Astrid had a hard time waking up the next morning. A siren rang through the building, alerting all the students that it was time to wake up. It was four in the morning.
"Ugh this is torture!"
Astrid got out of bed and put on shorts and a t-shirt. Before school every morning, they were to run for three hours. Three Hours. As werewolves, it wasn't too bad, well for wolves who were trained at least. Astrid was a little out of shape since she hadn't started her training yet.
She met her running group outside, they were all the way to the back of the line. The weakest of the bunch, which was honestly pretty pathetic for a Luna. Looking ahead of her, she saw Achilles talking to another girl. They were talking and laughing together as friends would. That witch has friends?
"Good morning everyone. I hope you all had a great night sleep. I'd like to introduce a new member to our squad this morning. Astrid, please introduce yourself." The group leader looked at Astrid expectantly.
"Um... Hi my name is Astrid. I'm 16... and yeah." She awkwardly waved towards the other members who were too tired to care. They were also younger than her, since most students started once they shifted at thirteen.
"She looks kind of weak. Will she be able to keep up with us?" A boy who looked like he was in the beginning stages of puberty turned to the squad leader with a concerned look on his face. The little shit was built like a twig, yet he had the audacity to accuse her of being weak. I'll show you weak.
"Oh don't worry kid. I can definitely keep up."
The group leader looked at her skeptically.
"Well we hope so."
And with that a whistle was blown and the line started moving forward. Astrid started out at a nice pace, keeping up with her group members, even landing at the front of the group at one point.
That came crashing down when the little shit from before called out her name, causing her to look back and miss a tree root protruding out of the ground. She fell into the dirt of the forest, her group leaving her behind. It was protocol. If a student fell behind, it was up to them to get back up and rejoin their group.
With dirt stuck to her skin and clothes, Astrid felt helpless. She hadn't even been at this school for twenty-four hours and she was already being bullied. Fuck these people.
This was the first lesson Astrid would learn at the academy. She was tired of feeling back for herself and feeling helpless. If that twig thought he did something, then he had another thing coming for him.
Astrid got up, dusted herself off, and started running faster than she had ever run before. She caught up with her group in no time and smiled at the kid who caused her to fall. Beat that bitch.
At the same time, she was tired of running with thirteen year olds. She was sixteen goddess damn it and she should be with other sixteen year olds. She ran harder and ended up in the middle group, her muscles not allowing her to go any further. Not what I wanted, but a good start.
By the time the run had ended, Astrid proved that she was worthy enough to run with the big kids. Well the big-ish kids. Her lungs were burning and her legs felt like jelly, but she had proved herself.
Something that Achilles noticed.
~~~{ }~~~
The rest of the morning was glorious. Everyone had complimented Astrid on her surprising feat this morning. No one thought she could do it, and there was no better feeling to Astrid then proving people wrong.
She had made her way to the cafeteria for lunch serving duty with the wicked witch of the west. Achilles was already there with an apron and a hairnet.
"You're late newbie."
Astrid checked the clock and realized that she was indeed five minutes late. But it wasn't her fault, so many people were praising her.
"Sorry boss. I had to greet all of my fans. You wouldn't know." Astrid smirked as she tied the apron and put on her hairnet, knowing that Achilles was fuming.
"Well who wouldn't be impressed. A sixteen year old she-wolf outrunning a group of thirteen year old children. Wow, so impressive."
Astrid bitterly laughed. This girl was such a buzz kill.
"Calm down Achilles. Green is not a cute look on you."
"Well lying isn't a cute look on you either, but you seem to wear it proudly."
Astrid rolled her eyes at this.
"And when have I ever lied to you?"
Achilles smiled, not wanting to give away her moves. So instead of answering, she went to tend to the long line that was forming.
"Time to serve, Forrester."
Astrid helped give students their lunches, which looked way better than the lunch at her human school. I guess training warriors required actually healthy food rather than goo with food coloring. Who would've thought.
She and Achilles were silent for the half hour that they served lunch. When the line was finished and everyone was sitting down with their lunches, the girls removed their uniforms and served themselves lunch. Achilles pushed past Astrid, going to sit at the center table with many of her other friends.
At dinner, it was required for students to sit with the other residents of their hall, so Astrid had an assigned seat. But for lunch, you could sit with anyone you wanted to, and Astrid had no friends. This wasn't Mean Girls where she had two people to take her under their wing and explain the ins and outs of the school. She was alone, and it seemed that her popularity had already diminished. No one offered her to sit with them, and she even saw some kids who had come up to her earlier, congratulating her.
High school I guess.
So Astrid held her head high and went to sit in a corner table by herself. If she looked confident while sitting alone, then no one would give a shit.
Her plan sort of succeeded in the end with a girl placing her tray across from Astrid.
"You know, I'm the only one who's allowed to sit here by myself."