As we continued to eat our breakfast, I started telling Molly about my childhood, about how we were part of a travelling show and how we used to travel around Europe in tents and camper vans. She seemed completely fascinated by it and she began telling me hers.
It turned out her werewolf father was a successful Stockbroker and they used to move around a lot as part of his job, but it was all fancy places like London and New York before they finally sent her to an exclusive all-girls boarding school in Oxfordshire.
"Have you heard of the 'Wolf of Wallstreet'?" Molly asked.
I shook my head.
"It's this guy who was a stockbroker on Wallstreet, he is a total party animal and does drugs then cons people out of all their life savings." She quickly explained.
"That's not your Dad is it?" I looked at her.
She giggled then shook her head, "no that's not my Dad, that guy is American. But that's the nickname we gave him. He hates it and goes mental when we call him that. He said a lot of his coworkers were werewolves, you can imagine it's a highly charged male-dominated environment, they're all shouting and screaming down the phone all day, testosterone levels shooting through the roof."
She suddenly stopped talking and was looking terrified. I felt a shadow casting above my head and moved my head to see what she was staring at.
Standing in front of our table was Theo McAllister with the rest of his pack standing closely behind, forming a small army.
If I thought he had looked mad earlier, now he looked a hundred times worse. His face glowered at me and those obsidian-like dark eyes of his were burning with anger. He looked like he was going to eat me alive!
"You." He snarled, leaning forward across the table.
I blinked a few times, uncertain of what his problem was.
"By the way, your tie is in my jam." I pointed out.
He looked down and sure enough, the bottom of his tie was lying on the heap of strawberry jam I had spread all over the pancakes. He raised his hand and I thought he was going to hit me! But he simply knocked my tray off the table with one single sweep of his hand, sending it crashing to the floor with a loud clatter.
Everyone in the cafeteria had stopped talking and was turning around to look at us. The dining became deadly silent you could hear a pin drop. I even noticed everyone at Aiden's table was staring at us.
"Is this about your ball again?" I asked, began fumbling through my pockets to give him back his ball.
He looked like I have just given him the biggest insult in the world. He suddenly reached out, grabbed me by the tie and pulled me up close to his face!
We were eye to eye, nose to nose, and mouth to mouth. I could even feel his hot breath on my face as he breathed, it was far too close.
"Let go of me!" I said, pushing him away with all the force I had within me but he didn't budge. He was much bigger and stronger than me. I could feel the muscle bulging in his arms. He simply grabbed hold of both of my wrists and leaned forward. His nose brushed past my right cheek then my hair before stopping at the side of my ear.
"You little grass." He said in a low but audible whisper.
I was dumbstruck.
What was he talking about? I didn't grass on him?!
"Ok, break it up you two." A male voice called out.
It was the same boy I saw talking to Dr Black outside the cafeteria earlier. He pushed past the gathered crowd and placed a hand over Theo's shoulder to pull him away.
"Theo, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in detention," The boy said to him.
"Get off of me Clifford." Theo shrugged of the boy's hand, looking rather annoyed that someone dared to interrupt. "We were just talking."
"Are you ok?" Clifford asked me.
I nodded, still in a state of shock. Molly's eyes were red, she looked like she was about to cry.
"Can you go up to detention by yourself or would I have to escort you?" Clifford asked Theo.
Theo McAllister didn't say a word nor did he show any signs of wanting to leave. He straightened his body and casually started taking his tie off.
"What are you doing Theo?" Clifford looked at him confused.
Once he took off his tie, he placed it on the table in front of me and said. "Clean it and bring it back to me tomorrow."
I stared at him as if he was crazy.
"Ok, you can get a new tie on the way to detention," Clifford said, pulling him away again.
"I want that one." Theo said in annoyance.
"That's fine but you'll still need one for now. You're not allowed to walk around without a tie on." Clifford said.
Theo started walking away with Clifford, the rest of his pack followed him.
Then one of the girls from his pack doubled back. She had on a very short skirt and her face was covered with makeup. She gave me a nasty look and said: "you'd better watch it, you little mutt. We're gonna get you tonight."
She kicked the empty chair in front of us hard, sending it flying.
Molly was mortified.
Once they left the cafeteria, the crowds of gathered people began to dissipate. I noticed Aiden's table had stopped watching too and resumed their conversations again.
"How did you get on the wrong side of Kendra?" Molly asked.
"Who?"
"The girl with the short skirt."
"I don't know who she is." I shook my head and felt a pang in my chest.
He didn't even try to help. If it wasn't for that guy Clifford, Theo might've beaten me to a pulp. Was he just going to sit there and let it happen?
"Have you heard of Caleb McCann?"
I looked up in surprise.
Who did she just mention?