Shadows Lurking

September 9th, 2005 - Friday, 6:15am

Spitting out the little pool of blood in my mouth, I wipe at the remaining bits that trickle down my chin. Kerum has been pushing me harder this week, and I have no idea why. I’m starting to think he might just be in a bad mood because of the Mattheo and Finley incident a couple weeks ago. Mattheo and Finley both got detention for it, but so did the rest of us. We were suspiciously close to the scene; therefore, we were guilty by default.

“That’s enough for today,” Kerum booms from across the field. “Wash up before classes and be back here this afternoon for detention.”

“Yes, sir.” My voice doesn’t even reach a whisper at this point.

The days have been passing by slowly since the incident here on the field. Corey rarely speaks to us, and James seems to be avoiding Mattheo. Mattheo. The guy has been holed up in our room and avoiding classes since it happened. I can’t tell if he’s shaken up about what he did or if he’s just hoping to get kicked out. If he keeps playing hooky, he just might.

Kids whisper discreetly to themselves as I pass by them in the halls. Each one can’t seem to stop going on about Mattheo beating up Finley. I had been told that what he did was a big no-no because of who Finley’s father is. Amaya and Minnie were kind enough to explain that Phineas is an alpha of one of the northern region packs.

The Lycan world is apparently broken up into five regions and we fall in the eastern region. The most respected packs are in the middle region and Phineas’ pack is one of the top ten most respected.

I could care less who his daddy is though. If he bothers Corey again I’ll hit him myself. Something has changed in me, and I’m not even sure what’s caused it. I’ve caught myself watching every now and then to make sure Finley has been keeping his distance from the little brunette. The last thing I want to do is cause more problems for myself, but I also can’t stand the idea of the kid being picked on again. When Finley had looked down on him before, my blood boiled.

And then he said those words; “You don’t have a mommy, do you, Woods?”

Something about that didn't settle well in my stomach and my first instinct was to bash his head in.

I should talk to Kerum or even Dawes about it, but I’m worried that they’ll only push it off as my anger issues when I know it’s something else entirely. If it was my anger causing it, I would've lashed out at one of them, no matter who I was really angry at.

Standing in the hallway now, I glance out of the large arch and notice something strange on the edge of the woods, something out of place. Just where Kerum and I had been training, a shadow-like figure seems to be pulling back into the tree line. Something about the inky smoke tendrils sounds off warning bells in my mind, but after one shake of my head and a blink of my eyes, the smoke is gone. The figure is no longer there, and I feel as though I’ve lost my mind. Maybe I need more sleep, or maybe Kerum was a bit too rough this morning and knocked my brain loose.

“Mister Evans.” Professor Helman stands to my left now, watching me with careful eyes. The man has been a thorn in my side since I got here. He constantly feels the need to squint his beady little eyes at me or give me unwarranted heated glances. “I would like you to take Mister King his assignments he’s missed this week.” Helman’s dark eyes narrow in disdain, though they are hard to see from the stringy black strands nearly covering them. “And last weeks as well.”

“Sure,” I say while shrugging my shoulders. I take the tall stack from the glaring man and hastily make my way for our tower.

The dorm door is shut tightly, and the room is quiet. Mattheo must either be asleep, or he’s finally left for once. Opening the door, I'm confronted with Mattheo sitting up and messing with his untied shoes, his headphones on and his iPod laid out on the unmade bed. Nicholas had given him the device right before we were supposed to go on our hiking session, but something came up and he had to leave. The look on Mattheo’s face let me know just how honest he was being when he said he never got enough attention from his father. I almost felt bad about feeling relieved that our little hike was cancelled. Almost.

I lift the books and Mattheo takes his headphones off. “Helman asked me to bring these up.”

An notched arched brow is all I’m offered before his headphones are back on his head and covering his ears with those large muffs. Irritation eats away at me. I don’t even understand why he’s being this way. He’s the one who decided to beat Finley up, so he shouldn’t take it out on all of us.

Dropping his books to the floor, I make my way for his bed. He doesn’t even glance at me as I grow closer. His second mistake today, the first one was ignoring me. My hand wraps around his exposed ankle and I jerk him off the bed from the bottom. He barely even has time to yell before he meets the wooden floor at my feet. Headphones are ripped off and slung across the room now as he scrambles to his feet.

“What’s your deal?” He growls out.

“You’re my deal,” I growl back. Two can play at that game. “Quit moping around in bed and go to classes before you get kicked out.”

Verdant eyes widen now as they absorb me before slowly yellowing. “Why do you even care? All you’ve done is complain about how you don’t belong here with all of us. You don’t even want to be here, so why should I?”

“Because-” My throat feels tight now, and I will the words to come out, but they refuse.

Mattheo stands, arms crossed, waiting for a response. “Because why?”

“Because I-” I never knew this would be so hard. The idea of opening up to him, talking instead of hitting someone, makes me feel sick to my stomach. “Because if you get kicked out, you’ll be home alone all the time. And- And I know you don’t like being there because Nicholas is always too busy, so you’ll only feel worse there.”

“You don’t want me to be alone.”

I refuse to look in his direction, knowing he’ll be smirking, and I’ll want to punch it off his face. “No, I don’t.”

There's silence before he finally sighs out, "Alright."

I look at him now, surprised by how easy that was. “Alright?”

“Yeah,” he says. “I’ll start catching up on the work I missed.” He collects his books from the ground. “Thanks for bringing these.”

“Did- Did I miss something, because that was way too easy.”

Mattheo smiles now as he sets his books down. “Nah, it wasn’t easy at all. Not for you anyways.” His eyes catch mine and he holds them. “I know how hard that was for you, so I respect it.”

The silence grows in the room now as I sit on my own bed. He begins shuffling his papers around and opening books. The iPod and headphones still lay on the ground at the foot of the bed. I can barely hear music playing from it, some kind of rock tune that I can’t place. I don’t listen to music much and the guys thought I was an alien for saying it out loud. According to them, music is everything, other than Lycan Lacrosse.

The door to our room bursts open and James comes in with Corey trailing behind him. You can almost see the smoke coming from James’ ears as his blue eyes finally land on Mattheo.

“You-” He points a finger at the guy. “-are done with your little pity-party. You made the choice to beat up Fletcher, so deal with it.” He doesn’t even let either of us speak as he seethes out, “Nicholas has enough on his plate to deal with without you failing your classes and acting like a little baby over something so small, and-” His head tilts to the side now, his finger lowering with a questioning look on his face. “Are you studying?”

Corey shakes his head while mumbling on about how James never listens to anyone. I can’t help but crack a smile now at the perplexed expression on James’ face. I guess he didn’t expect Mattheo to have already changed his mind on sulking around.

“If you’re done lecturing me, Mom-” Mattheo gives him a pointed look before sending me a quick wink. “I already know I screwed up, alright?” He stands close to James now while opening his arms. “Forget Finley. I’m back, baby.”

“You- You’re back?”

“I’m back.”

“As in, like, back?”

“No, as in gone. Yes, as in back.”

Corey steps between them now, a hand on their chests to push them apart. “Okay, girls. You’re both pretty. Pretty dumb.” He turns to face me now and I can feel my chest tightening again. My breathing becomes labored as he sits on the edge of my bed. “Listen, Rylan, I know that what you did for me was a big deal and all-”

“It was nothing.” I try to beg him with my eyes to just leave it alone, but he doesn’t.

“It was something.” He slowly reaches his hand out, as if he’s about to touch a rabid animal. His skin touches mine and that familiar burning sensation spreads from my chest to my entire backside. I want to rip his fingers off, one by one. “Thank you for sticking up for me. The other guys get defensive over me a lot, because, well- I’m not as strong as the others. I'm kind of a wimp. I have no strength, like, at all. It’s not something I can change either, it’s genetic. I had the wonderful gene that puts more power into speed than muscle. You’d call my kind runners.”

It explains why he’s so quick whipped with his sarcasm and humor. The guy could easily get flicked across the room with no sweat from the bully. It might also explain why no one has bothered to officially reprimand Mattheo on what he did to Finley. Everyone must know that Corey isn’t someone who can easily defend himself.

“I’m not saying that I want everyone to constantly defend me, but I know my weaknesses and I know my strengths,” Corey admits. His eyes cast down at where his hand is covering mine. “I don’t like people getting in trouble for my sake, but I know that I would do it for you guys in a heartbeat, even knowing it would hurt me.”

Slowly, the fire inside seems to die out at hearing his confession. I’ve never had that before; someone who would willingly put themselves in danger for me. I’ve always stood up to bullies, but only because there was one at home that I couldn’t stand up to. Amaya and Corey were the first people I ever defended just because I wanted to. The looming dread of what was to come when I got home wasn’t hanging over me during those times. It was just out of pure instinct.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind getting into trouble every now and then. It’s not like I’ve ever had a pristine track record with any of my old schools, so why start now. Really, I would do it again,” I finally admit. “If he says anything else to you, when I’m around or when I’m not, I’ll give him ten times more than what Mattheo did.”

Corey’s eyes widen now, disbelief clear on his face. “Are you being serious?”

I nod. The room is quiet now as the boys take in what I’ve said. I think that’s the most they’ve ever heard me talk at once since I’ve gotten here. The thought makes me realize just how lonely I am at all times. Mattheo is always alone but doesn’t want to be and I choose to be. I would say we’re better off switching places, but I’d never want anyone to live the way I had, not even someone like Fletcher Finley.

The door to the room bursts open again and in comes a seething Percy this time. The squeeze Corey gives my hand doesn’t register much, but the uncomfortableness is still present at having someone touching me. The anger isn’t there though, not as much as it would’ve been before. Progress, I guess.

“Mattheo Penelope King, you get your butt out of bed right now and get back down to class or so help me-” Percy stops himself and now notices that Mattheo and James are currently studying over his late assignments on the bed. His face is both shocked and red, from embarrassment no doubt. “What- Why-” His voice finally squeaks out, “Huh?”

“Is your middle name really Penelope?” I ask Mattheo.

The long-haired boy smiles before shaking his head. “Absolutely not.”

Percy finally looks in my direction and takes in mine and Corey's clasped hands. His eyes grow twice their size. “What all did I miss exactly?”

Corey gives me a small smile and I don’t miss the approving look Mattheo throws my way as well. And for once, I crack a smile. It’s small and it doesn’t reach very far, but it’s still more than I’ve ever offered them before, than I’ve ever offered anyone before. The boys laugh now at the confusion eating away at Percy’s face. Rolling my eyes, I shove Corey towards them and get to studying on my own stuff before the next bell chime, signaling a new class is starting

Friday, 6:30pm

The air has been crisp and cool since lunch but none of the other boys seem to have noticed the change in temperature. Their bodies must be better developed to withstand the cold than mine is. Kerum says that my body will be going through the changes it should’ve gone through when I was younger, but nothing has happened yet. I just feel angry all the time, angry and hungry. I’ve eaten more since I’ve been here than I have in my entire life, and I even gained four pounds.

Maybe being here will help keep me from looking so lanky.

Kerum stands on the edge of the field as we approach him. None of us really wants to deal with detention tonight, but skipping it isn’t exactly an option. Finley stands next to the professor, his face showing no sign of the beating he had gotten, with a smirk on his lips.

“Looks as though he didn’t learn his lesson the first time,” Mattheo grumbles.

James stops walking and grabs Mattheo, forcing him to look the blonde in the eyes. “Do not cause any more problems, Matt. You’re already in enough trouble with Nick. Do we need a repeat of last year when it comes to detention tallying?”

Mattheo’s face is hard, stoic, before finally crumbling under James’ heated stare. “No.”

James finally lets him go and walk the rest of the way to meet the other two. Professor Kerum checks a pocket watch from his pants before placing it back where it had come from. He doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to deal with us right now. Hopefully, after all of this is over and done with, he’ll ease up during our training sessions.

“Alright, now that you four have decided to show up-” Kerum’s eyes train on us as he motions towards the tree line. “-there are some paths that need clearing.” His hands find his pockets and he once again checks his watch before muttering under his breath about being late. “I want three separate groupings to help speed things along. James and Connor are to take the Lethe path. Leslie and Corey can handle Styx, while you three take on Acheron.”

His finger motions towards me, Finley, and Mattheo, and my heart nearly stops. No way is he that dumb. To pair Mattheo and Finley together would be worse than pairing Finley with Corey.

Kerum leaves no room for discussion about the pairings as he says, “Now, listen very carefully, boys. I want no fighting while I'm gone. If I return and find nothing more than three cleared pathways, I shall see to it that all seven of you receive extra assignments and detentions until winter break. Am I understood?”

I nod, even though I know a fight will break out at some point tonight between one of us, if not all of us.

Kerum sighs, clearly not believing any of us, and rushes off towards the front of the school. Whatever is going on is important. A part of me wonders if it has something to do with me, but I’m sure Kerum would’ve said something if it was.

Maybe.

“Alright, boys.” James stretches his arms above his head, yawning in the process. “Let’s get this over with. I’ve got homework to get done. You know, something that none of you bother completing.”

“Homework,” Corey inquires with a smirk. “What’s that?”

“Exactly,” James grumbles. “Come on, Gratt.”

The two then take off for their trail while the rest of us just stand around. Leslie Wilson is the second to break. He grumbles to Corey about needing to get homework done too and the two take off for their trail. Mattheo is stiff next to me, and I understand why. I didn’t like seeing Corey go off alone with him either. The action sent a shock down my spine and caused my insides to tighten.

“I guess we should get started too,” Mattheo says with much reluctance. “The faster we get done, the better chance I’ve got at finishing Helman’s stupid tree distinguishing assignment. I get needing to know different tree types, but a whole paper dedicated to it? Rough, man.”

The three of us head towards Acheron. The trail is known by the upperclassmen as Hell’s Bend. There are multiple turns, all sharp and angled strangely, all throughout the trail. Percy had said that Coach Green has them all run the trail when they miss practices as punishments.

Mattheo is quiet as we work to lift branches and piles of leaves, heaving them off into the dark thicket of woods surrounding us. Finley even seems to not have much to say about our predicament. Normally, the two of them would be at one another’s throats, but it seems that without the other guys around, Mattheo is less defensive. It’s as if he has no reason to be on guard now that James and Corey are off somewhere else, away from Finley.

Branches snap off to the right, just ahead of us, down the trail. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end at the noise. Maybe Corey or James is moving around on their trails a lot and the sound is carrying.

Or maybe there’s something in these woods that shouldn’t be in here.

Shaking my head, I clear negative thoughts. No way should I be thinking that while out here with Finley and Mattheo. My focus should be on making sure they don’t kill one another. Because that’s a real possibility. Despite Mattheo seeming calm, I know it would only take one comment from the blonde to set him off.

Another snap and my eyes are glued in the direction it came from. That one sounded closer. The other two don’t seem to have noticed anything at all though, as if I’m the only one hearing it. Pushing the rest of the brush to the side of the path, I quietly step into the foliage, attempting to get a closer look at whatever is making the noises. Carefully, I make sure to maneuver all the smaller twigs and such. I guess constantly tiptoeing around all these years has given me a slight advantage when it comes to sneaking around.

Stopping just five minutes into my creeping, I now notice that there are no sounds at all. No birds chirping, no crickets, and no wind blowing through the trees. The snapping hasn’t sounded since I started out this way and I can no longer hear Mattheo or Finley behind me. The woods themselves seem to have quieted down. The silence grows eerie the longer I stand here with my breath held, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

The air becomes colder, my breath now forming in front of me when I release the breath I had been holding, and it causes the hair on my arms to rise. A chill runs down my spine and I shudder. Something is happening and I’m not sure what it is, or if I want to know.

There's a monster in the woods.

Yeah, me. I'm the scariest thing in these woods right now.

There’s pressure on my back now, someone touching it, and I whip around as fast as I can to punch the culprit. Knuckles connect with skin and a cracking sound echoes among the trees. Standing with a hand covering his now broken nose, Mattheo glares at me, clearly not happy with being punched by me again.

“Ah, man! Really, Rylan!” His voice is muffled beneath his hand. Small droplets of blood trickle down his chin and onto the leaf covered ground. “What is with you punching first and asking questions later? I could’ve been Corey!”

His words affect me more than I had thought they would. That could’ve been Corey I had hit instead. If I had done that to him, guilt would be eating at me right now, more than I feel for hurting Mattheo. It would take a while to stop reacting like that, but I know I should at least try to contain myself when swinging on them.

“Sorry." The apology is nothing more than a mumble, but at least it came out.

He looks from me to the blood in his hand before wiping it on his pantleg. “It’s fine. Just be mindful of who you’re hitting before you hit. Me? Sure. Finley? Absolutely. Corey or James? Don’t. Got it?”

“Got it.” The words come out as a growl, not liking being told what to do.

“What are you doing out here anyways?” He nods back towards where Finley is most likely cleaning by himself. “We kind of have a job to do.”

Glancing between him and the direction where the noises had come from, I’m now debating whether to tell him the truth. “There was- Well, I, uh- I heard a noise.”

He has a look on his face bordering disbelief. “You heard a noise and decided to what- investigate? That’s how kids get killed out in the woods, Rylan!”

“I’m a Lycan though, remember? Apparently, I’m nearly indestructible.” According to the boys, us Lycan’s are amazingly strong and durable.

“Yeah-” He nods his head with an exasperated sigh. “-nearly! You aren't close to nearly though. You’re not even in full control of your wolf. How could you possibly shift and protect yourself?”

My skin feels tight now. “How do you know about that?”

Mattheo looks nervous now as he stares at me, struggling to find an answer. He finally rubs at his face while groaning out, “Okay, look- It wasn’t my idea, it was all James’, but we may or may not have- No, no we totally did spy on you with Professor Kerum the other day.”

Great. Now they all know just how little control I have. That’s the last thing I need.

More branches snap off in the distance. This time, Mattheo also stares from next to me.

“You heard that, right?” I asked him.

He nods. “Oh yeah, I heard that.”

“No one else is supposed to be out here, are they?”

He shakes his head. “Nope.”

“So, are you ready to forget about nearly invincible and scope it out?”

Without another word, we both walk as stealthily as we can through the foliage. Neither of us seem to struggle with keeping quiet, not compared to the noise coming from the direction we’re walking in. Sounds of crunching leaves, branches snapping, and muffled speech comes from somewhere close.

That’s when the whistle sounds out, ear piercing and long. Both Mattheo and I drop to the forest floor, holding our heads in complete agony. The whistle just keeps going, loud and high-pitched. I can feel claws extending from my fingertips and a new wave of panic hits me. If I shift out here with Mattheo, he might become my second victim.

Briefly looking around for anything to help us, despite not understanding what exactly is going on, I notice curvature markings on the trees surrounding us. Each line is glowing with a faint green liquid. They’re designs that look way too neat to be accidentally or naturally made; a simple curve with two lines in the middle area. Someone carved these into the trees.

Hands grip my shoulders, pulling me until the whistling noise has finally died out. Within seconds my instincts kick in, completely taking over my mind. Turning, I swing on the person shaking me, only for my knuckles to connect with Mattheo’s nose once again.

He drops to his knees, holding his nose as it pours blood. “Come on, man! Again!”

Corey stands just behind him, looking absolutely terrified by what I’ve just done to his friend, and I can’t really blame him.

“S-Sorry for, you know, shaking you like that.” Corey fiddles with his hands now. “You were just so out of it and couldn’t hear us.”

Eyes widening now at the realization that Mattheo took a punch to the face so I wouldn’t hurt Corey, my insides turn sour. I could’ve hit Corey just now, and he would’ve gotten worse than a simple broken nose and some bleeding.

Lowering my fists down to my side, my eyes meet Corey’s. “It’s fine, really. I, uh- I barely noticed. All I could hear was the whistle.”

“What whistle?” James asks, out of breath as he pats Mattheo’s back. “We didn’t hear a whistle.”

“There was a whistle,” Mattheo groans as he stands on his feet. “The trees are lined with Hexen’s.” James looks amazed now as Mattheo grunts out, “Someone was out here marking them with booby traps.”

Corey laughs quietly from behind me. “Booby traps.”

Rolling his eyes, James now looks to the glowing green markings. “Do you think it was student? Someone competing with us for our title of number one pranksters?”

He steps closer to them, ready to touch one, but Mattheo catches his hand and pulls the kid back towards us.

“Doubtful,” Mattheo admits. “No one would be dumb enough to come traipsing through the woods.” He looks behind us now. “Where are the other three?”

Both boys smirk now as Corey hums out, “They may or may not be helping Finley clean up Acheron.”

“How did you manage that?” I ask them.

“We just simply-” James shrugs his shoulders. “-told them that Mattheo would beat them up if they didn’t do it for us without snitching.”

The boys are laughing now, enjoying that Finley is a bit terrified of Mattheo now. They have to know that eventually the fear will be gone and replaced by hate again soon, but until they realize it, I’ll just laugh along with them. Or I’ll at least attempt to laugh. My ears are still ringing if I turn wrong.

The wind picks up a bit and the air drops significantly. The hair on my arms and neck stands once again and I suddenly have the urge to punch someone. I turn to find the green markings still glowing, but just at the base of the trees, something black and vapory begins bleeding into the roots. It looks similar to what my imagination thought up earlier this morning, but it looks more smoke-like than liquid now.

Maybe my head is still off from being tossed around. The loud and awful whistle didn’t help any either. The boys attempt to usher us back towards the trail, but my eyes take a while to peel away from the glowing green markings. Who put them there?

September 10th, 2005 - Saturday, 10:36am

The library is nearly empty, save for a few students shuffling about, and peacefully quiet. I’ve learned that none of the other boys enter this room, steering clear of anything book related unless ordered to. The school has a decent selection of quite a few classic novels. The last one I was at, the one just down the hill, didn’t have anything binge worthy. Most of the students there just lounged around and barely attended classes, but here, it seems like class rotations are like clockwork and usually no one misses them. Mattheo seems to have been the only kid to miss classes and his was basically a little self-thrown pity party.

The doors below my seat on the second level open and close. The chattering of the small group of three drifts upwards and my neck hairs raise. They would pick today to come find me. It’s not even lunch time, so they should have no reason to be out of the room anyway.

Glancing down the balcony to the floor below, I see Corey kicking at a lump in the carpet while James and Mattheo are searching through a stack of books just barely hidden from view near the staircase. Shuffling comes from the left, near Miss Holstead’s office, and Corey quickly rushes the other two along. The old librarian with pinned up grey curls and beady brown eyes behind her metal rimmed glasses has been known for giving out detentions like their candy on Halloween. Her long blue dress is pinned up at the back and her sleeves are nothing more than a pile of white ruffles. She may not look like an evil old woman, but that’s exactly what she is, to anyone who doesn’t respect the books in her horde.

Finally, the three boys take off up the stairs and duck behind one of the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Miss Holstead looks around before grumbling quietly to herself and walking back into her office, locking the door behind herself to keep us children out. I’m more than sure that the three boys muffling their laughter down the walkway are the reasons behind her locking her office. Being the pranksters that they are, I’m sure they’ve put a thing or two in her office when it was left unattended.

“Psst!” It’s nothing to ignore their desperate pleas. “Psst, Rylan! Rylan, is she gone?”

“I have to pee,” Corey whines out.

James now hisses, “I know you can hear us.”

“He probably can’t,” Mattheo grumbles now. “His hearing might still be shocked from that stupid whistle. I know mine is.”

Sighing, I place the book that I had been glancing through down on the table. I’ll never have a moment of peace while in this school. “I can hear you just fine and yeah, she’s gone. Office is closed and locked with her inside.”

There’s a collection of sighs of relief from them before they come tumbling towards me. James holds a bag in his hand, green velvet with two strings hanging from it, tied tightly around the opening.

“What are you up to?” He muses.

I nod towards the bag. “You first.”

He looks reluctant but Mattheo gives him a brief nod and he groans before explaining, “It’s our secret stash, well, one of them.”

“Secret stash?”

“Yeah, we’re planning another prank,” Corey beams. “Want in on this one?”

“I doubt this is something Rylan would care much about,” James retorts. “I'm sure he’s a bit busy with training and stuff anyways.”

“Training-” Corey stares at me now. “What training?”

Mattheo notices the shift in the atmosphere before the other two do and he changes the subject. “You can join us if you want. We’re placing hexstones under Helman’s desk.”

I don’t really know what hexstones are, but a part of me thinks it’s better to just go along with it than question it. I’m learning that if it sounds weird to me that it’s normal to them, and me asking about it will only make me seem more out of place.

“Yeah,” I mumble. “Sure.”

James and Corey snicker to themselves as they rush forward to get to the staircase first. Mattheo gently nudges my arm with his own. The subtle touch isn’t enough to spark a reaction from me, but it still irritates me, nonetheless. Here lately the group of three have been placing small touches on my arms or even shoving me in the halls on the way to class, playfully of course, but the actions are confusing and slowly eating away at my sanity. I don’t know what they’re up to, but I wish they would just stop. Mattheo knows all too well what I’m capable of when someone touches me and I don’t want it.

He doesn’t know you’re a murderer though.

My feet plant themselves into the carpet just inside the library doorway. The thought alone that none of the boys know about what I’ve done makes bile pool in the back of my throat. How would they react if they knew that they’d been sleeping in the same room with someone who was capable of murdering his own father? Sure, I can always say he deserved it, but no one else would understand that.

Not unless I explain the situation to them, and that will never happen.

“Come on, Ry.” Corey lightly grabs the edge of my sweater- Mattheo’s sweater- and begins pulling me towards the hallway. “We have to get there before lunch.”

Corey continues holding the sweater as we turn the corner only to find Amaya and Minnie standing in front of Helman’s classroom. We stop just near the entrance, watching as the tall professor speaks with Amaya and the tall brunette.

“We need to wait for them to move before going in,” James whispers.

“Don’t worry,” Mattheo whispers back. “Porter’s got this in the bag.”

As if on cue, Amaya brings out a paper and the professor examines it before motioning towards another area down the hall. The three of them begin walking off in the opposite direction and Amaya turns to give us a wink. Her pigtails swish back over her shoulder as she turns back and skips along beside Helman and Minnie.

“She’s awesome,” James hums out. “Just awesome.”

“Yeah, yeah. She’s the best thing to walk the earth.” Mattheo pushes past him. “Now let’s get this party started.”