Part 5
Yes, I am the new girl
I sneak out into the garden around four thirty in the morning. I thank my lucky star for my own entrance, it makes my morning training a bit easier since I don’t want anyone to know what I’m up to. Everyone in the house is still asleep and unaware of my escape. I am wearing my grey uniform from home, the one that looks more like a jogging suit. It is also the only piece of clothes I bothered to bring with me.
The bed was nice to sleep in, but I didn’t sleep well at all. I was just waiting to get up and out of there. I miss mother’s strict instructions in the morning where she tells me to get up and exercise. She must miss me too. I wonder if she is standing by my bedroom door, if she misses our morning ritual.
I jog out into the foggy forest nearby and I enjoy the silence before everyone wakes up. I can hear the sound of singing birds and the wind seeping through the forest. A mouse runs past me in the grass and the tension in my body disappears. The ground is a little bit wet from the soft rain that fell in the early night.
I find a small field next to a pond and decide that this is far enough from the town to do my training. I sigh when the familiar feeling of calmness takes over me. I don’t have to pretend to be a giggly girl out here. The Ninjan ways of training are very special; an outsider wouldn’t understand a thing.
We start with meditation; I prefer to stand up during this. We start moving very carefully to not lose the balance once we find our inner selves. It’s a practice of strength for both body and mind and it helps us to focus better throughout the whole day. I can feel every piece grass and every flower, the water in the pond, the leaves in the trees and the small bodies of hard working ants. I love the spirit of nature. Every wolf can do this, but only Ninjan wolves can master it fully. It comes to us naturally once we learn it, just like breathing.
This skill is a very powerful weapon. We can sense weaknesses in our opponents with it and we can even slow down the actual time so it seems like everything is moving in slow motion around us. It’s the awareness that makes us the most feared pack in the whole world. I never fought an unaware wolf before, but I think it would feel like hitting a child. I hope I won’t get into that situation while I’m here. I don’t like to be violent outside of practice.
I finish my training within an hour and end it with a forty minute long run. I fly through the woods but slow down my pace when I reach the town. I glance at the different house styles and gardens, a few cars drives past me on their way to their early work and I decide that I like living in a town after being stuck in the village my whole life. There is so much new to take in and it is exciting. Just the smells are overwhelming.
I return to the house, tired and sweaty and I sneak into my room without getting caught. I throw my clothes on the bathroom floor and head for a cold shower. I wash my long hair, a few leaves that got caught in it during my run falls to the floor. The smell of forest is slowly disappearing from my body and I wrap a towel around me and pick up my sweaty clothes from the floor. I wash them in the sink and hang them to dry on the towel holder.
The hard part is to choose what clothes to wear. I settle for a bright yellow dress with green buttons on it. I braid my wet hair carefully from the right to the left side so it hangs over my shoulder and tie a white ribbon around the end. I finish my attire with white flat shoes and a little bit of makeup. I barely recognize myself in the mirror; I look like a girl headed to school. Not a warrior headed for training. At least I’m not ugly.
I realize that it is time for breakfast and I head over to the kitchen where everyone is already settled. The sight of their family pains a little bit. Everyone is sitting by the table eating, except Gretel who is standing by the stove. I think of my dad who must be feeding The Little Ones right now, without me. The table was always a messy war zone and I glance at the table in front of me where they all eat with manners. It’s clean and tidy just like the whole house.
“Good morning,” I greet them when I enter the room, filled with smells of pancakes and toast and coffee.
“Good morning, dear!” Gretel says happily and puts an omelet on my overfilled plate. “Did you sleep well?”
I take settle down by the table and pick up my fork, ready to taste the chocolate pancakes. “I was a little bit worried over my first day at school.” I stuff it into my mouth with a moan. I was hungrier than I thought.
“Of course you are, sweet heart,” Gretel says with care. “It is going to be wonderful! The kids around here are really kind, aren’t they Jack?”
“Yes,” he agrees automatically, not letting his eyes leaves the morning newspaper. He knows better than to worry about me.
The three boys ignore me through the whole meal, but I don’t care. I keep eating the wonderful breakfast Gretel and Kaitlyn made together. It’s omelet, pancakes, toast with jam and cheese, boiled eggs, bacon and orange juice. I finish with a cup of jasmine tea and thank them for the breakfast.
Jack leaves the household chores to the women and I’m not sure if I like that. He barely pays attention to his own children. I plaster on a smile and pretend it doesn’t bother me. They wish me good luck on my first day of school and I pick up my beige new school bag and head over to Carlie’s house.
I can hear their voices clearly from across the street. Their two story wooden house is coloured completely in pink and it looks out of place among the elegant houses along this road.
“No, mom! I do whatever I want to do!” I hear Carlie scream as I enter their porch and she flings the door open when I’m about to knock on it. A smell of oranges hits me and I step away so she can walk past me. “Finally! Take me away from this mad house,” she mutters to me and I follow her down onto the street where her car is waiting for us. “You don’t have a car, do you?”
“I don’t even have a license,” I admit and take my place in the passenger seat.
She starts the car angrily and I can’t help but smile at her. She is wearing a fantastic blue tunic and black tights and her hair is hanging freely but filled with hair spray.
“My dad,” she starts explaining. “He wants me to start acting like a lady and forbid me to hang out with my boys.” She steers out onto the road and taps her fingers angrily at the steering wheel. “Well, he can go to hell!”
This is new, I would never dare to go against my parents and my friends wouldn’t either. Maybe it is common for teenagers to riot against their families? If so, it will make it easier for me to fit in as the good girl. My parents never forbid me to see anyone though.
It takes ten minutes to drive to school and the parking lot is filled with cars. I look at the waste with a silent sigh. I would rather walk; it’s not even a far distance! No wonder the wolves here are weak. They lack a lot of the strength I take for granted that wolves should have. I must find a way to nicely decline any more rides from Carlie. I shudder at the thought of losing my stamina. It’s bad enough that I will sit during all of the classes most of the days.
The school is big and a lot of students are chatting outside the building. I pass them when I follow Carlie through the school yard, but no one notices me passing. A new wolf is here and they don’t even care, that’s weird…
I shake the thoughts away as we enter the school and I look at the long corridors with blue lockers at the sides. We walk up to the office and Carlie opens the glass door and lets me in. The door can’t hold out the chatter from the students, and it surprises me that the building isn’t made to block out werewolf hearing. But I am trained to hear better than regular wolves. A handsome young blonde man is sitting by a desk sorting papers and he smiles at me.
“You must be the new girl,” he says. Ray?”
“Yes,” I answer and walk up to him while Carlie stays behind.
“Welcome to River Hill High. Here’s your schedule. Just ask if you need anything. I am Tony; I am responsible for the students’ well fare.”
“Thank you, I will remember that,” I nod back politely. “Carlie will help me around the school if there isn’t anything else that I need to know?”
He gives my new friend a concerned glance before giving me a full smile back. “Just come back anytime you wonder something. You should get to class before you’re late.”
Carlie drags me to the next class and she pushes me into the room before I have the time to take a deep breath. The bell signals for the first lesson to start but I find myself looking into the most beautiful brown eyes. They belong to a well-dressed man who is standing next to the teacher’s desk. All the sounds disappear as I look into his eyes and my heartbeat syncs into his. The feeling of love for this man overwhelms me and he breaks his eyes away from me as he realizes what this means.
“You must be Ray, the new girl,” he says with a clear loud unaffected voice and I start swaying at the spot, deeply hurt that he doesn’t acknowledge me as his mate immediately. “I am Vincent, your teacher. You can take the seat over there,” he nods at the free desk at the back of the classroom.
I walk over there quietly; my feelings are all over the place. I am trying to calm myself down and I look at him just to get an urge to run up and claim his as mine. I can’t pay attention to the class, only the thought that he’s my mate. My mate that is a teacher, which seems like a match only the wolf spirits could come up with! We are going to fit so well together.
I realize quite soon that he doesn’t look at me at all, he does everything he can to avoid me. I listen to his voice, it doesn’t hold any sign of happiness of finding me, his mate! I feel confused over his treatment and the hour is long before it is finally over.
I stay after class and wait for the other students to leave us alone. I walk up to his desk and he is forced to look at me now.
“You’re a student,” he says harshly before I have the chance to say anything. “I don’t get involved with my students.”
“But, were mates,” I say carefully. “It’s not the same thing.”
“Look at you! You are a little girl with stars shining in your eyes. I begged the wolf spirits for a strong mate. That’s not you.” He glares angrily at me like I ruined his whole life.
My whole world is spinning and I can feel the tears in my eyes. “What are you saying? Don’t you want me?”
“I reject you, Ray. You are not my mate.” His voice is cold as ice and the hate pours out of him.
My heart breaks into millions of pieces. This isn’t happening! My mate can’t reject me, I refuse to become a mateless Alpha. I take a few breaths before it clicks inside of me.
Stupid! This is what you want, for now. We can wait with the mating and focus on the free year here instead. He is going to crawl for me when I am done, when he finds out how strong I really am. I still feel hurt by his words so I choose the easiest way out of this situation. I run away crying and lock myself into a booth in the girls room. It’s better if he thinks I am weak, that way no one will bother me.
It doesn’t ease my heart ache a single bit, but if it hurts me, it must hurt him too.