I Dare You

five

I READ SOMEWHERE that Human School starts in September and ends around June. Oh how I wish Wolf School was like that. Instead we go to school for a few hours every day all year round. This way we have time for training and for those of us who have shifted already, running. All of the juvenile wolves go to the same school and get taught the same lessons, but when we turn 18 we graduate and take our place in the pack either training or working.

Wyatt, Pete and I all walk to school down the same path we've taken everyday for the last 5 years. I walk between my brother and my best friend, holding unto Wyatt's hand as we pass the pack house. I can't look at it without remembering my family there. How mom would push Pete and I on the tire swing out front. How Pete took his first steps there. The many Moon Celebrations we held for the pack in the backyard. How my father took an hour out of his busy Alpha schedule to teach my how to ride a bike one day. How we carried the casket that held my mothers lifeless body down the front steps. How my father left us in the middle of the night without a word to anyone. How the new Alpha kicked us out on the same day as our mothers funeral and our fathers betrayal. Seeing that house was too much for me and everyday that we had to walk by it, Wyatt would hold my hand as I closed my eyes tight.

Pete never seemed to care about the house. In fact, he went there quite often with his friend Lowell, one of Alpha Gregory's sons. The Alpha and his family only lived there for a few months while their new house was being built. The pack house has now become a hangout for mostly juvenile wolves.

Once we passed the house and came closer to the school a pit grew in my stomach as I saw the man standing by the door. He wasn't really a man, but a stupid boy that really knew how to push my buttons. The Green Eyed Jerk. He shouldn't be here, he's almost 21. He tormented me enough while he was enrolled. I could not have been any happier the day he graduated.

Pete and Wyatt both sense my annoyance and decide it's best to stay by my side instead of parting with me, which they normally did. We approach the schools entrance when I see why he's here.

A girl from my class with long, almost platinum, blonde hair stands between his legs as he sits on the railing. Her pink dress barely covering anything, is being pulled up slightly by his hand that rests on her lower back. He kisses her and her moans could be heard from across campus, but he rolls his eyes as he parts from her. He sees me watching him and delivers the same stupid smirk I've seen probably a million times. He hops off the railing without even looking back at her. She seems sad, and I feel for her for only a moment. It passes when I realize how dumb she is if she thought he was serious about being with her.

The Green Eyed Jerk has a reputation of hooking up with a bunch of girls and leaving them without a second look. He's never been serious about any of them or stayed with one for more than a week. I realize that we've kept walking towards him and he hasn't taken his eyes off of me.

"Hey Pete, what's up man?" Him and Pete do that guy high five that all boys seem to do when they meet up with a friend. He turns his attention to Wyatt and nods. "Winston."

"It's Wyatt." My voice is more defensive then I want it to be. I want to sound strong and confident, but somehow it always come out as weak and defensive when I speak to him. Wyatt squeezes my hand for reassurance.

"Oh, Cupcake. I didn't see you there." He pats me on the top of my head like I'm a pup. "Have you gotten any taller since the last time I saw you?"

"Piss off Willem." I walk past him, bumping my shoulder into his rib cage hard, just like I did when we were kids. He stumbles back only a little, but otherwise completely oblivious to my annoyance.

"Oh Cupcake, don't say that! Come back!" He calls after me.

"Dude, why do you have to piss her off like that every time you see her?" I hear Pete ask him, but I don't slow down enough to hear what he says. I just walk into the school, ignoring the cold stare of the blonde as I pass her.