Chapter 4

Aryan-

“You are a lifesaver!” I rushed forward, once I met Dirk by my car, to throw my arms around him, in a tight hug.

“It isn’t that serious. The damage wasn’t that bad. It was done an hour ago. I just figured I would use the car as an excuse to have lunch with you.” Dirk chuckled.

Stepping back, I didn’t bother correcting him. He knew pretty much everything about me, but he didn’t know about Kierian. Although humans weren’t supposed to know about werewolves, sometimes it was inevitable. He happened to show up at my house freshman year and discovered it by accident.

It wasn’t just him, it was our mutual friend Lilly Montrose, who also knew about it. At first, they had been stunned, but they never looked at me any differently than before. If anything, it only made us grow closer.

“Well, I still can’t repay you enough.” I playfully smacked his arm.

“As long as you have lunch with me, that is agreement enough.” Dirk turned slightly and grabbed a brown paper bag off the top of my car.

“That is a deal.” I smiled brightly, thankful to have a friend like him.

Dirk has always gone out of his way to help me any time I have asked. Knowing that I could count on him for anything, made him a rare friend to have. Sometimes I thought he had a crush on me, but whenever I would ask, he would just laugh and tell me I was thinking too much.

“By the way, how is your first day as a senior going?” Dirk asked, while he dug into the bag and handed me a burger.

“Not bad.” I lied since I didn’t want him to worry. “I am almost ready to start my next phase of training.”

“Your kind doesn’t have an easy life. I couldn’t imagine doing all my schoolwork, and extra just to be able to graduate. High school is hard enough.” Dirk shook his head as he took a fry out of the bag and shoved it into his mouth.

Other than a comment here and there, I would have forgotten that Dirk was human or that I was a werewolf. I knew he didn’t mean to point it out, but it just reminded me that our worlds were far apart. For now, things might be okay, but eventually, I would probably need to cut ties with him.

He knew my plans for the future, which he supported fully. What he didn’t know, is that I couldn’t let him get involved. I knew he wanted to stand by me to help, but there wasn’t much he could do. At most, he would just get fatally hurt.

Dirk might be a great friend, but it made me realize that even if all humans accepted werewolves, they would never be able to stand with us. Our world was too dangerous for them. It would be better if werewolves stayed in the shadows and protected humans without them knowing.

“Maybe, but it is necessary for us. We must be able to blend in with humans but also need to worry about the supernatural side of things.” I shrugged before taking a large bite of the best burger that was in Florida.

There is a shack along the Montecroix Pier that has the tastiest burgers that I have ever had. It was my favorite place to eat. It was where Dirk and I met for the first time. There were a few more days before school started and I went there with my mom.

Dirk had been at the Pier with some friends playing. Since I was a child at the time, I wanted to play with the other kids, while my mother was ordering food. At first, Dirk’s friends didn’t want a girl playing with them, but Dirk said he was the boss and that I could join.

I never thought I would see him again until school started, and he became my deskmate. Since then, we have been best friends. He was more like a brother to me than anything. I have never had any romantic interest in him. Not to mention that I knew Lilly had been chasing him since long before I met them.

“By the way, what are you going to do if you can’t shift?” Dirk leaned against my car as if it were his.

“I will figure that out when the time comes. Either way, I won’t give up.”

Dirk didn’t say anything more after that, as it looked as if he were deep in thought. Every time the topic came up, it always looked as if something was bothering him. I knew better than to ask what he was thinking about because he never told me. He would just end up telling me that it was nothing and then change the subject.

“Oh, by the way, we were thinking of going to the Pier this weekend to have a small party. Some kids from school thought it would be fun to end our summer vacation that way. I know that you don’t attend Milbourne High anymore, but everyone wants you to come too.” Dirk managed to change the subject even though I didn’t ask him what was wrong.

“I will need to talk to my godparents about it, but I don’t see any reason that I can’t go.” I smiled and then took the last bite of my burger.

“Going into senior year without you isn’t going to be as great as we planned.”

“I know, but I had no choice. If I want to take back what my father gave his life for, I need to finish out my time at school learning everything that I can.” I nudged him lightly in the hope he would cheer up.

Before my family died, Dirk and I had been looking forward to senior year. Mainly because we wanted to do something big for Senior Prank Day. It was the one day we were allowed to prank the teachers without getting in trouble.

We started planning it on the first day of junior year. Now, I wouldn’t be able to do it. Grandview Academy didn’t have anything like that; even if they did, it wasn’t like I had any friends to team up with at the school. I missed being able to attend human public schools.

“Well, I need to get to class. We will chat later.” I forced a smile, as I started backing away from him.

“Wait!” He yelled, as he reached into his pocket and then threw my keys toward me.

Catching them, I waved them in the air before hurrying off. Technically I had about fifteen minutes left of lunch, but I didn’t want to talk about things that made me feel sad. I couldn’t lose sight of why I was attending the Academy. It had been my decision to give up the freedom I once had.

Heading inside the building, I saw the halls were still crowded. Not wanting to chance running into Kierian or Liam again, I hurried to my locker to grab what I needed for my next class. Since I had some time before class started, I made my way into the bathroom.

The stalls were all full, except for the one at the end. Entering the stall, I hung my bag on the hook on the door. It didn’t take long to relieve myself, but I decided to take a few extra minutes. After wiping and pulling my clothes back up and tucking in my shirt, I leaned against the side of the stall.

With the thoughts of my old life running through my head, I figured I needed to clear my head before attending class. Taking a minute, I wondered if it was possible to still attend my old high school and do what I needed to do. Since it wasn’t the first time, I had thought about it, it didn’t take me long to reach a judgement.

No matter how difficult it was, this was the only way I could accomplish my goal. With my determination set again, I grabbed my bag and exited the stall. Just as I finished washing my hands, I was reaching for a paper towel when the bathroom door opened, and Brianna walked in.

“Just the loser I wanted to see.” Brianna’s tone wasn’t friendly at all, but I ignored it as I grabbed the paper towel and dried my hands.

“What can I do for you?” I remained calm since I had no intention of letting her have any power over me.

“I already told you, but you didn’t listen. Since you didn’t take my warning seriously enough, about staying away from Kierian, I will just need to teach you a lesson.” Brianna shoved me into the trash can just as I turned to throw away the disposable towel.

Catching myself in time, I managed to not fall completely. With my hand supporting my weight against the wall, I took a deep breath. As much as it irritated me that she put her hands on me, I couldn’t retaliate. It would be her word against mine and I couldn’t afford to get kicked out of school.

Fighting back the urge to hit back, I straightened my spine and faced her. “Liam just bumped into me, and he was apologizing.”

“I am not stupid. You offered to eat lunch with them some other time.” She glared at me with enough hostility that I was sure her wolf was on the verge of coming out.

“It was simply out of politeness, nothing more. I didn’t mean it.” I didn’t know why I bothered trying to explain myself.

“Oh please, do you really think I believe that? No one is as innocent as you claim to be. I bet you even planned it so they would bump into you. Not just once, but twice.”

I didn’t say anything this time because I felt like it wouldn’t matter what I said. Brianna seemed to have made up her mind about me. If I kept my mouth shut, maybe I could keep the situation from escalating.

“You are pathetic. There is no way that anyone would ever take a second look at you. You are trash.”

Brianna raised her hand, but this time I was quick to react. Just as she was about to slap me across the face, I stopped her hand by grabbing her wrist. She looked surprised for a moment, but then her eyes flashed with anger.

“It is time I taught you a lesson about who is in charge around here.” Brianna pulled her hand back and turned to leave.

When the door closed behind her, I let out a long breath. “This is going to be a long year.”

My next class, which was Future Leaders, taught by Mr. Benson, was the only way I would learn what I needed. Although I have been trained to be the Next Alpha, I still had some things to learn. I wouldn’t let Brianna, Kierian, or anyone get in my way.

Not willing to let myself be hindered by what Brianna said, I took an extra minute in the bathroom before walking toward the door. When I tried to open the door, it wouldn’t budge. Letting out a frustrated groan, I already knew that Brianna had locked me in the bathroom.

I could kick it down, but I couldn’t damage school property without severe consequences. Although it hurt my pride, I knocked on the door with my hand a few times and called out for someone to let me out. I did that for almost ten minutes, which made me late for my next class.

When the door finally opened, the school Janitor, Mr. Watson stood in the hall with a worried expression. “How long were you in here?”

Noticing the sign that said ‘Out of Order’ on the door, I clenched my teeth to keep from saying something nasty. I don’t know why Brianna had it out for me, but it wasn’t for anything I essentially did. It was obvious she had some sort of disorder where she only heard what she wanted to hear and not what was being said.

“I need to get to class.” I told the janitor as I rushed out of the bathroom without an explanation.

When I reached the room to my class, I knew I was going to get in trouble when Mr. Benson’s eyes landed on me. He looked annoyed, but to my surprise, he just released a sigh as he pointed toward the back of the room. I always heard he was a little harsh, but it could just be a rumor.

“It is nice of you to join us, Ms. Blakley, if you wouldn’t mind taking your seat in the back row.”

Looking toward the back, I cringed when I saw that the only empty seat was between Brianna and Kierian. Great. This day just couldn’t give me a break. Dragging my feet, I made my way toward the seat and frowned when I saw my last name carved into a gold plate at the edge of the desk.

Both Kierian and Brianna looked at me when I sat down. Kierian didn’t seem as interested in me as Brianna did, as he merely glanced for a moment. Brianna on the other hand was glaring at me.

“Your last name is Blakley?” She whispered in a not-so-friendly tone.

“No talking in my class. Eyes forward or you will sit out in the hall until the lesson is over.” Mr. Benson barked. Maybe it wasn’t a rumor about him being harsh.