Chapter Six

That was weird. What the heck was that guy, Zach's, problem? Didn't he ever hear of common courtesy? Someone smiles at you, and you smile back. 

Emily took one step at a time, looking over her schedule and trying not to bump into anyone running up or down the stairwell. Her thoughts filtered back to the guy, she'd seen in the registration office.

There was something about him. Like I'd seen him before. Like there was some type of connection. Maybe he resembles someone from my last school?

"Oh, sorry." Emily reached out and touched the arm of the girl she almost accidentally smacked into on the second landing. The girl gave a brief nod, then continued walking.

Nah, someone like Zach, I would definitely remember. But, what was it about him that made my whole body tingle. OMG, Em, you're thinking way too much into this.

He was just a boy, and now he's gone. 

Emily opened up the door leading to the hallway containing lockers and classrooms. The clicking as the door shut behind her sounded like an ominous sign of being locked away forever.

'Deep breath in. Deep breath out. I'm a big, brave tiger.' Emily noticed several students staring at her, completely recognizing her as the new girl. 'Yeah, fuck this yoga relaxation talk, so not happening.' 

***

Danny pulled on Zach's shirt. "Dude, new girl alert." He nodded down the hallway.

Zach already knew who was there. His wolf had been on high alert for the last minute or so. Only a few kids were left in the halls as everyone wanted to be early the first day to get a good seat and find out who else was in their class. Zach glanced up and saw it was the girl from the office, looking completely lost.

'Mine.' The wolf inside him stirred once again.

Zach didn't know if he would be able to keep him reigned in, this had never happened with any other girl. 'Would you shut up!' Yes, he was having an internal conflict with the other half of him. If the girl were his mate, she would come to him. They would not be able to be apart. This all had to be wrong or some sort of mistake. Where's my father or Adam when I need to talk to someone. Zach forced his eyes away from the girl.

"Yeah, I think she was in the office when I went there earlier." Zach slapped Danny's arm and turned toward the science section of the building. "We better head to class." His wolf practically wanted to kill him as he tried to ignore the growling inside and the need to help this girl. Before he got the chance to leave, Alex and Madison made their appearance once again.

"What are you guys doing?" Alex questioned as both girls looked down the hall to see what Zach and Danny were gawking at.

"Oh my God, you guys are like a pair of wolves on your first hunt." Madison snickered at them. "Wipe the drool off your mouths." She handed each of them a tissue from her handbag.

Zach threw his back at her while Alex grabbed Danny's tissue. Her tight smile showed she wasn't happy.

"Let's go see if we can help her." Madison volunteered.

"Uh, we're gonna be late," Zach mumbled.

"Zach, quit being a wuss. It's the first day. No teacher is even gonna notice." Madison always had a comeback for everything. Alex pulled Madison's arm down the hall toward the new girl.

***

Emily glanced up from her schedule, which had all her classroom numbers on it. She peeked up at every room she passed to see if any were on her sheet of paper.

She saw two girls prancing toward her. One had light brown hair almost to her mid-back, a slight build, wearing skinny jeans and a tight gray pullover. The other girl was about the same height as Emily, maybe a little taller at five foot two, but curvier in all the right places. She had dark brown hair with hints of lighter shades of brown when the fluorescent lights hit at a right angle.

It appeared the two girls coordinated their clothes together since they wore almost identical outfits, except the latter girl's shirt was bright blue. They both had dark tans, the natural kind. It seemed everyone Emily saw today had great tans. She couldn't get a tan no matter how hard she tried. If she was in the sun too long, she immediately started to form nasty red blisters. She had to stick with this anemic-looking skin color forever. Just her luck, having to be in a school where nearly the entire population was perfect.

"Hi. I'm Alex, and this is Madison." The girl with the gray T-shirt announced when they stopped in front of her. "You look lost."

Emily felt a complete washout of any remaining thoughts. After a few moments, she was able to mentally force herself to speak and mutter out a complete sentence.

"Um, yeah. First day, I guess I sorta stand out. I'm Emily."

They must think I don't have half a brain since it took me so long to respond. 

Madison, the girl with shimmering dark hair, peeked over at the schedule Emily was holding. "Hey, Zach," she yelled down the hall, "don't you have Warner first period?"

Zach nodded but did not attempt to come over to where the girls were standing.

Madison gently pulled on Emily's arm and led her down the hall toward the two boys.

"These two are like dumb and dumber sometimes," Alex whispered sarcastically as they got closer to Zach and his friend. "Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Lovell, don't you guys ever do anything besides ignore us?" Alex pretended to be pissed off at them. They both stared at her like they had no idea what she was talking about.

Danny put his arm around Alex. "What can I help you with, sweetie?"

Alex's cheeks took on a hint of pink. "Emily, this is Danny." She poked the guy who was standing beside her. "And this is Zach," she did a nod toward him, "who will be your tour guide to first period."

"Uh, yeah, I guess I could," Zach mumbled out unenthusiastically and glanced away from Alex to Emily.

Emily was caught up in his stare but managed to mumble a comprehendible response. "That would be great. I think we sort of met in the office earlier."

"So, Emily, this is Zach. Zach, this is Emily. See, proper introductions, we can all be great friends now." Madison pulled Alex away from Danny. "Seriously, people, we're all going to be late if we don't move our slug asses."

"Hey, we'll see y'all at lunch," both girls shouted halfway down the hall.

Emily watched as the two girls turned the corner. She glanced over at Danny and Zach and found both boys staring at her.

*Talk about feeling under pressure. Two scorching hot guys waiting for me to say something, *

Emily's eyes shifted to the ground to get away from their intense gazes.

Finally, after what felt like hours, but probably less than ten seconds, Zach spoke a single word. "Ready?"

Emily assumed he was talking to her and nodded once.

"Later," Zach told Danny as they did that fist bump thing guys always do.

"Yeah, dude, we have to talk. Later." Danny ran down the hall the way Madison and Alex had gone.

Zach walked in the opposite direction, and Emily followed. Neither one spoke. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence but made Emily question the circumstances around them.