By the time the bus arrived at school, Paul, with the help of Linda's firm hug, had calmed down to the point of being able to have a normal conversation. There were things in his agreement with Alice that he hated with a passion, but if he could keep his friends from suffering at the hands of the Alphas, then it was worth it.

And he was secretly relieved when Alice and her friends walked right past his seat without so much as a glance at him, Linda, or John. Paul noticed that John looked a little better than he had 15 minutes earlier. John had started dating a girl named Mindy, and being able to sit next to her after what happened made all the difference in the world.

What shocked Paul and Linda the most occured after Alice and her friends left. Everyone knew that they were the first off the bus, no matter what. Even if a kid was about to shit his pants, he still had to wait for Alice.

But when her group left, the remaining students, Alphas included, thanked Paul on their way out for standing up to Alice. Paul didn't know what to say, and thought that if they knew what the situation actually was, they wouldn't be so quick to praise him.

And he was surprised by their reaction. Alice may have ruled his class, or even the school, but she did have traits many Alphas seemed to lack: Honor and integrity. As long as you did what Alice told you to do, and all she wanted was to be left with her friends without disturbance, she left you alone. She always tried to avoid violence. But there were times that people crossed her imaginary line, and that was that. She preferred a more effective way, the humiliation punishment. But rarely did she go overboard. Paul had found out that the tweener who felt her wrath on the first day had gone up to her and said she had nice tits. He thought that would break the ice. Instead, it almost broke his face. 

He couldn't help it if all the other students were intimidated by Alice. He talked to her with respect, but he was not going to let her push him around with threatening postures. And then, it was his turn to exit.

The bus was a little early arriving at school, so there was some time before homeroom. One of Alice's friends asked her why she allowed a puny little Beta boy to talk to her like that. Alice looked at her friend and told her that for the first time since she grew, someone talked to her like a person. She could have slapped him unconscious with no effort at all. But the fact that he was willing to travel to her part of the bus, alone, and face her took courage, which was more than she could say for any Alpha.

Her friend looked at her funny, and was going to say something until Alice shot her a look. The girl thought better of it. And that's when Alice told her that she just proved her point. Her friends could defend themselves if they ever got into a fight with another Alpha. This Beta boy couldn't, but it didn't matter to him. He was going to protect his friends no matter what. And he may be a puny Beta, but his balls were the size of boulders in her eyes.

Her friend looked surprised by her assessment, but Alice made two things explicitly clear. She expected Paul to obey her orders, and he and his friends are not to be harrassed. She asked her friend if she understood, and the girl said yes.

The hallway was quiet, since nobody knew about the bus situation. Linda couldn't get over what had happened. Paul went and stood his ground in front of Alice. And he was under 6’. Here she was 8’, and too terrified to act to prevent John from being dragged from his seat and taken to the back. 

And if something would have happened to John and Paul, especially Paul, she would never forgive herself. She didn't know what Alice and Paul agreed to, but if he was willing to live by it to keep his friends safe, then it must've been bad. 

But the moment he sat down after checking on John made her realize that she had strong feelings for him. He was everything a girl could ask for in a man. He was polite, courteous, trustworthy, courageous, and had a big heart, especially when it came to his friends. 

She didn't think men like that existed. But here he was, in her life. 

When they returned home from dropping Paul off, Stephanie asked Linda to sit at the makeshift table just in the room off the kitchen. Stephanie told that she and her father were talking while Linda was getting smoochy in the back. They both laughed out loud at that description.

But the topic of the conversation soon turned back to what was discussed. She and her father were concerned about the possible escalation of potential violence in school. They knew Paul would do all he could to protect her, but his size against an Alpha or a tweener meant he could do little. 

They seriously discussed her father getting a second job, allowing her to homeschool her daughter. Her safety was their overriding priority. She would be safe, but she couldn't see Paul, except on weekends.

Linda started to cry. The thought of not seeing Paul except on weekends was too horrible to think about. She only met him the day before, but to her, it felt like she knew him forever. 

Linda pleaded with her mother. She could take care of herself, and since Paul was willing to risk everything for her and his friends, she wanted to be there for him. And her crying increased. Her sobbing was becoming uncontrollable. 

Her mother started to cry also. She hated when her daughter cried, and this time it was because of her and her husband. She asked Linda to go to her room, while they talked things over. 

And a good hour later, Victor and Stephanie Mills knocked on the door to their daughter’s room, and entered. They had talked it over. They decided to hold off on any decisions, only to see if Paul truly would be the man Linda said he was. 

Linda started to cry again, except this time, they were tears of joy. She got up off her bed and hugged her parents, saying thank you over and over.

Paul, Linda, John and Mindy made their way out of homeroom. Now there was a definite buzz. Word was spreading like wildfire about Paul and Alice. Was it really true, they wondered?

A couple of tweeners asked Paul. Paul replied that Alice was being kind when she chose to not to react to his behavior. Otherwise, he wouldn't be here. And he kept repeating the same thing over and over. Nobody wanted to believe him. To them, he had instantly become some mythical figure that slayed the Alice monster. If he didn't put an end to that thought, the next time with Alice would be his last.

Lunch time came. Paul noticed Alice was staring at him. Paul tried to signal that it wasn't his fault, but he didn't know if she believed him. 

All four of them sat with Todd. Todd was more chipper than usual, like a shell cracked, and a new person emerged. They talked about what happened on the bus. And four of them were pretty excited.

Linda noticed Paul's expression, which wasn't one of joy, and she asked him what was wrong. Paul looked at Mindy, John, Todd, and especially Linda, and asked them if they truly understood what happened on the bus?

Linda, John and Mindy replied that he got Alice to back down. Paul looked at all of them with a serious look on his face. They immediately stopped laughing. Paul told them the truth. The only reason that he walked out of his confrontation with Alice in one piece is because she allowed him.

Everyone thought he won, but only because she allowed it. He told all of them that Alice controlled the situation so thoroughly that she didn't mind looking like she lost because she knew that she had the ultimate leverage over him. She knew that he cared about his friends so much that she made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that if he disobeyed her orders, they would suffer, not him. 

And with that, Paul stormed out of the cafeteria to cool down. This was his terrible burden. He had to stand by and do nothing while Alphas bully tweeners, or the remaining Betas. He hated it, but there was nothing he could do. He buried his head in his hands and sighed.