7

DEAN'S POV

"This new girl-are you two friends?" Ben watched me curiously as he slid a smoothie towards me.

Ben and his wife were the closest thing I had to parents. I had known them since I was a little boy. They always treated me like I was one of there own- especially after the death of my mother. My father grew distant after that, until he remarried and left anyways.

I slowly sipped on my smoothie. "I don't know. I doubt she would consider us friends." I laughed at the thought of Elettra calling me a friend. I could already imagine the look on her face-she would look repulsed.

Ben paused thoughtfully. "She's a nice young lady, Dean. I quite like her."

I couldn't help laughing. Of course the side of herself that she showed Ben was the polite, cordial side- the one that wasn't really her. She could be nice if she wanted to. It didn't seem like she wanted to very often, not with me at least.

"Yeah," I murmured, grinning faintly. "She's-something."

Something-that she was. She was stron