Chapter 8 The Girl who Sat Beside Me
Maddie Pov
Werewolf History was my last class of the day. The classroom was smaller than the lecture hall. Old wooden desks with scratches carved into them, names, hearts and random words. The windows were dirty, made the afternoon light look gray.
I walked in and scanned the room. Most seats were already taken, groups of friends sitting together, laughing and talking. Not one of them looked at me except to make sure I wasn't sitting near them.
I found an empty desk in the middle. Not front row where the professor could call on me. Not back row where Simone might corner me again, just middle, average and forgettable.
I pulled out the chair. It scraped loud against the floor, a few people looked over then looked away quick. I sat down, opened my notebook to a fresh page, clicked my pen three times and stared at the blank lines.
The chair next to me stayed empty even though the room was filling up. People would walk past, see the empty seat. Then sit somewhere else, anywhere else. I was like a disease. Contagious. Nobody wanted to catch what I had.
"Alright class settle down," the professor said from the front. He was old with gray hair. Looked tired. "Today we're discussing the Moon War of 1847."
I wrote the date at the top of my page. Tried to focus but it was hard to focus when I could feel the empty space next to me like a hole.
Then someone dropped into the chair.
I looked over. A girl with wild brown curls that went everywhere, bright green eyes. A smile so big it took up her whole face, she was wearing a worn band shirt and ripped jeans. Her backpack looked like it had been through a war.
"Hey!" she said. Way too loud. The professor stopped talking and glared at us. "I'm Elara."
She said it like we were already friends. Like sitting next to the wolfless freak was the most normal thing in the world.
I blinked at her. Didn't know what to say, nobody had talked to me all day except to insult me.
"You're Maddie right?" Elara continued. She pulled out a notebook covered in stickers. "The new transfer?"
"Um," I said. My voice came out small. "Yeah."
"Cool," Elara said. She grinned even bigger. "I heard about you. Everyone's too scared to sit by the mysterious new girl but I think you're cool."
"You do?" I asked. It sounded stupid but I couldn't help it. Why would anyone think I was cool?
"Yeah totally," Elara said. She twirled her pen between her fingers. "Broken people have the best stories and you look like you've got a whole book inside."
I stared at her. Was she serious? Was this some kind of joke? Was Simone going to jump out and laugh at me for believing someone actually wanted to talk to me?
But Elara just kept smiling. Kept looking at me like I was interesting, like I mattered.
"I..." I started then stopped. What was I supposed to say? Thanks for thinking my trauma makes me interesting?
"Ms. Kane," the professor said sharply. "Are you done disrupting my class?"
"Sorry Professor Davis," Elara called back. She didn't sound sorry at all. She winked at me.
The professor went back to talking about the Moon War. Something about territory disputes. Alpha conflicts, i tried to pay attention but Elara was still sitting next to me. Still there. Not running away, not moving to a different seat.
She opened her notebook, started taking notes. Her handwriting was messy, words slanting in different directions, noodles in the margins. Little wolves and moons and stars.
I looked back at my own page. Still blank except for the date. I wrote down a few words the professor was saying. My handwriting looked stiff compared to Elara's. It was tight and controlled.
"So where'd you transfer from?" Elara whispered. She didn't look at me, she kept her eyes on her notebook like she was paying attention.
"Silverthorn," I whispered back.
"Oh shit really?" Elara said. Still not looking over. "That's our rival school. Why'd you leave?"
I hesitated. What was I supposed to tell her? That my parents were murdered? That my boyfriend cheated on me with my best friend? That everyone turned on me?
"Just needed a change," I said finally.
"Fair enough," Elara said. She drew a little wolf in the corner of her page. "Change is good. This place is better anyway, silverthorn is full of stuck up assholes."
I almost smiled. Almost. Because she was right. Silverthorn was full of stuck up assholes. Especially Jace and Lila.
The professor kept talking. Elara kept taking notes and drawing. I started actually writing things down, the Moon War. The conflicts, the treaties. It was easier to focus with someone sitting next to me, someone who wasn't scared of me. Someone who chose to sit here.
"Don't let Simone get to you," Elara whispered after a few minutes. "She's just mad because Calix won't marry her."
My pen stopped moving. "What?"
"Oh you didn't know?" Elara glanced at me finally. "Calix and Simone were supposed to get married. Their parents arranged it, but Calix broke it off. Now she's all bitter about it, takes it out on anyone who looks at him."
"I didn't look at him," I said quickly. Maybe too quickly.
Elara raised one eyebrow. "Sure you didn't."
"I didn't," I insisted. My face felt hot. "He just helped me when she hit me. That's all."
"Uh huh," Elara said. She was grinning again. "Whatever you say."
I looked back at my notebook, i tried to ignore the way my heart was beating faster. I tried to ignore the way Gory was suddenly paying attention in my head.
"He's never helped anyone before though," Elara said casually. "Like ever. He usually just ignores Simone's drama but he stepped in for you. Interesting."
"It's not interesting," I said. "He was just being nice."
"Calix Hawthorne doesn't do nice," Elara said. "Trust me. I've known him since we were kids. He's cold, distant, doesn't talk to anyone if he doesn't have to. So yeah, it's interesting."
I didn't know what to say to that. Didn't want to think about why he helped me. Didn't want to remember the way my body felt when he looked at me. The way Gory had whispered mate.