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“She sure did. All that talking in her sleep, sounded like she was mad at whomever was in the dream with her.”

I didn’t know I was talking in my sleep. All I know is I’m exhausted, running late, and wishing I could just go back to bed. “I’m running late guys. Love you and all that, but I don’t have time for this.” I snatch an apple from the bowl in the middle of the kitchen island.

“Wait,” my mom calls out before I make it to the front door. “Do you want me to grab you a sleep tincture while I’m at work today?”

With a glance over my shoulder, I nod. “Yeah Mom, that would be great.”

The golden light of the sun is filtering through the canopy of leaves as Odessa and I walk down the path towards downtown. How easily I could take the way to my hidden gem. To roll in the flower fields, snapping photos of Shadow, while the white clouds moved across the clear blue sky. I would trade anything for that instead of being trapped inside the school all day.

Sora, my wolf, whines inside our shared mind space. She is pushing towards the direction we both seem to want to be. I can almost feel her claws raking down my insides like a signal which way she wants me to go.

“We can’t Sora. Mom and Dad will be pissed if I skip school. Plus there are too many people moving around for us to sneak off pack lands.”

She whimpers. Instead of responding, she fills our senses with longing. Her desire to roll in the flowers is overwhelming. I have to stop myself from taking the steps, instead forcing myself to turn down the main path into town.

She pushes even harder causing me to stumble a couple of steps.“Stop Sora.”

“We don’t need school. Think of how peaceful it will be in the field. Plus, I think a certain wolf will be there.”

“He might be, but I’m not dealing with the backlash for skipping. Now, we are going to be late. So chill!”

I can sense her pouting as she steps back. Jeez, I wasn’t sure I was going to win there for a second. It does sound far better than school, but not the bitch sesh after my parents find out.

I barely make it into the school with time to spare. I’ve got enough time to swing by my lockers for my books and rush toclass. Odessa is leaning against my locker typing on her phone as if she is writing a paragraph. She probably is.

“Shit girl, I love you and all but you look like you were hit with a tree this morning. Did you happen to pass a mirror on the way here today?” Her eyes scan me from head to toe as if I’m a new creature to explore.

“Yeah well, I slept like shit and honestly I’d rather be anywhere but here today. So, maybe love me a little more and not point it out.”

She reaches up pulling a leaf from my ponytail as she smooths my fly aways with her other hand. “Alright, we’re going to talk about that later. Right now, we are late for Math and you know Mr. Arnold is a grumpy asshole if we’re late. As much as I love getting on his nerves, it’s not on my agenda for today.”

She loops her arm around mine and tugs me towards Math. It’s going to be a long day, is it my free period yet?

Twenty minutes into class, I’m in the middle of doodling the eyes that have been haunting me each night when I realize the room is silent. Blinking my eyes as I lift my head, I notice that everyone’s staring at me.Why?

Odessa coughs next to me as her eyes bulge, urging me to do something. What that is, I’ve got no idea. Mr. Arnold clears his throat from the front of the classroom.

“Ms. Calloway, do you plan to answer the question soon or should we wait for you to finish whatever it is you’re working on?” His arms are crossed while his dress shoe taps the floor.

I turn back to Odessa praying to the Goddess that she will be able to help me here. I’ve got no idea what he even asked, let alone what the answer could be. She must see the plea in my eyes because her hand shoots up in the air.

“Yes, Ms. Hollowell?”

“The answer you were looking for is -2.85.”

“Thank you Ms. Hollowell. Maybe you should have a talk with Ms. Calloway about paying attention during class, hmm?” Mr. Arnold gives me one more scathing look before he turns back to his white board moving along with whatever he was doing. I flip him off before looking back to Odessa.

She is staring at me with a hand over her mouth to keep her laugh from ringing out. “What has you so preoccupied,” she whispers to me.

I shake my head subtly. “I’ll tell you later.”

With one last glance between me and the paper, she turns back to her own paperwork to continue the lesson. I look down at the pair of eyes that I didn’t quite get in the drawing. I’d never claim to be an artist but I can almost feel them staring at me.

Everyone moves on with the class, while I continue to stare at thoseeyes.

Hours later, it’s finally time for my free period. I’m going to head to Gail’s office since I missed doing that yesterday. Hopefully, she’s there and I didn’t walk that whole way for nothing.

Her office is right next to Caelon’s, something that brings a blush to my cheeks. I wonder if he’s in there huddled over a stack of paper. He probably wouldn’t have zoned out during Math class like I did. I bet he knew the answer before the teacher even finished asking the question. I know he loves math, not just because he is our numbers guy, but I noticed one night when he came out to his porch that he was carrying a book with a bunch of math symbols on it. Using my phone camera, I zoomed in on the cover and searched what it was on a major retailer. This man reads math books for fun. Couldn’t be me.