September

THREE MONTHS LATER

At 7:00 AM, Mason turned off the alarm and crawled out of bed. He couldn’t remember the last time had woken up so early. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he slipped on a pair of jeans he had found on the floor and a shirt that was hidden under his pillow. Why was he doing this again? Oh right. Anna.

As he walked into the kitchen, he found that the cabin was rather…silent. Scary. Fumbling through the fridge he pulled out a package of bacon and a carton of eggs. Finding a clean skillet was a bit of a challenge. Whose turn was it to do the dishes again?

Mason didn’t let his thoughts wonder too far on that one fearing that he would discover it was his. By the time he had started the bacon, Wade had shuffled into the kitchen, looking more dead than alive with his light brown hair sticking out in odd angles.

“What are you doing?” he half-stated, half-yawned. Mason shrugged as he turned over a strip of bacon.

“Cooking.” He answered dully.

“Why?” Mason pulled two eggs out of the carton. Ignoring Wade’s question. But it didn’t take long for Wade to find the answer. And when he did, his eyes grew wide.

“You’re cooking breakfast for her?” He asked in disbelief. A sigh emitted from the other boy’s throat.

“Okay before you lose your head, it’s her first day of school.” Mason answered, wondering how Anna liked her eggs. He went with scrambled.

“I thought it’d be nice if she had a decent breakfast.” Wade didn’t say anything for the longest time but just watched as Mason worked. He didn’t even know Mason could cook, let alone turn on a stove.

“Jesus man, you’re in love with her.” Wade teased, stealing a strip of bacon, and receiving a glare from Mason, who really couldn’t have stopped him.

“Am not.” Was his answer, as he added another strip to the pan.

Before Wade could come up with an equally childish comeback, Anna entered the room. Both Mason and Wade gave her big toothy grins, which she returned with a kind smile.

“Good morning.” She stated as she glided over to the refrigerator. Mason casually sat a plate of food on the table. Anna froze and turned to look at him, then the food, then him again.

“Breakfast.” He answered awkwardly, and Anna raised her eyebrows.

“I didn’t know you could cook.”

“That makes two of us.” Wade chimed in. A look of annoyance flashed across Mason’s features. Why was he there in the first place? Didn’t he have somewhere else to be? Obviously not.

“You didn’t have to make me breakfast.” Anna said, even though she took the seat anyway. Though it was a nice gesture. Who was she to turn it down?

“Oh yes he did.” Another Wade remark. This time Mason elbowed him in the ribs, which kept him silent for a few more seconds.

“Oliver used to cook me breakfast on my first day of school. But he’s not here right now so….”

“Wait, where is he?” Wade asked, and Mason shrugged. Because honestly he didn’t know. Oliver usually left a note that explained where he was going. This time all he had written was Be Back Soon.

“He’ll turn up eventually.” Like he always did.  Anna dug her fork into the eggs and stopped before taking a bite. 

“He was supposed to help me with my scouting after school. If he’s not back….do you think you - ” she asked curiously.

“Yeah sure.” Mason replied before she could even finish the question. And Anna responded with a smile, bringing the fork to her lips again. But that was before her eyes landed on the clock. She felt her stomach turn violently.

“Is that really the time?” she asked, her voice becoming slightly frantic. Both Wade and Mason turned their heads to look at the giant clock with a rooster on it.

Before they could answer, Anna was zooming around the room, gathering her book bag and shoes. “I can’t believe I’m going to be late on my first day.” She muttered, slipping on the converse. Wade tossed her his keys and she caught them just before they hit the floor.

“Thanks.” She stated, and then she was out the door. The two of them remained quiet until they heard the vehicle backing out. Wade smiled brightly, and Mason was tempted to elbow him in the ribs for the second time.  But chose to clean up the mess he had made instead. Wade crept up to him, and rested his head on the other male’s shoulder.

“Oh, Mason. Please teach me how to scout.” He teased in a high pitched voiced that was nothing like Anna’s. “Only a big strong wolf like you could do it.” Wade stated fluttering his eyelashes.

“Knock it off.” Mason growled, placing the pan in the sink to be washed. He had to do dishes anyway. But Wade wasn’t finished; he came to stand in front of the darker haired boy.

“Oh Mason, you’re so sexy. We should have puppies together.” Wade stated, still in the high pitched accent. However, all the fun ended when somebody cleared their throat. Both of the boys turned their heads, and standing in the doorway was Sarah. She looked pissed but what else was new?

“I don’t want to know.” She answered before strolling to the fridge, retrieving a bottle of water, and disappearing back down the hall to her room. Then Wade cleared his throat, and exited the room, obviously very embarrassed. Now Mason thought it was funny.

 SCHOOL

All Anna had ever known was the orphanage. So seeing Prentiss High School was a little…intimidating. The main building had to be at least three stories, but that was nothing compared to all the other buildings that were placed around the campus.  Anna was seriously considering turning around. At the orphanage, she saw a tutor every Tuesday and Thursday. She had never had to worry about getting to class on time or crabby teachers. High school was going to be a nightmare.

Shutting off the engine, she stepped out onto the gravel of the senior parking lot. Her eyes were still fixed upon the school building. Taking in a deep breath, she told herself that high school wasn’t that hard.

Mason had told her that her that English IV had been in room 109. Somewhere on the second floor. It was a good thing he knew where he was going. Mason had just graduated from Prentiss High last year, lucky for her. Entering the room, she realized that yes, she was indeed a little late and the only available desk was located near the front center of the room. Yeah, that’s exactly where she wanted to be…not.

Students chatted among themselves as Anna dug through her bag in search of a pencil. Nobody bothered to acknowledge her. But she kind of preferred it that way. The class grew silent as a chubby bald man with glasses checked off names on a clipboard. Then he came to hers.

“Bloom, Anna.” He called out, and the brunette simply raised her hand to show that she was indeed present. “Ah, a new student. Please stand.”

Was he serious right now?

“Tell us a little something about yourself.”  Anna felt her heart sink as she stood up and turned to face the class. Yeah, now they all noticed her.

“Well….um, my name is Anna.”

“Yes we’ve established that.” The teacher interrupted. And a few of the students began to chuckle. Six words and they already thought her an idiot. What was she supposed to tell them? Hi, I’m Anna and every full moon I turn into giant dog?

“I’ve never been to a real school before. I mean, um, I was home schooled.” Somewhere in the back of the class she could hear two people whispering.

“Freak.” One of them teased while the other laughed. Anna realized she was going to hate high school.

“I’m not a freak.” She corrected aloud, and a few more people laughed. The two others at the back of the room gave her puzzled looks. Because they couldn’t figure out how she had been able to hear them, which made her seem more like a freak.

Anna sat back down, and the professor went along with the roll call. Nobody talked to her for the rest of the hour. They only talked about her.

At lunch, she chose a table near the back of the cafeteria. And she had planned to spend the lunch period alone, eating the sandwich she had made herself last night. But not everything went as planned. It was then that a tray was sat down beside her.

Looking up, she saw a red-headed girl with a big smile take the seat to the left. Anna smiled back, even though it probably didn’t come out like a smile.

“You must be Anna Bloom. My name is Julie.” The girl greeted, holding out her hand which Anna took in her own. “What do you think of Prentiss High?” Julie asked, uncapping a V8 bottle.

“Oh its….great.” She lied. Julie laughed lightly.

“No its not.” Well, at least they were being honest here. “But if there’s one thing I can say about Prentiss High, they’ve got plenty of clubs and organizations. So what are you into?”

“Well I -"

“You look like a photographer. They’ve got a great photography club here.” Julie interrupted. And Anna shook her head. Because she obviously didn’t believe that photography was her thing. She probably couldn’t take a decent picture if she wanted to.

“How’s the track team?” Anna asked curiously.

“Or what about Art Club?” The brunette shook her head for the second time. Where did Julie get the idea that Anna was an artistic person?"

“Running is pretty much the only thing I’m good at.” Anna clarified. And the red-head shrugged.

“The Coach is a total jerk. You’re gonna hate it.”

Anna smiled. “Where do I sign up?”

Reviews

[Zombeh]

I love the book so far, I can't wait 'till you add more chapters. You give alot of description, but not too much where it gets in the way. And I can actually follow along with the book like it's a movie reeling in my head. Good flow, and characters. I like the realism [well, besides the werewolf stuff, you get my point ;P] of the story. Keep it up! I can't wait to see more :)