Page 13 of When Storms Awaken

“See you later, firecracker.”

Ipracticallyrantothird period Spanish, and to my surprise Tess was there before me, sitting in the back. I settled into my chair and took out my supplies before delving into the juicy stuff.

“Mrs. Madden is out of the hospital but still no details on the attack. She is going to have her husband running the coffee shop temporarily, which means I have to make it to my shift on time this afternoon. Do you mind dropping me off?” Tess asked.

“No problem.” I smiled, she appeared to be in a good mood. This was good.

“So, what else is new besides Silver Oaks being turnedupside down?”She laughed, crossing her legs and sitting back in her desk.

“I talked to Nik this morning,” I blurted out.

“Youwhat! Details, woman, details. When, where, why, how?” Tess’ eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her head. She was excited, not disappointed, another positive sign.

“This morning in English, he said he transferred into the class.”

“…And…?” she prompted, clapping her hands excitedly on the desk.

“And he made a sarcastic remark about me being an artistic daydreamer and I insulted him by calling him self-absorbed.”

“Well, you are an artistic daydreamer,” she pointed out. “You are crushing, major, I can tell. Look at you blush!”

“I am not blushing!” I countered, even as I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks to betray me. I had never noticed any other guy at Silver Oaks Academy. Why Nik? Why now, when my life was turning upside down?

Well, he did have model good looks and piercing blue eyes.Piercing blue eyes. Human eyes. I had seen those eyes somewhere before.But where?I felt a wave of recognition wash over me. Those were the same eyes that I had seen Sunday morning at the mountain landing. But those eyes, they belonged to a wolf…

It couldn’t be. Things like this just didn’t happen…they didn’t exist. Now I was getting crazy. But…could it be? Could Nik be something…other?I would keep this factoid to myself for now. I could only imagine Tess’ reaction at my latest theory.

“Diana, I know you. You are crushing on him. Oh boy…you’re looking for trouble with this one.” She whistled, rolling her eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“That he is a transfer from another school, we know zero about him, he’s a weird loner with no friends here, and he’s got an attitude. He could be a crazy maniac or something,” she pointed out, “although…he would be a sexy maniac.”

“I only think he’s cute, that’s all.” I conceded, “Nothing wrong with that.” I also thought he might be a werewolf…pending further investigation.

“Imagine the beautiful, freckled, fair-haired children you would have.” She laughed, resting her chin on her hand dreamily. I kneed her hard under the desk.

“Ow…you’re no fun.” She pouted, pretending to be hurt. Spanish class started, but I couldn’t pay attention. The only thoughts that swam through my head were ancient ruins, long empty corridors, and piercing blue eyes with perfect blond hair.

Tess and I entered the lunchroom, putting our backpacks at our usual table and getting in line to grab food. When I returned to the table, I found Sloane and Tess already there, munching and chatting away.

“I’m only going to eat celery and chicken for lunch. I need to fit into this slinky black number by the time winter formal comes around,” Tess told Sloane. Sloane pretended to nod thoughtfully, but I could tell her thoughts were elsewhere.

“If you lose any more weight, you might disappear,” I told her with a meaningful glance.

“Wouldn’t that be something.” She laughed. The last thing I wanted to see was Tess fall back into the spiral she had been in last year, with all her rules and restrictions. Even Tess, who was seemingly perfect on the outside, could be insecure about herself. She would look amazing in that winter formal dress, no matter what.

“Where were you yesterday, Sloane, home sick?” I asked, changing the subject. Tess shot me a thankful glance from across the table. Tess wasn’t open about her insecurities with anyone else, but we always had each other to lean on.

“Oh, um, yeah,” she responded, taking a bite of a french fry. “I didn’t feel so great...” she trailed off. That appeared to be an understatement. Her skin was pale and chalky, dark circles rimmed her eyes.

“Didn’t I hear that you saw some giant wolf or something? That’s what everyone’s saying…you must have been hallucinating or something…” one of Tess’ dance friends chimed in with a condescending air, rapping her manicured nails against the lunch table. Where had this news come from? And how had Tess not shared it with me? She was the center of gossip in this school. If this was a rumor, she had to have known.

“Oh um…I don’t know. I don’t want to talk about it,” Sloane admitted, slumping into her seat.

“Sloane, what did you see?” I asked, turning towards her, her eyes meeting mine.

“I thought I saw a big black wolf. It was…the size of a horse or something. I was in the backyard playing with my sister and it came out from behind the trees. We both ran into the house, but by the time my mom came out, it was gone. It was probably nothing. As I said, I haven’t been feeling too great.” Tess and I met eyes across the table. Had she kept this from me, or had she not known?

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