Chapter 24 First day of school
TARA:
I thought she would snicker at me as she usually does but to the least of my imagination, she simply looked away after our eyes had met.
Vera and I used to work at the pack house back home. She was an Omega but stronger than most of us. One day, she stopped coming to work. I always wondered what happened to her. The North pack was the last place I imagined her to be.
"This will be your class henceforth. Make sure you put in a lot of effort into your studies here. The Alpha paid a huge sum just so we could fit you in. Don't disappoint him." She patted my shoulder and walked out of the large hall, leaving me to my fate.
My knees nearly gave me away. They felt numb.
"Are you going to stand there forever or will you come over and get started?"
I moved my feet toward who looked like the teacher.
"You'll be pairing with Vera."
My heart first skipped a beat—or two beats—before I dragged my feet toward her. She didn't even pretend as though someone she once knew sat beside her. Her full attention was on the class.
I didn't understand a single thing that was said in that class. I just stared like a dummy and nodded when it was necessary. After that class, the teacher called me out and asked me to follow her with my book and pen.
"If not for the special request from the Alpha, I wouldn't have done this." She told me after she had grumpily taken her seat.
I kept mute and let her rant as much as she wanted. After satisfying herself, she started lecturing me on the basics. After she was done, she handed me some books.
'These are many.' I complained in my mind.
"My name is Miss Mary and I'm your homeroom teacher. Feel free to ask me anything you don't understand." She said before seeing me out of her office.
There were about five books in my hands. How was I supposed to finish them by the end of the week?
"Oh, there she is. The Alpha's special pet."
I was walking alone in the hallway when I heard a female voice behind me. I didn't want to turn because I knew it would heighten the trouble. But unfortunately, no matter how fast I walked, they still caught up to me.
Three girls stood in front of me, looking down on me like I was some piece of trash.
"You should be feeling like the luckiest girl on earth. Why wouldn't you? You're staying with the Alpha. Who wouldn't feel privileged?"
All she was saying wasn't even entering my head. It was her striking resemblance to Diana, the female beta. Were they sisters or what?
"I know you're ugly? Are you also deaf and dumb? Can't you talk?" She hit the books in my hands and because I was holding them loosely, they crashed to the ground.
"Ooops." She covered her mouth, laughing secretly.
Was bullying a thing everywhere? Besides, I don't see why I had already become an enemy on my first day. Was it because I was staying with the Alpha? Or was it for something else?
I bent down to pick up the books.
"That's right. Bow to your queens, you bitch." She scoffed, her voice full of spite and mischief.
"You unfortunate thing. You'll be out of that house once my sister and the Alpha are mated during the next blood moon. I'll feel so sorry by then. Maybe there's a place for you with the rogues."
Oh, they were really sisters.
I looked up to see her flipping her hair. I stood up after packing my books. I was about to leave but they blocked the path.
"What? Anything else?" I didn't know when those words slipped but I was glad they did.
I guess she wasn't expecting me to ask her that because of the shocked look on her face.
"Do you know who you're talking to? Do you know who I am?"
"It's not really my business. I came here to study and not to get to know anybody. Please, just leave me alone. I don't know who you are nor am I interested in finding out."
I walked through their middle, brushing past Diana's sister.
What the hell was that? I asked myself after I had settled in my seat. Most of my classmates were not inside. Guess it was time for the break period.
I spent the entire time reading one of the books our homeroom teacher had assigned to me. It was quite an interesting book and I never took my eyes off it until my classmates started returning.
My stomach immediately after I remembered I hadn't had anything all morning.
"Here," A brown pack was stretched to me. When I looked up, I saw that it was a girl I didn't know.
"I figured you'd be busy with lectures and that's why you didn't come out for lunch. So we got this for you."
I felt emotional, I could break down right there. As much as there were awful people, it didn't erase the existence of the good ones.
"Thank you so much." I accepted the pack while she went back to her seat. I followed her movement and saw that she sat a few inches from Vera.
Wait... She mentioned 'we'. Who was the second person?
Seeing how she and Vera spoke and laughed, I wondered if she meant Vera. But when I remember how bad Vera treated me back at Red Moon, I wiped that idea from my head.
"She hasn't even spoken to me since I came. Why would she care about getting me food?" I muttered to myself and shrugged.
Hours later and the bell rang for closure. The girl who offered me lunch came to me again.
"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Samantha, Sam for short." She stretched her hand for a shake and I wholeheartedly accepted it. '
'Who knows? We could even become friends.' I thought.
"My name is Tara."
"Yeah, I know. You're kinda famous around here." She smiled, taking a seat between Vera and me.
I tilted my head in confusion. How was I famous?
"You know, the only person, a girl in this case, who lives with the Alpha. And someone whom the Alpha begged the school to admit five weeks into a session. Yeah, girl, you're famous."
News spread like wildfire around her. I was barely a week old and everyone knew me. For the wrong things even.
"I see," I laughed nervously, packing up my books. I was going to hold them in my hand because the bag I carried was a small one.
"Thank you for the lunch."
"It was nothing. I hope we can be friends. If you don't mind."
Me? Mind? Not at all. That was what I was even praying for.
"Sure." I smiled.
"Tara, stay back for practicals." I heard my name. It was my homeroom teacher.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Tara. Good luck." She and Vera stood up and left the room.
After what seemed like ten hours, I was finally done and was allowed to go home.
"You did good, Tara. You did better than most people who spent days learning." She complimented me. Those words alone were enough to make my earlier exhaustion disappear.
"Thank you ma," I was grinning from ear to ear. I was thinking I flopped but it was reassuring to know that I did exceptionally well.
"Keep it up and you'll graduate with very good results. Make sure you always practice at home. That's the only way you can improve." She advised me and I nodded.
After I cleaned the area we had used, I picked up my books and went outside to wait for Mason. But after standing for a reasonable amount of time, I decided to walk back.
My stomach grumbled loudly and I wasn't even halfway to the Alpha's house. My legs were beginning to tell on me.
I saw a restaurant close by and was about to enter when something caught my eye.
Rather someone... Rose.
She was leaning against a bike and she was kissing... "A girl?!"
I froze, my feet stuck to the ground.
Is that even legal?
25