Page 1 of Sweethearts and Savages
Prologue
Enit
“I’ve written your final essay for you. I know you wanted to do it on the French Revolution, but the Russian Revolution is more relevant in today's social context.”
I stared at the pretty girl in front of me, my eyebrows drawn together as I took the manilla folder she was thrusting at me.
“Stacey, I don’t need you to write my essays for me,” I said softly, not wanting to injure her feelings. Stacey was a genius. I don’t just mean that in the casual, pop-culture sense either. She was like, legit a genius. Just a human whose brain was so unusual that she learned things at a rate that blew my mind.
She frowned. “I dumbed it down to the correct learning level. No one will know that you haven’t written it yourself. You said you were worried about this essay. I’ve helped you.”
Hell. How did I explain to her that just because I said I was worried, didn’t mean I wanted her to do it for me? “It’s cheating. I don’t like to cheat, Stace.”
She chewed her lip, one of the few unconscious habits she had. Stacey was intense. She thought and behaved like someone three times her age, but she didn’t really understand social norms outside of what books told her. Some of that was due to the fact that she was rescued from an actual laboratory, which the mean kids—like stupid Teesha—whispered about whenever she was around. But most of it was that her brain wasn’t thinking like ours. If a conversation were like playing chess, she wasn’t thinking about the next move; she had already won this conversation and was onto the next.
It made it hard for her to make friends. But I was an Omega, which meant I could, I don’t know, sense things. She radiated so much goodness that I couldn’t help but be her friend. Plus, with me always came Carmen and Christopher, my littermates. Ever-present shadows, snapping and snarling at people who looked at me the wrong way. Somehow, despite the fact she inadvertently insulted them at least five times a conversation, they liked Stacey. Carmen thought she was funny as hell, and Christopher just added her into his tiny little flock that needed protection by the big, bad Alpha wolf.
I was still walking toward my History class, my feet dragging as I tried to figure out a way to not hurt my friend’s feelings. If Carmen and Christopher felt protective of me, I felt that way about Stacey, whether she needed it or not. The only reason they let me walk to History by myself was because they both had P.E. this period. I did not do sports. Gross. Plus Stacey was with me, and no one was stupid enough to tangle with the adopted daughter of the Lycanthropes who ran Eden Academy.
I herded Stacey into an alcove of lockers near the girls’ bathroom, and turned my softest smile in her direction, passing back the manilla folder. “Thank you, Stacey. I really appreciate you trying to help me, but some things I have to do myself—in order to feel satisfaction in the achievement, you know?”
Stacey just stared at me, her face screwed up like when she was trying to figure out an extremely complex math problem. And I mean PHD level mathematics.
Then she leaned forward and kissed me.
I stood so still, I was basically frozen. Her lips were soft, and tasted a little like the watermelon chapstick she used sometimes. I flicked my tongue out to taste it—I couldn’t help myself—and then I drew away.
I was across the hall in front of the girls’ bathroom in a flash. “Stacey, I... What?”
Stacey was still frowning, but there was a flush to her cheeks now. “I think I might love you, Enit.”
She said it like she was coming up with a scientific hypothesis, like it was a problem she wanted to figure out. LikeIwas a problem she needed to figure out.
I was shaking my head repeatedly, a small voice in my head wondering if I was going to shake my brains up like a milkshake.
“It's just the Omega pheromones.”
Stacey was shaking her head now too. “No it's not. We don’t have the same physiology.”
“You’re too young. I’m an Omega,” I said again, like it was an excuse for what just happened. It was the only excuse I had for why I’d enjoyed it. “I’m sorry, I have to pee.”
Then I pushed open the bathroom door and slammed it closed, resting my back against the door. I listened intently, and after a minute, I heard the clip-clip of her shiny blue brogues. They were the only shoes she would wear, no matter if she was wearing a summer dress or jeans and a duffle. She argued that they were the perfect shoe and she had at least fifteen pairs for when they wore out.
I let out a shuddering breath and stepped further into the bathroom, stumbling over to the sinks. I stared at myself in the mirror. My cheeks were flushed and I swear, I could still see the shine of her chapstick on my lips. Holy hell, how did I look her in the face now?
How did I tell her that I couldn’t return her feelings?
How did I tell her that she probably didn’t even have those feelings, that she was confusing my kindness with something like love?
How did I tell her that maybe I liked the kiss anyway?
I turned on the tap, splashing water on my face as I ignored the opening and closing of the bathroom door. I was sure that if I turned to look, whoever it was would read what just happened all over my face.
My hands stilled though, as an unmistakable scent hit my nose.
Alpha. And not Christopher or Bobby, the safe Alphas.
I straightened, my heart starting to pound.Be calm, Enit. This means nothing. Don’t overreact. He might just be here to…To fucking what? What logical reason would he have to be in the girls’ bathroom?
