All Chapters of Dear Bully, you are too late : Chapter 11 - Chapter 19

Crossing the Line I barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, Leon's voice echoed in my head. "I'll fix that." The words had followed me all night, refusing to leave my thoughts. What did he mean? Was it another one of his empty threats? Or was he already planning something? Knowing Leon... It was probably the latter. I let out a sigh and dragged myself out of bed. Maybe I was overthinking. Maybe today would be normal. The thought almost made me laugh. Nothing about my life had been normal since I moved into the Caster house. I made my way downstairs after getting dressed. The smell of pancakes greeted me before I even reached the kitchen. "Good morning, sweetheart." Mrs. Caster smiled warmly as she flipped another pancake onto a plate. "Morning, Auntie." "Did you sleep well?" I forced a smile. "More or less." "You look tired." "I couldn't really sleep." "Well, hopefully breakfast fixes that." I nodded gratefully before taking my usual seat. A few moments

By the time the final lecture ended, I was already thinking about leaving campus.Not because I was excited to go home.Quite the opposite.I had been counting down the minutes until I could finally get out of the classroom and forget about Statistics, tutoring, and, most importantly, Leon Caster.I shoved my books into my bag as the professor dismissed us and stood up."Alyson."I turned around.Jaxton was standing beside my desk, holding his backpack."You heading home?""Eventually."He smiled. "Good. Because I have an idea."I raised an eyebrow."That sounds suspicious.""It isn't.""That's exactly what someone with a suspicious idea would say."He laughed."There’s a smoothie place not far from here. I thought we could go for a while before you head home."I hesitated.The thought of spending an afternoon with Jaxton sounded so much better than sitting in a library with Leon while he pretended not to care about Statistics."Okay."His smile widened."Okay?""Okay.""Great. Give m

For the first time in days, I didn't feel like I was running away from something. I sat across from Jaxton at the smoothie shop, staring at the menu while he tried to convince me that the most expensive drink was obviously the best choice. "You're not seriously considering that one," I said. He looked offended. "Why not?" "Because it's almost twice the price of mine." "Exactly. Twice the price means twice as good." "That's not how anything works." "Let me have this." I laughed and shook my head. "Fine. But when you realize it tastes terrible, don't blame me." He grinned. "Deal." For the next few minutes, Leon was the furthest thing from my mind. We talked about school, complained about our professors, and argued over which movie was better between two movies neither of us had actually watched recently. It was easy. Too easy. I hadn't realized how badly I needed an afternoon like this until I was finally having one. Jaxton rested his elbows on the table

I couldn't stop thinking about the note Leon had slipped onto my desk. You're changing, Alyson. I had read those four words so many times that I could practically see them whenever I closed my eyes. I wasn't sure whether I should be annoyed that he had noticed or worried about what he planned to do about it. When the final bell rang, I quickly packed my books and headed toward the hallway. I wanted to get out before Leon could find another reason to remind me about tutoring, but I barely made it past the classroom door before someone stepped in front of me. "Leaving already?" I looked up and found Keena leaning against the wall. "Yes. I have somewhere to be." She smiled. "With Jaxton?" I frowned. "Why do you care?" "I don't." Her answer came too quickly. I adjusted my backpack. "Then why are you asking?" Keena pushed herself away from the wall and walked beside me. "I'm just curious. You've been here for barely any time, and suddenly you're always with him." "He's my fri