𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐍𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐎𝐍 𝐄𝐅𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓 ━ five hargreeves¹

III│INTERLUDE III: WHEN ALEXA MET DYLAN

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

❛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙ. ʙ. ᴇꜰꜰᴇᴄᴛ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐔𝐃𝐄 𝐈𝐈𝐈 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴀʟᴇxᴀ ᴍᴇᴛ ᴅʏʟᴀɴ ꒱　


❝ ECCENTRIC BILLIONAIRE
& ADVENTURER, MY ASS ❞

▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

2009

Alexa didn't meet Dylan right away after leaving the Academy. In fact, she'd completed two years of community college and was starting her first year at a four-year college when she finally met her best friend. It had been hard adjusting to life outside of the Academy especially in the wake of everything that had happened, but Alexa was known in her family for her positive thinking and creativity so she was able to pull herself together and had settled herself into a steady routine by the end of a year.

Now, she sat in her eight a.m. history class as she waited for the professor to begin. There weren't many students in this section as waking up this early on a Monday morning was not most people's first choice. Alexa, though, had been so used to waking up early due to the Academy that she'd kept up with the tradition, unable to find a reason to waste time with sleeping; after all, she knew better than anyone how precious time was.

There were six people already present, not including herself. Besides that, she didn't pay much attention to what they looked like. As she'd done in community college, Alexa planned to keep to herself and focus on her studies in order to keep moving on with her life. There was no need for friends or other relationships; she had two goals: get a decent job and bring Five home. She was pretty sure the boy would be proud of her for not indulging in something so frivolous as friends.

The blonde was pulled out of her thoughts when she registered the familiar feeling of eyes boring into the back of her head (she could thank Five for that.) She tensed slightly but ignored it, figuring the person would grow bored. However, throughout the hour and a half lecture the feeling persisted. As the students packed up Alexa stalled, not wanting to be pursued in the hallway if someone wanted to talk to her.

She was pulling her books towards her when beige-clad legs interrupted her vision. Her eyes followed the line of cloth to a blue button down shirt and up to a rather square face that held hazel eyes which were covered slightly by wavy chestnut hair. Alexa tensed as the twenty-something year old man smiled at her, looking slightly embarrassed.

She met his eyes critically. "Yes?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "Hi. I. . . I know this is our first class and I don't want this to be awkward—"

Alexa slipped her books inside her bag. "Yeah, well, I think it's too late for that." She fought the urge to glance over her shoulder to watch Five's expression. Even after seven years of his absence it was still hard to remember he was gone.

Pink colored the man's face. "Right. Well, I—"

The blonde zipped up her backpack and stood. "Look, it's early and I skipped breakfast. If there's something you want to say, you've got less than a minute." Alexa knew she was being rude but she had a feeling of what he wanted and she didn't really need him holding her up.

She gave a faintly irritated sigh and pushed past him to walk toward the door while she ran her fingers through her (newly) short hair in an irritated fashion. As her foot stepped over the threshold, the man suddenly blurted out: "I want to take you out!"

Alexa could practically imagine his wince of shame but she couldn't help the smirk that formed on her lips as she turned around. "Well, good luck with that. I'm afraid that will be very hard for you." Then, she laughed. "Look at that, I've made a double entendre!"