"Come on, Adelina!" Lucas whined into my ear. "Don't tell me you're going to go for track again! Why don't you think about joining swimming with me?" He asks me to join the swim team with him almost every year since middle school. I roll my eyes from my locker to my best friend, who I so desperately want to punch in the face. Believe me, he needs a good swing to his face. As I size him up, I go over his tall, lean body that's been toned and muscled from years of swimming. My eyes land on his face and find his ocean blue eyes staring at my violet ones. His dirty blond hair is a mess from his morning practice that he never bothered to fix. He catches me looking at his hair, so he reaches up and starts messing with it.
"Is it that bad?" I just look at him and tell him, "Nah, you're good. Besides, some girls actually like that messy hair look on guys." That made a smile creep onto his face, which caused a small blush to appear as he showed his dimples. "Anyways, are you gonna try out for track again?" He asked once more. I rolled my eyes and flatly told him, "You've asked that same stupid question since we were 13," he got a hurt look on his face, "my answer is always the same: Yes. I'm a runner. Swimming is your thing, Lucas." I close my locker and we start walking towards our first class. Our schedules are almost the same, we have about 6 periods together so whoopdie doo!! I'm gonna have the urge to attack my best friend all day.. I mean I won't, but no one can stop me from thinking about it.
"But, it could be our thing! Come on, you're one of my two best friends. Having you on the team would make it a hell of a lot more interesting at swim meets, especially since the girls wear swim suits that show off their figure." He winks at me as I gape at his comment and smack him on the arm. Yeah, I have a skinny figure, according to my parents an hour glass figure, but I don't like showing off my body that much. I wear baggy clothes almost regularly, for track I absolutely have to wear shorts and the school's jersey. He laughs and puts his hands in the air as he surrenders to me. I know he was being sarcastic, but boys will be boys.
"I've seen you run, you're unbeatable! The rest of the track team can't keep up with you! You've, of course, seen me swim." I roll my eyes again, but throw in a smile. "I'm still the fastest swimmer in this school! No one else can top my time!" I could never make it through one of our conversations without giving him about 7 - 10 of my infamous eyerolls. This boy already got two, so let's see how many more he's gonna get out of me.
"Come on, Adelina, think about it please?! You and I would be an unbeatable pair in the water!" I look at him like he was stupid. "No offense, but running and swimming are total polar opposites. I'd be slow as hell in the water just as you'd be snail slow in a lane. Sorry, but your reasoning on us being an unbeatable pair is really lame." He crashes to the ground dejectedly. I laugh and kneel beside him as other students walk by. I put my hand on his back and start patting him, saying, "There there, you poor puppy." He ignores me and just goes right back to what he wants after about five seconds of looking deflated.
"Will you at least think about it?" I stand up and look down at him. "How many times must I tell you no, Mr. Hunter?" I smile at him as I offer my hand to help the kicked puppy up to his feet. He takes it gladly and I help him stand up. He doesn't let go, but I don't mind. We've been doing this for years, so the warmth his hand spreads to mine is not a surprise anymore. He looks into my eyes and says with confidence, "Until you say, "Yes" Ms. Jacobs." Another eyeroll. Desperate to change the subject, I quickly ask him, "Are you going to join any clubs this year, Lucas?" It's not even first period yet and I'm already tired of hearing swimming, swimming, swimming. "No, this school year is supposed to be harder than Sophomore. Plus, I wanna hang out with you and Chase more." He gave a wink and I gave him a smile and a little elbow hit to his side.
He laughed and gave my hand a squeeze. "How about you? You planning on joining any clubs?" He asked as I started scanning the hall of bustling students. 'He should be here any second now, I can feel it.' As if right on time, Lucas and I get attacked by a pair of arms from behind. "Heya lovebirds! What are you guys whispering about? Your first date?" Chase beamed at us with a mischievous grin. I push him off with my free hand and flick him in the forehead. He gives me a shocked look and fakes that he's actually been hurt by me. "Hey Chase! Mind not being a drama queen and come say hi to me too?" Lucas asked him from my side. Chase scruffed up my hair, as he normally does, before he and Lucas do their completely stupid, but extremely complicated guy handshake. As soon as they're done, they wrap an arm around each other's shoulder and laugh.
I just smiled at them, "You two are ridiculous, you know that right?" They nod almost in sync, then we continue to our class. "You never answered my question, Liner. Are you going for clubs or nah?" I think about it for a second and reply, "No, too much of a hassle for me to deal with." That's a true fact. "Right. You just absolutely hate drama, but yet you're on the one team that causes the most drama here at Lion Hills High." Lucas tells me with a knowing look as me and Chase just give him a wtf look. "Um, Luke. Don't take this the wrong way, but you're stupid." Chase coolly tells him. Lucas looks taken aback and shouts, "WHAT?!" Chase and I laugh at his priceless expression. "Man, clubs and teams are different. The same drama doesn't happen everywhere. Stop thinking it's a small world where one thing affects everything." Chase tells his best friend. Lucas looks again dejected and plops his head onto my shoulder. I pat his head as me and Chase exchange a secret smirk. The bell for first period rings and almost every student in the halls starts running to their classroom.
The three of us take off to our own classroom and start to walk into the room. First Chase, then Lucas, and finally me. But as I'm about to step through the door frame, someone grabs my backpack and basically pulls me out of the door way and I go sprawling onto the floor. I hear the guys ask me if I'm okay and in all honesty I was thanks to me being a werewolf and not being able to feel pain like normal people do. Typically being thrown to the ground like that would at least cause me to get a minor headache and some body pains. But since I'm a freaking werewolf, I didn't feel anything.
"Get out of my way, mutt. You're blocking the whole door way!" I'd know that horrible voice anywhere. I look up and see wavy red hair, pale skin with almost no flaws, and piercing red eyes. My eyes were like hers, unnatural. But she didn't look like she was wearing colored contacts and I can't feel if she's a Nao like me. Maybe she's just a secret devil irl. She smiles evilly down at me and walks past the guys, who basically glare at her and growl before coming to help me. Lucas offers me his hand and I take it. He lifts me up so effortlessly that I felt like I was flying. He and Chase were mad, I can tell. The redhead that threw me to the ground, that's Ginger, the "Queen of Lion Hills High School." She took her seat in front of the teacher's desk as the three of us headed towards the back. I thought to myself, 'What a suck up. That habit won't help you if you even manage to graduate.' She whips her head in my direction and glares at me with her red eyes burning through me. Holy crap, don't tell me she heard me! We sat down and class began.
Some rumors went around that Ginger is an Angel's child. Literally. She could probably be a Nao in the Angel class. She could probably sprout wings from her back and fly, incinerate people's insides with the touch of her hand at will, or use her "Angel Charm" to get any guy she wants. Yes, Naos go to our school, but their identities aren't outright known until an Ingan spots them doing something supernatural. Then, that Nao is publicly shamed and beaten every day until something happens, either a school transfer or an accident (not THAT kind of accident, a Nao's inner light prevents them from such ideas). So, Nao's keep their real selves hidden and many kids are just left to feverishly theorize and whisper about who is a Nao. Even though these were rumors about her, she was still very popular and other kids are basically scared to call her anything bad. Unfortunately, she has her eyes set on someone. She has a crush on Lucas, but Lucas couldn't give giver her the time of day. He hates Ginger as much as I do, if not more. However, the whole charm thing really stuck to me and I got lost in thought. 'Is Lucas immune to an Angel's Charm? He would be the first.' Then the little voice in my head interrupted my thoughts. 'What if Lucas finds out our secret?' I stare out the window for the rest of class, wasting time as I watch gray clouds roll by.
Translation-
Ingan - human
Nao - supernatural being