Her first day

Avianna's Point of View

"Remember all the things I told you, Avianna. That shouldn't be hard. Also, make sure you tell us if you meet your mate the—"

"Mom, I know. You've been telling it for hours. I get it," I interrupted my mother before she could even go on with her endless reminders about what I should do and what I shouldn't do inside the institute.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm just reminding you in case you forgot."

"Mom, if that's the only thing you've been saying since I'm just packing my things until we're on our way there, how could I forget about it?" I huffed, shifting on my seat to face the window.

"Just making sure. I don't want you to forget about something as important as mate—"

"Mom," I groaned in frustration. "I get it. Okay? You can stop now."

"You have to—"

"Hon, I think that's enough. Avianna already said she understood it," dad finally spoke from the driver's seat, glancing at my direction and sending me a wink which I just chuckled at.

"I'm just making sure, hon," mom said.

"Are we still far from that school?" I asked while glancing at the window.

"Almost there, Av. Patience," mom responded.

There were no buildings on this road. All I can see is large trees spread widely on both sides of this asphalt road we're driving at. It seemed like the school was hidden deep in this forest-like place.

I leaned back on the seat and sighed.

"We're here," dad declared minutes later.

I looked at the windows again and saw that we're entering this humongous, metal gate with a carved calligraphy 'Amaranthine Institute of Werewolves' on top of it.

Dad parked the car alongside some other cars. I quickly went out of the car to look around.

There's not many students lingering near the gate. They're probably at the field or their dorms. But those few students that I saw were looking in our direction, probably curious as to who I am.

"Av, let's go," mom called me. I nodded and followed them quietly towards where the headmaster's office is.

After a few turns here and there, they stopped in front of a large door. Mom knocked twice before saying, "Headmaster Maverick. It's Jolina Leondale."

"Oh, yes. Come in, come in," a deep voice replied. Mom and dad glanced at me with a look that said 'behave'. I wanted to roll my eyes. When have I ever misbehaved in front of them?

The room was just as I expected when I entered. Large room, plain yet elegant interior design with a large silhouette of a wolf embedded on the carpet spread across the floor of the room.

There was a mini-fridge on the side, near the cabinets. A door near the headmaster's table which I presumed is the bathroom. Right in front of the large curtains neatly tied on the side was the headmaster's table with the headmaster himself sitting on it while smiling at us brightly.

"Greetings to my lovely guests! How have the two of you been?" The headmaster asked, putting down his specs on the table.

"Stop with the formalities, Maverick. We're not here for some business," mom said,  playfully rolling her eyes at the headmaster's direction.

The headmaster laughed as he stood up and hugged my parents, "Same old Jolina, I see." He said.

"She sure is the same," dad agreed, even nodding his head.

"Must've been exhausting for you then?" The headmaster retorted, faking a pitying look as he comfortingly patted dad's shoulder.

"It is," dad responded, heaving a deep sigh as if he's really exhausted.

Their little skit earned a slap from mom and a chuckle from me.

"You're still idiots. Gosh," mom said.

The two older men laughed at that, then the headmaster glanced at my direction. His eyes immediately brightened up when our eyes met.

"Avianna! It's been a long time! You were just so little the first time I saw you!" He exclaimed, walking towards my direction.

My brows furrowed, "Uhm, we've met?" I asked.

"You must have forgotten about it since you were just a child back then, but yes, we met already. On your parents' 8th wedding anniversary."

I nodded in understanding, "It's nice to meet you again, then." I politely greeted him.

"As much as we want to catch up, I'm afraid we can't afford to have lengthy conversations for now," mom interjected.

"Why so?" The headmaster asked.

"We have a flight to catch. We have some business to do in Italy," dad answered.

The headmaster nodded in understanding, "if that's so, you may speak what you went here for then. I won't hog more of your time."

"We just wanted to ask a favor from you," dad said.

"Spill it."

"Look out for Avianna for us, will you?"

"Dad!" I instantly whined, but he ignored my protest.

"She can be hard-headed and short-tempered, not a really good trait to be combined but she's fine. We just wanted to make sure she won't get into trouble," mom said.

I rolled my eyes as I looked away from them. I felt my cheeks burning up in embarrassment. How old am I does she even think to ask the headmaster to look out for me? That's so embarrassing. I can take care of myself, thank you.

The headmaster laughed, "You don't have to worry about that! Avianna will be fine here, I assure you! There has never been a case of bullying or whatsoever here. I made sure to maintain the peace inside the premises. However, there's still some occurrences of fights among students. I'm sure you're aware competition is inevitable among students, right? But rest assured that I'll make sure your daughter won't get involved with those things."

"We understand, Mav. Teens often get into fights, it's inevitable as you said. What's important for me is that Av is safe," mom said.

"She will be, don't worry," the headmaster assured them.

My parents smiled, a relieved smile.

"Then that's all we wanted to do. I think it's time for us to leave, then?" Dad said.

"Sure, sure. Let me escort you to the gates," the headmaster offered.

"Sure," mom responded, then she turned to me. "You can tour around if you want. Just behave, okay? Don't forget your purpose here."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Instead, I just nodded and went in to hug the two of them.

"Take care of yourself, okay?" Dad mumbled to me.

"I will. You too, okay? The both of you."

"When we get back, we wanted to meet your mate—"

"Mom," I groaned, pulling away from the hug.

The two of them just chuckled before they left.

As for me, I let myself wander around. I didn't entertain anyone who asked me if I needed anything. I just politely responded 'no' before going my own way.

I didn't notice how long I walked around or where I was until my stomach rumbled. I quickly head towards the direction of the cafeteria that I've walked past earlier.

As I slowly got near where the cafeteria was, I could feel my heart pounding nervously. I don't even know why I'm feeling nervous. Is it because of the new environment? New people? But I've been perfectly fine a while ago while roaming around alone.

Or maybe it's just because my stomach has been rumbling non-stop. But why is my heart feeling this way if it's my stomach who needs attention?

I shrugged the thought away. I wouldn't be able to answer it no matter how much I think of it, anyway. So with my pulsating heart and antsy mind, I continued to head inside.

Upon entering the noisy cafeteria, a very strong scent of peppermint and sandalwood hit my nose. My werewolf instinct was suddenly activated, my eyes getting a clearer view of all the faces inside the cafeteria as I roamed my eyes.

On the left corner of the cafeteria, my eyes met a glowing pair of blue eyes. The guy had his eyes equally wide as mine. My inner wolf then forcefully made me look at the other side. On the opposite corner of the room, my eyes landed on another pair of widened eyes but this time, it's color is bright green.

I looked back and forth at them as I sniffled in the air. The same scents hitting right through my nose again.

My heart pounded ever so loudly at the realization that hit me.

Just as I realized something, I heard the two men growling loudly as they glared at each other, earning the attention of all the students inside the cafeteria.

I took a step back, which is a bad move because I just got their attention. Their glowing eyes were staring intently at me and it made me all the more nervous.

Dropping my initial plan to eat and spoil my stomach, I turned my heels around and sprinted away from the cafeteria where I could hear them yelling at me to make me stop.

But I didn't.

I continued to run away from my mates.