The Wolf

Ch. 5: Alex's Determination

"I'm fine." I grumble. I'm not in the mood to play therapy right now.

"Is it about yesterday?" She ask quietly.

I groan, here we go, "No, I'm just tired." I pinch the bridge of my nose.

"I'm sure that Nico is just fine. I'll look into his father's side of the family for you. We'll see if we can find anything on them."

I couldn't even pretend to be tired of my mom, it was for reasons like this that I love her, "Thanks, mom." I whisper.

She smiles to herself while she looks at the road, "No problem."

***

At school, I kiss my mom on the cheek and wish her goodbye. Hey, what's wrong with loving your own mother?

I stand in the cold air of the morning a little longer. I could feel my eyes were heavy already. I walk into the nearest building to get out of the cold and warm up. I walk down the white halls with some red tiles on the floor here and there.

The school's colors were red and white. The mascot was a wolf, ironic, right? The school was called Wolf Springs High School. I could only guess that a werewolf founded this school and was just trying to be funny or something, or maybe it was just a normal human with an interest in wolves. I couldn't care less.

I turn a corner and I come into a big, open hallway. I look around at the impressive sight when I spot a blue and black figure sitting against a wall. I was about to just walk past and ignore them when I see them glance up. I suck in my breath at the sight of those blue eyes. It was him. He drops my gaze and puts his head on his knee. He is rocking back and forth, trying to comfort himself.

I approach him to see what's up with him. He looks up again, his face is paler than normal and his brow is furrowed in what I assume to be pain.

I sit down and talk with him

***

After my talk with Nicolas I feel weird. He wasn't wrong about the feeling familiar part, but I honestly couldn't remember who he was, but it seemed to me that he remembered who I was near the end of the conversation when I told him my name. It was as if he completely changed. His hard demeanor had changed to unprotected. It was like he turned into a younger version of himself.

A little part of me wanted this person to be Nico, but no, his name was Nicolas. I had the wrong person. Part of me felt depressed, while another part felt relieved. I didn't want to see Nico looking so broken. I didn't want Nico to be so used to pain.

I was worried about this kid who was used to pain, who almost broke down when I asked what happened after he left the infirmary. I was burning with curiosity. I had to know. I had to help him. I felt, kind of, disappointed when he ran away from the conversation. I wanted to talk more to him, get to know more about him. I had to get him to join our pack.

The bell for first period rings noisily from the speakers. I sigh, at least I was more awake after that conversation.

***

I get to first period to see Nicolas is sitting in his seat. He has his head down and he is twisting a strand of hair. I almost forgot that we sat next to each other in first period. As I approach my seat, by the look on his face, I can tell he forgot too.

"Ah, um, hey. Sorry for just running away like that." He tries to look me in the eye when he speaks, but he ends up flicking his gaze down every time.

"Ah, don't worry about it." I take my seat. I'm surprised that I have the same class as this guy; he just seems so much younger than me is all.