Scrolling back up the page, he re-examined the posts to try and focus on mentions or photos of Hannah, Alex or the dreaded Amber.

It looked like she had been friends with Hannah from childhood, and then Alex in school, and Amber a fair bit later. He knew that Amber was older than the others, possibly by a couple of years, so maybe she got to know her through something other than school.

Browsing through the photos, it was strange to see Alex, a face he for so long associated with fairly routine classroom bullying, belittling and teasing, and envisage her as someone who would actually make a stand for him. It was with great trepidation that he saw her now as someone who would help, maybe even a friend, or at least a person he could trust.

She always had an enviable figure, one that he had often glanced at in class when he hoped she wasn’t looking, and inevitably usually was. Many an ‘accidental’ collision or less accidental ‘torment the manlet’ scenario had played out as a result of being caught looking. It was interesting to see that, compared to the other girls, she actually dressed a lot more demurely, when she wasn’t sporting active wear down the mall or her pyjamas at a sleepover or whatever.

She also had a particularly nice smile, which she showed off on a few occasions on nights out, but not as many as he’d expected. He’d rarely seen her smile in person, she had quite a stern demeanour, though that perhaps was more a reflection of how she had behaved around him.

Hannah was Hannah, a bit ditzy and seemingly happy to be there, and Amber too looked as he expected. Her perma-tanned skin and sharp haircut smacked of a girl who knew full well how good she looked to the opposite sex. She was slim and toned, neither too tall or too short to categorise, but with small, slightly narrow-looking features.

As the photos became ever more recent, he could see her position with the group slowly evolve from being merely one of the group to being by Caitlin’s side, or the one closest to her, in nearly every shot.

He knew that the girl had been especially sadistic towards him, which might colour his view of her, but even in these pictures, it definitely looked like she was toadying up to Caitlin, goading her into drinking more when Alex and Hannah were clearly ready to go home, daring her to take sluttier and more provocative selfies… Photos of just the two of them began to appear more and more, at what looked like her own place; a city centre flat presumably.

She rarely appeared in the mall or daytime pictures, but her presence was synonymous with drinking, partying, nights out and getting with guys, a number of whom were pretty stacked, but not quite enough to compare with the Amazonian redhead herself.

Arriving back at the top of the page, he took a dry swallow and loaded up her profile pictures, browsing through a series of either selfies or glamour shots. In a number of the photos she was posing with weights or dressed in her track or tennis gear, which wasn’t entirely surprising given her sporting prowess and good looks. Coming from a wealthy family meant these things were probably more commonplace than he imagined; it was a different lifestyle and a different world for her. Totally unlike his, anyway.

A bit exhausted from researching the subject matter, and from doing something that felt so inherently underhand and a tad voyeuristic, he gave himself a little breather.

He’d spent a surprisingly long time looking through her profile, and it was approaching 11am. The weather had done anything but improve, the spots of rain on the window pane and flailing trees beyond hinted at the blustery, stormy conditions that had set in.

After pouring himself a glass of juice, he put one of his sweaters on for an extra layer. It wasn’t impossible for his mother to return around lunchtime, though it would be unprecedented for her to get the bus back and then out to work again, especially as she had put 6.30 on the post-it. It wouldn’t hurt to stay nice and warm just in case, though.

He picked up where he’d left off, and whilst it wasn’t perhaps the most upbeat or calming way to spend a morning, he continued to delve into the profiles of Hannah, Alex and Amber in search of any information, clues or revelations that might help him avoid the group in future or talk his way out of a potential flashpoint at school.

It was perhaps a way of taking control of his fear, to remove as many unknowns as he could, to grit his teeth and calm the nerves in his heart.

Caitlin scared him, but Amber maybe more so, as an unknown quantity who appeared to be an influential outsider within the group. She seemed calculated, determined, and very deliberate in her friendship with Caitlin, and it wasn’t hard to imagine why. The towering girl was rich, attractive, influential, and about as recognisable and popular around these parts as it was possible to be.

It was a no-brainer that someone like that might attract certain friends for all the wrong reasons…

Finishing his cup of tea, he diverted his attention away from stalking social media, and towards how, and when, he’d be able to fix his glasses.

The cheap second pair he’d lost were bought at the optical department of a nearby discount superstore on the way into town. He was fairly sure the prescription with them would still be good as it hadn’t been a particularly long time he’d had his eyes tested there. Specialist eye doctors for Betas were something of a rarity, other than for very young children of course. It was only a few really large retail chains and older independents that maintained their old or adapted Beta set-ups to sweep up the remaining elderly or typically less well-off customers.

Assuming his details were on the system, he could probably just ring up to order them, but because he couldn’t pay for them online, he’d have to go in person and hand over the cash. That meant he would have to wait until Delon stopped by later, and by then, there wouldn’t be much of a window to go there before his mum came home. That, and he wasn’t sure if he was up for facing the Alpha world just yet.

As he browsed the website to check if his frames were still available, he thought he heard a knock on the door. He stopped immediately, hands hovering over the keyboard.

He swiftly tapped the button on his keyboard that muted the sound, and waited to hear if there was indeed someone at the door.

There was a knock.

He felt nervous, it could be anyone; people ordinarily didn’t visit this house.

It wasn’t an especially loud or heavy knock, so he supposed that whoever it was was probably a Beta.

Building up his courage, and also readying himself to present as a very ill, very bed-bound kid off-school, he slowly got up and walked over to his bedroom door.

There was yet another polite knock, whoever it was was being quite persistent, and no less patient. He figured it could realistically be Delon, off from school at lunchtime, but he would have texted, and his knock was a lot more… boisterous.

The thought had crossed his mind that it could equally be Penny, but then the more paranoid side of him suspected it could also be a trick, a ruse by Caitlin, or even Amber. He was almost certain that neither of them knew where he lived, but it would be foolish to rule it out entirely.

His heart was really starting to really pound as he opened his bedroom door, and cautiously crept through the house to a position where he could peek out through the front blinds without drawing undue attention to himself.

He slowly inched along the window, changing his angle so that he could see closer to the front porch, but still he couldn’t make out the visitor.

As he watched, he saw a giant pair of legs round the corner, and momentarily froze. His initial shock was sudden, and completely understandable, but it quickly became clear that these limbs did not belong to either Caitlin or Amber.

The long, legging-clad legs crouched down and knelt on the grass, and a familiar and very lovely face dropped down into view, looking into the house, but not in Jack’s direction.

Penny squinted in, and held her hand over her eyes to try and aid her vision as she scanned the windows for life. She was wearing a dark brown jacket, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, and her big saddle bag swung down by her side.

She looked concerned, maybe even a little confused, and kept looking at the house uncertainly.

Jack almost keeled over with a mixture of relief, delight, and the sheer swell of his heart.

He tip-toed over to the front door, opened it and stepped out in his bare feet. The front porch was cold, damp and dirty, but he didn’t care one bit.

He called out, in a much feebler voice than he’d anticipated, and hoped, for.

“Penny, I’m here…” his throat rasped, the vocal chords apparently half asleep.

“Jack? Oh good, I was beginning to think I’d got the wrong house!” he heard the gentle giantess respond from around the corner, the warmth of her voice a sweet tonic to his ears.

She came into view, an embarrassed look on her face.

“I’m really sorry, I think I’ve left two divots on your lawn when I knelt down,” she said, brushing her knees off.

“Don’t worry, my parents won’t notice… I hope,” Jack said, his voice coming back to him a little.

Letting the statuesque girl clamber inside, he closed the door behind him and turned around to see her lying herself down on the floor with her long legs stretching back to the tiled area by the welcome mat.

“They’re a bit muddy,” she explained, bumping the soles of her boots together gently, “But anyway, I have something for you.”

He was suddenly very conscious that he was wearing a scruffy pair of jogging bottoms, an old sweater and bare feet, and shrunk slightly into himself, wrapping his arms around his torso as if to cover and comfort himself.

Without ado, she reached into her satchel and produced his little rucksack for him, handing it to him via a long, slender arm.

“Delon said he was going to bring it round after school, but I said I could do it at lunchtime for him,” she explained bashfully, almost embarrassed by the fact she had helped.

“Thank you so much, Penny,” he said, giving her what he hoped was a winning smile and took the bag from her grasp.

He walked into the house a couple of steps to be closer to her body and sat down on the carpeted floor. Reaching into the bag, he began depositing the contents in front of him to check it was all accounted for. Penny wiggled her legs slightly, straightened her arms to rest her palms on the floor beside her and twisted her torso around to look inside the house curiously, much like the first time she had visited.

“I’ll just be a second,” Jack said, conscious that he was basically ignoring his guest. His hands were trembling slightly as he sorted through his things as fast as he could, like he was sitting on the edge of a wave of adrenalin.

“Oh, I’ve also got some money that Delon told me to give you,” she remembered, reaching into her jacket pocket and removing three small notes which she handed to him delicately.

Her fingers were so much bigger than his own, he almost brushed her giant fingertips as he took the money from her grasp.

“That’s amazing, thank you,” he said appreciatively.

“What’s the money for?” she asked inquisitively, then interjected herself, “I mean, if it’s not too rude to ask.”

“Errr… to get new glasses,” he explained, looking up at her, and then forming his fingers into circles and holding them up to his face in a dorky kind of way.

Well, that was stupid, he thought instantly.

“Oh, of course,” she said.

She smiled at him, but it felt like she was holding back, which made him a bit more self-conscious.

She looked down at the ground, and picked at the material of her leggings a bit around the knees, which made her suddenly seem quite apprehensive.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get back to you yesterday,” she announced unexpectedly, almost as if she was nervous to talk to him about it and wanted to spit it out.

“I didn’t have a chance to get to the library, or come over, my parents were being… extra demanding.”

“Oh don’t worry about it,” he said, looking up at her to show her he was being sincere.

“I did want to see you, to check you were ok…” she tapered off, her green eyes burning into his with intensity.

“I’m fine, I duped my parents into thinking I was ill,” he smiled.

“Delon told me,” she smiled back, “But I’m sure you’re still hurting from… you know.”

His smile faded slightly, but he daren’t act on it. She wasn’t trying to be mean, she was being honest with him, and whilst uncomfortable, it was also necessary and valid.

“I’m feeling more human now,” he said, with a very dry mouth, “And as I said yesterday, I can’t thank you enough, for all your help.”

“I’m really glad you’re feeling a bit better,” she replied, crimping the side of her lips into a half smile, but for the most part she still looked more concerned than upbeat.

“Do you want a cup of tea or something, or do you have to get back to school right now?” Jack asked reluctantly, afraid that she would inevitably have to go, especially as she hadn’t ventured much beyond the doorway and it was a bit of a walk back to school.

“Well, I probably shouldn’t stay for long,” she said, looking at him with a muted expression.

“No worries, I completely understand,” he said, inwardly frustrated that he was right, but saying the right thing in spite of how he felt deep down.

She had been generous enough to come round and bring him his bag, it was far more than he would have expected her to do in the circumstances.

“Although, it’s not like I need to go back,” she continued, lighting a little flame of promise inside of him.

“What do you mean?” he asked curiously, trying but not completely able to hide a slight crack in his voice.

“I’m allowed half-days at my discretion, you know, because of my condition,” she explained, her features morphing into a gentle smile as she saw his own brighten slightly.

“I thought I could make it up to you, a bit, for not being able to hang out yesterday.”

“That would be… wonderful,” he stammered, almost rushing his words out too fast, then attempting to disguise the overwhelming happiness washing over him and keep his cool.

She seemed to enjoy his reaction to the news, and it was hard for him to prevent the lightweight feeling of giddiness from rising up inside…