A few weeks later....
Archer's POV:
"Hey, Archer! How was your summer?"
Well, let's see.
I shifted early, causing extreme pain, killed a fire throwing man, survived a overprotective father's attack, found out that my very young best friend was my mate, found out that said best friend could time travel, saw her dead mother, found out that I have some locked power, and nearly died at the hands of aforementioned best friend's hands.
I looked down at Phoebe, then back at my old math teacher. "It was fine. You know, your usual summers." I flashed a grin and put Phoebe in front of me. "Now, this is my best friend Phoebe Castro."
"Hon, you look paler than death." Ms.Logan took her shoulder from me lightly. "I'll watch out for her," she winked.
I was relieved, though I tried not to sag like I wanted to. "You're golden, Ms.Logan."
"I try," she shrugged.
Unlike my mother, I was a serious teachers' pet. They adored me, which came in handy at times like this. I stepped forward and kissed Phob on the forehead, lingering for a moment then pulling back. I have to get to class, kay? But I'll be back at the end of the period. You'll be fine, Phob."
She nodded slowly. Little did she know, I was trying to convince her as much as I was trying to convince myself.
High school and Phoebe didn't seem right in the same sentence. There were all kinds of horrific things. Tests. Evil teachers. Bad lunch--now that I could handle. Some of the teachers were werewolves and Tony's reputation preceeded him well enough. Plus, there were plenty of witnesses to testify as to how protective I was of Phoebe.
But the horror of all horrors: Boys.
Kiniving, heart breaking, human, mate stealing boys. I couldn't be on her like white on rie like I wanted to all of the time, and no one within our little circle was her age. They couldn't sheild her from their perverted eyes. Because trust me, Phoebe had gotten her mother's beauty. I couldn't take this much longer. I was a werewolf, teenage guy for crying out loud. Even my mom was warning me away from her. But that wasn't what was important right now. An even bigger fear:
What if she liked them? What if she got a boyfriend while I wasn't watching? What then? I became murderously angry at the thought.
I stomped into homeroom and slammed my bookbag down so hard that the desk rattled. I slumped down into the seat and folded my arms, scowling. Max eyed me. "Someone woke up on the wrong side of the forest. What's got your fur so ruffled?"
Lately, Max and Marissa had gotten into joking about my wolfy state. They'd be laughing on the other side of their faces pretty soon though: tomorrow was a full moon. They'd probably be shifting. "Guess," I growled.
"The fact that your mom is making you get a trim today?" Max asked, gesturing toward my hair.
"No."
"School?" Marissa asked.
"No."
"It has to be something to do with Phoebe..." Max trailed off.
"Yeah. You know how we use about 20 percent of our brains?" Werewolves, of course.
"Yeah."
"Ever since Archie here imprinted he's been using like, .2 percent. If that."
"Yeah, dude, you need to snap out of it." Max agreed.
My teeth came together with a sharp 'click'.
"No, twins, I do not need to snap out of it. What I need to snap is any boy who comes near Phoebe."
"Oh," they said at the same time. "That."
"Yeah, that," I said glumly. The teacher was too busy yelling at some rowdy jocks in the front to pay attention to us talking.
"So ya gonna go out for anything this year?" Marissa asked, trying to change the subject. I took it, before I shifted in the middle of this classroom.
As a rule, we couldn't go out for sports after we shifted. Most people didn't bother. Human coaches hated it when you up and quit in the middle of the season for shady reasons. So no, ladies and gentelman, fantasies about the captain of the football team who is also HAWT and a werewolf imprinting on you barely ever happens. Barely.
I shook my head. "Probably not."
"You need to relax, Archer, or you'll never get through the day."
It was true. I snapped at everyone all day, even my old friends. Marissa told them I was PMSing, which made me yell "I am NOT PMSing!" in the middle of a lecture.
Gotta love your best friends.
YOU ARE READING
By Your Side. (Sequel to Art Girl and Wolf Boy)
Teen FictionPhoebe Castro has known Archer Connor for her entire life. Literally. He's her rock, he's the one who speaks up for her, and she's slowly but surely falling in love with him. The problem? He's two years older than her and thinks of her as a "little...
