Zahara Meets Laslo

          The doorbell rings and I get up, quickly, to answer it. Lennox is standing at the door smirking. “Are you ready, baby girl?” I grin in response. Lennox looks good as always with his caramel skin. He is 6’4 and solid with muscles. He is always catching the eyes of all women he comes across. His hazel eyes always seem to glitter with excitement. Lennox rocks a tapered haircut, with the top in twists. He has his ends dyed blonde. 

          “I’ve been ready. I know this will go so much better for us and it’s senior year!” We head out to the car where Bryn is waiting for us. Bryn is a year older than us and she will be my Gamma when I take over. Bryn is always the life of the party. She keeps a pixie cut, but always sports a different color on the top. At this time, her hair is a deep purple and it looks good with her light blue eyes and fair skin. Bryn has plump lips with a lip ring on her bottom lip and a brow ring on her right side. Bryn may be a year older, but the three of us have always hung out. We are very close and it was never a question as to whether we would rule together or not. 

          Bryn gets us to school in no time and we hop out in front. Mt. Lenier High, as the sign reads. It is a huge school and I’m extremely excited even though we are coming in midyear. There was no major incident that made Lennox and I want to switch schools. It was just too much to deal with the ridiculousness day after day. The snobby girls who were only looking for a status upgrade by befriending me or the boys who swore I would fall at their feet from just a wink and a smile. I just had to get out and I wanted to end my senior year in a good place. 

          Lennox and I had gotten our schedules the week before, perks of being the future Alpha. We already know that we had 3 classes together, but they would be towards the end of the day. I head to my homeroom class while Lennox heads to his. The students that were in the room were hanging out, talking to each other. Some of the girls gave me side eyes as I walk in and some of the guys are looking at me with interest. I stand in front of the room, not sure where to sit when I see someone in the back corner. His head is down and he is drawing on a paper in front of him. He seems to be ignoring everyone else, or maybe they are all ignoring him. No one is around him at all. The teacher walks into the room and everyone sits in their seats. I notice the seat in front of the boy and to the right of him are empty so I decide to sit to the right of him. As I walk towards the boy, I can hear gasps and people whispering, but I ignore them. 

          We made a deal with the teachers to not announce us as new students and have to do the whole ‘introduce yourselves’ aspect that usually comes with attending a new school late in the year. I didn’t want to make myself known and I definitely do not want to expose that I’m the future Alpha of my pack. I just want to be invisible. The teacher gives the morning announcements and answers a few questions before leaving us to our own devices for the rest of the period. 

          The boy never looks up while the teacher is talking. His pencil never seems to leave the paper he has in front of him. Normally, I would leave people alone, but something about him is drawing me in. I feel a need to speak to him; to get his attention. Aria is intrigued as well and that is not usual behavior from her. Aria is my wolf and I love her. She is strong, smart, and sassy. We are both excited to be taking that next step and becoming Alpha of our pack. I decide to try to squash my curiosity and turn to the boy. I look at the paper he is drawing on and it is a beautiful scene with a sunset in the woods. “That’s amazing. Where did you learn to draw?” I get no response which is weird because I know I was loud enough for him to hear me. I reach my hand out and gently touch his arms. The boy jerks violently from my touch and looks up scared. I put my hands up to show I’m no threat. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to get your attention.” His eyes went from scared to confused.

          “Uh…..” he says and clears his throat. “Am….am I sitting in your seat? I apologize.” The boy starts to pack up his materials, but his movements are jerky. It looks as if he is in pain, but I couldn’t be sure. 

          “NO!” He looks startled. “No, you don’t need to move. I just saw your drawing and was telling you how amazing it is.” The boy settles back down, but still looks wary. “Let’s start all over.” I hold my hand out. “Hi. My name is Zahara Peters. I’m new here.” The boy nods. “And you are…….?” The boy looks down at his hands on the desk. I retract my hand, trying not to take offense. 

          “It doesn’t matter who I am.” That is a weird thing to say.

          “It matters to me. I only know one person here, we transferred together. I could use some friends.” The boy shakes his head slightly.

          “I’m no one’s friend. No one thinks I’m worth being friends with and they are right.” Well that is a dark thought to have and it seems that people around here have ugly attitudes. 

          “Well, I’d rather make up my own mind if that’s ok with you.” The boy looks up at me and I try to encourage him with my smile.

          “I…..I’m…..my name is Cory. Cory Williams.” My smile widens, but before I can say anything else the bell rings. I turn to gather my things and when I turn back, Cory is gone. 

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          My Math and English classes went by quickly, but I wasn't paying attention. My mind kept going to Cory. He seems so high strung, jumping easily. He also seems so quiet. I don’t think many people interact with him which is strange to me. He doesn’t seem like he’d be any kind of threat. The weirdest thing is the interest I have in him. We barely spoke to each other, but I can’t stop thinking about him. His caramel skin tone fits with mine so well. His light brown eyes stand out to me even now. Aria has the same mindset as me, but she isn’t any more aware of the reason why than I am. 

          I have Science class before lunch which I’m not really looking forward to. Science is not the most fascinating subject to me, though I do like conducting experiments. My mind is so preoccupied, walking into the room, that I’m not paying attention to where I’m going. I smash right into a solid wall that has a heartbeat. I look up at the wall to see that it is actually a chest. He is looking down on me with an amused look on his face. He is about 6’5 to my 5’10. He has black, wavy hair that sits on his shoulders. His ice blue eyes are piercing through me, as if trying to find its way to my soul. “Uh, excuse me. I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was walking.” He chuckles and wraps a braid around his finger. I gently pull my braid away from his hands and take a small step back.

          “You’re new here, right?” I nod slightly. He smiles, showing a full tooth grin. He could be in a toothpaste ad. “My name is Laslo Hastings. I’m the future Alpha to the Wild Tail pack.’ I hold my hand out for Laslo to shake. 

          “Zahara…..Zahara Peters.” I don’t plan on letting anyone know who I am and Aria has been suppressing my aura. Laslo claims to be the future Alpha, but his aura doesn’t match that claim. As Laslo is shaking my hand, his thumb is rubbing the top of my hand in circles. He is good looking, but the attention is making me a bit uncomfortable. I pull my hand back and drop it to my side. “It’s nice to meet you.” I step to the right so I can walk past Laslo to go inside. As I’m about to pass him, he grabs my arm and leans in close.

          “You should really stay away from Cory. He, truly, isn’t worth the trouble.” I look up at Laslo and he winks at me before letting my arm go and walking away from the classroom. Something tells me that Laslo will not be someone I will enjoy being around.