Alec's POV

I am sitting on the upper branch of the tree, nearly hidden, just to avoid everyone. Away from these teenagers who are behaving like idiots.

Stupid teenagers.

Even though I am myself seventeen but I never feel like I belong with them. Maybe homeschooling does this to you.

It is just been a few days since we... no, since I moved to this town and I already hate this place.

I should have never agreed to come to this bonfire with Jake. Jake is the guy I met at my father's club. He is a really good boxer and he is not a manwhore like rest of the guys. We mostly train together, so we sort of became friends. Just like me, he has been boxing since he was a kid. The only difference is that I have been training in different fighting styles. After mastering in various fighting styles, now I mostly focus on MMA.

"Hey, Alec, why don't you come and sit with me? I will make sure that you have a good time."

A nasal voice reaches my ears, making me want to strangle this girl.

How the hell she has found me? 

Since the moment, I have come here almost every girl is throwing herself at me. What is wrong with these girls? Do they have no shame?

I glare at the girl who is standing below the tree giving me a seductive smile, then without replying, I look away from her. I hope she will get my message clear and will not bother me again.

As long as I can remember, I have never interacted with any girl. I don't have any problem with girls, but it is just that all my life I am mostly surrounded mostly by guys. The only females I have talked to are my family.

And after seeing these girls, I am glad I never wasted my time.

"Alec, do you want me to come to you?" The girl wearing some shredded pieces of clothes, if we can call them clothes, asks in her nasal tone. 

Maybe I should suggest her to blow her nose so that she can rid of her nasal voice.

"Pull me up." She stands on her toes and stretches her hand towards me, giving me a fake innocent look, "You are so strong, I know you can easily pull me up," she giggles.

Witch, Instead of pulling you up, I will put you six feet under the soil.

"What the hell are you doing here, cursed child?" She says in her cringy voice directed to someone else, "Trying to spread your curse on everyone else," she smirks insulting some girl.

"I was just checking if my spell is still working. Remember I used my Ridikulus spell on you?," That girl answers confidently, "Guess what? It is still doing a great job, Victoria."

My focus shifted on the new girl, I notice she is not dressed up as most of the girls. She is wearing simple faded jeans and sweatshirt, but the confidence which oozing off her is unmatchable.

"I am going to kill you." The witch, whose name I have just found Victoria, screeches and takes a step forward. I ready myself to jump between the girl and her if the witch does something crazy.

"Keep your paws off me." The girl crosses her arms over her chest, "I am against animal cruelty otherwise, by now you would have been sprawled on the ground in a dismantled form," she says in an utmost bored tone, not even slightly intimidated by the witch, who looks like she is ready to kill her.

"Vicky." I hear some other boy's voice, "Come here, babe, don't waste your time with that girl," he says with a distaste.

"Coming, babes," Victoria says over her shoulder to the guy, then she shows her middle finger to the girl.

"Yeah, you can shove it up." The girl tilts her head and lightly laughs mockingly, "It will reach far up then that dummy can ever reach," she says loudly pointing at the guy, who is fuming at her.

My eyebrows shoot up in surprise and amusement, as an involuntary smile stretches my lips. This is the most fun I have ever had, I have never been so much amused by anyone. This girl is something else.

Victoria looks loss at words, so she settles to send a dirty glare which almost looks comical and leaves, not before stomping her foot.

The girl turns to the tree on which I am sitting and absent-mindedly starts climbing it, still unaware of my presence.

Has she really not seen me or is it some other way to get my attention?

Well, she already has captured my attention.

When she reaches just the branch below me, I clear my throat loudly to make her known of my presence. This startles her, her gaze widens in shock, and to my horror, she loses her balance.

Quickly, I lean forward to hold her hand firmly in mine before she can fall. Holding the branch I am sitting with my other hand, I easily pull her up. She tightly holds my hand, still stunned.

"Are you okay?" I ask after pulling her up, as she settles on the same branch on which I am, keeping a distance from me.

"Yeah." She sounds a bit breathless, then she looks down at the ground which is a few feet below, "Apart from nearly dying from a heart attack, I am fine."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," I tell her sheepishly.

"No need to say sorry." She shakes her head, "You saved me from falling, so thank you."

I wait for her to speak something else, but then realize she will not. She adjusts herself into a comfortable position and just stares ahead, completely ignoring me, lost in her own world.

She has hardly glanced in my direction, it is refreshing and irritating both at the same time. Refreshing because she is different from other girls here I have met and irritating because I wanted her attention because I want to talk to her.

I study her face, her features lightly illuminated by the bonfire. Even though it is slightly far away from here, but fire is casting a light yellow glow on her face. There is innocence present on her face, however, her eyes held sparkle of mischief.

We sit there in silence, even though I want to talk to her but then I don't know what should I talk about. I don't want to make fool of myself, so I just stay quiet enjoying her silent company.

She draws a long sigh and checks the time on her wristwatch, then starts to climb down the tree.

"Thanks for saving me again," she says without looking at me, while I also follow her to make sure she reaches the ground safely.

"You are welcome." I jump when I am not far from the ground and stand beside her, as she pats her jeans dusting off some dust.

"Why are you going so early?" I can't stop myself from asking, "The bonfire has just started."

"Umm... I have a flight to catch in one hour." She looks around searching for someone, "And I was not even invited here, my friend dragged me with herself. I didn't have anything much to do, so I thought I should come and piss off some people." She lightly laughs.

"It was nice sitting with you," she says over her shoulder then starts walking to the person she was looking for.

I watch her approaching another girl and saying something to her, then she gives her a tight hug and dashes off from here.

Quickly, I run after her to ensure she reaches safely wherever she is going. It is night, and I don't like the idea of her going alone anywhere at this time. But I know I can't ask her to allow me to walk her wherever she is heading because it will seem weird, as I don't know her. So, it is better to discreetly follow her.

I have to half run to keep up with her, after around five minutes she stops in front of a house. Cleaning her shoes on the doormat, she walks inside the house. All this while I stand and watch her, and leave only when she is inside her house.

Instead of going back to the bonfire, I call my driver to pick me up from here.

I feel like an idiot for feeling protective over a girl, whose name also I don't know, but I can't help it as I have a protective streak. 

My attention snaps back to Avery when I feel her turning on the couch. Immediately, I hold her hand which she was about to hit on the coffee table.

Rubbing my hand on my face to get rid of some tiredness, I stand up gently putting her feet back on the couch. Moving to her side, I carry her and lay her down on the large floor cushion placed against the wall near the couches. Straightening her hand I place a throw pillow beneath it. There is no way I will snoop around her house and look for her room, without her permission. So I will let her sleep in the living room.

Cleaning up, the living room, I put the remaining pizza in the fridge.

Why does she has ordered a large pizza when she can't eat even more than two slices?

This girl loves food but she eats like a bird.

There are some dishes in the sink, so I decided to wash them as she will not be able to much work with one hand. Walking back inside the room, I feel relieved when I find her sleeping in the same position in which I have left. I hope she doesn't punch or kick someone in her sleep, because she will only end up hurting herself more.

After checking the front door and all the windows to ensure they are locked, I walk outside her house through the backdoor and then lock it with the key, which was hanging in the kitchen. Hopefully, they will not mind that I have their backdoor key. I will return it when I will meet her next time.

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