Nova's POV
About a half hour or so into chemistry, they walk in.
A group of about five or six people, more on the popular side. They walk in late every day but today there is a plus one.
This would be totally fine, but the thing about normal late people is that they seem to be in a rush. These individuals seem to have no sense of rush about them which makes my eye twitch. I know it's a little thing, but it's a pet peeve of mine, lateness, wasting precious time of others. I believe there is a word for it: inconsideration.
Since it is the new semester, there has been a lot of confusion about new classes and schedule changes. I had one or two classes switched, really annoying but such is life.
My senses liven at their arrival, there is a smell coming from one of them that was what we smelled before.. Over all the trashy Victoria Secret and AXE products, we pick out the different one. He must have walked past earlier. Wolfie just wants to run up and smell him to confirm what her gut feeling is.
She is screaming with glee that he is also one of us, I tell her to relax and that it could be nothing but she persists. I am also curious but I don't act on it until they all walk in front of my seat since I sit near the front. He has been on edge since he came in too, eyes laser focused on me assuming he caught my scent.
As a wolf, senses become heightened and they kinda seep into the human side as well. I can smell, see, hear and perceive everything better. They say dogs have better senses, it is definitely true. In fur form, our senses are forty or fifty times better than that of a normal human. We also have much more dexterity, balance, agility, coordination, and stamina than a human.
She whimpers in pure excitement and start beating our tail as his smell gets closer. He's a wolf, there is not a doubt in my mind now.
Told you so...
They organize some stuff with the teacher and go to sit down.
It is certainly is strange that we haven't noticed him before. I don't believe in fate or cliches, so why this? Why now?
"Okay, Mr. Jameson why don't you and Ms. Dauntry go sit at table four.. and Mr. Wilson and you ladies go sit at the empty table in the back?" Mrs. Sanchez mumbles and they do just that. Mystery boy responds to 'Mr. Wilson', at least I know half of his name now.
Let me tell you, it is incredibly difficult to focus on periodic table stuff when you can feel eyes burning through the back of your head and your brain isn't entirely focused on the task at hand.
I catch his eyes at one point and am unable to move away, desperate to read him. His eyes show excitement and curiosity with a tinge of intensity that is fading as he looks at me longer. I'd be willing to bet that his wolf is reacting the same as mine, jumping around out of sheer giddiness, unable to be put to rest. I'm not allowing her to show herself, hopefully making my face unreadable to him.
That lasted for maybe five point two seconds. She pushes her way through right past my barrier until my look is the same as his. It's a dead giveaway...
He really is quite attractive.. blonde hair with what my friends refer to as the surfer dude style. Cornflower blue eyes with a fleck of green in only the right eye, a gentle expression that he didn't have when he walked in.
When the bell rings, I snap out of my trance and get out as fast as I can, speedwalking to my next class.
What are you doing!? We need to be around him! He is one of us! She hisses.
I ignore her and walk into class, sitting down. No sign of mystery boy. I exhale in relief and pinch my arm.. Ouch. Yep, totally real. Shit.
I take another breath in a feeble attempt to calm myself and stand up after our teacher is done taking roll along with the rest of the class.
"Good morning everyone! This morning we are going to learn a new waltz for the prom coming up!" Mr. Gad says with sickening enthusiasm and claps his hands to further express it, smiling wide and almost squealing.
The class groans. I wasn't even planning on going. None of my friends care about that stuff. I walk over to find my usual partner and we dance out the routine on the teacher's count.
"1,2,3, 4,5,6 and turn ,2,3, 4,5,6" he calls out slowly to help us understand better.
After we rotate a few times and start to understand it more, he puts some slow music on and counts us only where we need it or get lost and confused. He makes us dance until he can see our reflection in perfect sync reflected in the mirrors that are put up on the walls, like a traditional studio.
I can't help watch myself move along to the music, I'm mostly klutzy but when both me and my wolf work together, we are more graceful. Even if you aren't graceful, just dance a waltz and lose yourself in it.
As we glance at the door, Mr. Wilson from earlier walks in to deliver a note to the teacher. He must be an office aid for second period. You only get to be an office aid if you had a free period because you met your high school requirements. He was smart then.
Hot.
I desperately try to hide and make myself invisible but I see him sniffing the air and eventually landing his eyes on me.
"Layla, you're going home." Mr. Gad says and hands her the slip. "Thank you, Blake." He says referring to mystery boy who is no longer mystery boy to me. He turns to leave but not before shooting me another glare. I don't know what to think of his presence. It puts me on edge, but at the same time, it brings me comfort to know that I'm not alone and if he exists, then maybe it isn't just us. If it isn't just us, then I can have legitimate hope.
The bell rings about ten minutes later and I gather my things to leave. When I walk out, lo and behold, there he is waiting for me. Odd, but not exactly unwanted persé.
He grins at me and comes closer. He is taller than me by about a head as I notice when he is standing over me, I look up.
"Hi. Nova, right?" He asks.
"Who's asking?" I ask and start to walk in the direction of my class.
"I know what you are." He says still looking at me. A smile creeps across his face and eagerness jumps around in his eyes. His face reflects something positively elated.
I start to walk again with much difficulty from my wolf who is trying to push me back to him. It's as if she attached chains to me between her and I, as she is much stronger than me it is strenuous.
He takes just a few steps to catch up to me, "you're part lycan." He says barely above a whisper so people don't think we're crazy.
"I have lycans in my family, big deal." I shrug and reply quietly.
"Where is your pack?" He asks with urgency, "I haven't felt anyone like you but you since I've lived here."
"Exactly. I haven't either. I don't belong to a pack." I say as we sit down in class. Apparently, we have this class together as well.
My wolf is gushing over with questions for him to which I oblige and ask while answering his. I ask about why he is here and why he isn't in a pack.
"Me too, same as you. I want to find my family again."
"I do too," I finally look at him in earnest.
"Come with me," he cuts me off.
"What? Isn't that like... a rash decision? Your mission seems more important than mine.. I'd hate to-" He cuts me off again.
"Nonsense! Our kind needs to stay together, otherwise, there isn't hope of peace or existence." Yep. Definitely his wolf speaking.
"How do I know you aren't trying to kill me or something?" I ask hesitantly, and raise an eyebrow while seriously considering his offer. It was a kind gesture, and strangely I had no odd feelings about him.
He laughs." Meet me after school, I'll prove it to you."
I smile and nod slowly. If he was a threat, I felt confident that I could take him or run. As part lycan, I'm stronger than he is even though I'm only partial. I really didn't have a bad feeling about him though, not even my wolf had weird feelings about him.
"Where?" I ask.
"The back gate." He says after thinking for a second.
A bit later, he apologizes for being so forward. I told him that I'd have done the same.
After more talking and relatable things, one of the girls from earlier comes up to us. She is one of the girls who sits beside him in chemistry and we do not get along at all. We were friends once, but then high school happened and she became like Sandra and Evelyn, felt the need to impress her friends more so than spend her time cultivating real relationships. We had been friends forever, since like elementary school and then eventually, we grew apart. At first, it was just not talking as much, and then we didn't talk at all or text like we used to.
The final stage where I decided to stop trying to force a relationship that no longer existed was when she started to find new friends that started to be excessively rude to me and in such an extra way, she followed suit. I could see right through her.. she didn't want to, it hurt her but it made her new friends laugh. I accepted it and moved on, found my own friends and we hardly talk. The pain that was once in her eyes had disappeared now and has been replaced with a sick sense of happiness, I daresay.
"How much did you have to pay him to talk to the likes of you?" She sneers referring to me as his expression changes from confused to almost angry.
"Your posse isn't even here, Cassie," I roll my eyes.
She rolls her eyes right back at me and tries to take Blake's hand to leave and go sit with her friends. "Don't call me Cassie," she snapped which almost made me jump.
Her name is Cassandra (CassAAANdra, not CassAHNdra) but I used to call her Cassie which was her cute nickname but now she only lets her close friends call her that.
Blake pulls his hand back to her surprise and disgust. "I see," she says with a scoff and storms off. When she is out of earshot, he bursts out laughing.
~~~After school~~~~
I do exactly as Blake says and meet him in the parking lot. I lean on my bike and watch the gate waiting for him.
After a few minutes, I grow concerned as I don't see him. When I hear footsteps behind me even though they're quiet, I turn around and there he is.
"Damn your hyper senses, Nova!" He chuckles when he sees me smile and steps beside me to look at my bike.
I smile, "Where are we going?" I ask and look up at him.
"Follow me in my car, it's a ways out but it needs to be for this." He says and goes to his car, I do as told and follow him.
He drives on the road for a bit before pulling into a line of dense trees and driving for a longer time, making a few turns until we reach a small clearing. He stops and I stop a bit behind him.
He gets out and I get off my bike and move towards him more, but not so close to where he could grab me.
"What are we doing out here?" I ask, allowing my wolf to come in a bit just for safety and convenience. Put it this way: she is fight mode, I am flight mode.
He takes his shirt off and undoes his pants, I assume he is going to shift. He doesn't want to rip his clothes. I stand back a little and take a defensive stance.
"Calm down, tiger." He doesn't seem like the type who would hurt someone. Famous last words some may say, but not in this case.
"Wait, when was the last time you shifted?" I ask, if it wasn't recent, it's gonna hurt him.
"This morning." He says as if it is the most natural and sense-making thing in the world.
That explains why I could smell him.