Waindale

“Are you ready for your first day at Waindale Academy, dear?” Grandma asks as I enter the kitchen in my spiffy new uniform. I sit down at the table and she places a plate in front of me. “What would you like? Something special for your first day?”

“I can’t eat. I feel sick,” I tell her. “If I eat, I may just vomit.”

“What? What’s wrong? Did you catch the flu? Maybe you shouldn’t go to school today, Wrenley, not if you’re going to be sick.”

“No, no,” I mutter. “I have to go. I just can’t eat. The thought of it makes my stomach hurt.”

Grandma sighs. “Oh, goodness. Will you bring something with you? There are granola bars in the pantry.” I nod and she fetches them. I lift my backpack to my lap and stuff them inside, knowing that I’ll forget they’re there anyway.

“Where’s mom?” I ask. Usually she’s up by now.

“Oh, she must be asleep still. Do you want me to wake her up to see you off?”

I shake my head. “It’s fine. I have to get going anyway.”

I can’t leave before Grandma hands me an umbrella and wishes me well. On my way to the street, I can’t help but think about my mom. Did she sleep-in on purpose? Does my going to Waindale Academy bother her that much? To be honest, I’m not sure why I’m even going there today, not after what happened last night when Adam scared me to death. The thought of seeing him, well, makes me want to vomit.

I can’t go back to the high school, though. I’ve been transferred. I’m no longer a student there. I’ve been uniformed and sent off to the big leagues where I’ll surely drown. Most of the students there are werewolves as Adam said; I’m going to be surrounded by them nearly every day. What am I thinking? This is the worst idea I have ever gone through with, and I once took my fish out of his bowl to watch a movie together. Mind you, I was very young, but at the moment I don’t feel much wiser than I was back then.

When I come up to the Academy, I feel my palms getting clammy. It’s like the first day of school all over again, except this time the school is filled with monsters who wear polo shirts and learn to play tennis.

“Wren! Over here!”

Looking at the parking lot, I catch glimpses of Vivianne and Imogen as they weave through cars. Soon enough the two are in front of me, breathing heavy but bright-eyed.

“Where’s Eli?” I ask.

“Oh, he’s having a bit of a rough time. Having to leave Elara at the high school while he comes back here is causes some problems between them. I think she’s pretty upset,” Vivianne explains.

“She knew what she was getting into,” Imogen says, less forgiving than Vivianne. “I mean, the guy has a mate out there somewhere. They were going to split eventually.”

Vivianne rolls her eyes. “No one said that they’re going to break up.”

“Oh, well, that’s sad. Maybe Eli can stay at the high school with her?”

Vivianne eyes me. “Adam ordered us back here. I mean, unless you want to change his mind. You’re the only one that could.”

I swallow and begin walking toward the main doors. The girls follow suit. “What? Something happen?” Vivianne asks.

“No,” I mutter.

“So you’re fine if we go see Adam right now? We’re supposed to bring you to the dean’s office. Adam will be there.”

I immediately halt. The two girls look back at me. “I can’t,” I tell them. “Fine, you win, something happened. Whatever. I just can’t see him.”

"Well,” Vivianne urges me to continue with the story.

I shake my head. “I can’t tell you. Just—please don’t make me see him.”

“We would be breaking orders,” Imogen says to Vivianne.

“I’ll take the blame,” I offer. “All of it. Blame it all on me, just don’t bring me there.”

“It was that bad?” Vivianne questions and I nod. “Alright, fine. You have to take the fall, though, or we get our heads chopped off.”

“Yes, yes, I’ll take the fall. Hell, just tell him I made you do it.”

Imogen asks, “So what do we do now? We were supposed to go right to the dean’s office.”

“We can show you around the school,” Vivianne suggests, “we just have to avoid Adam or Dean Murphy at all times.”

“Don’t I have class?”

“Not today,” she explains. “Your schedule is in the dean’s office, so we can’t get it to show you. But we have nearly the same schedules. It’s been set up so either Eli, Imogen, or I am in your classes at all times. You start tomorrow. Today we were just supposed to show you the ropes.”

“Okay, so we can easily avoid him.”

“He can smell her,” Imogen says to Vivianne. “He’ll find us easily.”

“We’ll just have to keep moving, I guess. Don’t get me wrong, we can try to avoid him, but there’s a very high chance that he’ll find you.”

I sigh. “I don’t think he’ll want to see me either.”

“Really? It was that bad? Please tell me. Please?”

Imogen grabs onto her and leads us into the building. I stay behind the two of them, watching as they wave and say ‘hello’ to people they know. Most of these people are surprised to see them back. I’m guessing that they don’t know about me. No one does more than glance my way.

Adam’s scent is here. It’s scattered around, not very concentrated in any direction. Maybe he’s avoiding me as well. Whenever I think back to last night, all I see is his beastly face flashing at me, growling at me, angry with me. The terrible end makes it hard to day-dream about his lips pressing against mine. It was so very short but felt like something of another world.

First, the girls take me to the courtyard. The school building is a large square that’s hollow in the middle. Doorways lead out to a green space with picnic tables and benches and trees to provide shade. Many students are gathered around, chatting and laughing and walking to class. In the center of the courtyard is a beautiful fountain. People sit around it, used to its beauty.

Next is the lunchroom. Long, dark wood cafeteria tables line the room. At the back is a delightful selection of food, much better than the meals offered at the high school. I stare at people’s plates as they walk by. Instead of plastic cafeteria trays, students carry around glass plates and cups with silverware.

“Nice, huh?” Vivianne asks. “Trust me. You won’t be missing Waindale High anytime soon. Sure, being secretary was fun, but here at least I can use a fork and not have it snap in my hand.”

“I’ll catch you guys later. All this food is making me hungry, and I’ve been missing these pancakes,” Imogen says before following the scent of maple syrup.

Vivianne and I make our way to the gymnasium, but while in the middle of the hall, I come to a sudden stop. His scent, it’s getting stronger. “He’s close,” I say. “He’s getting closer.”

Vivianne links arms with me and turns us around. We hurry back down the hallway and through a pair of doors that lead outside. We walk down steps and follow a path toward the tennis courts.

“We should be safe out here,” she says.

I shake my head. “His scent isn’t—”

The sound of the doors opening behind us makes my lips seal shut. We both spin around and watch as Adam stands at the top of the steps, looking down at us. I look away, and he makes his way over.

“Okay,” Vivianne squeaks, “time to take the blame.”

She steps behind me and peaks out like a child who’s about to be scolded. I can’t bear to take my eyes off the ground. Seeing him after what happened—it’s too much.

“I expected you both in the Dean’s office an hour ago. Vivianne, care to explain? Did I not tell you to bring her directly to the office?”

“It’s my fault,” I say, already having the words ready to go. “I made them take me around the school instead. I didn’t want to go to the dean’s office.”

Adam is silent for a few seconds then says, “Vivianne, leave us.”

I clench my teeth and watch as she heads back into the school. She doesn’t leave before giving me a regretful look, though.

Suddenly we’re alone, and much too soon than I would have ever liked. Needing to get away from him, I say, “I have to go,” but before I can walk away, Adam moves in front of me.

“Adam, I—”

“I couldn’t let what was going to happen, happen. You were exhausted, freezing, not in the right mind, as you said yourself, unwell. I wasn’t going to take advantage of the situation.”

Feeling blood rush to my face, I ask, “But why did you change into—into the wolf. Why did you growl at me and scare me away? Yes, I was tired and cold, but I meant what I said. I finally felt that I could share how I’m feeling, and you, you, you tower over me and flash your teeth and—”

“Wrenley—”

“Maybe I was wrong for believing that this could work. It’s my fault. I was beginning to forget about the monstrous part of you. That’s where I went wrong.”

I attempt to leave, but Adam steps in front of me again, this time placing his hands on my arms, containing me. Before I can say anything he says, “I needed control. The only way I could feel in control is if I shifted. You wanted things to be at a steady pace; I couldn’t let it happen. It was a misunderstanding. What you perceived as frightening wouldn’t have been so if—”

“If I wasn’t human? If I were one of you?”

Adam frowns. “You’re nurtured to see us as monsters. The scary teeth—to us, they’re just teeth. I can understand why you would perceive me as attacking you, but in reality, I shifted and it startled you. You ran off and fell. I followed you to make sure you were alright.”

“But you came at my neck. You stood over me.”

“It was to show you that I wasn’t going to hurt you. If I wanted to attack you, I would have. It would have been quick. There would be no chase.”

I take in a breath but find it hard to see the event from his point of view. I suppose he’s right about one thing; if he wanted to kill me, he would have. The thought of how easy he could do it unsettles me. There would be no chase. Those words stick in my mind.

Seeing Adam so often in his human form made his wolf form more and more distant. In my mind, it’s like I wanted to forget that it exists. Maybe the truth is that I wish Adam was human, not that I was one of them.

“I’m sorry I misunderstood you, then.”

“There’s no need to apologize,” he says.

I run a hand through my hair then cross my arms, wanting to say certain things but not knowing how. “I—it’s not just a misunderstanding, though. It’s two different ways of life. We’re so different, Adam. Something you see as completely normal is utterly terrifying from my perspective. I just—it doesn’t seem—”

“What you said last night,” Adam stops me, “the things you said.”

“I said how I felt.”

“It took me by surprise. If what was going to happen, happened, I didn’t want you to regret it later.”

“Okay,” I say softly.

“We are very different, that’s undeniable, but we’re learning about each other. I now know what not to do. And I thought you enjoyed learning about our kind.”

“I do, I just—I didn’t like what happened last night. I don’t want to fear you, Adam. Fearing you—it hurt me.”

He nods. “I know. I’m sorry.”

We stand in silence. He’s stopped me from placing bricks back onto my wall of comfort and safety. These past days have left me wanting to reveal more and more to him, and last night put a roadblock in front of me. But I don’t want to retreat, I want to keep going.

“Let’s continue learning, then. Will you come back tonight? When I’m around you, I’m able to sleep afterward.”

He looks at me, not expecting such a response. “If you want me to, I will.”

“I do.”

“Then I’ll be there,” he says.