I Saved the Alpha

4~ In the Closet

The next couple days at school were quiet. Sam and I got closer and closer with each passing hour, she even invited me to her family's camping trip on Saturday. We were moving quickly, but have you ever had a friend you knew you were just destined to be with forever?

That was me and Sam.

I sat at our table alone today, though. She had a meeting with the counselor that she insisted she go to alone. Ever since Monday, when she told me about her bully situation, we got her into to see the counselor and decided to have her come every Monday and Thursday to work through some things. Turns out it has been happening since she stopped being friends with some girl named Cecile in eighth grade because she stole Sam's science project as her own. Everyone just stopped talking to her after that, excluded her from everything, and were just mean. It broke my heart that she had to go through all that, but I was here now, and she wasn't about to go through it alone.

So, there I was, minding my own business, about to dig into my chicken wrap I brought from home, when a tray flopped onto the table and a body with it on the bench. I looked up, and almost choked.

"Ok, I just wanted to come introduce myself, not almost kill you." He smiled, a real genuine smile, and it caught me off guard. A smile like that could probably stop a girl's heart.

His green eyes shined in amusement as I hacked the chunk of chicken into a napkin and took a swig of water from my open water bottle.

"Sorry," I began, "I just wasn't expecting it." He shook his head with a smirk, light brown hair flopping across his forehead.

"Well, I didn't mean to scare you, but I'm Kyle." He reached out a hand to shake, my smaller one engulfed in a firm but delicate grip.

"Ariel." I greeted. I winced as we pulled away, a headache suddenly coming on. It was that stupid push on my brain again.

Weird.

Whatever, he was cute. There were more important things than my weird headaches.

"Yeah, I know, you're all anyone's been able to talk about the past few days. The way you totally noodled Lykos, it was awesome!" I shook my head.

"I didn't even know that act had a name, but sure. Any time." He laughed, a row of straight teeth shining down on me like pearls.

"Yeah, and Sam talked to me about what you're doing for her, and I just wanted to tell you that I think it's really cool, and thank you." He grinned and looked down bashfully at his tray.

"Wait, Sam told you about everything?"

"Yeah, I'm her cousin."

"Is she related to everyone in this school?" He chuckled, the sound coming deep from his stomach and making my stomach twist.

"No, just me and Georgie, but our family was one of the founders of this town, so there are a lot of our blood relatives around here. My mom, actually, owns the diner that Sam works at in the mornings and evenings." Gee, how much had she told him about me? "Sam basically tells me everything."

And that answered that question.

I nodded and we both continued eating lunch, a certain pair of eyes on me the whole time we talked. Kyle was cool. I really enjoyed talking to him. He was like a breath of fresh air compared to the other guys here.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

"Hey, I'll walk you to your locker, since Sam isn't here to do it." I chuckled and shook my head as he followed me to the cafeteria doors.

"I can take care of myself you know."

"Oh, yeah. I noticed."

I smirked, walking towards my locker.