Wonder how healthy it is that your mood is now tied to Alex's presence.

Just the feeling of Alex's presence allows you to breathe again - your chest had felt so tight in the moment. Lacie - that was the name of the one who held you down, right? - backs off and joins her counterpart. You now get a good look at Gracie - she's very similar to the other one, but with light hair that's streaked with dark rather than the other way around. Are they related somehow...? They both seem different now they're being watched, with Gracie trembling and avoiding eye contact, and a pallor falling over Lacie's still-unmoving face.

Alex gives them a look, her eyes shooting daggers through both of them. She launches into a lecture that you're too shaken to hear properly. The tone is something you can divine, though - it seems like this is nowhere near the first time she's caught these two causing trouble. You've not taken her for the discipline-oriented type, but that appears to be the role she's taken on.

The two of them scurry off, and now it's just you and Alex. Lacking words or anything more substantial to do, you latch your arms tight around her.

"It's okay, Rosie... I'm here, right? They're not going to hurt you any more. Not while I'm around."

Trying to stabilise yourself after almost experiencing your new world collapsing around you, you somehow find it in you to speak up. "They... called me stuck up. And a bitch. Because I was with you."

The sound Alex made could easily be described as "laughter", but to you it feels dismissive and harsh. There's almost a sense of hatred in it. "I'm not surprised. They seem to think that by giving others the worst kind of ****, they'll be popular. Well, joke's on them. No one likes them."

"You've... seen them before?"

"Oh, could you tell? Honestly, I'm tired of them." Her voice is taking on an exasperated tone. "It's only been two weeks with the Tayt twins and I've had to separate them from another girl about every other day. And they weren't with those girls in the fun way either."

Oh, so they are sisters. Good to know.

"But, Rosie... Please, please know this. It's not your fault that they were picking on you. They probably tried to make it like it was your fault... but that can't be less true. You don't deserve it." You feel that familiar peck of a kiss on the forehead, and so much of your body relaxes. "Now, come on! First class is in five minutes, we'd best get there, right?"