Free Welcome to New Haven by Dawn Doyle

you.   You are the resident beefcake round here.   Maybe you just scared her off.”   Ben snorted a laugh that he couldn’t hold back and Alex narrowed his eyes at him.  

    He secretly hoped Holly liked him, but the way she avoided him didn’t make sense if she did.   Ben leant on his elbow and faced Alex, giving him a little ‘stare down’.  
    “What?”   Alex said when Ben pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling.  
    “Nothing, dude.   Absolutely nothing.”   Ben replied before turning back to the teacher.
     
    “I think she’s avoiding me because she doesn’t like me”   Alex said suddenly as they got to their next class.
    “Are you still on that?”   asked Ben, shaking his head.  
    “Why else would she avoid me?   I mean, I spoke to her, and she took off.   She practically ran away from me.”
    “Yeah well, she’s a tiny thing.   Maybe your towering over her freaked her out.”  

    Alex knew Ben was just being a smart-ass.   It was a running joke with them, Alex’s height, because he was two inches taller than the other guys, and he seemed to be more muscular too.   So he tended to look bigger all over.   Ben was closer to his size than Ryan and Kyle, but still a little smaller.  
    “You’re so funny.”   Alex said sarcastically as his so-called best friend cracked up laughing.   “I told Dev that we weren’t going to our table for lunch today.”  
    “Why did you do that?”   Ben asked, confused.  
    They’d always eaten lunch with the girls, until Holly started.   Dev had told him they’d been going out because they wanted Holly to feel completely comfortable with the girls first, before introducing her to the boys.  
    “Because if Holly is avoiding me, then if they think we’re not going to sit with them, which we are , they won’t have to leave.”
    “That’s not cool, man.”   Ben said with a little shake of his head.   “What if it goes completely wrong and she freaks?   Did you think of that?”  

    Alex was ashamed to admit that he hadn’t thought of that.   The only thing going through his head was that he wanted to know what was going on.   If she were there, at the same time as he was, he could find out.   Now, though, he felt like an ass.  
    “No I didn’t. Look, if she’s doing it because she has something against me, then I won’t say any more about it.”  
    Ben pulled his lips between his teeth as if he were stopping himself from smiling, or laughing.   Alex sighed and dropped his head down.  
    “Go ahead”  
    Alex knew Ben was wanting to say something.   Something that would potentially piss Alex off, but Ben would find amusing.  

    “I was just going to say that you want her to have ‘something’ against you.”   Then, Ben snorted a laugh, earning him a glare from the teacher.  
    Alex’s eyes snapped to Ben in surprise.
    That’s exactly what I want  
    Alex’s hormonal teenage brain was completely breaking out from it’s dormancy.
    Well…shit

    As the class came to a close, and lunchtime was upon them, Alex’s heart rate increased at the chance meeting with Holly.   He was to be disappointed though.   He, and Ben, walked outside to see Ryan and Kyle sitting there…alone.  
    “I think your plan backfired dude.”   Said Ben and Alex turned to scowl at him.  
    He’d lost out now, but he would get his chance again. Even if he had to ditch class.   Alex had wondered where those thoughts were coming from, as ditching wasn’t an idea that he would have entertained.   He tried to tell himself that it was because he just wanted to know what was going on, and he would be ‘over it’ soon.
    Yeah right.
    He had a strong feeling that he wouldn’t.   Besides, Dev had said it was just for this week and, of course, he would see her in class on Monday.   Even with the changes, they were both in advanced English so their class together wouldn’t change.  
    Dejected, he took his seat at the table, earning