Four

Athena

After a very erratic sleep that was clouded with dreams of a certain eye-catching, curly-headed boy with amber eyes and a dignified face, I woke up to the harsh sound of the morning bell. 

I got up with a sigh and thought of confiding in my mom, but it was hard. I hadn't even told Mia yet, and I feared that the longer I kept this to myself, the more complicated everything would become.

Minutes later, the cobblestone path had students pouring out of their dorms wearing color-coded running wear. I ditched my school sneakers for my old ones because I felt more comfortable running in them. The boys, as usual, tried to outrun the girls, and it was always amusing to watch them try to assert their dominance.

We jogged at first, then increased our pace to a run. The tulips, hibiscus, and roses, plus the early morning dew, gave the earth a beautiful scent. 

My stomach dropped with fear as I realized that Caleb wasn't in our midst, and I figured he must have excused himself from the run because we were surely going to shift into our wolves. My poor brother had to lie that he had a weak heart, and physical activities drained him quickly.

"Alex is irredeemable," I said to Mia as we ran past the dew-covered grass. We caught Alex staring at a girl's ass and whistling.

"Don't blame him; my dad was worse, so I heard," Mia said lightly. "I'm sure that once he finds his mate, his womanizing will stop. Until then, let's hope he doesn't get anyone pregnant. My mom is too young to be a grandma."

Mia nudged me, bringing me back to the present. "So," she drawled, "has any guy caught your eye?"

"Why the hell would you ask me that?" I said as though the mere thought of being intimate with guys disgusted me. "I'm not supposed to like boys, remember?"

Mia made a hmm sound. Then she got a strand of her ginger hair out of her face. Unlike me, Mia opted for rose gold highlights, which made her hair pop.

"I still don't believe you'll end up old and single like Selena, our pack healer."

We deliberately slowed our pace to avoid joining the noisy singing. The students were singing random songs and drumming on any available surface. 

"I think Selena is happy,” I said.

“Because she didn't find her mate. You shouldn't believe in those far-fetched superstitions. No goddess will kill your boyfriend or man. You're almost nineteen and still a virgin which is so weird. Soom, Stella will come of age and-”

"Ew! Don't sexualize my sister. She's still a baby," I said, horrified and feeling a pang of loneliness from being away from Stella. 

Before the holiday, she must have achieved another milestone, and because of my levitating dilemma, Dad wouldn't want me to pop home randomly.

"I'm just saying," Mia laughed, "it's painful that in a few years, you'll walk me down the aisle, and I won't be able to do the same for you." 

"Not everyone gets married," I said, as if trying to convince myself. "There are single women out there killing it. Take my grandma, Golgotha, for instance.

It was best to be realistic. What kind of future was in store for my bond with Cameron? I wondered how Cameron would react when he found out my secret.

He'd likely collapse in panic, his eyes wide, showing his whole iris. Then he'd reject me quickly, like a hot potato. Maybe that's what I should do: come clean, tell him the truth, and get these feelings over with.

"You two! Are you here to gossip or sync with your wolf?" We heard one of the teachers blow his whistle, and then we jogged faster. 

The girl we had seen hovering around Cameron was the assistant president, which was cliché—the two powerhouses coming together as a power couple. Coincidentally, Mia was also checking out the girl's outfit.

"She's never dressed simply," Mia whispered to me. “Does she have a team of designers, hair stylists, and makeup artists on standby?"

I wondered what products she used to make her hair so lush. Perhaps I could levitate into her room, check out her stuff, and see if I could buy some for myself. 

"You're such an idiot," my subconscious rebuked me. "Since when did you start caring about how shiny your hair looks?" 

Last night, when Mia provided me with information about Miss Lush Hair, I felt a wave of jealousy and didn't know why I was reacting that way. 

After the morning run, we had some free time before classes resumed at ten. Mia took the opportunity to do our laundry, as she preferred to stay on top of it. Just as she was about to start the washing machine, our roommates, who had been hostile towards us since our arrival, viewing us as inferior migrants, stepped in to stop her.

"What are you doing?" One of them, whose voice sounded like a strangled rat, asked, rushing to block the machine. 

"Doing my laundry—what does it look like?" Mia replied, not looking up. 

"You can't use this laundry room," my other roommate's angry voice echoed.

"Why can't she use it?" I asked. "It's not like she's hogging the machine." 

"Because we said so. Go use the general one. Don't you realize how delicate our laundry is? Surely you don't want to infect us with your poverty." 

My mouth gaped open in shock. 

What the actual fuck?

Mia was a thousand times cleaner than the girls put together, and she hadn't stopped cleaning the room since we got here. When the girls came in much later, they noticed the huge difference in their room, and instead of being thankful, they were calling us dirty. 

Mia gave me that look, which I knew was a sign to shake things up a bit. But Mom had already warned me to never use my powers, especially when people were present.

"Athena." Mia gritted her teeth, looking disappointed that I was letting this girl talk over us.

"We were given this room," I said calmly. "If you have a problem with it, report it to the authorities, but you can't stop us from using the laundry room.”

Mia, who was already in a rage, wanted to go physical. As if the trouble wasn't enough, Jennifer, whom I was already jealous of for obvious reasons, walked into the room to meet the commotion.

"What's going on?" she asked, looking at us disapprovingly. I knew that without even hearing our side of the story, she was going to take the girls’ side. After they had fabricated lies, Jennifer's nose scrunched up.

"If you can't take care of your hygiene, you must use the general laundry. There are several, so take your pick.”

It took me a great deal of strength not to snap. I folded my hands into fists. I wouldn't even react to such childish back-and-forth. But perhaps it was because she had access to what I could never have that made me feel so much resentment for her, which I knew was not a healthy feeling at all.

Mia, however, wasn't taking it. She promised to take this case up, and I kept signaling at her to calm down as I had my ways, but she wasn't even listening to me. 

The girls locked the laundry room with a big padlock and took the keys with them. When they left the room for lectures, we were already late, but I wanted to make Mia happy. 

I raised my hands, and all our clothes began to levitate from the hamper, floating right over the open space between the door and the roof. Mia kept jumping and clapping while I loaded the washing machine and dryer with ease.

"Tada," I said to her. "Happy now?"

"You're a genius," she exclaimed, rushing to the main door to block it in case our silly roommates decided to come back. After the dryer buzzed, I brought back the clothes, loving that I was the reason behind my cousin's happiness.

We hurriedly got dressed, and while Mia was busy with her makeup, I was grumbling and threatening to leave her. 

But then something in me wondered if I should make an effort—a rebellious streak out of nowhere made me want to experience what it felt like to be loved. I wondered if Cameron was into girls who wore makeup or preferred their natural look, and I imagined my mom scolding me for dressing up to impress a guy.

"Are you talking to a ghost?" Mia joked, and I realized I must have said something out loud. I grabbed my bag, and we headed to class.

I knew trouble was looming when several people gathered outside our homeroom, but I assumed it was just youthful energy and two rebellious boys fighting, or girls, as the case may be.

But the minute I stepped inside and saw two boys manhandling my brother, my fear spiked, and my body went into defense mode.