Chapter 7

Dinner time was about an hour after combat class and I walked to the dinner hall alone.

I finally saw Tegan for the first time in ages and she was hanging out with someone I’d never seen around before. She had olive skin and an abyss dark hair that cascaded smoothly and sleekly off her shoulders. She looked to be about eight because she hid behind Tegan when she saw me approaching. Little Tegan smiled at me and hugged me tightly. I was so pleased to finally be able to catch up with her because I hadn’t seen her in so long... okay, about a day and a half, but hey, she was my family and to me that felt like an eternity. She was being her usual smiley self and her brown hair was concealed under a Yankees cap she kept ever since the orphanage. She was wearing cargo shorts and a grey shirt and it contrasted with her friend, who was wearing a black dress and frilly socks with Velcro shoes and she looked like she was dressed to go a funeral. I guess that was how people saw me most days as well, so who was I to judge?

“Hi, Avril!” Tegan smiled excitedly, “I made a new friend today!” She turned to the shy other girl, “it’s okay, Millie, it’s only Avril.” I smiled,

“Hey, Millie. I’m Avril,”

“No! Get her away from me, Tegan!” I was taken aback by this Millie’s comment. I wasn’t that ugly was I? “She’s the devil’s child! Get her away!” she exclaimed, looking so frightened of me as if I was the boggy-man and she was a small child who had just had her worst fears witnessed before her eyes. Tegan sighed,

“Millie, it’s okay. She won’t hurt you.” By this time, Millie was in the foetal position on the floor beside the table Tegan and her friends usually sat at. I gave Tegan a quick hug and left, so that Millie would be put out of her misery and then I saw Jake. He looked horrible and I wasn’t just saying that because he was my brother, but he looked pale, his brown hair was scruffy and he was wearing baggy jeans and a very baggy jersey. He walked sullenly over to me and then murmured ‘hey’. I replied with ‘heya’ and then I just cut straight to the chase.

“What’s up? You seem really sad about something.” Jake smiled, but then it faded,

“I hate it here, Avril. Usually, I’m really great at adapting to new surroundings, but here? I just can’t. I hope you’re still plotting an escape plan because one more day here and I might explode.” I hadn’t thought about my escape plan today, actually. I’d been far too busy with my busy class schedule to even think about that. I’d never seen him so... vulnerable before. It was probably because he was the leader, Jake the Leader and he was supposed to be strong no matter what. I put my arm and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly,

“You’re just not used to it yet,” I tried to comfort him, but it wasn’t my forte. At least, not verbally. If it were like writing words, then heck, I’m anyone’s counsellor, but with spoken words... they just didn’t flow as easily. He grimaced and then I tried to think of something else to say to him, “Just give it a couple of days. You’ll see.” Just then, I saw Mr. Gabrielle coming towards me. He looked very angry... I knew I was forgetting something! I had to go to detention! But I was too late in realising that.

“Mavra!” He started, “You and Jamerson are supposed to be in detention.” He crossed his arms sternly and tapped his foot impatiently and then in the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Adam Jamerson, womanizing all of the girls from the Barbie clique that Ash had told us about at breakfast. I frowned and Samson pretty much grabbed me by the collar and dragged me back to his lair... I mean classroom and then he did the same thing for Adam and I felt like I was trapped in my prison cell again, with slightly more space and with an unbearable pain in the a*s as my companion.

I’ve been branded by a strap and I’ve been beaten by the maddest cat in the nunnery, but never had I been given a full-on school detention.

Adam and I had to sit in the fluorescently lit classroom alone until we had sorted the whole fiasco out and to me; there was really nothing to sort out. He called me a pathetic orphan, I kicked his a*s. Some call that violent response. I call that balance. We both sat stubbornly at opposite ends of the classroom.

“You’re a psycho,” he said after a while and I looked at him with a ‘dude, you haven’t seen the half of it’ look and then replied,

“You really think so? Well, that just shows you not to mess with me again, doesn’t it?” He rolled his eyes and then tried to get more further from me. How mature.

“Oh, I don’t think so, I know so. A b***h like you should be placed in solitary confinement.”

“Yeah and an a*****e like you should be placed in the sewers but we can’t always get what we want, can we, pretty boy?” He frowned and then I got bored in my seat and put my feet up onto the desk in front of me.

“Who the hell do you think you are? You just come parading in here thinking you own the place, well, here’s a newsflash; you don’t. It takes work to get to the top,”

“Yep and newsflash; you try way too hard.” I replied - it was certainly going to be a long night, but they had to let us go at some stage. After a huge pause, he finally sighed and gave up on arguing with me.

“Okay, look, April,”

“It’s Avril,” I murmured darkly. I hated it when people called me April. It was the name Sister Bernadette gave me just before the first Orphanage I went to burnt down - Eli Orphanage. She was the most horrible nun in the world - I’d heard a story once that she killed a kid because she got very impatient and then she claimed it was ‘their time for God to take them.’ Sister Elise had renamed me Avril after a warrior in a story her mother had once told her.

“Yeah, whatever. Look, I hate you and you hate me and I don’t fancy being in here all night with you, so let’s just pretend to Mr. G that this is all settled.”

“As long as you know not to cross me ever again, then yeah, sure.” He rolled his eyes and he nodded. Mr. Gabrielle was just about to open the door and so, Adam and I sat beside each other and pretended to be casually talking about common interests... or more or less, I was just spouting random stuff about music and he pretended to look intrigued. This was a procedure I was used to. I did it a lot at the orphanage to stop the nuns from bitching at us that we hadn’t learnt our lesson. Suckers. Mr. Gabrielle looked satisfied and then told us a) not to fight in his classroom ever again and b) we were free to go to dinner and it was the last call for desert so it would be the last meal we got until breakfast the next day. I got my desert and it was like I was never gone by the time I got to the table. Charlie and Ash were cracking up at something and I just laughed to make it seem like I was there the whole time. I stole a glance at Jake who looked really miserable.

Ash was smiling and he asked us all,

“How was everybody’s first day?” Chase and I looked at each other and grinned.

“Kickass.” No need to add that it was meant in the literal sense; we said it at exactly the same time. He and Charlie looked at each other and I knew what that meant. It meant they thought we would make a cute couple - how did I know this? I used to do exactly the same thing with Tegan when it came to Charlie and Jake.

“Mine was awesome! Thank you so much, Ash. You’re a great tour guide.”

“Why, thank you, it was my pleasure to show such elegance around the grounds of St. Rurik’s Academy.” He bowed his head and then Jake rolled his eyes and sighed angrily.

“Come on. Dude, you’ve known her for five minutes and you’re already making a move on her? You should be disgusted with yourself!” He finally exploded,

“Jake!” Charlie exclaimed,

“And you? You’re just as bad! Now, if you’ll excuse me!” Jake stormed angrily away from the table and Charlie followed. I could tell they were going to the courtyard because that was a) the only place where any fresh air was available and b) Jake always went out for some fresh air when he was angry about something.

“Jake, what the hell was that all about?” Charlie followed him and I waited until I had finished my desert. I knew perfectly well what that was all about. Jake was jealous that Charlie may have found someone new to make her laugh and tell her secrets to... Jake was in love with Charlie. I slunk away, trying to get a glimpse of their conversation. Of course, Jake was too stubborn to admit his true feelings to Charlie or to anyone. I was pretty sure that even if his parents were still alive he wouldn’t even confide in them. He was a very private person. It was raining outside and they were underneath the veranda. Leaning against one of the tall brick columns that was holding the veranda up, Jake sighed and then Charlie tapped him on the shoulder,

“What the hell, Jake?” She demanded and he just shook his head and sighed again.

“I just... I was having a bad day. I hate it here and I hate Ashley and I hate... this... this lycanthrope crap.” He was lying; that wasn’t the real reason why he’d gone off at Ash. It was because he was in love with Charlie but he was just too stubborn to admit it to her or anyone else out loud. Nobody except me could tell he was lying because I’d known him longer and I always knew that he was lying because of the little action he did with his hand. He always twitched his index finger slightly when he lied and even from my hiding place, three pillars away I could see him do it. Another perk of being a lycan; we had really awesome eyesight. Charlie hugged him instantly,

“Why didn’t you say so, Jake? I would’ve hung out with you all day until you got used to the school.”

“Charlie, I’m not like you, Avril and Tegan. I can’t just fit in wherever I go! Sometimes, I don’t even think I fit in with you three.” Charlie almost slapped him in that moment, but she bit her lip instead.

“What are you talking about? Of course you fit in with us! We. Are. Your. Family.” She said the last bit slowly so that it would sink in. She’d done it to Tegan when she was old enough to have the lycanthrope virus explained to her. Charlie hugged Jake again and then she whispered, “I love you. Don’t you ever forget that, or so help me, I’ll get Avril onto you.” I couldn’t see Charlie’s face, but Jake’s was perfectly in view and he looked horrified and so my job was definitely done and so was Charlie’s.

I went inside.