Into Midnight

Chapter One

Demetri's ass was numb in his seat. He hated the feel of the cold desk and always found it the most irritating those last few moments of everyday while waiting for class to end.

2:55.

He was freezing.

And the time in those last five minutes always seemed to flow slower than the eight hours he spent there prior. Sitting in the back of the arguably small classroom in the seats to either side of him were his best friends Nate and Rogue. Both seventeen like him. They had just finished their last test for the year. Their last exam of their Junior year of high school. They were antsy. Ready to bolt out the door.  Their last day of that school year. In just three long minutes, they'd be free.

2:57.

Free from the books.

Free from the studying.

Free to run.

Free to run wild.

2:58.

Demetri could feel the anxiety pressing from either side of him. His friends were just as ready as he was. He could hear every last anxious thought pouring from their minds. And they could hear his. God, sometimes he hated it. The feeling that no one could have any privacy. Everyone belonged to everyone else.

2:59.

'Yo Ro, you Ready?' Nate's irritating voice flowed through the group's mind link.

'Piss off,' Rogue snapped back rolling her brown eyes and twisting a strand of her raven black hair that was tipped with blue.

'Bet ya I could beat ya back to the Den.'

'Piss. Off.'

Demetri was forced to sit there in that final, everlasting minute listening to his friends' incessant bickering. He wished they would shut up.

'C'mon, if you beat me, you can throw me off the cliff this time.'

Demetri had had enough. 'How about, I throw you both off if I get back before you, kay pumpkins?'

'Yes sir, Mr. Alpha sir...' the two packmates replied in a sing-songy unison.

3:00.

The three were up and out of their seats before the bell even sounded. They made their way to their lockers, retrieved the few belongings they brought with them, and headed out of the school.

They piled into Demetri's truck and rode a few miles down the road from their school. The windows were down and the teens were giddy, singing along to "Silver Lining" by Panic @ The Disco at the top of their lungs, howling out the windows, and laughing hysterically as they pulled onto a dirt road. They arrived at a sort of clearing in the forest and the trio hopped out of the car.

De tossed his keys under the front right tire and covered them with a small pile of leaves before turning to his friends. "Alright asshats, you know the rules. No trailing.  And if you run into one of the others, you can attack. But top priority is making it back home." Demetri stretched a bit and growled softly. "Also, I am so gonna enjoy tossing you two -- "

Rogue snapped at him as she removed her shirt. "You wish, dreamer."

Nate was in the midst of taking off his pants and shirt. "Yeah you haven't tossed us in weeks."

Demetri had stripped down to his boxers and patiently waited on his packmates. "You two done yet?"
The sun was beating down on his smooth, cocoa brown skin, but there was a breeze that kept him cool. He could feel it pushing through his hair. He scratched at his head and yawned. His soft, hazy, silvery eyes found his friends. He was getting anxious again.  He began shifting without warning.