Riley fllushed and seemed like he wanted to say something.

Clearing his throat he said to Alex, "Some of the guys here might give you a weird look, don't let it get to you." 

Alex was a little confused by this statement as nobody seemed to bother Riley but Alex just nodded.

Pushing open the doors Alex looked at the cafeteria, it was a large clean space with large tables in the middle and a few smaller tables on the outside, a sliding door led out to an outdoor seating area.

As Riley had predicted, a few pairs of eyes looked at him as they entered, eyes filled with some kind of emotion that Alex couldn't quite place.

Riley pulled him up to the counter to grab trays and waited in the queue.

Alex settled on some pasta for his lunch while Riley settled on a chicken tortilla and some chocolate cake.

Riley led Alex to one of the outside tables away from the stares he knew would be bothering Alex, he wanted to explain what those stares meant but couldn't without revealing things that he shouldn't.

"Sorry about that, the guys can be a little overbearing and over-protective" Riley apologised.

Alex smiled and shook his head, "It's alright, i don't mind. It's my first day at a new school, people are bound to stare."

Riley smiled gratefully before taking a huge bite of his tortilla.

They ate in silence for a few minutes before Alex plucked up the courage to ask Riley if he wanted to hang out after school.

"First day meeting me and you're asking me on a date?" Riley teased.

Alex flushed a vibrant crimson, he managed to stammer out, "just a hang out with a friend, not a date."

Riley  chuckled, "I'm just teasing you, don't worry about it, and sure, i'm down to hang out, not a huge lot to do in town though." he warned.

After finishing their food, they took their trays back inside, the same eyes watching him.

Alex heard a noise from beside him and was certain that he just heard Riley growl.

Just my imagination, humans don't growl, he thought to himself.

Riley explained that they didn't have classes together this afternoon and asked Alex for his number.

After inputting his number into Riley's phone they went their separate ways for the afternoon with Riley promising to message Alex a time and place to meet up.

The afternoons classes seemed to drag on forever with the exception of history which was Alex's favourite subject.

between 6th and 7th period, Alex's phone vibrated, showing a message from Riley.

Riley: Hey man, wanna meet in the car park after class? we'll decide what we're doing from there if you want to that is.

Alex tapped out a quick reply a small smile on his face before stepping into his last class of the day.

He was happy, it was his first day in school and he'd made a new friend.