[Alex's POV - continuation of part 1]

  "Weren’t you watching earlier? I did resist!" Otto snaps, jabbing a finger into my chest. "He just pushed me away!"

  I blink down at her, stunned. This reaction is... intense. Fierce, even. It’s hard to believe this is the same girl who let Thomas push her around. There’s something almost proud in the way she’s standing now, even though she’s still shaking.

  "You like him, don't you?" I hear myself ask before my brain can catch up. Her eyes widen, and I instantly regret the words. But the look on her face gives me all the answers I need.

  "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS!" she yells, her voice trembling with anger and something else—shame, maybe? She spins on her heel and storms off again.

  I stare at her retreating, flabbergasted, for about three steps and then call after her: "So let me get this straight! You can yell at me for saying something that I shouldn't have, but you can’t stand up to him? I thought you said he'd never hurt you? What was that earlier anyway? Is it a daily thing for you and him to corner each other in plain sight, for everyone to see? Well, I wish you would chose a more private location next time because I totally got the wrong idea here!"

  Otto halts mid-stride, fists clenched at her sides. Her shoulders rise and fall as she takes a shaky breath. For a long moment, she just stands there, unmoving. Then, turns to face me over her shoulder and speaks. Her voice is so soft that I almost miss it.

  "How can you say all the things out loud that I don’t even dare to think about?"

  I see a tear escape from her eye, but as soon as the tear appears, she turns away and swipes at her face.

  An ice cold feeling of dread nestles in my stomach. Did I make her cry? The thought hits harder than I expect. I’ve never seen a girl cry before—let alone been the one to cause it.

  Otto huffs, clearly dissatisfied with my lack of reaction, and starts walking away again.

  "Wait," I call out, my voice unsteady. Before I know it, I’m standing behind her, gently grabbing her wrist.

  Otto instantly panics.

  "Let go!" she cries, pulling against my grip. Her panic is enough to snap me out of whatever impulse made me grab her in the first place.

  "I'm sorry, ok! I never meant to hurt you," I say loud enough so that I'm sure that she'll hear me.

  She stops struggling, but her posture remains so stiff that it doesn't take a genius to realise that she isn't comfortable with the close proximity at all. I now understand what she told me earlier; "Weren't you watching earlier? I did resist. He simply pushed me away!"

  If quickly release her hand. If it is this easy to overpower her, even for me who has a similar height to her, I understand that she wouldn't stand a chance against a guy who is head and shoulders taller than her.

  "I didn’t mean to hurt you," I say again, softer this time.

  I can feel her eyes on me, but I can't bring myself to meet her eyes. It takes a long time before I hear her mumble: "Apology accepted."

  I blink in surprise. "Really?"

  She crosses her arms tightly over her chest, her expression guarded but calmer now. She nods without looking at me.

  "Thank God," I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. The tension in my shoulders eases slightly. "At this point, I'm no better than that Thomas-guy."

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  Otto’s lips twitch, almost like she’s fighting a smile. "I wouldn’t take it that far," she says, though her tone is reluctant.

  I raise an eyebrow at her.

  "You’re a close second," she interrupts, the faintest hint of humor creeping into her voice.

  I laugh despite myself, the sound bitter but genuine. "At least I know where you’re coming from. I wouldn’t trust myself either if I was standing in your shoes."

  This time Otto raises a sceptical eyebrow at me.

  "No, no, no, no! I'm not saying that I'm untrustworthy! I'm usually very level-headed and reliable. I'm just saying that that must be what you are thinking about me. Which is wrong," I try to defend myself but feel like I'm only making things worse.

  Her soft giggle catches me off guard. I've never heard her laugh genuinely before.

  "Why are you laughing?" I ask in confusion.

  "Sorry... I just thought your nervous rambling was... cute," she says as she quickly holds a hand in front of her mouth and stops laughing.

  My face heats instantly. "You’re mocking me!"

  She shakes her head, but her smirk gives her away.

  "I don't know which is worse," I sigh. "Being thought of as 'no good' or being called 'cute' because I was trying to explain that I'm not 'no good'."

  This time she laughs audibly.

  Somehow, I feel like I should be offended by that fact that she's mocking me, but at the same time I can feel the corner of my mouth pulling up at the sight of her laughing.

  "Look," I say, growing serious again. "I know you don't trust me, and we might not agree on how you handle Thomas, but know that you have a friend in me. If you ever get tired of fighting off Thomas on your own, know that I'm willing to help. Ok?"

  Otto frowns but says nothing.

  "It doesn't need to be anything world changing… It can be something as small as walking home together," I continue, but feel like I'm acting too pushy.

  "Does that mean you actually live around here?" she asks. I look up at her in surprise. Something feels off about the way she asked it.

  "Yes I do. I live in the third house of the last street. Why?"

  She hesitates for a long time before she answers: "I kind of thought you were following me."

  "If you mean 'following you' in the sense of walking behind you because we were going the same direction, then yeah, I was following you."

  "Uhm… no… not like that," she says while her cheeks turn bright red with embarrassment. "Anyway. It doesn't matter what I thought, because I know it's not the case now."

  "Aha," I say as I collect my thoughts. Did she think that I was following her with bad intentions? Like a stalker? Normally, I would have felt offended, but now that I know how easily girls are overpowered, I kinda see where she's coming from.

  "For the record," I ask. "Do you actually live in this neighbourhood? Or were you just trying to get away from me?"

  "I do live in this neighbourhood. This is my street, actually." Her blush flares up again as she answers my question. I chuckle and pat her on the shoulder.

  "Well, anyway. I'm going home! See you at school tomorrow, I guess," I say as I start walking.

  "Yes, bye!" she says as she raises her hand in greeting and we both leave for home.