Howl 2

Shower Promises

I didn’t know how the universe expected me to go to school, keep my grades up, and stay up to date with my homework while I’m dealing with things that could kill the people I cared about. And it’s not just Jackson being the kanima, it’s also the fact that Allison’s mom also worked at the school all of a sudden and I swear she’s scarier than Gerard and Chris combined. And, of course, Gerard was also still a problem.

Something told me that he was following my every move, watching me through the cameras like a hawk would watch its prey. And sometimes I would notice men with dark clothes averting their eyes when I spotted them in crowds or shadowy places. The worst part of everything was that I had no idea why I was a person of interest to the hunters all of a sudden. I barely shift, only Chris and Allison knew about Derek giving me the bite, and even if I had to say so myself I considered myself pretty subtle.

However, I quickly began questioning that specific trait when I was called to the principal’s office at the end of the school day.

The moment that was announced over the intercoms, my heart dropped to my stomach and I nearly felt sick. And while my feet dragged me down the hallway towards the office, my head filled with every worst-case scenario possible. Did he know I’m part of the supernatural world? If he did, how did he find out? What if he doesn’t know but has his suspicions and wants to test me? How would he test me? What if he makes me eat wolfsbane or something? Shit, does wolfsbane even affect me? And what if he has no clue, but wants to use me to hurt Scott? What if…

My horrifying thoughts were interrupted when I bumped into the front desk and came face to face with Ms Argent. Her pencil thin brows arched slightly and her ice-cold blue eyes stared deep into my soul, “Ah, Riley, you made it. The principal’s waiting for you.”

I swallowed and discovered I couldn’t speak. So I only nodded and clumsily made my way to the door before stepping into the devil’s lair.

Gerard sat at his desk with a cup of tea in front of him. For a second, it seemed like he wasn’t aware of my presence, but unfortunately he looked up and sent me a thin-lip smile, “Riley, it’s a pleasure to have you here in my office again. Take a seat.”

My eyes studied the seats in front of the desk and I subtly took a whiff of the air. They seemed normal. Well, I half expected that he would’ve strapped a wire to them or lace the chairs with wolfsbane, but maybe that we too simple for werewolf hunters.

I slowly sank down on the seat on the left. It was a bit closer to the door and near a bookshelf. If Gerard was planning something, all I had to do was block his way by knocking over the shelf and made a bolt out of the door. When I was sure the chair was okay, I tried looking as casual as possible, “Why did you want to see me, Principal Argent?”

His eyes grew a bit, “Oh, how silly of me. You probably thought you were in some sort of trouble, didn’t you?” I still do, yeah. “Rest assured, darling, you have perfect grades and the teachers seem to adore you. I merely wanted to… talk.”

Why didn’t I like the sound of that?

Gerard gestured towards his cup, “Tea?”

“I’m not sure.” I stuttered and cleared my throat, “Are students allowed to have tea with the principal?”

“If the principal deems it so, then yes.” He grinned and picked up the phone on the desk, “Victoria, be a dear and bring this lovely girl a cup of tea, please?”

I turned my head and caught Ms Argent in the office nodded over to her father-in-law. She only smiled at me before getting up to prepare his order. My hands began sweating underneath the table and I laid them on my knees palms-up to cool them down. They mustn’t know I’m more nervous than I already was. Hopefully Gerard’s ‘talk’ wouldn’t take too long.