A blaring noise jolted me from my sweet dreams making me fully awake. I hit dismiss on my phone alarm saying 6 :45 and groggily wiped the sleep away from my eyes. Groaning, I got up from bed and walked to my bathroom.
After I was done brushing my hair, brushing my teeth and putting in my contacts, I walked out the door and down to the kitchen. The mouth watering smell of pancakes and bacon wafted to my nose.
My mother stood at the frying pan making lots of bacon and pancakes at the same time. Her hair in a lose bun as she flipped them over.
"Good morning darling" my mother greeted me in a honey sweet voice. How can my mother know its me without turning to see who came in? ... Wow, my mother does have eyes on the back of her head!
I smiled at the thought and responded in a voice a little higher and sweeter, "Good morning, mommy!"
I took a seat closest to the stack of pancakes. Once I helped myself to two big pancakes with maple syrup and strawberries, I dug in.
I just love the sweet taste of our maple syrup because it's homemade. We tap our own maple trees with the help of everyone who is able to. Then we cook the sap and it turns to maple syrup.
I have never missed the tiring but fun days since I was three. I carried my own small hello kitty bucket to collect sap from the bags. The boys would play around seeing who could carry the most sap.
(Flashback Cress 9 years old)
One day when it was maple syrup season, I was giddy with happiness. My little arms carried my Hello Kitty bucket full of sap! I was trusted enough to carry one without spilling the contents.
The twins with their short black hair decided to play a game seeing who could run the furthest and fastest while carrying our buckets. Finally, my brothers allowed me to join in their games.
I scurried along with a bounce to my step to catch up to my brothers and James. After James made a line with his foot across the ground marking the starting line, I bent down on my knees and touched the ground with one arm mimicking my brothers running form.
Then, Jake shouted and we ran full speed ahead. Truthfully, I was the last one because of my tiny legs.
With how clumsy I am, my little feet decided to trip over a big root leading me to dump half the contents to the ground. Sap poured into my rain boots soaking my socks.
I let one arm out to prevent me from falling onto the ground. My brothers stopped and laughed as they scolded me for dumping the contents.
Tears started to trickle down my cheeks both in embarrassment and frustration. I looked down at my now half empty bucket. Hearing footsteps coming my way, I quickly wiped away the tears with my petite fingers.
Looking down, I shifted my feet making the sap to slush around, soaking my socks even more. I frowned as my lips started to pout. Can this get even worse?
Long fingers reached out grabbing the half full bucket from my small delicate hands. I reluctantly let go and my hands dropped to my sides. Then, I looked up seeing Garrett. A small smile tugged at my lips but then instantly stopped thinking I'll be scolded.
( Garrett's 12 year old self)
Seeing Cress looking so dejected made me and my wolf sad. So I put my big hands compared to hers on her small shoulders. The differences between the two were immensely different with Garret already being 5 foot 4 and Cress only at 4 foot 7.
Wanting her to give me one of her brightest smiles I reached out and pulled away her long blonde locks twirling it around my finger. Finally, she looked up and smiled.
With a smile I said, "It's okay, you didn't mean to spill the bucket and it won't make a difference in the amount of maple syrup we will have." Knowing that's one of her main concerns.
She smiled and nodded. Then looking down at her feet, I heard sloshing sounds coming from it. I laughed as I realized she got a boot full of sap.
Bending down I removed her boot and dumped out the sap. I put the boot back on and grabbed her bucket, handing it back to her. A huge grin spread across her face as she took it in her left hand and grabbed my hand in her right. Smiling, we walked back to the Maple Syrup Shack.
(Cress Back to the present)
The doors banged open and my brothers walked in with huge grins on their faces. My heart started to slow down after I realized I wasn't in any danger.
Why do my brothers always make ruckus in the house but make little noise in the forest? Sigh. It beats me.
Laughing, my brothers went over and gave my smiling mother a kiss on the forehead before sitting down. They piled their plate up with pancakes, drenching it in syrup. They argued over who could eat the pancakes faster. My brother Jared won, but it was close.
Sometimes my brothers can be so immature. After we finished breakfast, we went outside to pick out our cars. I leaned up against the grey Jeep waiting for my friends to show up. I usually ride in the backseat with Rosaleen while Finn drives and Lilac is in the passenger seat.
This has been our spot since this summer when Finn got his license and we drove into the city and the beach. I am only allowed to go into the city if someone from our friend group is with me. My parents made this rule because they don't want anything unexpected to happen to me since I can't protect myself against other wolves and bad people.
I am actually glad that my parents care about me so much, even though it is a little bothersome sometimes, but it is much better than being neglected.
I was whistling the Jurassic Park theme song as Finn came to the car with Lilac and Rosaleen. I immediately stood up straighter and had a smile that lit my face up.
"Hey guys, are you ready for the first day of school!" I asked in a cheerful voice, nearly bouncing up and down with enthusiasm.
They all laughed as I looked like a little kid talking about going to the ice cream store. Finn unhappily groaned at the thought of school.
While Rosaleen said bubbly, "Yes! I am really excited because it's my freshman year. This is the only school full of just werewolves and shifters who wouldn't be excited" She had that look telling you, duh.
I laughed as Finn Rolled his eyes and Lilac looked like a meh emoji. Jake, Jared, James and two other boys from their friend group piled in a newer model Sierra black truck.
James waved his hand at us as he said, "Meet you at school kiddos!" Then they drove away laughing.
Shaking my head with a little dissatisfaction and amusement I climbed into the car. Finn and Rosaleen went around the other side to get in. Once we were all in, Finn turned the key in the ignition and started the car.
Before he put the gear into drive he turned around to face Rosaleen saying in mock anger, "If your brother calls me kiddo one more time, I'll show him when we practice training tonight."
Rosaleen raised her hands up in defeat while suppressing a smile saying, "Hey, don't take your anger out on me man I am just the sibling."
Finn turned around with a half-smile and scowl. Then proceeded start the car. Rosaleen started to chatter away about school while I smiled and nodded.
Finn then told Rosaleen to stop talking about school and she closed her mouth. Lilac started to talk about the Lacrosse team and wanting to join again.
Rosaleen got really excited because I guess she wanted to join too. They started to talk about tryouts and I zoned them out.
I turned my head to look out my window as the trees went by in a blur. I sighed. My nerves were starting to get the better of me as my fingers started to shake. I twisted my hands together to try to stop the shaking but it didn't help.
Rosaleen squealed, making Finn push on the brake as she tried to get up to look from the front window but her seat belt kept her in place.
"Guys, there's the school. Whoa it's bigger than I thought it was. Isn't it bigger?" Rosaleen asked, looking in my direction.
I nodded, knowing that if I talked my voice would sound small and shaky. The school looked a lot like a huge castle. It was made out of grey stone with pillars.
There were two wolf statues on either side of the school's entrance facing towards each other. Finn raced a car to find a parking spot and once we were in Finn killed the engine.
Rosaleen happily picked up her backpack and bounded out the doors. Finn smiled at her happiness and Lilac just giggled. Once we were all out of the car Finn locked the doors and we walked in the school past the metal gates with an intricate design of a wolf.
Many high schoolers were roaming around outside. The jocks were huddled in their own friend group laughing and pushing each other around.
I quickly hid behind Finn and Lilac as Rosaleen stood next to me with a huge grin on her face. Then almost instantly everyone looked our way, eyes locking in on me like a missile.
I dared not to look at them, so I focused my eyes on Finn's back. The number one rule is to not show submission or weakness because they bully the weak.
Finn started to notice the tension in the air, so he turned his head back around and glared daggers at the few people who were still looking. They then turned around but still sneaked glances at me.
Finn then gave an encouraging smile and ushered me to stand between him and Lilac. I didn't argue and just smiled as I stood with them. Finn walked us to the office so we could get a map of the school since I didn't get one yet.
I have my schedule and ID card but not a map. A lady in her mid thirties greeted us with a big smile. She had dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a small button nose that gives her overall features a cute and youthful appearance.
In a firm but soft voice she asked, "What can I help you with?"
Smiling, I said, "I was wondering if I could get a map of the school?"
The receptionist said, "Sure thing darling."
She then handed me a map and I said thank you before we walked out the doors.
"That's Milly, she is very nice and if you need to ask for anything you can go to her first," Lilac said.
I nodded and we walked to my locker. We were stopped in the hallway by a boy as he came up to Finn with an excited face.
"Hey Finn, How are you doing?" A cute boy said with curly brown hair and a babyish looking face.
Finn replied with a huge grin on his face, "Good, So Duke, are you trying out for football again this year?"
Duke slapped Finn on the back in a manly gesture as he said, "Sure am, will you try out too?"
"I am not sure, still thinking about it," Finn said a little unsure.
"Well okay then. Wait the boys wanted to say hi. Could you ladies please excuse us?"
We all nodded, and Duke said, "Great!" slapping Finn on the arm.
Finn gave us a look telling us he was sorry and turned around rubbing his arm as he followed Duke. That boy has some problems with slapping people.
Lilac started to walk again and we followed her. We then stopped in front of a locker with the numbers 559.
"Here you go locker 559," Lilac said in a sing-song voice.
I smiled and said, "Thank you."
I shifted my backpack off my back and onto the floor then started to turn the knob on the lock. My locker combination is 45, 49, 31 and it took me only 3 tries to open it up.
While I started to put things in my locker Lilac and Rosaleen started to talk about what classes they have. The school bell went off to signal that we have 10 minutes till we have to be in the classrooms.
Rosaleen started to freak out saying that she doesn't know where her locker is. Lilac had to calm her down by saying she would take her there.
Lilac looked at me asking, "Will you be okay if I leave you?"
I said, "I will be fine, go and show Rosaleen her locker."
Lilac and Rosaleen said, "Okay Bye!"
As they walked away, I looked at my schedule and realized that my room was just a little ways down this hallway.
This settled my nerves knowing that I won't have to walk a long way and get lost in the process. Just then I heard high girly voices sounding close.
The voices abruptly stopped as their shadows fell on me. Trying to calm my beating heart I gave a small smile as I hesitantly stood up. A tall girl with red shoulder length hair and chocolate big eyes looked down at me with a smile.
No not a smile, a deadly looking one with a menacing look to it. I looked around and there were six girls dressed up like this one and giving me the same look.
I tried to keep a cool face and a smile to let them know they don't bother me. Great on the first day of school I have already run into the group of the most popular girls I presume. My life here in school as I know it will take a turn for the worst.