NOAH

Extra: How Ash & Dex First Met

A/N: Time to turn back time...

~ Dex ~

I sped up, tilting my neck sideways a little so I could watch the reflections of the two boys in the windows of the shops I went by. They hurried as well, making sure to keep themselves only a few paces behind me. Now I was sure of it: they were following me.

They kept grinning at my back, their eyes only leaving me to look about every now and then. This had started maybe ten minutes ago and didn't appear like it would end until... What?

They made sure no one was around and attacked me?

My grip tightened on the strap of my backpack, and I had to restrain the urge to try and run away from them.

I had never seen the two before and I had no idea why they'd target me. Maybe it was just a sport to them to torment younger, smaller boys. Maybe they got a kick out of bullying them. Or maybe they wouldn't do anything but chase me for another few blocks, then pass by me, and then I would hear them laughing at my expense.

I was praying for that last option.

Sure, it would be humiliating, but at least things wouldn't get physical. Not that they could right now, in broad daylight, and with grownups around.

My foot collided with an empty can from some unknown beverage, sending the object scraping against the concrete, the noise echoing in the empty alley.

I'd been so focused on the boys that I hadn't been paying attention to where I went, and somehow... Somehow, I'd ended up in the worst possible place to be with those two around. And I knew they were here. I could hear them snickering behind me.

My pulse racing, I turned, my gaze falling on the safety of the sidewalk I'd strayed from, but alas, to get to it, I needed to move through the alley's narrow entrance which was behind the two boys.

They seemed very much alike: in their mid-teens, not very tall, but bulky, like the players of my school's football team. And both snarling predatorily at me.

I gulped, wiping my hands on the pants of my uniform. The two exchanged an amused glance but said nothing. Perhaps they wanted me to speak, but I had no idea what to say. Living in a loving environment in an upper-middle-class neighborhood, I'd never been in a situation like this before. Disagreements with others - yes; afraid things would get violent - no.

I thought about what my friends would do. Both Julian and Caleb - the former especially - would stand up to the aggressors. Julian by straitening his back and coolly staring them down, and Caleb by first trying to calmly talk them out of whatever they had planned.

But I didn't feel like I could channel neither Julian's determined superiority nor Caleb's apparent tranquility in the face of hardship.

I felt more like Caleb's younger brother - Misha: insecure and completely lost at what to do.

But as frightened as I was, at least I wasn't shaking in my shoes. With that in mind, I decided to imitate Jules to the best of my ability, straightening up and loosening my fists.

My attempt at appearing calm, confident, or preferably both, was a complete failure, with the darker-haired boy snorting and the other one right out laughing.

"There you are. I was wondering where you got to." The steady voice came from behind them and a boy closer to my age moved between the older ones until he reached me. He paused before me just for a moment, intense grey eyes conveying something I couldn't decipher, then grabbed my wrist firmly, turned around, and walked towards the alley's entrance. "The others are searching for you too."