It was during homeroom that it finally dawned on Paul the consequences of his actions earlier. He interfered with an Alpha. Not only would he incur the wrath of Jill, but without thinking, he broke the agreement with Alice. Now his friends would be fair game. And he started sinking into feelings that he thought he was over. He looked over at Linda and saw her smiling at him. That smile cheered him up a bit. But he was going to have to talk to the three of them about what happened.

After homeroom, Todd was walking down the hall. Paul excused himself, and made his way over to him. He needed to make sure Todd was ok. 

Todd said he was fine. But Paul saw the bruises on his arm. They looked nothing like the bruises on the tweener’s face from the bus incident. These looked different, deeper, uglier. How Todd didn't have any broken bones was a miracle. And if Jill had tightened her grip even in the slightest, he was sure the forearm would have been crushed.

Todd told Paul that his parents were on their way to talk to the principal. They were notified by the school nurse about his arm, and the incident, and wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen again. Todd couldn't remember any time that his parents took an interest like that. But he appreciated it nonetheless.

The buzz around school concerning the incident involving Jill, Todd, and Paul grew as the morning went along. It eventually turned into waiting. Waiting to see how Alice would react. Since she had started going out with the Alpha senior, she had kept a low profile. But everyone knew of the rules she laid down to Paul. Now, everyone wanted to see what she would do.

Paul was already upset about the incident. Not so much for him, but for his friends. He was extremely distracted during his early classes, getting answers wrong to the teachers’ questions. Linda sensed why Paul was upset, and tried her best to calm and reassure him when she had the chance, but she felt she failed.

Finally lunch came. Todd wasn't there. His parents had talked to the principal, threatening to sue if something like that occurred again. The principal assured them that the situation was under control. But his parents didn't really believe him. So they took Todd home for a couple of days.

The four of them sat at their usual table. They had heard Jill had been suspended for three days. But they doubted that would deter her behavior in the future.

Paul saw Alice with her boyfriend, alone, and decided to talk to her. He got up from the table, and made his way towards her. Many pairs of eyes were on him. 

He got to her table, and apologized for the interruption, but he needed to talk to her. Alice looked down at him. Normally, she hated being disturbed, but since she started dating the Alpha known as George, her attitude had changed.

She asked Paul what was on his mind. That caught Paul by surprise. She asked without malice or menace, but respectfully. He wasn't sure he was in the same universe as yesterday. 

But he quickly snapped back to reality and told her that he just wanted to know where he stood. He explained in detail about the incident from the morning, and brought up his agreement and her rules. He wanted to make sure that his friends would be ok.

She looked at him thoughtfully. She told him that she had heard about the situation. And everything was cool. For the first time in his life, Paul couldn't find the words to say. He just looked dumbfounded. But he managed to ask her if she was sure. She said yes. Thinking to herself, she never had any intention of doing anything to his friends. Her respect for him had grown a lot since their first encounter. She was so used to boys of all sizes being afraid of her, that when he walked up to her and her friends and spoke with authority about what she was doing to his friend was wrong, and that he was willing to live by her agreement with no complaint, she was amazed. She couldn't even find Alpha males with balls that big. But she didn't want to show any weakness. When she threatened his friends, it was just a flippant response, and she immediately regretted it. When her friend asked about it later, she automatically said that she expected Paul to obey her rules. And then she thought how stupid that sounded. 

Paul asked her again if his friends would be ok, and again, she said yes. Paul knew that when Alice gave her word, then she meant it.

Before he left, he told her to be careful. This puzzled her. She asked him to be careful about what. Paul told her that the new girl, Jill, had something about her that really rubbed him the wrong way. She had a fixation about tweeners, but that didn't mean she wouldn't eventually turn her attention to the one person in the school that she perceived as a threat. And that person was her, Alice.

Alice told him that she would be fine. And Paul apologized again for the interruption, and went back to his table. Gearge asked Alice if everything was ok, and she replied that it was. 

Paul returned to his table and said that everything would be cool. Alice said that they would be safe. It made him feel like a million dollars knowing that his friends, especially Linda, would be ok.

Linda asked Paul if he wanted to go home with her, and the warmest smile crossed his face. He said he would. 

Paul used a payphone out in the hallway. He had to grab a ladder to use it, and thankfully, school provided them. He called his parents and said he was going to Linda's after school.

When the day ended, it was time to get on the bus. Linda pulled Paul onto her lap again and held him tight. She felt as happy as she ever had been, and was looking forward to being with him in the house while her parents were out.