ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ✓

F O R T Y - E I G H T

Alexa

I sat alone at my desk in my science class, my head down on my desk. I had finished the day's work and was feeling rather bored. None of my friends were in the class, but at least Ethan, Blake and Ryder weren't either.

"Class, we a have new student, the teacher — Mrs. Rincon — suddenly spoke up, causing me to slowly lift my head up to see the new student that she was talking about.

My blood went cold.

There he stood... the same boy I saw at the trial... the one that was charged for murdering his own parents... the one that acknowledged me in an unsettling way.

What is he doing here? If he committed a crime as big as he did, then shouldn't he be in juvie? Unless, of course, he didn't actually commit such a grave sin and was proven innocent.

I still felt scared.

"Everyone, this is Benjamin Daniels," Mrs. Rincon introduced him. "Treat him as you would want to be treated."

"I go by Benny," the new kid spoke up... and he didn't seem like a criminal, but I'll keep my guard up. Just in case.

Mrs. Rincon nodded. "You may go take a seat next to Alexa. Alexa, raise your head, please."

My luck is so bad, but even so, I raised my shaky hand.

Benny smiled, walked over to me and sat up next to me, causing me to tense up. "Hi," he said. "Your name is really pretty."

"Oh... thank you," I said, and after a slight hesitation I added, "I like your name, too."

"Thanks," Benny said. "Hey, since I'm new, would you mind showing me to my next class?"

I mean, he can't really do anything with teachers and students all over the school.

"Sure. What's your next class?"

"I have history next. Mr. Haynes, I think," Benny answered.

Oh.

"...That's my next class."

"Perfect!" Benny grinned. "That makes things easier, huh?"

"You could say that." I forced a smile.

***

"Here's Mr. Haynes' classroom," I said as Benny followed me, his pockets in his hands. I hope he's not concealing a knife in there — God, I have to stop judging him. It's wrong.

"Oh, Alexa, I really like your hair," Benny said, "It's as pretty as you are."

Against my better judgement, I blushed.

"Th-Thanks..." Did I just stuttered? I did, didn't I? Well, that wasn't apart of my nonexistent plan. Crap.

"Alexa!" came the happy voice of Michael. I turned to see him walking toward me, grinning, with Elliot and Jackson beside him. But he immediately frowned when he saw Benny next to me. "Who's that? That one right there?" he demanded in a childlike voice, pointing his index finger in Benny's direction.

Jackson raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, um, well this is..." I trailed off when I saw Elliot's venomous glare. "....awkward..." I concluded, which wasn't even what I intended to say. I meant to tell them Benny's name.

"Hey, I'm Benny," he introduced himself. He outreached his hand for a handshake, but no one did the same, so he retracted it back.

This is beyond awkward.

"...And your names are?" Benny said when no one had given him their names in return.

Something tells me that I should not mention the fact that he was on trial for something pretty serious, just because these three are already acting a tad weird without even knowing that little bit of information.