Secret Sister

10. School

Maria pov

I ran as fast as I could back to my territory. I shifted and hurriedly pulled my clothes on. I sprinted into the house and almost fell down the stairs to the basement. I dove onto a bean bag and acted as if I'd been there all day. Soon I heard Jeremy run down the stairs.

"Where have you been?" Jeremy yelled.

"What do you mean? I've been here all day." I lied.

"I've been down here before and you weren't here..." Jeremy said voice heavy with suspicion.

"I've gone to the bathroom a few times, maybe you were here when I left." I answered my gaze focused on the tv.

"Okay then." Jeremy said walking away. I let out a big breath I had been holding.

I turned the tv off and walked upstairs to my bedroom. I changed into the pajamas that smelt like Flynn from when he helped me sleep and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

~~~~

When I woke up I got dressed, ran downstairs and shoved a frozen waffle into the toaster. I ran back upstairs, brushed my teeth, ran back downstairs and snatched the waffle as it popped into the air. I shoved it into my mouth.

Papa was sitting at the table with his coffee and reading the newspaper. I kissed his cheek and began to run out the back screen door but Papa stopped me first.

"Maria where are you going?" He asked before taking a sip of the black bitter coffee.

"Out for a run, why?" I answered.

"Well since it is Monday I was expecting you to go to school." He said while folding the newspaper and putting the cup in the sink. Whoever's turn it was for dishes would have to wash it later.

I sighed and trudged out the door and into my truck. It was beginning to get cooler so I left the air conditioning off and rolled my windows down. My country music blasted out my windows as I pulled into the school parking lot.

I jumped out of my truck and clicked the lock button. My boots clomped up the stairs and people stared. I blushed and kept walking while clutching my backpack to my chest.

I entered Biology WOL12 which was a course required for grade twelve students in the pack. It was basically werewolf biology and they thought taking 'f' off of 'wolf' would totally disguise it from the humans. I sat down beside Gemma.

"Why are you late?" Gemma asked.

"Class hasn't even started yet." I scoffed.

"You're always here ten minutes early." Gemma responded dryly. "It's a rare occurrence when I beat you to class."

"I wanted to go for a run but forgot it was Monday." I grumbled. Gemma laughed and discreetly I flipped her the bird.

~~~~~

All day the teachers droned on and on and I found I had had a hard time concentrating. At lunch I wasn't paying attention and was drilled in the face with a ball. Nurse Nyla just shook her head when she saw my bloody nose.

Now I was driving home and my nose was bruised purple. I looked like I was a raccoon because my eyes were purple too. I pulled up to a red light when I noticed a blue truck pull up beside me.

I looked over to see who was driving because if they had a lifted truck the size of mine I wanted to see if they were really as cool as I thought they were.

I looked over and saw Flynn in the drivers seat staring at me. His eyes went wide and then black at the sight of my nose. He rolled his window down.

"Okay something happened to you, meet me at the Timmy's down the road." he growled and took off as the light went green. I followed and parked a spot or two over from him.

I walked into the shop and was bombarded by the scent of coffee. I walked up to the counter and asked if they had apple cider. Surprisingly, this Timmy's actually still carried it. I paid and waited patiently for the cider. One minute later I was walking to where Flynn sat.

As I sat down, Flynn reached across the table and took my face in his large hand. With his thumb on the opposite side of my face than his fingers, Flynn turned my head side to side.

"Who did this to you?" He growled.

"A basket ball." I answered flatly.

"When?" Flynn asked incredulously.

"A group of humans were playing at lunch and whammo! I was hit in the sniffer." I laughed. Flynn shook his head and growled.

"I don't like you hurt." he mumbled.

"I don't like you upset." I replied cheekily. Flynn chuckled and shook his head.

"I have a feeling you're slightly klutzy?" He asked letting out a laugh.

"Maybe." I answered before blushing and taking a sip of my drink.