To Al's surprise, even when Fred publicly declared that he was siding with Cara and the new kid, there was no outlash against him.
Rather, it backfired. They thought that since they were the popular group, everyone would gravitate to them.
Fred and a few of the other guy's parents were high ranking employees in several companies including the Reyes Group and Laurence Incorporated.
Fred's own father was a department head, he wasn't high enough in the ranks to have seen Ray often, or else he would have recognized Al.
"Shouldn't you be attaching yourself to them?" Cara asked one boy that slid on to their table and sat with them.
"No." The boy said as he offered his hand out to Al. "Ismail."
"Al." He replied as he took the other boy's hand and shook it. "This is my cousin, Eric Sebastian."
Ismail nodded and smiled at Eric.