SELF-DEFENSE

Rub salt into the wound. That's the term Maxine should have said to herself. Her emaciated body plunged onto the green expanse that became the front door of Hillcester University, after being hit hard in the stomach by one of the tall women, one of the many people who often bullied her.

A Security Guard approached her and cursed her for stepping on the grass which obviously should not be stepped on by anyone. In a hurry, Maxine forced her body to rise — stand up then run before the officer approached while storming her with various words cursing.

With a slow step, Maxine forced both her legs to run down one long hallway with sturdy posts on the left-right towards the only study room in the University building. Looking for her younger brother: Liam, who used to spend the rest of his hours at the venue with his books.

The blond young man with a slight curly blob covering part of his forehead spontaneously lifted his head from the pile of books in front of him. His pair of gray irises caught the figure of the woman he was so familiar with getting hurt here and there, desperately trying to come at him with a shuddering step.

Liam grabbed the books and his bag, then ran up to Maxine who had just lowered her limp-looking shoulders. Liam swiftly lifted Maxine's shoulders —straightening it on the line parallel.

"Raise your head, Max!" 

Liam deliberately took a breath, sweeping his gaze throughout the room, ascertaining the surrounding situation. 

Worried there were a few pairs of eyes to see what Maxine had just done. For their families, lowering the shoulder in such a bad condition is the attitude of a weak person. Liam doesn't want people to look at Maxine as a bad girl. Because in Liam's point of view, Maxine was amazing, it's just that she never showed it in front of anyone else. Hillcester people in particular.

Maxine has always been regarded as a poor girl born into a clan most hated by almost all of the Werewolf Clan across the country, and at the age of more than 17 years, she has not shown herself as the daughter of an Alpha Mother and the late father of a Beta. The weakness is considered to be multiplying.

It's different with Liam, even though everyone knows who his family is, people never look down on him. Even some of them like, adore Liam, also include Liam in the list of men who must be invited when campus holds prom night.

The body is above average height, six feet tall. The sharp gaze of his gray irises, as well as his slanted smile that looked seductive, could not be denied by any girl. Who would dare to reject it? I don't think there is.

"Who’s hit you, Max?" asked Liam, as he pulled Max out of the study room, passing through several hallways to their secret place. Abandoned campus warehouse.

Maxine took a deep breath before finally raising her head, aligning her emerald iris with her brother's gray beads, then patting his wide shoulder in front of her, and said, "turn me into whatever you think is amazing."

A moment's silence. Liam was pensive, thinking of the barrage of sentences that had just slid free from his sister's mouth in a calm-sounding voice. More than any river in any part of the world.

Liam winked at a pair of his round eyes quickly, when he realized the car keys in the denim pockets of his jacket had vanished, along with Maxine's figure having disappeared while swerving at the intersection of the aisles in front of him.

Liam nimbly runs and chases his sister to the spot where their car is parked. He knew he should have done this all the time. Making some changes to Maxine, he and his mother should have done it a long time ago. Although Maxine rejected him hundreds of times.

Liam almost spent half of his mother's savings, to meet all the needs of his sister. For three hours Liam took Maxine shopping, entering one by one shops in the middle of the city. Buy dozens of pairs of clothes, shoes, bags, as well as other necessities.

Now, the two siblings are glaring at the pile of paper bags they brought from shops in the middle of the city.

Maxine didn't even say anything to Liam, but it seemed that her brother suddenly went crazy. Buying her a variety of models of clothes, shoes, and bags, even though the money they use is their mother's money, still Maxine feels everything is excessive.

Maxine dropped her body on a padded mattress with the striped black bed linen. She took a deep breath before finally closing both eyes with her right arm.

"You'll be dead if mom looks at all these... useless things," commented Maxine.

The teak door that covered Liam's bedroom creaked, squeaking with the sound of right knocks that sounded in rhythm with their mother's soft voice.

"This time I was happy when Liam over-used my card," Daniella said.

The blue-eyed woman barged in, then checked the paper bag that surrounded Liam one by one. While Maxine was still reluctant to raise her head or just look, and reply to their mother's words.

If you look more closely, Daniella still seems too young to be called a mother. When wearing a midi dress that makes her look so graceful, Daniella looks more like the oldest sister in a family.

Despite her mid-40s, she still looks so young. Like a young girl who had just entered the number 30 in a matter of years of her birth.

Daniella lay on Maxine's right side, followed by Liam afterward. The two flank Maxine who is still so engrossed in looking for all kinds of silences that so loved more than anything else.

Daniella and Liam wrapped their hands together, hugging Maxine with all the warmth they had. In a matter of five, Maxine opened her eyes, staring at two of the most precious humans in her life in turn.

Maxine snorted, then said, "Can't you guys just change me in my style?"

Daniella and Liam shook their head in a sam harmony. Both gave the same answer. A no. One word that sounds so loud. A strict ban that even Maxine herself is not allowed to argue with in any form.

Without waiting for Maxine's whining reply, Daniella and Liam rushed her to one of the special rooms inside their home. The thing they did before forcing Maxine to try on the clothes was treated all the wounds on her body.

Three days passed, as usual, Maxine did not appear anywhere while she was recovering all the wounds on her body. But that day Maxine came up with a completely another look than usual.

No more large round glasses perched on her nose bridge. No more rotten sneakers that support a pair of her long legs. No more smelly shabby jeans that are allegedly rarely washed, it could be entered into the washing machine only once a year and twice. 

Also, there was no more head bowing, staring at the hem of the shoe as she walked to break up the crowd in the hallway towards the locker. Maxine's style still looks like it used to. Casual, sporty, and feminine mix so perfectly and balanced. 

All the crowds disappeared along with Maxine's presence there. Dozens of eyes were on her. She is now the center of attention of almost all students of all grades. They all showed the same shock. No exception includes Mary.

The girl who always gets the title of Prom Queen from year to year is almost gaping, with her caramel irises retaining as Maxine flashed in front of her. Even her best friend, Sidney, the blonde girl swears at Maxine deliberately turning her head —staring at them even if it's only a few seconds.

Maxim's baritone voice, however, managed to make Mary wince and turn to her right side. For a moment she almost forgot that there was an athletic man who was she adored.

Jeez! Did Max stare at the wolf-less girl? 

Mary hurriedly closed her mouth, as she almost voiced her curiosity to the surface. And once again, Maxim repeats his question that was ignored by his two best friends, as well as his girlfriend: Mary.

"Is she a new girl in town?" 

Maxim's tone sounded calm. He managed to cover up his curiosity, worried that Mary would give an overreaction to his question.

Instead of answering, Mary chose silence. But she has tightened her arms, almost gripping Maxim's left ribs that felt so attached to the surface of her palm.

In this situation, it was Sidney who showed her dominant nature. The blonde girl sprayed her eyeballs while clucking lazily, and voiced a few broken words.

"She's the wolf-less girl," Sidney explained lazily. "She's just getting a huge make-over!"

In haste, Sidney pulls Mary away from her boyfriend, taking Mary through the crowd—infiltrating into a cramped space they call a safe haven.

"Listen, Mary. We have to prank her again." Sidney voiced her impulsive ideas again, as usual.

Of course, what Sidney said was true. Mary even feels threatened, when she sees Maxim looks a little curious when he tells her about who Maxine is.

"Call the useless Hybrid, then tell her to beat up that wolf-less girl!" 

Mary suffocated before then moving to the place where her boyfriend was, leaving Sidney alone in the cramped space they used to share the same annoyance.

While searching for a name in a row of contacts, on her smartphone, Sidney grumbled in annoyance. "Why don't you do it yourself, anyway? Bossy!”

That afternoon, the University cafeteria was quiet. Only a few seats were filled. As usual, Maxine opted to sit apart from Liam, letting her brother enjoy his lunch comfortably with friends his age. While Maxine chose to sit in a seat, holding a metal tray containing her favorite mac and cheese over her thighs, no one was willing to share the table with her.

That afternoon, the weather in Hillcester looked a little grey. The clouds up there looked blackened, like drowsy, and almost spilled their water as soon as the petals clenched.

Maxine turned her face away, staring out the window, gazing at the deserted University garden that seemed too deserted. Not as usual. She let out a deep sigh, before finally devouring her first mouthful of mac and cheese with her shoulders slowly descending from wasting her breath in one heavy gust.

Maxine knows where everyone who always makes noise out there goes. She knew they were preparing a plan to make fun of her as they had done before.

Sure enough, a swarm of girls came, approaching Maxine with clenched hands. Like a group of thugs who want to judge their opponents with the guts of a fingernail, because they do not dare to do it alone.

At the same time, Maxim enters the cafeteria with two of his best friends. The three young men shook their heads in disbelief, seeing a group of girls about to interrupt Maxine's lunch.

"Are the people here insane?" Leo almost swears, if only Ivan didn't pat him on the shoulder.

Leo, the tan-skinned young man, almost often saw such scenes during their time as students as well as permanent residents of Hillcester. Even Ivan, the pale-skinned man several times caught the girls who looked like a bunch of thugs were bothering Maxine.

But for Maxim, the scene was the first time he had seen firsthand what his two best friends often reported. He thought, all along, what these two were reporting was just nonsense. A joke that his father often made, when his mother sulked.

Maxim almost ran over, approaching the crowd that was bothering Maxine, even almost spilling her lunch. But, Leo and Ivan restrained him.

"It's not right, but... take a look!" Ivan put his head to the place where the chaos was.

The three young men sculpted as they watched Maxine give a fight—returning the girls' blows, even knocking everything down with the help of a stainless tray in her right hand.

From Maxim's point of view, all of those events appear in slow-motion, such as tense scenes that are deliberately twisted slowly in an action genre film. 

WOW. 

Maxim subconsciously voiced his admiration, as the girl flashed even turned her head and exchanged glances with him for a few seconds.

But the beat of Mary's heels and loud voice managed to make Maxim silence the mouth, also changing the way he looked at Maxine in an instant. Unfortunately, his efforts were too late, Mary had already caught all sorts of admiration, even twinkling his eyes when exchanging glances with Maxine even for a moment.

The scene made Maxine stop her steps, even turning around —staring at Mary while throwing a smile as her emerald iris met Mary's that seemed to be burning with jealousy.

Maxine pointed her right index finger at the spot where the girls who attacked her fell and said. "By the way, thanks for the delivery."

Mary's anger was growing. In that second she almost ran, lunged, maybe even attacked Maxine if a hand did not pull his arm firmly.

With a broken motion, Mary turned her head and looked at the owner of her hands. her mouth was open, her lips quivering as she was about to make a sound. But he immediately clenched it, because Maxim, the one holding him first stopped him —called for a sentence no one ever expected.

"So, you're the one who's been harassing her all this time, Mary?"