Loving the little one

Chapter 4

Samuel's POV

Alexis was a really nice girl. Despite her being a bit crazy at times, she was the best friend anyone could have. I hope she never finds out about my home situation because even though I just met her I don't want to lose her.

We got an assignment in English that had to be done in pairs. I don't even know what exactly happened but before I could do or say anything, Alexis had made us partners. I was really grateful for that because, well, I didn't know anybody else.

Right now, we were sitting in the canteen. Alexis introduced me to her friend Calum and it was a bit weird, but hey, aren't we all.

And under weird, I mean that:

Walking into the rowdy canteen, I stayed behind Alexis and tried to blend into the background. Quite a hard feat actually because the students quieted down as soon as we stepped in.

All the big and strong looking boys smiled at her, and no, it wasn't the 'looking good, wanna go behind a corner for ten?'. It was more of a 'I'm your big brother and I need to look out for you' smile.

All the nice girls waved at her and smiled, Alexis ever the butterfly waved and smiled back.

Then, of course, all the eyes turned to me because you know, I was practically hanging off Alexis' arm. The boys' eyes narrowed in suspicion and the girls looked somewhat confused.

Of course, there were students who looked bored as hell with the ongoing and others looked confused as hell. Some not so buff boys were even glaring at me, like lions whose food had been taken from right under their noses.

After what seemed like centuries, we reached a table in the far corner, where a boy was already sitting. He had blonde hair and was practically gobbling up the mountain-like pile of food in front of him.

"Calum."

The boy raised his head and I could see a pair of brown orbs, like melting chocolate.

He nodded at Alexis in a greeting as his mouth was still full of whatever he was eating, honestly, he reminded me of a hamster with his cheeks slightly puffed out.

Resting his eyes on me, he swallowed and narrowed his eyes, standing up to an intimidating height. He was, like, almost a foot taller than me!

Alexis cleared her throat rather loudly and that gained the boy's - Calum's - attention again.

"Calum, meet Sammy, he is a new student and my friend." She stressed the word friend and I was delighted to see that Calum was starting to calm down a bit.

Alexis turned to me.

"And Sammy, this is Calum, he's a year older than us but he is a good friend of mine."

I smiled slightly at him and he nodded at me.

I looked at Alexis, a bit unsure on what to do next.

She was already glaring at Calum and if it would be possible for steam to come from her ears like in comics, then it would be quite steamy here.

"Calum how many times do I have to tell you not to eat my food!? It does not matter that I'm not here when the bell rings, you do not touch my food!"

The rest of the cafeteria seemed to be back to normal, students talking and laughing, playfully shoving and nudging each other, couples holding hands and exchanging a few quick - sometimes not so quick - pecks here and there. They were normal people, living normal lives; that was something I always envied them for. They didn't have to worry about whether they will have food at home or not, they didn't have to walk around their own home with fear of another beating waiting for them just around the corner.

A quick nudge from Alexis brought me back to the two now sitting in front of me.

"You alright, Sammy?"

I smiled at Alexis and sat down next to her, nodding my head.

I caught Calum's thoughtful gaze on me but when I raised my eyebrow at him in question he shook his head and went back to eating.

"So you want to come over to my house for the project or go to yours?" Alexis asked me between biting her apple.

"Y-your house is fine." I didn't want her at my house. Plain and simple. It was a complete mess and I didn't want her there when my father came home. Who knew what he would do. No, her house would definitely be better.

"Alright then. We can start today if you want, we can go over to mine after school and finish the project quicker that way."

"Yeah, sure."

Any excuse to keep me from returning home was a blessing. How my father would react, I didn't know, but I decided not to worry about that until later.

"Great! Well, I have to go to class now but I'll meet you in front of the school after the lessons are over, okay?"

"Yeah I'll meet you there."

I had a free period right now so I thought I could search for a library and spend the free time there.

Thankfully, Calum was nice enough to show me the way to the library. I thanked him quietly before making my way into the magical place.

The free period ended pretty quickly and I wouldn't have even noticed the time if Calum wouldn't have come and found me.

I blushed in embarrassment and packed my things into the worn bag, before exiting the maze with Calum on my heels.

Meeting Alexis, all three of us walked through the parking lot, searching for Calum's car.

Not knowing much about cars I couldn't tell more than 'it looks nice'. It did. It was a black pickup and that's all I needed to know about it. Period.

I was sat in the back and Alexis took the passenger seat, messing constantly with the radio.

It seemed that they lived in the middle of the forest because I had seen nothing but wildlife during the last ten minutes.

The house we pulled up to was humongous. Made mostly of wood and stones with big windows, it seemed to fit right into the theme.

There seemed to be other houses a bit further away with small paths connecting the structures. The others weren't as big but just as beautiful as the one in front of me.

Alexis turned to me.

"Oh and I probably didn't mention before but I have overprotective males in my family who like to act all macho but they're actually big teddy bears so don't let them scare you, okay?"

What??