Wolfsbane- Chapter One in the Warren Pack Series

Chapter One

Wolfsbane

Chapter One

Branwen

Relax, no one is staring at you.

I scraped the chair back across the old wooden flooring, standing slowly to delay the inevitable. I took a deep breath to steady myself, my fingers twitching at my sides, picking at the stitching of my trousers.

Just answer his question right the first time and you can sit down.

He did this all the time, picking a few students a lesson to answer a question stood up to show we're actually paying attention. Not good for someone who can barely speak to a crowd.

Just answer the damn question. I thought to myself, my breaths shaking. No one was even looking in my direction except for Mr. Stewart, but knowing they were listening, especially if I got the question wrong, would crush me inside.

"Miss. Warren? Are you even listening to me?" The thud of a book against his desk jolted me out of my daze. My eyes darted towards the whiteboard, where the mind map of themes of The Tempest was scrawled up there. I shook my head slightly, leaning against the peeling blue wall and meeting the eyes of Mr. Stewart.

"What was the question again, Sir?" I asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Mr. Stewart was middle aged, thin as a rake and balding, and the stench of his cats often surrounded our homework when he returned it to the class of A level students. My two best friends, Rowan and Toby, stiffened in their chairs as they tried to avoid his penetrating gaze, thinking they were distracting me.

"I had asked the class to finish their re-reading for today in preparation for the exam. Can you tell me what Prospero's reaction was to being reunited with those who had him run out of his home?"

My mind scrambled as I thought back to the reading from last night. Seeing as I was often woken up by my mother stumbling in at four in the morning when the nearest club closes, I often went to bed early, using this time to do my homework. This time, however, she'd decided to throw a house party. By herself.all.night.long.

"The whole play is building up to a big confrontation, Prospero creates this huge elaborate plan to mess with everyone who did him wrong, but then he chooses to forgive when he sees how happy Miranda has become, and knows if he doesn't let go of his anger, he'll never see her again." I explained, remembering how taken aback I was by the ending, but it was a comedy after all.

Mr. Stewart seemed annoyed at my response, but walked to the front of the class to carry on discussing the ending, while my friends breathed sighs of relief.

"Jesus, you barely got away with that Bran!" Toby hissed, while Rowan laughed under his breath.

"Thanks for keeping me awake, great job guys." I rolled my eyes, focusing on the boards and jotting down the mind map as I took my seat once again. Mr. Stewart had apparently turned the brightness down, as I was much easier to stare at the glaring screen than usual, even with my glasses off.

They muttered their excuses and turned their attention to the front at last. The guys had been my best friends since primary school, all the way to sixth form, where we shared English Literature lessons as well as our free time. I also did Law and Biology while the boys did games development and physics. It left me alone most of my lessons but at least I was able to concentrate on my studies rather than gossiping with the other girls.