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“Excuse me,” I said, but he didn’t move. He was the one who should have been saying excuse me, he was standing so close to me it would appear to be something entirely different to those walking by the open doorway.

He met my eyes before his lazy gaze traveled down, over my shoulders, my chest, hips, and eventually my feet before he raised his eyes back to mine slowly. His eyes focused on my lips before he took a step back, silently. He inclined his head ever so slightly before returning to the chair by the door, the permission slip in his hand. He crossed his legs again, his ankle resting on his knee, his eyes still on mine.

What the…

As I was about to say something to him Mrs. Pierce came down the hallway, my Spanish textbook in her hands.

“Here you go, my dear. I’m glad I was able to put my finger on it for you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Pierce, I appreciate it,” I told her, grabbing the book from her and turning to leave. “Have a great day!” I called over my shoulder, not stopping to put the book in my backpack. I headed straight down the English hallway, a shiver running down my spine. Something about Nik was…unnerving.

When I walked into class Mr. Sampson eyed me as I entered the room, even though I wassureI wasn’t late today. I had slept like a baby and woke up with plenty of time to get to first period for the first time in weeks, despite my little detour at the front office.

I took my regular seat near the back and settled into my desk while I waited. I hadn’t seen my mom this morning and all I could think about was how disappointed she had been with me last night. I had no explanation for any of this, and I wasn’t sure what I would say to her the next time I saw her.

I started to draw on the top of my notebook to distract myself, the guilt feeling heavy in my chest. At first, my sketch was a couple of stars intertwining, but it quickly became a moonlit sky with a large wooden door leading to a long, empty, black corridor. Huh. I hadn’t even been consciously thinking about that nightmare from the other night.

“What’s that?” a voice sounded from over my right shoulder. “Looks familiar, have you ever been there?” I turned to find the seat next to me occupied by none other than Nikolai Dragovya. His mouth was turned into a smirk, his eyes alight with some inside joke, I’m sure. His blond hair looked radiantly bright against the black of his leather jacket, I hadn’t noticed when I had seen him earlier. Did he own anything thatwasn’tblack?

“I meant to ask, is this seat taken?” His smile deepened as he leaned forwards across the desk towards me. Why was he talking to me? He hadn’t even acknowledged me when I had quite literally grabbed onto him for dear life on the ice yesterday. Or when he had completely invaded my personal space in the office just now.

“I’ll take that as a no…” He laughed at my lack of response. I continued to glare at him, confusion creasing my brow. He shucked his leather jacket off and hung it on the back of his chair, revealing yet another black shirt, a long-sleeved thermal that clung tightly to his body. He was tall, standing well over six feet and looked more like he was in his twenties than eighteen like the rest of us. His sharp jawline complimented his high cheekbones. He could have been cut straight out of a Calvin Klein advertisement. How annoying.

I swallowed and turned to face him.

“No,” I responded in a crisp tone.

He cocked an eyebrow.

“No, this seat isn’t taken, or no, you’ve never been there?” he said, pointing towards the worn-down door and endless dark corridor I had drawn on top of my notebook.

“No, I’ve never been there,” I said curtly, turning back to face the front of the room. Class had to be starting any minute.

“Looks familiar to me,” he responded with a shrug, tucking his pencil behind his ear.

“So, this seatisavailable? I’m surprised these other kids aren’t busting down the door to sit right next to the prettiest girl in class,” he said, his eyes still on me. No smirk, no sign of insincerity. I swallowed hard. I couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not, because there was no way anybody would think I was the prettiest girl in school. Not with Tess hanging around. Best to play it off.

“It’s probably because I’m such an ice queen.” I didn’t turn towards him, my eyes still fixed on the chalkboard at the front of the room. “Since when are you in this class?” I asked.

“Transfer. You aren’t the ice queen type. You’re the soft, artistic type, aren’t you? I bet you like photography, painting, and reading. That’s your thing.” Lucky guess. Why was he still talking to me? We sat across from each other in art yesterday and he hadn’t so much as said a word. He was awfully chatty today.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that would you? You’re the overconfident, self-absorbed type, aren’t you? I bet you like looking at yourself in the mirror, being a loner, and pretending you’re too cool for school. That’s your thing,” I responded tersely.

“Yes, yes, and no. I don’t pretend I’m too cool for school, Iamtoo cool for school.” He laughed. The smile on his face deepened, reaching his eyes. “That’s one thing I never took you for…a firecracker,” he said with a note of surprise in his tone. “You’re easily set off, but I like that,” he added with a wink.

“Shocking, someone I have never spoken to didn’t know something about me?” I feigned surprise. “You’re egotistical, and Idon’tlike that,” I said.

He burst into a fit of laughter and sat back in the desk resting an arm behind his head. “Definitely a live wire. Explosive. I like you, firecracker,” he said as I met his eyes. He held my gaze and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes wereso damnblue, and somehow, they were familiar. Was arrogant and blond my type? My mouth traveled to his lips which curved into a wicked smile. This is the type of boy that would ruin your life and expect you to say ‘thank you.’ I cleared my throat and blinked, bringing my thoughts back into focus.

He might be cocky, but he was also witty and sarcastic and some small part of me was thrilled his attention had fallen on me. I wasn’t sure what I had done to deserve it. Compared to girls like Tess I was…plain, and quiet. I wasn’t unattractive, but I wasn’t a standout when compared to other girls at Silver Oaks. What interest could I have sparked in him? He could easily have any girl in this school, Tess included, even though she would like to pretend otherwise.

“Alright, alright, settle down now class,” Mr. Sampson started as he called the class to attention. I faced forwards and pulled out a blank page in my notebook, feigning attentiveness as he began his lecture. I could feel Nik in the desk next to me as if there was a cord of electricity between us. It felt static, palpable and dangerous.

Nik crossed his arms and sat back, tilting his head against the back wall. I was overly aware of him, seeing his every movement out of the corner of my eye. I tried to engross myself in the lecture to take my mind off him. I couldn’t afford this distraction. I needed to find out what the hell was going on with this wolf in town, clear the mountain landing for a safe return, and get through the rest of this school year with no more strange incidences.

No more broken glass, no more panic attacks, and no more talk of giant mutant wolves. He was the last thing I should be thinking about right now. I had the urge to overanalyze every word he had said to me and tell Tess every grueling detail later.

I pinched the bridge of my nose to try to stop myself, but my thoughts had a mind of their own. She would not be pleased that I was crushing on the bad boy with an attitude problem. The black corridor had looked familiar to him because it was the same one he had drawn in art class yesterday, did he not realize? The same ruins from my dream. But how could that be? How had we both seen it so clearly, but I had never been there? I made a mental note to ask him about it later. Nik didn’t glance my way again for the remainder of class, and when the bell rang dismissing first period, he turned to me with a wink.