Chương 69: SUDDENLY THURSDAY

Oh my goddess, it's Thursday morning. I only just realized when I woke up and checked my diary. I had school, homework to complete on the second train, doll up and drop in casually for Dad's meeting with Alpha Lorent, Thursday training session with the older teens—and Savy! (Yay!) And oh, I hurt all over. I climbed out of bed achy and stiff. I was expecting my jelly legs to become overstretched rubber bands, but it turned out it wasn't just my legs that suffered.

All that lifting and moving of the obstacle course equipment took a toll on my arms too. Honestly, I didn't want to get out of bed. I even had a good excuse—if I stayed home today, I wouldn't have to miss Alpha Lorent's arrival. Actually, why was I even attending the meeting? I wasn't invited, so it's more like, why was I gate-crashing the meeting with Alpha Lorent? What did I hope to achieve? Okay, if I was going to be the Alpha someday, I should gain some exposure to meetings, right?

And we were discussing my ideas for saving his son. And I wanted to learn more about breaking Lycans out of fight cages, so I wanted to hear about the methods they had tried. Yeah, I haven't forgotten about freeing the Lycan bonded to slavery. Somewhere at the back of my mind, this idea was still burning in secret. I know I was just turning 15, I hadn't even shifted, and I had no idea how to start or where this would lead. But for now, I guess I'd sit in this meeting. It was the first open door I had.

My plan was to dress up in the outfit the Lorents gave me and ever so innocently pop into my Alpha Dad's office after school to thank Alpha Lorent and Luna Edith for the gift. Oh yeah, the thank-you note! Yes, I should write it too. No time now. Maybe after school, but just in case, I put a small book of watercolor paper and some colored brush markers into my school bag. If there was one thing I could draw and nail every time, it was painted roses.

I had watched someone do it with brush markers in an online video and copied it with relative success. The other thing I could draw credibly were cartoon animals, particularly chickens. But I didn't think the Lorents would care for a thank-you card covered with crazy chickens. Hopefully our history teacher would miss school again. I'd be able to slip out and get the card done in school—or else maybe at lunchtime. Everything was packed back-to-back today. My body wasn't in its best form either.

And oh yeah, I totally forgot about choosing my club—even though I had spent such a long time yesterday agonizing over it. I'd better check out the selection dates for the archery club. And the cooking club too—it was my second choice. My fallback was the adventure club if all else failed (all else meaning I failed the cooking club test, or burned down the school attempting it). Dance club was last, but I was pretty confident it wasn't going to come down to that. What was I rambling about again?

Oh yeah, it's Thursday and time for school! Sam's Back-to-Back Thursday: Get to school Switch out locker books and stuff Check club boards for selection details Make and write thank-you note for the Lorents Finish homework on train Study for pop quiz on train (Are you wondering where that popped out from? Hahaha. Sigh…) Lorent meeting at Dad's office Dinner Thursday night training (with Savy!) I was definitely looking forward to having Savy for training, but I didn't have any breathing room to feel it.

I'll just get through the day and do all the feelings stuff later. Now that I have a plan, action! Go! Go! Go! I got to school in one piece, even though I ended up drenched because, as if yesterday's freak snowstorm and hail weren't enough, today it rained—and you know what they say, when it rains, it pours. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. No, I didn't have an umbrella. My not-waterproof woolen school coat was soaked.

My waterproof backpack proved itself as watertight as it claimed in its ads. So I got to school slopping wet and changed directly into my gym clothes, changed into the extra pair of socks I always brought, and my indoor shoes. I hung the wet coat and my soggy cross-country shoes on the coat and shoe racks outside the classroom and stuck my wet clothes in a plastic bag before stuffing the bag into my locker.

I ended up looking like I just showered, and I only had ten minutes left after everything to run around the school looking for the right club notice boards. Most of them were situated in the school cafeteria or outside the school stage hall, where I did find the board I was looking for—after running fruitlessly through all the boards in the empty cafeteria. Archery Club Recruitment Tryouts for Beginners were Thursday afternoon… Wait, that's today. There was a sign-up form pinned on it.

The closing date was yesterday, but the form was still there… so I wrote my name down. The club will accept 20 beginner-level recruits every year. There were at least 50 names on the list. It was going to be a long shot. Should I really miss the meeting with Alpha Lorent for this? Coincidentally, the Cooking Club board was right next to it. Walk-in interviews Thursday afternoon in the home-ec kitchens… where I would conveniently already be, since home-ec was my last class of the day. This was probably more for Mrs.

Martinez's sake than mine, since she was also the teacher in charge. Now I had a choice: OPTION 1: INTERVIEW FOR COOKING CLUB I might even be the first interviewee since I would already be there. Finish early, secure a place in a food-related club, and get home early enough not to miss the Lorent meeting. OPTION 2: GO FOR THE ARCHERY TRYOUTS Who knew how long I would have to wait for my turn or if I would be selected? Would we have to actually shoot an arrow? I'd miss the Lorent meeting for sure.

OPTION 3: GO STRAIGHT HOME Deal with the Lorent meeting. I would need time to dress up, and I did promise Dad I'd show up. OPTION 4: ALL OF THE ABOVE Because I just had to do something like that. Why did everything have to fall on Thursday? When it rains, it pours. Back in class, I wasn't the only kid in gym attire. Several other guys hadn't brought umbrellas and had to run in the rain. Jasmine and the cool girls were sitting around my desk to do homework. Maria usually didn't come to class until later.

She had to comb her hair for a long time every morning. Those two girls in front of us were usually only in class after the bell rang, so their desks were conspicuously empty too - especially since the cool girls had dragged their chairs over to my desk.

"Where were you?" Krystal was annoyed.

"You are so late!" The others scribbled furiously. They were lucky yesterday's homework wasn't all that much. Jasmine only had a bit of math to copy, so she finished first.

"Why did you run in the rain?"

"I didn't bring an umbrella," I told her. Immediately, I noticed how the girls around me were dry and still in their normal uniforms. I guess all the girls in school carried umbrellas in their backpacks?

"If you waited at the station, the student council would bring out umbrellas to lend the students," Jasmine said. Oh. I shrugged. Good to know. Liam came into the classroom in his gym attire. Did only the girls know about the umbrella service?

"Liam!" Jasmine scolded.

"I told you to wait for an umbrella with me!" Liam just smiled at us, shook out his damp hair lightly, and went to his seat.

"Boys!" Jasmine shook her head. Then she looked at me and shook her head again. So it wasn't that the girls all had foldable umbrellas. They just had more patience. My hair had air-dried by then, so I clipped it up in the usual ponytail. When I was done, four pairs of eyes were on me. Jasmine said, "I usually take forever to do my hair." Zara exclaimed without any restraint, "Your hair is magic!" I laughed at that.

"It's probably the clip."

"Is it expensive?" Krystal asked.

"I don't think so," I said. It was actually given to me by Mrs. Beta for acing a quiz during Lycan Study Group.

"Can we exchange?" Krystal asked me. I paused, unsure—it was my favorite clip.

"Just for today," Krystal pressed on. Oh well, it's just a clip. I unclipped it and passed it to her. Krystal passed me hers. Today it was a black scrunchie. I tried it on, half expecting it to slide off as scrunchies usually did, but it held. Wow. I figured it was the velvet material that gave it more grip. Soft and comfortable—I actually liked it. Krystal went to the washroom to put on her clip. She returned a short while later, looking pleased.

"That looks good," Zara said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I told you it was the clip." Marcus came over to collect the homework for today. I guess he noticed that the girls were done copying. Not even a beta werewolf dared to interrupt last-minute morning copy sessions. Hahaha. I gave him my homework with a quick "Thanks."

"Sam, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked.

"Oooooh, yes!" said Zara. The girls around me were super excited.

"Class is about to start," I told him.

"I know, just for a minute, Sam," Marcus said. I liked Marcus for this. He always sounded patient and polite. I stood up and followed him outside. The class made a loud whooping sound.

"You know now they all think you're going to ask me out, right?" I joked.

"What if I was?" Marcus grinned at me.

"Yeah, right." I laughed.

"So, what did you want me for?"

"Nothing big. Just my dad wanted to know how your dad remembered him," Marcus said.

"How should I know?" I asked.

"Yesterday, you told those girls that your dad knew my dad…" Marcus explained.

"It was the first time I knew it. I asked my dad, and he told me he was one of many others who had worked with your dad on some project years back. He was surprised Alpha Kingsley even noticed him." Oh, I was kind of just saying…

"I didn't know about the project. My dad just mentioned 'a Beta's son' at dinner." I looked at Marcus' disappointed face.

"I could ask if you like."

"Yeah, ok. Thanks, Sam," Marcus said.

"No biggie," I said. I wondered if that's what it was like to be a Beta sometimes—you work your heart out to support the Alpha's cause and serve your pack, and at the end of the day, you're not sure if you were even noticed. Maria passed us to go into the classroom. Marcus and I went in too. The class "whoa'd" and clapped overenthusiastically. I rolled my eyes. Marcus turned red. Maria gave me a cold, tight smile. {Did I miss something interesting?} I asked my vampire desk mate, just in case. {No, not at all.} Maria demurred, but she had that creepy smile on her face so I couldn't quite believe her. The bell rang. Those two girls slipped into their seats in front of us, and then the teacher came in. Like clockwork. Every morning.