Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Alright, everyone,” Mr Morris begins, mindless chatter ceasing. “We have a new student on today’s roll. I expect you all to not make a fuss about it, he’s just joining the school a bit later than the rest of you.”

Travis nudges Aphmau, leaning in towards her desk as the casual atmosphere of their homeroom returns.

“If he doesn’t want to ‘make a fuss’, why mention it?” Travis whispers, grimacing as he quotes their teacher. “I don’t care if some new kid’s joining late, I don’t know anyone in this class who would care.”

Aphmau nods in agreement. She’d be so embarrassed if Mr Morris announced her arrival to the class that blatantly, even if he asked the students to not make a big deal of it. Why couldn't Mr Morris just not say anything?

“I’d die if he did that for us,” Aphmau murmurs back, turning to face her friend. “Starting as a junior’s bad enough, I would hate to start later if this is what teachers do to 'help'.”

“Literally,” Travis agrees. “Like, just let us arrive in peace.”

Aphmau nods again, head turning towards the front of the class at the sound of the door opening. A boy with hazel eyes enters, oddly vibrant brown hair flying around his shoulders as he greets the teacher with a smile.

“Hi everyone,” The guy speaks, much to Aphmau’s surprise. “I’m Vylad Ro’Meave. I just got back from an exchange program in the Isles of Hyria. Beautiful place, I highly recommend you guys check it out at some point in your lives.”

Travis and Aphmau share a dumbfounded look. This guy practically oozes confidence, he’s not anywhere near the kind of timid Aphmau expected from a kid joining their school late.

“Anyways, I’ll let you get back to it,” Vylad addresses their teacher, sending him a wink. “Thanks for the glowing introduction, Morris Man.”

The class giggles a little. It seems like Vylad caught everyone off-guard with that nickname.

“Anytime, Ro’Meave,” Mr Morris responds, head jerking back a little as he recites Vylad’s last name. “Wow, that’s gonna be confusing to remember. Aren’t there three of you?”

“Yep,” Vylad nods, motioning to the very back of their class. “I’m related to that lovely lady in the corner, actually.”

Aphmau sneaks a glance at the aforementioned girl. She wears dark, oversized clothing and a thick fabric mask obscures most of her face. Her ponytail is short and messy, black hair (blonde at the roots) dry enough for Aphmau to realise she’s dyed it. Her eyes are such a light blue, it feels like she’s staring into nothing.

Until she directs that gaze to Vylad. Then Aphmau feels the chill of her glare, even though it’s not directed at her. She looks away from the girl swiftly.

“Piss off, Vylad,” Her voice is hushed, deeper than Aphmau expected. “Don’t rope me into this."

Vylad chuckles. “She’s not happy about it.”

Aphmau watches their teacher sigh. She thinks he’s about to reprimand the girl for her language, but Vylad walks towards the back of the class with a vibrant stride that seems to melt away any scolding. He slots himself in the seat right next to the girl, laughing outright as she reaches out an arm to shove him away. Aphmau catches a glimpse of her pale wrist, thin red lines scattered across the underside of it. Her stomach drops and she looks away again, this time from sympathy.

“Hey, buddy,” Vylad says, tone drawling out in a way Aphmau instantly recognises as intentionally irritating. “Don’t you wanna help your favourite brother make some friends?”

“What friends?” The girl shoots back, burying further into herself. “Fuck off and talk to literally anyone else. I don’t want you shoving your stupid face into all my shit.”

Ouch, Aphmau thinks. That’s harsh coming from family.

“Zuheilyn,” Mr Morris warns from behind his laptop. “Refrain from using that language or I’ll give you a strike.”

There’s a pause in the girl’s attempts to shove her brother away. Mr Morris looks at her expectantly.

“Fine,” She finally huffs, rolling her eyes.

Vylad sighs next to them. Aphmau realises there’s only one seat between him and Travis.

“Hey, Travis,” Aphmau whispers, careful not to draw attention to them just yet. “Do you reckon we could make a new friend?”

Travis grins, shooting her a finger gun. He turns to face Vylad, smile turning a bit awkward as he reaches his hand out to tap the next desk.

Vylad rounds to them with a grin of his own. It melts away Aphmau’s nerves, Travis reaching out a hand to shake as he introduces them. Aphmau waves from her desk and Vylad shuffles his stuff closer to Travis.

“We’re new this year, too,” Aphmau begins.

“Yeah,” Travis interrupts (not to Aphmau’s annoyance, she’s too content to feel it). “We’ve already had our ‘awkward new kid’ grace period. Welcome to hell, man.”

Vylad laughs, a soothing sound. Aphmau’s smile brightens at the prospect of making a new friend.

“Happy to be here,” Vylad responds, reaching out a hand for Aphmau to shake. “Where have you guys come in from?”

“I came from Falcon Claw,” Travis answers first. “The high school closed so often from the snowstorms, Dad got sick of it.”

“Oh wow, yeah, I’ve heard Falcon Claw is a bit of a hotspot for snow-related incidents,” Vylad states. “Or perhaps I should say coldspot.”

The three giggle at the joke. It’s not the funniest thing Aphmau’s heard (that title belongs to FC, probably tenfold), but their talking feels so easy it’s a relief to laugh.

“And how about you?” Vylad asks, directing his question to her. “Any fun new places I should travel to? Without going to their schools, of course.”

“Unfortunately not,” Aphmau huffs in amusement. “I was homeschooled for the past five years. I grew up here, I just didn’t attend public school.”

“Huh, how different,” Vylad comments, not unkindly. “I’ve never considered homeschooling before. Due to my travelling, I’ve had to continue my education through Distance Ed. I suppose it would not be too dissimilar to that learning routine?”

“I, uh, I wouldn’t know,” Aphmau doesn’t quite know how to answer that. “I went to Phoenix Drop Elementary before this. Homeschooling was… meant to be a temporary solution - I was supposed to attend regular school the whole time.”

Aphmau hopes Vylad won’t ask why. She’s enjoying his inquisitiveness, but unloading her vast experiences with bullying onto a guy that she barely knows isn’t something she wants to do.

Thankfully, Vylad chooses to leave Aphmau’s answer at that.

“That sounds difficult to contend with,” He states. “Zuheilyn over there wanted to attend O’Kahsis Prep for high school. She isn’t too fond of growing up in the shadows of her older brothers, it seems.”

“That’s a shame,” Aphmau laments. “If I had an older sibling, I’d follow them everywhere.”

“Hah, too bad Zuzu’s not like that,” Vylad chuckles. “I’ve never met someone who hates the world more than her. She’s kind when she wants to be, but she’s going through a pretty dark phase right now; it’s hard to watch, in all honesty.”

“Sounds annoying,” Travis pipes up. “I get not wanting to be stuck here forever, but seeing how she treats you? Geez, dude. You and your brother must have it rough growing up with her.”

“She’s not too bad,” Vylad says, casting a fond glance over at Zuheilyn (who gives them all the middle finger, yeowch would it kill her to be nice?). “My brother and I are overachievers, I think that’s put a lot of unwanted pressure on her. Her relationships with our parents are worse - they chalk up her behaviour to ‘just being sensitive’.”

“I’m guessing you don’t think the same?” Aphmau asks.

Vylad shakes his head. “She’s got more going on than they realise. My brother and I are the only ones who see it, but she won’t let us help her.”

Aphmau feels her chest tighten with empathy. She understands better than anyone how easily your spark can be ripped away in your teenage years; just ask Ivy, Aphmau thinks to herself.

“I know she hasn’t enjoyed growing up,” Vylad continues. “I think she just wishes she could break free from every expectation. Mom lets her off the hook a bit, she doesn’t do sport like my brother and I, but we’re all aware something’s off with her at the moment. None of us know what it is, though.”

“That’s heavy,” Travis sighs. “I just figured she’s going hard for the emo aesthetic. I respect it, but man, dealing with all that’s gotta be rough.”

Vylad nods, turning away from his sister. “Anyways, enough about her. I’m bringing the mood down, I apologise. What classes have you guys got today?”

The rest of their morning gives way to more casual conversation and complaining about their respective subjects. Vylad and Aphmau bond over being put in classes they didn’t sign up for, Vylad was put in Home Ec (whatever that is, Aphmau isn’t going to pretend she knows). They all acknowledge that there’s some sort of problem with how everyone’s schedules are being managed, Aphmau recalls her encounter with Katelyn and Lucinda in the witchcraft room. Travis invites Vylad to sit with them in the cafeteria, Vylad takes the invitation with open arms. The bell rings and they all scamper off to their classes, Travis reciting various biology topics under his breath. Aphmau’s relieved she doesn’t share that class with her Not-Alone Buddy, she’s already struggling to pass Math and Werewolf Class.

Vylad’s mysterious sister appears in a couple of Aphmau’s periods. She doesn’t tend to draw attention to herself, Aphmau notes, unless she’s called on to do specific work. Zuheilyn does very well to badmouth the whole class to get out of doing it, she gets sent to the office one time. She goes with little drama, muttering some iterations of ‘finally’ under her breath, but Aphmau doesn’t miss the few tears that slip from her eyes. Aphmau’s day continues uneventfully, but her mind frequently recalls that moment and makes her stomach turn. She can’t help but feel sorry for her.

After lunch, she mentally vows to befriend Zuheilyn at some stage. No one deserves to suffer alone, Aphmau thinks to herself. Whatever it is that makes the girl’s life so difficult, she’ll find it. And she’ll fix it.

Aphmau will bring her out of her shell, she’s sure of it.

Why do all of Aphmau’s classes have to be so far from the cafeteria?

The girl in question runs frantically, desperate to not be the last person walking into Room 303. She thinks of how everyone will stare at her, how they’ll whisper words she can’t make out and she’ll catastrophize like she always does. It’s bad enough she now occasionally has werewolves come up to her with problems she can’t begin to understand and expect her to be able to properly listen, or Irene forbid ask her for advice. Aphmau has never wanted to get diagnosed with anxiety this much before; maybe if she did, she could pass it off to Mr Gavin as a legitimate reason to not be the school’s Alpha.

You won’t remain the Alpha if you don’t find this classroom soon, Aphmau internally yells over her various loud thoughts. Her desire to not disappoint everyone drives her to search faster.

Aphmau rounds a corner into a hallway identical to the one she just left. The rooms’ exteriors are similar to what she can remember of Room 303, but they all have human students inside. She reaches the end of the corridor before it registers that she’s on the wrong floor, the doors all say two-oh-something. She’s about to let out an audible groan before she realises there’s people beyond the next corner to follow.

They sound confusingly stagnant, Aphmau can’t make out any school associated words. If her guess is accurate, they’re about 5 minutes late to class. But their voices are calm, unhurried. Their volume doesn’t fluctuate into panic decibel ranges like hers does. She wonders why; surely people can’t be this calm when they’re so obviously late?

Against her better judgement, Aphmau moves closer to the lockers and creeps forward.

She flinches back once she hears the familiar icy tone of the boy from soccer practice. She can’t make out a clear sentence, but he seems to be frustrated about someone.

“-can’t keep doing this to yourself, Gene.” Aphmau makes out a deep, feminine voice speaking to the familiar boy. “You know Laurance is never going to give you the time of day.”

Aphmau risks a glance around the corner. Now that name rings a bell.

“He always does,” Gene retorts, tone clipped as he flips her off. “All it takes to get in his head is to remind him who his first kiss was with.”

“You already live in his head, reminding him of a kiss y’all had back in eighth grade isn’t needed,” The girl mutters, visibly rolling her eyes before continuing. “Okay, he looked at that other girl like some lovesick puppy that gets bored of a bone in two minutes. Big surprise. It’s not like we already know he’s a player or anything. Or a fuckboy. Or a cheat. Or a- just let him go, Gene, I’m tired of this bullshit.”

That other girl, Aphmau repeats to herself. I wonder who they’re talking abou-

“It’s bad enough you even watch his soccer practices,” The pale-haired girl continues, glancing down to the phone in her hand and scrolling. “But getting jealous of this new lady friend of his because she stoked you out in a game you don’t even play? That’s pathetic, dude.”

Oh my Irene they’re talking about me.

“Even I have to agree, Gene,” The other mysterious voice states, Aphmau turning her attention to a boy with auburn hair. “You said it yourself, Laurance seems different now. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not even into guys anymore.”

The reminder of her crush her work friend’s speculated orientation jolts Aphmau alert. I’m not supposed to be hearing this.

She keeps listening, anyway. Searching for any indication that she’s not about to be heartbroken over a coworker who’s first language appears to be flirting without the heart to genuinely mean it.

Sasha snorts, face scrunching minutely before relaxing to a more nonchalant expression. “Zenix, buddy, I’m gonna hold your balls when I say this.”

Aphmau doesn’t need to fight back laughter at the statement, she’s too busy fighting back a lump in her throat. She swallows down her feelings for the sake of Laurance (and herself) and turns her attention back to Zenix slapping Sasha’s arm and the latter retaliating the force tenfold. They wrestle playfully (Aphmau figures it’s playful to them. She’d bruise at their roughhousing) for a bit before Gene speaks up, posture tense and crooked.

“Can you guys not dismiss the sexuality of the first guy I ever made out with?” He grumbles, folding his arms. “I, of all people, know he’s gay. I just don’t know why he’s refusing to admit it.”

Aphmau’s chest gets tighter. She can’t tell if it’s from the anxiety of possibly being found out or what she just heard Gene say.

“You said his family was weird with that stuff, right?” Sasha recalls, bringing out her phone.

“Yeah, but he could just tell them to fuck off,” Gene mutters, arms swinging. “Dunno why he’s being such a pussy about it.”

That word strikes another warning bell in Aphmau’s brain. If the word ‘bitch’ is what it is to werewolves, does the word Gene just used mean the same for the various Meif’was she’s seen around the school?

I should get out of here.

“I think he’s just a pussy in general,” Zenix says, turning to Sasha as she holds her phone directly in front of her face. “Sasha- girl, ma’am, what the fuck are you doing?”

“Don’t call me ma’am, ew,” Sasha grimaces behind her screen, shoving a hand over Zenix’s face like it’ll shut him up. “I wanna find out who that girl is, behind the lockers.”

Who is-

Aphmau takes stock of the slate grey metal door she’s hiding behind.

Oh shit.

Sasha turns the phone so the camera lens glares directly at her. Her wave is small and threatening.

“Wanna tell us your name?”

Fuck.

Aphmau feels her body shoot itself with adrenaline. It’s such a sudden sensation she’s helpless to do anything but stare at the group, dumbfounded. Gene whips his head around, face souring with recognition.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the woman of the hour,” He exclaims, eyes curling in on themselves like snakes. “Wanna tell us why you were spying?”

“I- I wasn’t spying-” That’s a horrible defence, Aphmau, you absolutely were- “Why aren’t you- you guys in class?”

Sasha lowers her phone to send the girl an unimpressed look.

“Uh, ‘cause we don’t wanna be?” She says, like breaking rules is the most normal thing in the world. “What are you, a narc?”

“Yeah, freshman,” Zenix pipes up from beside her, practically jumping from his spot on the table as Gene begins to stalk over to her. “You gonna snitch? You gonna be a fucking bitch about it?”

That fucking word again. Aphmau decides on the spot that she really doesn’t like this crowd.

“I’m a junior,” Aphmau spits back, glaring at the boy. “And don’t call me that.”

“Or what, pussy?” Gene emphasises, snatching Aphmau’s attention back as he begins to enter her personal bubble, back off, please. “You gonna manhandle us into the principal’s office? You’ll get suspended, too.”

Sus- suspen- Aphmau attempts to repeat the word in her head and match it to a definition, to no avail. Can I get through one school day where I don’t hear a word I don’t know?

“F-for what?”

“For skipping?” Gene states like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “The longer you stay here chewing us out over nothing, the more shit you'll get for missing your own class.”

Aphmau goes to walk in the opposite direction, intending to ignore him entirely. She’ll find another way to room 303 and hope Mr Gavin forgives her for not knowing anything about this gigantic school.

Gene grabs her wrist before she can put any real distance between her and the group. His grip is harsh, skin stinging when he pulls her face-to-face with him (or more neck-to-face, when will the curse of being short not affect her negatively). His eyes narrow, sizing her up as Aphmau struggles to get away.

“You’re short for a junior,” He mutters under his breath, voice low and rattling through her bones like panic. “Dunno what Laurance sees in you.”

Aphmau feels her cheeks warm at the mention of the sandy-haired boy. Gene drags her further into the corner of stray desk tables, all but throwing her into the centre of the three teenagers. Aphmau fights with herself not to scream out for help.

“Leave me alone,” Aphmau spits out, voice steadier than she feels. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Too bad Laurance thinks trouble looks good on you,” Gene retorts, glare lethal. “He ‘appreciates bad girls’, fuckin’ slimy excuse for the most comp-het behaviour of all time.”

Aphmau whips her head back to stare at Gene, something about that sentence striking a sense of deja vu in her. “What?”

It takes her two seconds of silence (with Gene shooting her the most incredulous look she’s ever seen) for the familiarity of the statement to register.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always appreciate a bad girl.”

The memory of Laurance’s words further deepens the colour on her cheeks. She thought they were alone at that time, how does Gene know what he said?

“Pretentious prick, who uses words like ‘appreciate’ anymore?” Zenix mutters before smirking at Aphmau’s expression. “Oh, you’re real easy to rile up, aren’tcha?”

“Cut it out, Zenix,” Sasha suddenly looks up from her phone, throwing Aphmau’s head for a spin as she looks her up and down. “She’s not worth wasting our time on.”

Despite the obvious way Sasha’s telling the guys to stop, Aphmau feels like she should be offended. Gene seems to disagree with his friend, if the way his eyes narrow to a lethal degree is anything to go off.

“I don’t know about that, Sasha,” He begins, stepping backwards as he continues to glare ahead. “Someone this responsive to Laurance might be fun to poke around.”

Responsive to Laurance? Aphmau thinks to herself incredulously, struggling to figure out what this guy’s ulterior motives with her might be. Poke around-

“If you- if you do anything to me, I’m gonna tell a teacher,” Aphmau suddenly shouts, newfound courage injecting itself into her bones as she all but leaps out of the group’s way. “I mean it.”

“Irene, you’re something else, aren’t ya?” Gene laughs cruelly. “Calm down, kitten, we ain’t gonna eat ya. No reason to involve faculty in a little tussle.”

“Really?” Aphmau fixes her glare onto the black-haired boy and hopes she comes across as intimidating. “Is that all this is?”

Gene cackles boyishly, eyes scrunching from the force of it before he goes to speak. Sasha interrupts him, words both a reprieve and utterly insulting.

“Let her go, Gene,” She sounds annoyed, tone breathy like words are akin to sighing. “She’s just one of his conquests. She’ll figure that out for herself soon enough.”

Aphmau’s chest tightens once she realises who she’s referring to. She hates the use of the word ‘conquests’, it makes her feel a kind of worthless her mom would use to curse out the entire male population.

It also reminds her that she’s probably someone Laurance will ignore as soon as the novelty of making her blush is lost. She wants to discredit everything these guys are saying about him, but she knows the reason her stomach is falling to her feet at everything they say is because they have a point.

She hates that they have a point. She hates being reminded of what she sees every day at Target.

Gene is still staring at her, eyes intense with hatred Aphmau doesn’t know the cause of. She shifts uncomfortably underneath his scrutinising gaze.

She all but flinches when Gene lets loose his next sentence. “Tell you what, freshman.”

Aphmau glares back at him.

“Junior.”

“Does he look like he gives a shit, freshman?” Zenix approaches her suddenly, voice rough and biting. “You don’t know who we are, do ya? Well, I’ll tell you-“

“Calm down, bud, I just wanna make a deal,” Gene interrupts Zenix’s angry ranting, metaphorically throwing her brain from one torture room to another. “I’ve never seen Laurance take interest in someone like you before. I wonder what makes you… special.”

Aphmau feels her face heat unpleasantly.

“Don’t bother, Gene, seriously,” The pale-haired girl pipes up. “She’s just another blushing maiden in that royal pain-in-the-ass’s long line of broken hearts. Why you continuously lower your standards for that man is a mystery I will never solve.”

“Like you even care,” Gene spits, glancing back at the girl carelessly.

“I literally do,” Sasha says, monotone and syllables drawn out like she doesn’t. “I care when I have to bail you out of juvie every Saturday because he ignored another call.”

Gene scoffs, turning around to argue with her face to face. “That pathetic stack of wood they call a county station is not juvie.”

Sasha goes to retaliate before she’s interrupted by a slightly raspy tone that Aphmau realises belongs to someone very familiar.

“It will be if you don’t get to class in the next five minutes.”

The newcomer’s presence startles all of them. That was not a voice Aphmau thought she’d hear during class hours, if the girl's obviously strong work ethic was anything to go by. She shrinks in on herself at the reminder of where she’s supposed to be, she’s definitely getting in trouble now.

Gene grumbles at the expression on her face. “Teony.”

“Gene, never a pleasure,” Teony smiles, narrowed eyes betraying the false politeness of her tone. “Save your recruiting for break times. Aphmau has a lesson to get to.”

Gene cocks an eyebrow up at her. “And we don’t?”

“If you want to surprise me and make your way there without my help, I won’t stop you,” Teony states, holding out a hand for Aphmau to take. “But Aphmau here doesn’t need a push like you guys do. Don’t corrupt her into adopting your behaviours.”

“Thanks for your faith in us, Teony, really ‘student leader’ of you,” Zenix spits, nudging Sasha. “Come on, guys, let’s go before we get convicted or something.”

Teony doesn’t react to the fire in his tone. It isn’t until Gene rolls his eyes does Aphmau realise Zenix wasn’t serious.

Sasha groans. “Just let it go, Teony. We’ll go to class when they teach us stuff that’s actually worth being stuck here for.”

“They do!” Teony exclaims. “You just need to-”

“-Get a teacher actually has faith in us?” Sasha turns back to Teony with a half-hearted glare. “Be so for real, you know damn well they don’t even want us to be there. Teaching us anything here is a lost cause; you’re the only one who hasn’t given up trying to delay the inevitability of us dropping out.”

“You don’t have to drop out,” Teony states, tone waining on the side of strained at Sasha’s finality. “You just have to make it to finals. You’re telling me you don’t think graduating is worth it?”

“Worth what? Being stuck here for eight hours a day just to get a job where you’re stuck somewhere else for eight hours a day?” Sasha shoots back, eyes conveying emotion that even Aphmau can tell is foreign. “People only care if you graduate with good grades, like you. We both know I’m never gonna be caught dead reading some old guy’s books if the ‘thematic takeaway’ is just life sucks. I’m already forced to be here, I don’t need to be reciting shit I already know like I’m some misunderstood poet.”

Irene, that’s deep, Aphmau thinks to herself. I wasn’t expecting any of these guys to be so meta.

“It wouldn’t hurt to surprise everyone, though, right?” Teony says, offering some genuine optimism. “Imagine if Mr James saw you guys in class today, instead of at lunch.”

“Jamie’s who I’m referring to, Teony.” Sasha deadpans. “He’s like 60 and managing detention at a public school, nothing surprises him.”

Teony shoots her a look. Sasha shrugs in response.

“Just take Aph-whatever-her-name-is back to her class,” Sasha finally relents. “We’re not gonna bother her.”

Gene rolls his eyes at the statement. Aphmau’s gut flips, and not from attraction.

“Just try,” Teony compromises. “You never know what could happen.”

Sasha has already rounded the corner. Zenix stands in an awkward limbo, waiting for Gene.

“You’ll behave yourself, right?” Teony turns to the latter, raising an expectant eyebrow at the dark-haired boy.

“I never do,” He grumbles, shoving Aphmau’s shoulder as he passes them and whispering to her. “You haven’t heard the last of me, bitch.”

Aphmau flinches at the word. Teony yells out a school-appropriate threat before turning her attention to Aphmau. Gene says nothing else as he disappears around the corner with Zenix.

“I don’t think you need any convincing to stay away from them,” Teony begins to walk, Aphmau falling into an easy stride beside her. “They’re determined to wreck their own lives before they even start. I’d pity them if they weren’t so destructive.”

Aphmau says nothing as she nods. That’d be the third- fourth? - time someone’s warned her about Gene.

“Where are we going?” She asks instead, confused as they pass the staircase Aphmau was trying to find earlier.

“To the office,” Teony states, shoes clicking against the linoleum floor as they enter the entrance hallway. “They can give you a late slip if you have a reason; I’ll vouch for you.”

Aphmau blushes from embarrassment. Mr Gavin doesn’t seem like the kind of teacher that will let her slip into class unnoticed; mysterious late pass be damned.

“Thank you.” She says anyway.

“You’re welcome, but I can’t do this every time you run into them,” Teony turns to her before opening the office door. “Just ignore them, they’ll stop if you don’t give them the satisfaction of responding. Head down and keep walking, they’ll get bored eventually. All bullies do.”

Aphmau doesn’t say anything as Teony asks the office staff for the late slip. She doesn’t believe ignoring them will be enough to deter their interest in her, not so long as she hangs out with Laurance. She gives Teony a grateful, brief hug anyway before running off to that Irene-forsaken staircase, Mr Gavin is going to kill her for missing it so poorly.

He doesn't kill Aphmau, but he does embarrass her bad enough that she wishes he did.

Aphmau cringes at Room 303’s door hinges squeaking when she finally enters. Just as she suspected (feared), Mr Gavin interrupts his lecture to sarcastically welcome her into the classroom.

"Well, hello there, look who finally decided to join us!" His voice is unenthusiastic enough that Aphmau knows the class hasn't been waiting for her in any capacity. "I hope you have a damn good reason for missing a full quarter of my lesson, Miss Shalashaka. Don't think we haven't missed you just because we started already."

Aphmau folds in on herself, reminded of the role she plays in this room and how daunting it is. She wordlessly hands her teacher the late pass, head lowered as he reads it. The writing on the board behind them is long and confusing, she dreads having to copy it down in a way she'll understand.

Mr Gavin tuts to himself, stealing back Aphmau's attention. He sighs before grabbing a pen and signing the piece of paper, lack of scolding lulling Aphmau into a false state of relief at the understanding silence.

“Very well, you're free to return this to the office at the end of the lesson,” He murmurs, tone compassionate as he glances back up at Aphmau. “You should get a map if you’re finding yourself lost this often. And I expect an Alpha to better hold her own against some silly kids- I apologise, misguided kids.”

A few giggles ripple throughout the room. Aphmau’s cheeks darken as she takes the pass from Mr Gavin's expectant hand; so much for understanding.

“Yes, sir,” She mumbles, gripping her bag strap so tight her knuckles go white. “It won’t happen again.”

Mr Gavin lets her do the walk of shame to the back of the class in peace. Aphmau slumps into the seat next to- oh yeah, she shares a desk with that ostentatious bastard, doesn’t she. Perfect.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the boy next to her grumbles sarcastically.

Aphmau is in no mood for this weird back-and-forth superficial insult routine they’ve suspiciously fallen into. “Shut up.”

“You’re not helping anyone here by being late, you know,” Aaron continues under his breath. “You’re the Alpha, for Irene’s sake. People need you to lead by example, let alone show up.”

“Fuck off, Aaron,” Aphmau spits back, tone hushed and sharp. “I didn’t ask for any of this.”

“I didn’t ask to be stuck with a spoiled brat for a classmate, but here we are,” Aaron scoffs bitterly, glancing away as she looks up at him. “It’s too late to back out now. You’re here to stay, stupid potato. You’ve gotta start living up to our- people’s expectations.”

Aphmau rolls her eyes, deciding not to dignify that with a response. She begins to open her bag when he speaks again, tone so quiet she almost can’t decipher what he says.

“Even if all you do is fail the bare minimum.”

Aphmau’s annoyance peaks. She’s trying and she knows for a damn fact that Aaron knows that. It’s utterly insulting to think that she needs to break herself into more pieces just to juggle this new responsibility; public school nor two jobs and volunteer work are enough anymore, now she needs to suddenly know everything there is to know about a race of people she’s literally never interacted with before? Give me a break, dammit!

“I- oh for Irene’s sake - I got lost, there, happy now?” She huffs, slamming her book on the table and wincing at the brief scolding from Mr Gavin about volume. She continues in a much quieter tone, “I’d like to see you try to get away from-”

“You- you come to this room every day, how did you get lost?” Aaron interrupts, pausing copying down his annoyingly neat passages to glare at her incredulously.

“Not everyone here knows this maze of a school like the back of their hand,” Aphmau mutters back, elbowing him faintly before opening her book and beginning to write herself. “Some kids were sk- skipping? - and they stopped me just to- never mind, ’s not like you’d care.”

Aaron huffs next to her. His silence only serves to further her irritation until it becomes just shy of too much to deal with.

Aphmau goes to bring out her own textbook before remembering she accidentally left it at home. She wishes she could groan outwardly as she goes to hastily scribble down the words on Mr Gavin’s blackboard. There’s so many paragraphs, it’ll take her the whole lesson to transcribe it all- or not, Mr Gavin picks up an eraser and shuffles it back and forth over the text Aphmau was trying to copy.

She feels frustrated tears well in her eyes as her mental floodgates crumple like paper. She sighs quietly (wetly), she’ll need to look through the whole textbook to find the rest of what she was writing down when she gets home. Defeat floods her, stinging and absorbing the rest of her mental energy for the day. The tears slip down her cheeks onto the desk, her only comfort being the fact her breakdown isn’t viscerally agonising to mask. A singular reprieve from my regularly scheduled anxiety, she muses bitterly.

She’s about to miserably turn the page in her workbook and mindlessly doodle away the rest of the lesson before something slides her way. A page of beautifully written, clearly labelled notes on the specifics of Werewolf transformation. Aphmau spots the one sentence she managed to copy at the top of the page, under the heading ‘Unit 1.3.1 - Introduction’.

There’s a few tiny drawings in the margins. A sidewards cat face (because of course Aaron would enjoy the same emoticon that her best and only friend uses to piss her off) rotated so it sits upright, a puppy with one floppy ear and a disproportionately sized soccer ball next to it (a stray heart floats over the two doodles, it makes Aphmau’s chest warm slightly). There’s also a stick figure directly next to a line and another stick figure sporting fuzzy wolf ears and a fluffy tail. The ends of each appendage are coloured red, the stick figure’s eyes undergoing the same treatment.

Directly under that last doodle is one word, written in the same red ink: ‘pain :D’. It’s so silly. They’re all silly. Aphmau has to fight the urge to giggle at the page nonetheless.

She keeps the page between them and slides it back across the desk once the important majority was copied down (she was right in assuming it would take her the whole lesson, there’s only ten minutes until the bell goes). Aaron, without even glancing towards her, takes it and faintly circles a bit she hadn’t written down yet, sliding it back. Aphmau glances up at the board and realises that she, indeed, needs to write down that section.

She slides back the paper once she’s finished with a ‘thank you’ noted down in the margin, squished in between the cat face and dog/ball doodles. Aaron doesn’t respond for a few minutes until he unclips his binder, taking out the page he’d just been working on. He scribbles something on the side of the page before sliding it to her.

you can give it back tomorrow morning
presuming you don’t get lost again XD

Aphmau nearly chokes on her laugh once she reads the emoticon. Thankfully it hadn’t bubbled out of her throat, but the message feels eerily similar in tone to one her best friend would write. The cat face she saw earlier is common enough she didn’t think twice about it, but this scribbled message feels… alarmingly familiar. The longer she stares, the more she feels the glare of a tiny, hand-held screen.

Aphmau’s eyes blur as she loses her focus. Thoughts she never imagined she’d have to comprehend this early begin to pull at the tight knot of emotions she shoves down at the thought of her best friend. She reaches for the paper with slightly trembling hands, swallowing back every unwelcome doubt before she can follow them down. Her head begins to swim, various little threads in her life beginning to loosen and untangle before the bell rings and disrupts the kickstarting of her brain.

Her skull jerks to the side like a flinch, as if the motion could free these thoughts from her head. She instead shoves them into a metaphorical box and sits on the lid, sliding the page of notes into her workbook. She rummages around in her bag, making space for it before slotting the book in (more gracefully than she would normally; she already feels a bit guilty for the circle ruining Aaron’s otherwise pristine work from before). She’ll deal with the weirdly familiar message now in her possession later - she has her final class to get to.

The note haunts her for the rest of the day, though.