Chapter 1

• "Leah!" A sudden exclamation pierced the air from behind me, causing me to swiftly turn around. There, I beheld a spirited red-haired girl, her pace quickening as she closed the distance between us. "Stop!" she implored urgently.
• I couldn't help but release a weary sigh, my thoughts swirling with frustration. Why was it that I couldn't simply attend school without becoming the centre of attention for everyone? It was a question that gnawed at my patience.
• I addressed the red-haired girl with a hint of exasperation, my voice tinged with annoyance. "Kira, you and I share the same class, and our school is barely a five-minute walk from here. Why did you feel the need to announce my presence like that?" I inquired, my words competing with the snickers and laughter that seemed to envelop us.
• Amidst the amusement, a girl in the crowd drew attention to my choice of attire, my pink T-shirt apparently the source of her amusement. It was a rather hypocritical gesture, considering her own hair was dyed in a hue almost identical to mine. Such irony was not lost on me.
• I ignored her but became smaller, not having the courage to say these words out loud. Kira spun to see who had been laughing and gripped my arms tight. We walked out of there but from a side glance, I could see her giving the finger to everybody left behind in the hall.
• As we took our seats in the hall, the front ones, I asked her, "How are you so..."
• "...Awesome?" She finished for me. I laughed and shook my head. "Yes, that too. But I was going to ask, Bold?"
• She juggled her pen between her fingers, finally scratching her head full of short red hair. "It's not like you can't be..."
• I rolled my eyes. "But I am not."
• "See, the thing is," she said, turning to totally face me. "It's not that I am not scared. I am. But then I have this streak in me, that just says I don't deserve this. Yes, I know you have it too. But I don't only think I don't deserve this, I also think, You deserve this."
• Looking at me expectantly, she raised her eyebrows. "You got what I meant, right?"
• I shrugged. "It does kind of make sense."
• Her lips curled to one side, and she nodded. Kira always hated it when I didn't take a stand.
• Even I hated it.
• Laughter and hoots sounded in our ears as the doors opened and a large group of people entered. Leading them was Pete Sullivan, the son of our alpha. He looked handsome as always, with dark hair, brown eyes, a strong jaw, and one ear pierced. Perfect body, a straight nose.
• He looked more like a god, than a werewolf, to be honest. I hated him.
• Not because he was handsome, that was a delight to our eyes, because his jerkiness and his cockiness got to each and every one of us who was not in his elite group'. also because it seemed he hated me more than I hated him.
• We were all too shabby, too low for him. We didn't all like Greek gods, unlike all of his friends. Too plain, too simple, like dust.
• I loathed him.
• It didn't help that all his friends, and mostly even him, took turns torturing me. They had made my school life an absolute hell.
• They were the popular group, and just like every popular group, everybody hated them. It makes you wonder how the hell they became popular in the first place.
• The sad thing was, as soon as I had arrived, half the girls in that clique had a passionate hatred for me. I don't know what it was. Maybe I just wasn't what they expected Beta's daughter to be.
• Well, I can't do much about that.
• Especially for Flora Berkley, the highest level of bitchiness had been long ascended by her. And she made sure that she insulted me at least once a day.
• It was like her food or something.
• I hated her even more.
• The only two things she seemed to do all day were lounging all over Pete like he was a couch, or ridiculing other people.
• As soon as they entered the class, Flora clung to Pete's arm as he flirted with some other girl- I don't even know how that worked- I tensed up. I knew something was coming my way.
• "Oh, look! It's Little Miss Pink from Ponyland." Ah! A jab. Everybody guffawed and grinned. I kept quiet, staring into my notebook. I should say something. I know. But I just couldn't. My mouth wouldn't open, it was as if it were sewn shut.
• God, I not only hated confrontations, I was scared of them. I wanted to be in the shadows, and keeping quiet had become a habit. Not for Kira, though.
• "Yes, well that is rich coming from Little Miss Plastic from Fakeland." Kira pointed towards Flora's breasts. I hid a smile.
• "Whatever, Day, I was not talking to you." Flora flipped her hair, huffing.
• "Oh you wouldn't dare," Kira said quietly. The whole group, consisting also of other packs' alpha and beta kids, occupied the last 15 or so seats.
• "Thanks, Kira." I nudged her with my elbows.
• She grinned, but soon it faded. "You could have said something, you know?"
• I know I could. "It's hard for me." I twirled my hair around my pen, not realizing it would get hopelessly tangled.
• She slapped my hand away and came close to taking the pen out of my hair. "Leah, it's like stage fright. You will have to get over it to go anywhere. Dear God, what the hell were you doing with this pen? Come here..."
• Flora saw the opportunity and took it. "It's the lesbian couple, everyone. Leah and Kira. You look just perfect together."
• A few of the actual lesbian couples heard, and they were not pleased. After all, Flora was using their sexual orientation as an insult. As if it could be an insult.
• "Well, at least we pay attention to each other." She steered her hand towards Pete. "Unlike some."
• I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud. Flora looked as if Kira had hit too close to home.
• I saw Pete, his back had become tense. He turned around, a lowkey amused look on his face. "That might be because we are not a couple." Behold, a deep voice. It was like he was a character out of all the trashy novels I had ever read.
• It was a double slap, both to Flora and Kira, but Kira knew how to take it in stride. "Really, Pete? I wonder why Flora always implied that?"
• He raised his eyebrows and looked at Flora. Her shrieks were worse than fire alarms. "I DO NOT!" She looked around for support but saw the grin coming onto Pete's face.
• Picking up her books, she left the room. Apparently too embarrassed. Oh, the warmth that spread through my heart at that thought.
• "Even if she could, she wouldn't be able to. Hard with your 'boyfriend' sleeping with every girl on campus." I thought I had been low.
• But apparently not, I turned around to see the expression on everybody's faces, if they were laughing or not at Flora's tantrum when I felt a hot gaze on me.
• Pete's eyes burned into me. I guess he had heard.
• Well, shit.