^Pic is of Jacob Hopkins who plays Tommy. :D
Rewritten as of 09/04/17; 1.25pm AEST.
Twenty hours later and I was doing no better. I was standing outside my first ADP class, tapping a foot against the floor in pace. It was 1pm and the full moon was due to start rising at 5pm. Those would be when my first signs of reactions came.
The door in front of me creaked open and I looked up. Young Miss Tole gave me a small smile, "Come on in, sweetie. We don't bite."
As I moved to follow her in, she looked down in thought and then back up, "Well, most of us."
I could take them anyway, I thought.
But as I stepped into the classroom, I rethought that. Most of the class consisted of people in Year Twelve; mainly guys. So not only were they two years older than me but they had muscles twice as big as mine.
Miss Tole gestured for me to take a seat, "That seat's for you, deary."
Slowly, I walked forward to take the seat. A guy behind me whispered, "Innocent little girl in ADP?"
Another guy wolf-whistled before laughing out, "She mustn't be as innocent as she looks."
"Boys," Miss Tole glared meaningfully at them, "This is America James. She's in Year Ten."
"Year Ten?" A boy snapped, "This program's for twelfth graders only."
"She's taking a twelfth-grade course," Miss Tole explained, "So, technically, she's also a twelfth grader."
"What course?"
"Extension II Mathematics," I answered numbly, "Miss, what's the point of this class, if I may ask?"
"To teach y'all manners," she smiled gently back, "or, if you aren't here for that, how to communicate amongst your peers."
She turned to face the board as the tardy bell rang, "Aha! And yet again, the same two boys are late."
A pair of boys walked in as she finished her sentence. One owning the name of William Gallagher.
He paused momentarily as his eyes fell on me before asking, "What are you doing in this class, America?"
I simply narrowed my eyes at him.
This seemed to aggravate him. His cold eyes became even colder and darker as he slammed his hands down on the desk in front of me. He hissed, "Answer me, America."
I gave him a scowl, "If I knew why I was here, I wouldn't be here."
"Sit down, William," Miss Tole ordered, "And, what do you mean by that, America?"
I crossed my legs beneath the desk and shrugged, "Just that if I knew what I'd really done wrong, I'd have fixed it by now. But I don't so instead, I'm stuck here... no offense."
Miss Tole tutted slightly at me before clapping her hands together, "Today's lesson: telling the truth. Easier said than done. Trent, you're my demonstrator."
The boy behind me let out a loud grunt.
"What's your full name?"
"Trent McHenry," he sighed.
"What did you do to get into ADP?"
Silence.
"Exactly," Miss Tole smiled, though his reaction was opposite to the lesson, "A name is characterised into a person. It's not something you technically own because everyone uses it, right? But as soon as a question refers to something you do own, like your beliefs, experiences or talents, you question your own answer. For instance, America, what religion are you?"
I shifted slightly in my seat. How was I supposed to say I supported greek mythology in common conversation? I could lie and say I was Christian or Jewish or something... but that's against the purpose of this lesson. So I kept my mouth sealed.
"Again, you're proving my point," she smiled, "So now, I'll assign you into pairs. Your assignment due next Friday is to present me a four-page report on your partner about their beliefs, experiences and talents. That would be twelve-point font and single-spaced, thank you, Marcus."
I raised my hand, "Miss, what does this have to do with truth? We could lie on the entire report."
Her eyes flashed at me, "Then it's your and your partners' responsibilities to make sure that doesn't happen."
Now, in one of those cliche books I read, the main girl - that would be me - would be assigned to work with a boy - that would be William - that she's just had a few problems with. However, this wasn't a normal cliche book because we were both werewolves and the world seemed to love me for a minute.
Just a minute.
"America and Kye are together."
I turned in my seat and scanned the classroom. My eyes landed on the boy with long blonde hair in the back row. He gave me the smallest of frowns.
"You may all work on your projects beginning now," Miss Tole sighed, lounging back into her chair.
I grabbed my laptop and made my way to the back of the class. I slid into the seat next to Kye and his frown deepened further.
I began the talk, "So, how did you want to-"
"Listen, rebellious punk," he began hissing at me, "I write the report on me, you do yours on yourself. Then we swap before we hand in and pretend we did each other's work. We never even have to get to know each other. Got it?"
"That's not the point of the assignment," I raised an eyebrow, "Contrary to popular belief, I'm a good girl."
"Then what the hell are you doing in ADP?" he scoffed, "You do what I say or you won't see to tomorrow morning."
He was treading a thin line here.
I scowled, "Did you just threaten me?"
"Yes and believe it, kid," he glared, "Or I'll choke you to death with my bare hands."
I slammed a fist on the table and it echoed around the quiet room, "Don't you dare talk to me like that!"
Kye's face paled at my voice. No one was speaking. Glancing around, I saw even a few had frozen.
Kye seemed to recover quickly, "Don't you yell at me, America! I have more power than you ever will."
His hand lashed out and grabbed my school shirt before lifting me out of the chair with one arm. He leant in and I tilted my head away, "I control you, James."
I narrowed my eyes, "Yeah? What if your petty father wasn't the sheriff? Then wh-"
I was cut off by being slammed into a wall. The air around me got colder and goosebumps appeared upon by body. Kye pressed a forearm against my throat, "Say you're sorry."
I gasped for air but he pressed tighter. Fire filled my throat and my chest. I tried to make a word come out. The air was nearing subzero now.
"Kye!" Miss Tole suddenly shouted, "Put her down!"
I wasn't even aware of my feet suspended in the air.
I tried to gasp for more breath but instead my throat caught. I couldn't even develop the oxygen to cough. Instead, what came out was the sound of my lungs irregularly shaking in my chest. I began writhing against the wall. Fire. My body was alive with pain in the cold, cold room.
"Get off her," a guy's voice bellowed.
I wriggled on the spot on the wall. Get him away from me. I kicked out with one foot but Kye caught it with his free hand.
I wanted to scream. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? I felt Kye being ripped off of me just as my head pounded and my eyes fluttered close.
***
The nurse gave me a cup of water and an ice pack before moving to the next person in line. Propped up on the bed, I glared at William.
He crossed his arms, "What?"
When I spoke, my voice came out scratchy yet hesitant, "Thank you."
He raised an eyebrow, "For what?"
"Bringing me here," I answered, "Otherwise, I'd suppose you wouldn't be here."
William gave me a small smirk, "You're welcome."
There was a long pause.
Then his voice interrupted the silence, "But I'd like something in return."
I sighed, "Like what?"
"Answers."
"I've already promised you those," I stated. Well, actually, Josh had.
"Not about how to register," William explained, "About logical, practical stuff."
"Like?" I straightened up, nervous.
He moved to sit down on the end of the nurse's bed, "Like, how an Alpha works. The full moon. The laws. This... Beta and Luna thing?"
I glanced around us. We had a curtain surrounding the bed but it's not like it was soundproof.
I whispered, "I'll answer anything to keep this town safe, got it?"
"Got it," he nodded.
"My place, tonight," I said, "I live on Maple Street - number seven."
"I have no idea where that is," he sighed.
I rolled my eyes, "Google Maps, dude. This town isn't completely technology impaired."
"Right."
"Be there at six," I added.
It wasn't until he left several moments later that I'd realised I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life.
I'd just invited an unmated Alpha to my house on the night of a full moon.
Crap.
***
Song: Low - Flo Rida.
So, I rewrote it. I was soooo tired when I finished it last night that it ended up like junk. But here you go :)
xx Sharky.