Chapter Text
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My backpack tumbled to the ground, right where I had intended for it to land. On the chair next to the one I'd claimed as mine at the beginning of the school year.
This Monday morning my table buddy Elizabeth had neglected to inform me of the sudden cold she'd caught at yesterday's overnight party.
Since I didn't do parties I had obviously also been excluded from the morning-after gossip of who'd kissed whom, who'd spilled what and who had gotten absolutely wasted.
Which normally, I'd have been happy about if it hadn't simultaneously left me in the dark about the fact that now I was in for attending a certain teacher's class without my personal attention shield.
Apart from being my best friend Liz was also the most extroverted being I knew. In contrast to my personality, hers was as bright as the sun next to the moon. Our combined presence was obviously good for her grades and good for my anxiety which left me with no qualms about bathing in her shadow.
Because I like boring. I think it's great. Consequently, I genuinely liked that she was attracting all of our teachers' attention but in one class I pretty much relished in the comfort it brought.
The one responsible for teaching economy in senior year is Ms Evans. She's known for being strict and doesn't take shit from anyone.
As my bad luck would have it, every time I was confronted with her stare I found myself in a rather uncomfortable predicament. No matter their nature, the woman's questions always rendered me speechless.
After two months of the same scenario repeating itself time and time again, I had resigned myself to fate and am no longer bothered by the snickers. I simply wanted to survive the year.
Going back, Liz - my favorite ball of sunshine - contributed a lot to my survival which is why I was now officially pissed. Well, more like disappointed and a tad bit betrayed maybe.
Feeling this way, did in no way resolve my situation though.
"Marisa. How about you?" Huh?
As you can imagine... I had no idea what Ms Evans was on about.
I didn't dare meet her eyes and looked at the whiteboard instead.
A cartoon. Of course.
Which topic it revolved around, well, no clue. I scratched the side of my head and furrowed my eyebrows to emphasize my lack of knowledge about the current question.
What the hell did the woman want? Starting a new chapter and giving no hints whatsoever, she should've known her black sheep wouldn't know what to say.
Letting my gaze drop to our last entry, I frantically searched through our last lesson's wording for a piece of the puzzle. Nada. Niente.
That meant I was left with one option. And sadly one only.
Unfortunately for her, I hated guessing games with a passion. She obviously knew what the cartoon entailed. Weren't teachers supposed to like convey us their knowledge?
I despised this kind of teaching style immensely. Especially if it included letting students guess numbers.
Quick side note: The cartoon entailed numberes. Many at that. To top it off they were in percent.
Relative numbers. Fan-fucking-tastic!
"Nothing on your mind?" she probed. I sensed an innuendo but that could've just been me imagining things. So instead I focused on my plan. I'd developed a recipe for emergencies like these which normally did the trick.
The next step of getting through this awkward encounter required me to finally make eye contact. Reluctantly, I did.
Acting ashamed that not one word had wanted to escape my mouth, I shook my head at the woman. Next I fidgeted once, twice, trice... then forced my vision to drop once again. To the ground this time.
"Ok, then..." Ms Evans drawled.
My eyes flickered upwards to check the atmosphere to discover that hers swept the room for the next victim. I exhaled and appreciated the fact that the teacher didn't insist on an answer by me.
"Jennifer. Let's not stagger. What do you think the header says?"
And that was it. The woman wouldn't call on me a second time.
She never did.
Carefree, my brain went back to daydream mode.
Multiple thoughts were running wild. Did she care? Not likely. Did I care?
No. Even if she found my mute self noteworthy, it'd just be a bad entry in her grade register. A mark on paper. Nothing that defined my worth.
As the end of the lesson neared, everyone began packing their stuff. Me too. My genius purely lacked the nonchalant ways my comrades had when putting stuff inside a school backpack.
"Marisa, a word please." Well, maybe she did care.
"Sure," I offered and made my way to her desk. Simply watching her gather up the rest of her things, seemed creepy. So I jumped straight to the case. "Everything alright Ms Evans?"
"No, not really. I've been monitoring your lack of participation for a while now." Her tone was condescending.
I nodded in acknowledgement. "I understand. In the future, I'll be sure to put in more effort, I promise." I forced an easy smile, wanting to seem sincere. I hoped a promise would suffice and she would leave me be.
"That alone won't do."
"Oh."
"Yeah well I already have a solution in mind. We're certainly going to need some time but don't worry kid, we'll make it work. Are you perhaps free right now?" Kid. I despised the word. Especially if it stemmed from her lips, for the woman didn't look a day over 25. I myself was 17.
I believe it best that I mention a very important fact at this point. Just so you know why I'm not even gonna guess the woman's age. I may or may not have neglected to narrate that Ms Evans was a wolf. One of many.
About 15 months ago the sightings of strange animal attacks had experienced a rather sudden and drastic increase. Also, there was tension no matter where one went. Businesses stagnated. Club meetings, shopping sprees, neighborhoods, and even the everyday meet-up with a dear friend turned awkward.
Back then this abnormal state of existence put a lot of people in a state of anxiety. No-one knew why the world suddenly wasn't all that peaceful anymore.
Until the werewolves stepped out of the shadows. Their packs had gone through war because their last king had been murdered in cold blood.
Because the battle for the throne had escalated, the aftermath had become too intense to be kept hidden.
Sure, they'd been living undercover all this time and possessed many means to deceive the public but never had a king of theirs died without an heir claiming the throne.
From what I'd heard, Alphas from all over the world then fought it out on who'd be best suited as his successor.
The real mess though appeared as the fighting came to an end. The new era was in desperate need of new structure - a clear chain of command.
And having to hide meant limited opportunities to sort it out. So they stopped. All at once.
Of course with them being everywhere and anywhere - the business leader boards, the entertainment industry, whole governments - going out into the open caused an uproar.
It died down pretty fast though, since most humans didn't feel like letting go of their friendships. Somehow it became the norm that some of us occasionally bathed in mud.
Long story short, the new alpha got crowned in public, made an agreement with the world counsel and today we're all coexisting peacefully.
"Hey!" I jumped. Evans was waving a hand in front of my face.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes at me. "Incredible. Even if it's just us, you still manage to space out."
"Sorry," I mumbled.
She huffed. "Never mind. The principal just messaged me. Apparently, he's in need of my immediate attention."
Checking her phone she added, "our next lesson will be on Wednesday. So the day after tomorrow, just make sure to stay behind, alright?"
With my best apologic look I reassured Ms Evans. "I'll be there."
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To be continued...