"Drink. Dance. Have fun. Be human. You don't know when that might be taken away from you," Theo replied, softly enough just so I heard.
"Is that what happened to you?" I asked Theo. "When you became a wolf?"
Theo laughed, surprising me. "No, you matchstick. I was born this way. I was talking about you- once your soulmate comes, it's possible that your supernatural abilities from your first life will also awaken. You don't know how long you'll have left to just enjoy the simple things."
And by simple things, he meant cheap booze and fire-lit dance competitions. Looking around, I thought I could probably learn to love his way of life.
"What kind of supernatural abilities?" I asked eagerly.
Theo just rolled his eyes. "I have no idea, and I doubt anyone here does. Your last lifetime was eons ago. But I didn't drag you out here for a history lesson."
Before I could ask anything else, Theo disappeared amongst the fire's shadows, tussling his ragged blonde hair about as he joined the dancing mass.
I'd already lost Rhea and Jackson to the crowd somewhere, and spent the next hour with Lisa, Alanah and two other scholarship boys. The girls still seemed a little shaken up about their staged kidnapping- understandably. But, if nothing else, it gave us our first chance to have the other students gaze at us as actual people. Not sewer monsters, or royalty. Simply teenagers laughing and dancing together at a high school party.
After a while longer, Theo and Dylan were aiming their stumbling attempts at trying to get me to dance when Jackson found me again, beer can in hand as he staggered a little.
"Where's Rhea?" I asked.
He shrugged a little too innocently, pursing his lips. "I have no idea. Haven't seen her all night."
I raised an eyebrow at him, but let his obvious fib slide. We watched the largest fire at the centre of the clearing flicker for a minute before Jackson spoke.
"Most of the students here wanted to leave you in your bed, given...your soon-to-be status. But I said, 'No, she's just like every other easily-terrified scholarship student that's come through Faith Heights'. Plus, I figured you could use a good fright."
I scoffed. "I haven't already had enough of those this year?"
"Yeah, but you're always so tightly wound. I figured it'd be good for you."
"I'm not tightly wound." I folded my arms.
He laughed. "Yeah, you are. And weirdly defensive. But that's ok. I mean, there's nothing like being forced to believe in werewolves and angels and trolls to force your guard down."
"Trolls?"
He nodded roguishly. "Yeah, they're real. But we'll get into that another time." He slung an arm around my shoulder. "For now, just enjoy the party. Relax. It might be the last chance you get for a while."
His words were eerily reminiscent of Theo's, but I chalked them up to the alcohol's affect. Jackson soon stumbled back off to another crowd, and I immersed myself in the unexpectedly exultant atmosphere of the gathering.
When soft rays of dawn began to slither through the thick branches above us, the crowd began to thin. People started the trek back to the school grounds to chase an hour's sleep before classes. I was about to head back, too- once I found Rhea. I hadn't seen her all night, but the drinks I'd downed hadn't allowed for any real worry until now.
It didn't take me long to find her. She was partially hidden behind a cluster of trees at a bend in the river. Her long coat was shrugged loosely around her shoulders, and her black hair had fallen from its short ponytail. I moved toward her- but stopped myself from calling out when I saw why her back was turned.
Jackson and Rhea clutched each other in a tight embrace. His hands rested on the shrugged coat as they kissed, as if frightened he'd bruise her with his touch. Rhea seemed of the opposite opinion, weaving her hands into his hair as tightly as her small stature would allow.
I was tempted to say something, but I let them be. Rhea had been infatuated with Jackson from the moment they met, and I could only hope that Jackson felt the same way. I was happy for them, but now, knowing what I did, I understood how difficult life would make it for them to continue down this path.
***
I was glad for the distraction that the party brought, but a day later, everything was back to our frustrating routine. Students stared at Rhea and I as we walked down the halls with even more blatancy than before. Lisa, a blonde-haired beauty with a figure born to strut, was making the most of the unexplained attention, while Alanah often used the three of us as a cover, hiding behind a curtain of dark tresses.
I tried to avoid crowded places outside of class. Word had spread that I was aware of most of Faith Heights' secrets, and everyone had apparently taken that to mean that they didn't need to bother with any hint of subtlety. People - students and professors alike – looked at me as if I was something conjured from their imaginations. I was a myth come to life, in their eyes. A small girl in eighth grade even asked for my autograph.
After that surreal incident, Jackson took it upon himself to act as a barrier from my growing fan base. I spent most of my time with him and his friends, much to Rhea's chagrin. Jackson had been avoiding her since the party a week ago- and I could take a guess why.
The attention only increased as Leclair announced his arrival date.
My soulmate.
Somehow, she'd managed to get a hold of him already. He was scheduled to arrive in just two short weeks. After initial contact with a student's other, their soulmate, it usually took months to organise an assembly. But Lucas was eager, I'd been told. I had to assume that was a good thing.
Butterflies – or perhaps manic bats - jumbled in my stomach at the thought of him, as well as nerves for the coming expectations. If I passed the final test, I had no idea what would follow. Gabby was still at school, integrated into another home-room class, and every time I saw her, she was practically glowing. Her smile lit up the room around her, and it was clear why; her sister was with her in every spare moment, whispering conspiratorially. She seemed irrevocably happy with her new reality, which gave me hope.
Tyler was another story. He had left Faith Heights no more than a week after his soulmate appeared. She'd insisted that he continue his training separately, with her and others that he'd known in his past lives. Tyler had been all too eager to leave; from what I'd witnessed before they left, Tyler and his soulmate hadn't been able to keep their hands off one another. It was the norm, according to Jackson. Half of the successful scholarship students would be taken away for a perceived better education, by the students' other or family. I doubted I'd be seeing Tyler again, much like the rejected scholarship students.
Rhea and the other scholarship students couldn't understand why Tyler had chosen to leave. In their eyes, he'd just been offered a permanent position at the school, and had thrown it away at the offer of whoever that girl he'd met was representing. Those still ignorant to the school's truth were only given half, muddled details, as if Leclair saw them as nothing but gullible insects until their identities were confirmed.
Despite Jackson's constant company, it was rare that I caught him alone, away from his pack. Over the time I'd spent with them, it had become obvious that they were more like brothers than classmates. Finally, when I managed to separate him from the herd, I convinced him to head into the forest where no one could overhear, under the guise of a study session.
I didn't fool him for a second. As soon as we were seated on adjacent logs, he let out a breathy chuckle. "Whatever it is you want to ask me could have just as easily been answered somewhere a little less creepy."
I looked around us. We'd found a spot under an opening in the trees, allowing the afternoon light to drift around us. "You find the forest creepy? Don't you come out here every month?"
He nodded reluctantly. "Only when the others are in control enough to help me. Most of the time, I try to stay in the school's cells."
"Why?"
He ducked his head. "I don't really like to talk about it, but all the guys know that I can't seem to control the shift. Not... like they can."
I tried to smile understandingly. I shouldn't have pried. "But that's what this school is for, right? I'm sure it'll come to you soon."
He smiled sombrely. "I really hope so. Faith Heights Academy is great, but I was raised with humans. Maybe it's just my parents influence, but I'd much rather learn control at home with them, where I feel safe. But I can't go home until I can at least stop blacking out during the transformation."
"You black out?" I asked, startled.
I tried not to bristle in my seat. Jackson had helped me through so much, and I trusted him. But a part of my brain still watched his every movement with a weariness that his words didn't help lessen.
He shrugged. "Sometimes. It's getting a little better. Theo tries to help, but he's pretty much the poster child for Faith Heights' objectives. James struggles a little, but Dylan helps him through it, and at least he can remember his time as a wolf."
"So you just black out overnight on a full moon? You can't remember anything?"
Jackson merely nodded. No wonder Leclair was worried that Rhea and I had been out of bed during that first full moon. If there were others out there in the woods like Jackson that couldn't even remember what they were doing, we'd been lucky to escape unscathed.
Even now, knowing the truth, there were still so many risks surrounding Faith Heights.
Would I be so lucky the next time karma came calling?