wouldn't venture out, but close enough to get back in time for his block 4 class.

I made a note to check the behaviour of other teachers I saw in the hallway. I was curious to see if he had a date with another member of the faculty; considering how somber his mood was last Friday, he definitely wasn't in the mood to actively search out a girl over the weekend. He was most likely asked out on a date before he left school, then.