Page 4

Rachel

T oday marks day five at Eldergrove Academy and the start of classes. I’ve gotten to know my roommates a lot over the last four days and I’m so glad the academy stuck me with like-minded girls. If I had to live with a bunch of party girls, I would not be as well rested and ready to take on the day as I am now.

My first class is Visual Arts with Professor Stone and I’m so excited that I wake up three hours early. I take a quick shower before Maya wakes up. When I’m done showering, I head back to my room and get dressed. I slide on a pair of jeans and my usual long sleeved crew neck shirt before looking over the welcome packet for the millionth time. I wish it had more information about my classes, but I suppose I’ll get that today. A knock jerks me from my thoughts and I jump.

I’m fully dressed. He has no reason to be mad at me.

“Rachel? We’re going to get breakfast, you coming?” Aubree’s soft voice calls.

My entire body deflates, and I breathe again as I’m reminded, I’m not at home anymore. I’m free.

“Yeah. Just a sec,” I call back, dropping the folder on my bed and striding for the door.

I grab my gloves from the dresser before turning the knob. Aubree, with her long platinum hair tucked up in a messy bun, watches me put them on with a curious look but doesn’t ask the question that’s dying to burst free. Dallas, fully dressed in high-waisted shorts and a bright blue crop top with a navy flannel layered over top, is beside her practically vibrating with energy. I have no idea how she manages to be the last to sleep and the first up, but so far, she has been every single day. Honestly, I’m kind of impressed. Her dark brown eyes sparkle with mischief and curiosity.

“Okay, spill. What’s with the gloves? I know it’s only April but it’s not that cold. There’s no reason to be wearing them. Or that many layers.” She looks me up and down, scrutinizing my outfit.

I knew it was only a matter of time before someone asked. If it were anyone else, I’d tell them to mind their own business, but for some reason, I want to tell them. I’m tired of carrying this burden alone. I can’t tell them everything. Father would kill me if I spoke a bad word about him. But they know about how I find my mates. I know Aubree can’t wait to find hers, but I think they’d be supportive of me actively trying to avoid mine. So, I stick to the basics, giving my new friends this kernel of truth.

“Skin-to-skin contact is how my kind forms the mate bond… I’m just… I’m not ready.”

“You don’t want to find your mates?” Aubree gasps as her bright hazel eyes widen in shock.

“I-” I look down, pulling at my gloves.

“Hey. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Dallas cuts me off. “It’s easy for me. I just don’t sing my song. Can’t accidentally find my mate if I don’t sing. But you? Some asshole could bump into you, and you instantly form a lifelong attachment? Fuck that. I don’t blame you. I’d be covering everything up too.”

“Thanks, Dallas,” I murmur.

“I got you. If anyone says anything, you send them my way. I may be small, but I’m scrappy. And no one messes with my friends. Right Aub?”

“She’s right about that,” Aubree agrees. “She once kicked one of the jock’s asses for taking my pebble purse from my bag. He apparently thought if he stole one that would make us mates, but Dallas never gave him a chance. She shifted to her otter form and dove into his shirt. He had to strip basically down to his boxers in the middle of the quad to get her out from under his clothes. He was so embarrassed he never messed with me again.”

They both crack up at that, I’m a little worried Dallas will pass out because I don’t think she’s breathing at this point.

“Okay, enough about that. I’m starving! You know I’d normally have eaten by now. Let’s go before my stomach eats itself,” Aubree wheezes out and they finally get themselves together.

“It’s only seven. How early do you eat?” I say.

“It’s not a time on the clock; it’s more about how long I’ve been awake. I’ve been awake for hours. It’s way past my eating time.”

“That makes sense. I’ve been up since five. But I don’t really eat breakfast.” I shrug as we head for the door.

Aubree stops in her tracks. “You don’t eat breakfast?”

“You haven’t noticed that over the last few days?” Dallas asks, giving her a funny look.

“The girl just nibbles on toast and eggs. Maybe you should take your eyes off your plate more often,” she teases.

Aubree glares at her as Maya and I laugh, earning matching glares.

I raise my hands. “Sorry. It’s true though. You get a little too focused when you’re eating.”

“Whatever,” she huffs, pulling another laugh from the rest of us.

After breakfast in the dorm lobby, we say goodbye to Dallas, whose first class doesn’t start until nine. We head outside and make our way to the large imposing buildings in the middle of campus.

Maya, Aubree, and I are all technically art majors, even if I don’t quite understand how studying History falls under art rather than science. All of our subject specific classes will be in the same building, Victory Hall. We even have some classes together, which I’m stoked about. Dallas is a science major, so we won’t get to see her until lunch.

We get to the building; it’s a massive stone structure with towering arched windows and thick ivy creeping up the outer walls. Making our way inside we all go our separate ways. Thankfully I only have two classes by myself, so hopefully it won’t be too bad.

Making my way into the building, I turn and go down the first hall. The class is listed as room 104 so I have to assume it is on the first floor. I weave through students, careful not to touch anyone even though I know I’m completely covered. It doesn’t take me too long to find my class thanks to a sign outside the door that says “Professor Stone”. There are a few small groups milling about, talking before class but I sneak by and take a seat in the very back, praying no one sits next to me. The scraping sound of the chair beside me being pulled out dashes those hopes.

“Normally I like my girls showing some skin, but damn, babe. All the layers in the world won’t hide that banging body.” He licks his lips as his eyes rove over my body like a total creep. His messy mop of oily brown hair falls into his eyes when he leans closer, the cocky grin on his face making my skin crawl. “Can’t wait to strip them off and see what’s underneath.”

Are guys really this gross? I’m more certain than ever that I don’t want mates.

Oh God! What if he’s one of my mates?

No. I have to stay away from him. I can’t risk being tied to this vile man.

I quickly grab my things and push out my chair to find another seat, not wanting to be near him a second longer.

The kind looking elderly professor shuffles out from behind his desk. His silver hair is just long enough to be pulled into a short ponytail, and his tortoiseshell glasses perch low on his nose. He moves slowly but with a sure steadiness. When he reaches his podium he claps his hands, drawing everyone's attention, before launching into his welcome speech. I glance around, desperately searching for an empty seat far away from this dillhole.

Unfortunately, while he was hitting on me, the room filled and there aren’t any empty seats left.

“I’m sorry, are you in the wrong class, dear?” Professor Stone tilts his head as he studies me, drawing the attention of the entire class.

My heart races and my mouth dries as I try to come up with something semi-intelligent to say. My eyes flick around, taking in all the eyes on me. Shaking my head, I squeak out a quick no before sinking back into my seat. He smiles at me before continuing his spiel.

A huff pulls my attention to the side, and I find the creep fighting a chuckle with a stupid smirk on his face.

“Can’t escape me that easily, sweetheart,” he whispers.

Great. I’m stuck next to him for two hours.

“Alright everyone,” Professor Stone pulls everyone’s attention back towards the front of the room. “We are going to play a quick introductory game. I want you to give us your name and any nickname you’d like us to use as well as your animal form and a quick fact about you. I’ll go first. I am Professor Eldrich Stone, but my friends call me Eddie. My other form is an Aldabra Tortoise. A fun fact about me is that I am a huge movie buff and have watched over twenty thousand movies in my life so far.”

Wow twenty thousand? I don’t think I’ve seen twenty.

I’m slightly startled when the jerk next to me shoots out of his chair and starts speaking.

“Hey, I’m Trent Hopper, but I’m sure you all know that already,” his cocky tone grates on my nerves. “Kangaroo is my animal and baseball is my game. Fun fact about me, I’m a master at home runs. On and off the field.”

He finishes his declaration with a wink shot my way and Professor Stone lets out a heavy sigh.

“Thank you for that Mr. Hopper. I suppose we will start in the back of the room,” he gestures to me and I want to disappear into my seat. “Would you like to go next Miss?”

I stand on slightly shaky legs and attempt to get through this as quickly as possible.

“My name is Rachel St. James, I am a kitsune shifter, I like ice cream,” I rush out before diving back into my seat.

I hear a chuckle from beside me before Trent leans over and whispers in my ear, “I’ll give you something you can lick, foxy lady.”

Shuddering, I lean as far away from him as possible while remaining in my chair and try to focus back in on the introductions going around the classroom. When the introductions finally end, Professor Stone hands a stack of papers to be passed around and launches into telling us the expectations for the term.

“Every term we will have a term-long project worth 80% of your grade. This term, you will design a new simplified marketing package for our esteemed Eldergrove Academy. You’ll come up with a new school logo that will be displayed in a variety of ways including the school's brochure, the cafe menus, and the team uniforms for all of our athletic teams. You’ll also create a package of graphics for advertising inside the stadium, and a brand new concept for our mascot, Stanley the Stag. It’s been more than twenty years since we’ve had an updated Stanley and it shows.” A few snickers sound off around the classroom as Professor Stone shows a large image of a sad looking stag in a variety of very obviously out-dated outfits.

An entire marketing package? That could be fun.

“To complete this assignment, you should familiarize yourself with the stadium, the sports, and most importantly, the fans. There will be a home baseball game this Saturday. I suggest you get a jump start on this project.”

Okay. I take it back. I have to actually go to games?

“I can show you around the stadium after class. Give you a leg up on the competition.” The sleazeball next to me winks. “I’m on the baseball team. I can even show you the locker room.”

“I’d rather fail this class than go anywhere with you.”

His eyes darken and I worry for a second that I went too far. Boys can be dangerous if you hurt their sensitive egos. But after a second he smirks.

“Feisty. I don’t mind a good chase if that’s your style.”

“Any questions before we get started?” Prof. Stone stops by our table and raises a weathered brow at my table mate.

“Can we work with partners?” he asks with a smirk.

“Why? Do you need Miss St. James’ help, Mister Hopper?”

He sputters beside me and I have to bite my lips to keep from laughing.

“The answer is no. You may not work with partners. This is not a team activity, Mister Hopper. Though I know you’re used to having your teammates do all the work while you take the credit. That won’t be happening in my classroom.”

Mister Hopper flushes a bright red and I work double time to keep a blank expression on my face as the professor turns and walks away, giving me a subtle grin as he does.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I carry that team,” he mutters under his breath.

Right. Sure you do, bud.

Professor Stone makes his way back to the front of the classroom while he finishes explaining the syllabus for the term and what is expected of us. After that we’re dismissed to our second class of the day. Lucky for me I have the same Professor just in a different classroom in the elective building, Harold Hall.

Unfortunately for me Trent seems to be in this class as well, at least Maya and Aubree are here so I won’t be stuck next to him again.

My second class of the day passes faster than expected and next thing I know it’s time for Maya, Aubree, and I to meet Dallas for lunch. Time with the girls is just what I need after this morning. I can’t believe that Trent was in both of my classes. I swear if he’s in my next class I’m going to lose it.

Speaking of my next class… Why the heck do I have to take Self-defense?

I think this is going to be my least favorite class. I’m not exactly the most active. And fighting means I’ll be in close contact with people. People whom I don’t want touching me.

This is going to suck .

Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, I open the door and walk in like someone off to the gallows. A quick glance around the room confirms my suspicions. Like my last classes, there are a lot more guys.

Damn it. There he is again .

Trent. The creep from Visual Arts, who’s also in my Film Studies class. Of course, he’d have to be in this class too.

His eyes light up and he smirks at me. Rolling my eyes, I book it in the opposite direction. Avoiding him and the dangerously sexy guy standing next to him, who’s tall and broad-shouldered, with sleek black hair perfectly styled and warm brown skin that reminds me of melted caramel.

The room looks just like any other, with tables and chairs. I don’t know how they expect us to learn any kind of self-defense in here, but I take a seat as far away from everyone else as I can. Maybe this class will be less physical than I thought.

“Good afternoon, class,” says the stunningly beautiful blonde standing at the front of the room. She looks like she could’ve stepped straight off a fashion runway. Thin and lean with sunkissed skin and a bounce to her step that screams high-energy. “Welcome to Self-defense! My name is Ms. Rains and I’ll be your professor.”

Her bubbly personality and over-excited tone give me pause. If I didn’t know better I would think she was a student or maybe a model that fell out of the pages of a fashion magazine and landed here. She doesn’t seem like the type to enjoy self-defense or want to teach it. Regardless I’m happy to have a female teacher who seems approachable rather than the hulking intimidating man I imagined would be teaching us.

“Today we’re just going to go over the rules and expectations then you can dip out early. I know it’s been a long first day.” She smiles, showing off brilliant white teeth, before spinning to grab something off her desk, flipping her long blonde ponytail.

“Here’s a list of acceptable attire and rules you will be expected to know and follow starting next class. I do not tolerate goofing off. This is a serious class and you will behave as such.” Her eyes scan the room before landing on Mr. Tall, dark and way too handsome. “You, Mr…”

“Rana, Bastian Rana, but you can just call me Bas or Bastian,” he offers her with a devilish grin.

The way she smiles at him irks my fox. Not that we have any right to take issue with it. I don’t know what the hell is going on with her but maybe I need to make some time to let her run.

“Can you please pass these around to the rest of the students Mr. Rana?” she asks and passes him the stack of papers before continuing to address the class. “I believe everyone should know at least basic self-defense, especially women, who we all know are most often targets.”

She has a point there. Maybe I should be thankful they assigned me this class.

“Ahem,” a masculine cough draws my attention and I startle to find Bastian hovering next to me.

“Your paper?” he arches a perfectly sculpted brow as he holds out a piece of paper.

“Right. Sorry,” I mutter as I snatch it from his hand.

His nostrils flare and he tilts his head, studying me.

“After you receive your syllabus and class expectations packet, you can go. Please have appropriate clothes when you arrive on Thursday,” Professor Rains says from the front of the room.

His strong brow furrows as he continues to stare at me with those gorgeous eyes. They’re strangely beautiful, green in the center, rimmed in an amazing golden brown. I shove out of my seat, needing to get as far away from Bastian as possible. Something about him has butterflies taking flight in my stomach. I’ve never felt like this before and I don’t think I like it. As I rush to the door, I hear Trent’s distinct laugh.

“You’ll have to wait in line, Cap. I saw her first. I’ll let you know when I’m done with her.”

What a pig .

I slam the door open and flee the room. I could swear I hear a menacing growl as I leave.