His innocent weakness

Missy's point of View The bus wheezed to a stop at the edge of Bellwick University, and Missy Rivera sat still for a moment, staring out the window.It was finally here. Her first day. A new chapter.She clutched the handle of her duffel bag, heart rattling with nerves and hope and a pinch of fear.The other students poured out before her, all confidence and laughter. She stepped off last, sneakers hitting the sidewalk with a soft thud.The campus stretched before her like a scene from a movie tall ivy-covered buildings, trees with gold-dipped leaves rustling in the breeze, and students who looked like they'd already found their place in the world.Missy hadn't.She walked slowly toward the dorms, her suitcase rattling on the cracked pavement, eyes darting left and right. Everyone seemed to know where they were going. She didn't. But she held her head high, as her mother had told her: Fake brave until you feel brave.Inside the dorm building, the air smelled faintly of dust, floor p

Missy point of View;The little diner on the edge of campus was warm and noisy, all yellow lights and clinking plates. A bell above the door jingled as Missy, Sienna, and Marco stepped inside.“Booth or table?” Sienna asked, glancing around.Before Missy could answer, Marco gave a short nod toward the back.“They’re already here.”“They?” Missy echoed, brows furrowing.Sienna didn’t reply. She just grabbed Missy’s hand again Missy was starting to notice she did that when things were about to get weird and started walking.That’s when Missy felt it.The shift in air.The heat behind her ears.The heavy weight of someone watching.No several someones.Her steps slowed.They were in the far corner, sitting around a large table like they owned it. Black jackets.Broad shoulders. That same aura of danger that made people whisper and look away.The mafia boys.All four of them.And every one of them was staring.Missy’s fingers twitched, her gaze dropping instantly to the floor. She didn’t

Missy's point of View;She didn’t expect to see him again so soon.But there he was sitting in the back of the lecture hall, dressed in black as always, leaning back in his seat like he owned the shadows around him.Alexander.Missy hesitated at the doorway when their eyes met.He didn’t blink.She swallowed, her fingers tightening around the straps of her backpack as she forced her feet to move.Her steps felt louder than they were.Maybe it was the outfit.A black cropped jacket, the sleeves just a little too long. Blue jeans that hugged her curves specifically her backside which her roommate very dramatically pointed out before she left.“Missy,” Sienna had whispered, wide-eyed, “your ass is ass-ing today, okay? If Alexander doesn’t look, I swear he’s blind.”She’d blushed furiously then.And now, walking into the classroom under the weight of his gaze?She could feel the heat crawling up her neck all over again.She sat next to him because of course every other seat was mysteriou