Chapter 7
The next morning, I drive to school thinking about last night. What is happening to me? Over the last three days, I can't stop thinking about what has been going on in my life. The killings and the whole wolf thing. Who would've thought that shapeshifters actually existed? I thought that only happened in movies and novels.
To think that I would've been able to shift into a wolf seemed kind of impossible a few days ago, but after last night I think anything's possible.
It's hard to believe that Mr. Daniels was one of the victims that's been murdered.
Why was he murdered?
Mr. Daniels was nothing but kind and generous, and he was respected by many students and teachers here. So, what could he have done to get himself killed?
A thought comes to me, what if this was the same person who murdered Anna? It wouldn't make sense because she died over a year ago, and that was a one-time murder, but what if this murderer has been doing it ever since Anna's death.
What's the significance?
As I arrive at school at 8:45, I reach my locker and grab my Biology book. I turn to look up and down the corridor to see the oblivious faces of the students arriving. I can't help but think to myself that they have no idea what's going on around them, but surely by now they must know about Mr. Daniels.
When the bell chimes for 9:00, I head towards my Biology class, and sit in the empty front desk. I place my book, pencil case and notepad on the desk and wait for class to start.
Sam's probably outside playing football right now. She's always been the athletic one out of the two of us. She's the tall, skinny, long legs and the muscular one, where I'm the one that's short with big boobs, but Sam's the one that attracts all the boys in the school. Not me.
I look at the clock and see that it's past nine.
Teachers aren't usually late to lectures so it's kind of unusual for it to happen to Mr Thompson, because he's never late.
At exactly 9:15 the door to the classroom opens and in walks Mr. Thompson with another student.
Holy...
He has a chiselled shaped face with hooded grey warm eyes. Lips full and firm with spotless porcelain skin.
Golden wispy, untamed thick hair, his body tall and lean. He's wearing a denim jacket on top of a white t-shirt.
Skinny jeans and light brown work boots.
“Good morning class, I apologise for being late. I'd like to introduce everyone to our new classmate. This is Max Fields, and he'll be joining our class so please make him feel welcome.”
I hear people talking under their breaths while Mr. Thompson speaks quietly to Max. I can hear the girls fangirling behind me and I can just imagine that every guy in this classroom thinking they've got competition.
“Now, if you don't mind I'm going to sit you next to Alice here because I feel that she'll get you right on track with the work. From now on, you two will be partners from this year on, and it's up to you Max to catch up with the work. I think Alice will be a great partner for you.”
I smile shyly as Max sits next to me. I can't think of anything to say to him, so I just smile instead.
“I'm Max by the way.” Max smiles with the most perfect smile.
I smile back. “Yeah, I gathered that.”
“I'm sorry that I was put next to you. I don't want to cramp your style or anything.”
He's hot and he's got a sense of humour!
“It's fine honestly. I work better on my own but I'm not against helping people to catch up.”
“I promise not to piss you off too much then.” He smirks at me. “But seriously, please tell me if I do because I sort of don't have any friends.”
“I'm quite a patient person so I can take anything.” I clear my throat and take out a pen. I realize Max doesn't have anything in front of him, so I take out a pen and a few pieces of paper for him.
“Cheers.” He takes the pen out of my hand and writes the date on top of the paper.
“So, what brings you to Small Town?”
He doesn't answer me straight away, he finishes writing, puts the pen down and looks at me.
“My mother and I moved here from the States. My mother's job transferred her here and here we are.”
“What's your mother's job if you don't mind me asking?”
Call me curious but what's the harm in getting to know the guy.
“She's a nurse.” He looks back down at the paper and clears his throat.
“No way! My mother's a nurse too!”
He looks from the paper and smiles. “That's pretty cool.”
Just as Max finishes speaking, Mr. Thompson claps his hands to the classroom.
“Right, today I thought we could do something a little different. Now because we have Max here who has just started, I don't think it's fair on him to come to school today to jump right into today's subject, so I'd like everyone to read section A to C and write notes about variations of genetics so that you're all prepared for next week's quiz.”
Mr. Thompson walks up to our desk and looks at the two of us individually, “Now, Alice, I know you've already done notes on genetics and so on, so if you can print out your notes and give them to Max here at some point today, then he'll be sorted for next week.”
He looks at Max. “Other than that I hope you have a good day. Alice here can take you around the campus to see where everything is, and if I remember correctly, you have the gym and basketball at the end of the day. Alice can take you to where that is if it's alright with her, okay?” He claps his hands again, walks back to his desk and starts typing on his computer.
“He can talk, can he?” Max chuckles. “Yeah, he's a great teacher.”
“You like him?” Max raises an eyebrow and I burst out laughing.
I grimace. “Oh god, not like that! It's more of the way that he teaches that makes him such a likeable person. He shows so much passion in his job and you can clearly see that he loves teaching, and to me, that's the way people should be.” I look away from Mr. Thompson to Max and see that he's smiling at me.
“What?” I slowly wipe my nose and fidget with my hair. “Do you think it will be okay if I joined you for lunch?” “Huh? Oh yeah, sure. My friend would love to meet you.” Sam is going to love him!
“Thanks, I really appreciate it.”
Max and I spoke for the whole two hours. He told me about his life in the States and his mum. His mother and father divorced when he was a baby, and I learnt that he's an only child and he used to live in a house right next to the sea. Talking to Max about his upbringing sounds exactly like my upbringing; I'm an only child and I've never known my father.
As the bell goes to signal the end of the lesson, I pack my things and walk out of the classroom with Max. I see Sam sitting on the floor with her headphones on, and when she sees me with Max she stands up with her eyes wide.
“Well hello there, I'm Sam, Alice's best friend.” She licks her lips and not so subtly checks him out.
“Max Fields, lovely to meet you.”
He puts his hands in his pockets and sways on his feet. I look at Sam to see that she's still staring.
Knew it!
“How was football, Sam?”
Sam touches her hair and slowly takes her eyes away from Max to look at me. “It would have been good if our teacher actually showed up.”
“She didn't show up?”
It better not be a repeat of Mr. Daniels.
“No, apparently Mrs. Lewis is on maternity leave so we're not gonna have football for the next few months.” “That sucks.”
“Yeah, well I'm starving and I'm dying to know all about Max.”
I quietly chuckle when I see Sam pulling Max towards the cafeteria, and just as I start to catch up, I see Ryder leaning against the wall staring daggers at me.
After last night, I've got nothing to say to him, but when I pass him without saying a word, I can feel him walking behind me.
“What the hell is your problem?” I turn and place my hands firmly on my hips.
He puts up both of his hands. “I just wanted to apologise about last night.”
“Which part do you want to apologise for? And you're apologising to me a lot lately.”
“I just want to get along with you Alice. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Look, I tried explaining to you about what happened that night, but you decided to cut me off. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's your fault that you didn't get what you wanted. So, for that, you can piss off.”
“Who's the new guy?” I look into his eyes but I can't make out his expression.
“He's new to the school.”
Ryder puts his hands in his pockets. “I saw him walking out with you.”
“What's that got to do with you?”
He clenches his jaw. “I'm not gonna leave you alone. You're gonna need me for the next change, and whenever that is, I'm gonna make sure that I'm there to help you. I don't care what you say, but I'll be there to make sure that you survive.”
I don't get a chance to respond because I feel another presence joining our little conversation. Ryder's head comes up and he's looking sternly at Max.
“Alice, I thought we lost you.” Max pulls out his hand and introduces himself to Ryder. “Hey man, I'm Max Fields.”
Ryder ignores him and walks away.
“What's his problem?” Max watches Ryder as he walks away with a look of confusion on his face.
“Yeah, that's Ryder.” I answer.
I watch Ryder walking towards his friends who are sitting at a bench near the football field.
“Were you two a thing or...?”
“Are you kidding me?” I burst out laughing. “No, we've never been a thing.”
And never will be.
Max and I make our way towards the cafeteria, but as I walk through the doors I can't help but feel like I'm being watched. I stand corrected when I look towards the picnic benches located outside and see Ryder, Bane, Kellan and Silver's eyes on me. Are they worried I'm going to tell Max about them? About what they are? It's not even my secret to tell.
I walk into the crowded cafeteria, and the first thing I smell is all the different foods that have been prepared for us.
I can hear all kinds of chit chattering that are going on around me, I can see people laughing, gossiping, fighting and socializing with each other. I see Sam sitting alone on a circular table texting on her phone talking to God knows who.
I sit next to her as Max sits opposite to me. “It's kinda crowded in here don't you think?”
Max looks around the cafeteria, and I can see on his face that he's taking in the different kinds of cliques in the school.
“It's fascinating, isn't it? How you come to school and figure out where you fit in.”
“Did you figure out where you fit in?” Max smirks at me.
I shrug. “Sam and I don't really fit in with these kinds of people. We figured that out early on when we started school. We're a weird pair as you can see.”
“Really?” Max tilts his head. “I mean what kind of people do you have here?”
I point towards the back of the cafeteria. “At the back is where the jocks and cheerleaders sit. They consider themselves as being the top of the food chain.”
“They think they're better than everyone else?” Max frowns.
Sam puts her phone down and crosses her arms over the table. “To them, we are beneath them and nothing more than dog shit.”
Max looks behind him to look at the jocks and stares for a while. “No one should feel like dog shit.”
Sam snickers. “Yeah, try telling that to them.”
Sam stands and grabs her purse. “I'm gonna grab some lunch and if I remember correctly, it's curry day today which means salad for me. Fucking yay.”
As Sam walks to the salad bar, a few of the jocks from the back wolf whistle. I can't help but laugh when I see Sam turn to the back to give them the middle finger.
“What's that all about?” Max comes to sit next to me.
“Sam used to cheerlead believe it or not. She used to be captain too, but those girls back there didn't want her to be their captain because she got all the male attention from the guys.”
“I thought girls liked attention?” Max nudges me. “Not Sam. She prefers to pick someone that she wants male attention from. She'd rather chase than be chased.”
“What happened after that?”
“All the girls on the team complained to the coach that they didn't want someone they didn't like to be their captain. I mean, if you were a coach what would you do? Keep most of the team happy and get rid of one cheerleader, or keep one cheerleader and the rest of the team quitting?” I shrug. “So, Sam left to keep the team happy. She was kinda upset when she left but then she got introduced to football, and she loves it.”
“It's their loss. And what about you?” “What about me?” I tilt my head and smile. “Do you play football?”
“God no! You'll never see me playing football or anything involving running.”
Both of us are laughing by the time Sam comes back. She looks at the two of us like we're crazy. She puts her tray down and sits next to me.
“What's so funny?” Sam picks up her fork and starts digging into her lunch.
“Max was asking me if I play football.”
Sam starts choking on her food. “Alice playing football? You've gotta be kidding me. You could pay her thousands of money and she wouldn't do it.”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn't wanna play football after seeing photos of you with a red face and your nostrils flaring.”
I will never get those images out of my head.
“Football is an intense game. You either play properly or stay away from the pitch.” Sam turns to Max. “Do you play football?”
He clears his throat. “Not anymore but I used to play.”
“Do you do any kind of sport?” She goes back to eating her food.
“You play basketball, right?” I look at Max to see him smirking at me.
“Yeah, I do.”
“See? I listen.” I pull out my purse and stand from the table. “You wanna grab some lunch with me?”
“Sure.” Max stands from the table and follows me to the line for the hot food.
As we wait in the line together, I feel this shiver down my back and turn to look at the cafeteria door to see Ryder, Bane and Silver walking towards an empty table right next to ours.
They sit down, Silver sits next to Ryder with Bane on his other side. Kellan's nowhere to be seen.
“So, where do they fit in?” Max motions with his head to the newcomers.
“They kind of stick to themselves.” I turn back to look at Max. “But, honestly? I don't know. I mean, it's not difficult to see the goths, the nerds, the skaters and the rich kids, but them? They don't really have a name for themselves, but everyone stays away from them. They kind of have a reputation.”
I doubt calling them the wolf gang would go down well. Both of us have the curry, pay and go back to sit down.
“Right, I've gotta go and catch up on homework before Math starts. You're working tonight are you?” Sam picks up her bag and stands from the table holding her tray.
“Yeah, but I'm only working till six tonight.” I take a sip of my drink.
“Oh yeah, you finish school early on Wednesdays.” Sam pouts. “You lucky bitch, alright see you tomorrow.”
I wave goodbye and pick up my fork.
“I didn't know you worked?” I notice Max's half empty plate.
“Uh yeah, I work at the diner next to the forest.”
“The forest? That's kind of an odd place to have a diner.”
“It's actually a really nice place to work. It's out of the way and most days it's really quiet.”
I start eating my food when again I feel people staring. “I'll come to visit you sometime then.”
As Max pulls out his phone, I turn around and come face to face with Silver.
“Why are you all staring at me?” I make sure to keep my voice low enough so that Max doesn't hear me.
“What makes you think we're looking at your ugly ass? You're nothing special to look at.” Silver sneers.
“Silver.” Ryder warns from beside her.
She huffs, turns around and takes out her phone. “Ryder...”
“Remember what I said.”
He stands from the table and leaves with his Betas in tow. I sigh and turn back around.
“Everything okay?” Max looks at me with concern on his face.
“Yeah, everything's fine.” I stand from the table and grab my bag off the floor. “If you want I can show you where the basketball court and gym is?”
He looks at my half-eaten plate. “You've barely eaten anything.”
“I've lost my appetite.”
We leave both of our trays on the table and leave the cafeteria.
Our school campus is huge and there would be no way in hell that Max could find the gym on his own. I lead him towards the back of the campus where the football pitch and the basketball court is, and see people there already changed for practice including Ryder, Bane and Kellan. I ignore them and move to the door leading to the changing rooms.
“So, here we are. The changing rooms are through there and there's another door on the end leading to coach's office.”
“Thank you so much for this. I know that you've got better things to do.”
I'd rather be here than anywhere else actually.
“It's fine, honestly.” I sigh. “'I'm heading to work now anyway.”
I pull the strap of my bag tighter against me.
What am I supposed to do now? Hug him? High five him? Do a thumbs up?
“Alright, then. See you tomorrow?” I smile, “Absolutely.”
Just as I turn around to leave, I hear Max laughing behind me.
“I would've high fived you if you wanted to.” With a smile, I roll my eyes, and keep walking.