School was weird.
Just like the first day I came, I kept getting funny looks from everyone, and people started to whisper every time I walked into a room. They didn't even try to keep it a secret. They would look at me before turning to their friends to talk.
It was getting annoying five minutes after I got to school.
By the time lunch rolled around I felt like socking someone in the face.
Hard.
Unfortunately for me, I couldn't because Jack said that I needed to stay in a big crowd as much as I could, and that I shouldn't draw too much attention to myself.
I didn't do well not drawing too much attention to myself, so the least I could do is stay in a big crowd.
And if I punched someone I would get expelled. That would make it significantly harder to stay in a big crowd.
On the bright-side lunch was better than any of the classes that I'd already had.
That doesn't mean I didn't wish I could have walked out, and left my bitches to their own devices. But if everyone was too afraid of Chance to talk about it anywhere near him, and he has the same lunch as me both A days and B days, who am I to complain?
They had good reason to be afraid of him, and I think that helped the situation. For me at least.....
I guess I wasn't the only one who felt like punching someone, and the other person that wanted to punch someone didn't feel the need to restrain himself. From what I heard Chance punched the first person he overheard talking about it. Of course I could be wrong, considering the fact that my information was purely from listening to conversations that I wasn't really a part of.
That's not really important though.....
What does seem important is the fact that, from what I heard, Chance punched someone, and I didn't get to watch.
Don't think I'm going to think too much about the fact that he was defending me when he did so....
Just for the mental record I'm keeping of this day, I would like to add that, punching people is not the way to deal with problems. It only makes them worse......
After making them extremely funny. I really wish I could have seen that. It made my day better regardless of seeing it, or not because of the effect it had on my classmates, but still....
That would have been funny.
"Hey," said a voice from beside me, "I heard what happened, and I wanted to say that I'm sorry Chance was being a prick."
I let out a small laugh, and turned to look at the girl sitting next to me.
She looked familiar, but I couldn't place the face.
I've never seen her. I know that. I would remember someone with such an awesome red pixie cut, but her features screamed at me that I was wrong.
"My name is Hope," she said keeping the slight smile she'd had since I first looked at her.
"Elizabeth," I said.
"I know. You're one of the most popular people in school. Anyone that can wrap Chance around her fingers so easily, is bound to have a reputation."
"He's not wrapped around my fingers."
"He is, and he has been since you first met him. Most people would have gotten punched for saying the kind of things you have. I'm sure mom taught him not to punch girls, but I don't think that would have applied to someone that was treating him like he was three," said looking at me like I should know this, "and do you remember what happened to him when you stopped talking to him the last time?"
I nodded my head sadly, remembering how he progressively got worse the longer I didn't talk to him.
"You've had him wrapped around your finger since the first day you got here," she continued, trying to convince me that she was right, "and I have this theory about him having a special spot in your heart too."
Does he?
I thought back to last night, when I realized that he was keeping my bad dreams away.
If it had been anyone else I probably would have dumped freezing water on them, and kicked them out, but with Chance I just fell back asleep.
Can you really do that if you think the person you're sleeping with is a monster?
Of course I wasn't really able to do anything about the fact that he was there, and I wasn't thinking straight because of what time it was.
"The bell's about to ring," Hope said standing up, "I need to get to class, but tell me if you figure out if my theory is right or not."
I watched as she walked away.
When she was gone I pulled out the necklace Chance had giving me when he took me to the picnic at Loki's house, and thought about what he had told me when he gave it to me.
The wolf will protect me. It will make it so I'm never alone, and it will protect me when I'm scared.
I tucked it back under my shirt, and looked at the doors Hope had gone through.
Her question is going to be a hard one to answer.
By the time I pulled into my driveway I still hadn't decided if I was going to confirm or deny Hope's theory.
In a daze from all my conflicted thought, I walked into my house, and went to sit on the couch. My couch yelped, causing me to jump a little.
When I looked down, I noticed Elliot starring up at me with a glare.
"I was trying to sleep," he complained as he looked at me.
"I noticed. Why?"
"Because I was waiting for you," Elliot said dropping his glare.
"Again I say, why?"
"You need a hug," Elliot said with a sympathetic smile.
"What?" I asked, looking at him like he was crazy.
"You need a hug," Elliot repeated, nodding his head.
"No thanks," I said looking at him with suspicion.
"No," Elliot said standing up, and walking toward me, "You need a hug." He wrapped his arms around me before I had the chance to run away.
"Why did you suddenly become delusional, and decide that I need a hug from a crazy person?"
"Because Blade told me that you were yelling at Chance on Friday," he said pulling back to look at me, "What on Earth made you decide to call him a monster?"
"He can turn into a wolf."
"That means he's a werewolf. The definitions for werewolf and monster are very different."
"Not really," I said tilting my head to the side, "The definition of a monster is something that combines human and animal characteristics."
"Definition of a werewolf is a human being that changes into a wolf, while keeping human intelligence."
"No it's not!"
"Are you saying that werewolves can't turn into wolves?"
"Yes. I mean, no," I stumbled, "I was saying that werewolves don't keep human intelligence."
"Yes they do."
"No they don't. They're dogs. Dogs aren't as smart as humans."
"Wolves. Not dogs. Wolves. And wolves are smarter than humans in some ways."
"How?" I asked in disbelief.
"If I dropped you off in the middle of the forest, naked and without any tools, do you think you would be able to survive for more than two days?" Elliot asked with a raised eyebrow.
"If I handed a wolf a calculator and told him to find the force of gravity between two celestial objects, given the mass of the objects, the distance between them, and the gravitational constant of 6.67x10^-11, would the wolf be able to tell me the correct answer?"
"Elizabeth, I can't even figure out the answer to that, and wolves don't need to know how to do math equations."
"Physics," I said correcting him.
"Wolves only needs to live off the basics. Food, water, and shelter. They don't need to worry themselves with the things that will do them no good," Elliot said ignoring my interruption, "They are free."
"Okay," I said, "I don't see how this is supposed to be helping," I tried to turn around to leave, but Elliot grabbed my shoulders and held me in place.
"You're right. I got off topic. My point is, werewolves aren't monsters. They are normal humans, that just so happen to be able to turn into wolves, and have a voice in their head."
"Are you saying that all werewolves are crazy?"
"No. There is a separate... presence.... in their head. Kind of. It is like being able to talk to your own soul," Elliot explained with a look of concentration.
That explains the spacing out looks that Chance gets.
He's talking to the voice inside his head.
"Their soul?"
"Yes... but most people call it their wolf."
"What's the point of that?"
"It helps people understand what is going on the first time they shift, it gives them advice, deals with all serious fights they get in, and it chooses the person they will marry."
I raised my eyebrows at the last one. Werewolves have a little voice in their head that tells them who to marry? I slowly lifted my hand above my head.
"Yes, Elizabeth?"
"Does that mean you have no choice in who you will end up with?"
"Kind of."
"And you don't care?"
"No werewolf cares."
"Why?"
"Because if your soul chooses the person that you are going to spend the rest of your life with, are you going to decide that you hate that person? You might still get in fights with them, but will you ever be able to truly hate them?"
"Probably not," I said with slight annoyance that I didn't realize that before, "Has your soul chosen your person?"
"It has chosen the person, but I haven't met that person yet."
"Oh. You will tell me when you meet him right?"
"Of course I will. It's one of the best days of a werewolf's life to find their mate. I would be too excited to keep something like that from you."
"Has Chance found his soul lover?" I asked with curiosity.
I saw a flash of fear shoot through Elliot's eyes as he tried to come up with a way to answer me. Does that mean he has?
"You will have to ask Chance. It's not really considered polite for me to tell you either yes or no."
Damn it. Now I have to decide between being mad at him for being a monster, and my curiosity. How do you chose between those?
I could always ask Hope. She seemed to know about the whole Chance being a werewolf thing. But if I talk to her she might want to know the answer to her question, and I still don't have one for her.
Alexander? No. He's Chance's friend. He would be smart enough to know that if he didn't tell me I would eventually end up talking to Chance. Besides, I'm mad at him too.
Brandy, and Hero wouldn't know. They only found out about werewolves when they turned into them, and I haven't seen them since I kicked them out of my house.
Damn it. I don't talk to anyone else that would know.
"Will you tell me more about monsters?" I asked Elliot.
He rolled his eyes at my use of the word monster, but pulled me onto the couch.
"What do you want to know?"
"Politics."
"Really? You could ask about anything in the werewolf world, and you choose, politics?"
"It sounds like the most interesting part. You seem to have a family like structure with a small group of shifters, but I don't really know anything other than that."
"You're crazy, but okay.... Do you know how real wolves work?"
"Yeah. They live in packs."
"It's the same with werewolves. They have a small group of about fifty people that they call their pack. The leader is called the alpha. His second is called the beta or enforcer. Third is the omega or peacekeeper, and so on. It works kind of like a hierarchy. The alpha would be the king."
"What are you?"
"Peacekeeper."
"What's your job?"
"I brake up fights, serve as ambassador when it is necessary, and I kind of serve as a councilor."
"What is Chance?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"Beta?"
"No. He's an alpha... At least he will be when his dad decides that he is ready to take over. That probably won't happen until Chance is married though."
"What about Alexander?"
"He's a peacekeeper too, but I think his way of keeping the peace is different than mine. I think he uses intimidation to help him in his job. He wouldn't actually turn violent unless Chance told him to though."
"He yelled at me once."
Elliot started to laugh, "Only you would manage to make a peacekeeper angry enough to yell. He must not have been use to being a wolf when that happened."
"What can I say? I have talent. Do you know what job Hero and Brandy will have?"
"Nope. That's up to Chance."
Why is Elliot trying to find reasons to make me talk to Chance?
I stood up, and looked at Elliot, "I need to think. I'm going to take a walk, do you want to come?"
"How far?"
"The park."
Elliot scrunched up his nose, and looked at me.
"Right," I said, "I almost forgot. Little Elli doesn't like taking long walks."
"I would if I could change into my wolf, but I think it would be strange to see a wolf prancing around the park. I would get shot. I'll just take the car, and meet you over there."
"Okay."
"Do you know where the park is?"
"Isn't it on the way to the high school?"
"Yeah. Okay, I'll be waiting for you there."
I walked out the door, and started to go in the direction of the park while I thought about everything Elliot had said.
First thing I realized, I treated Elliot like a normal human being. I didn't run out of my house screaming when I realized he was in my house. That must mean I trust him at least a little bit, right? He is not going to eat me, and I already knew that. If he's not, then Chance won't, right?
Makes sense.
Second thing I realize, I did recognize Hope. The only difference between her and her mom, is their age, and the length of their hair. Hope is Chance's little sister. I can't believe it took this long for me to realize it, but there is a striking resemblance between her and her mom.
I didn't treat her like she was a monster, and she obviously knew what was going on too.
It seems like I treat every wolf I meet better than I treated Chance. Why is that?
Maybe I just feel betrayed by him, because I like him more.
Not including Brandy, and Hero, but that's because they didn't know what was going on when they first changed. They couldn't have told me, because they didn't know.
This is starting to sound like that time I didn't talk to Chance, and I had no reason.
No wait, I have a reason. He didn't tell me that he's a freakin werewolf! Sounds like a good reason.
But then again, it sounded like a good reason to not talk to him when I was only doing it because Elliot told me I should. And my dad always taught me to get both sides of the story. I never got Chance's reason for not telling me. I never got both sides of the story.....
I suck.
Okay, I think I know what I have to do.
Coming out of my thoughts I noticed a van parked right in front of me.
That's strange. I didn't see that before.
At that point I should have stopped walking, but I didn't.
Really wish I had though.
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A/N The first thing I would like to say is that I'm so sorry it took so long for me to upload. I've had a bad week, and I don't like to write when I'm upset because I know it would reflect in my writing.