Chapter 10

MILA

Junior Year

Hi, I’m Mila Davis and I deserved this scholarship because…

Why was this so hard? I deserved that scholarship and I knew why but nothing was coming out. Though the deadline for the application was then the beginning of fall next year, I wanted to be prepared. Still, this essay was kicking my ass. A loud noise from across the way caught my attention, and of course, it’s none other than Tyler and his rowdy group of bullies.

Tyler got his werewolf over the summer and spent most of his time training to become the Alpha. Even though we’re halfway through the school year, he hasn’t been attending, which was a blessing until today. I knew that he was graduating this year, and I couldn’t wait. All through my sophomore year, Tyler and his gang tormented me with great pleasure. 

We didn’t have many classes together, but the ones we did were absolutely horrible. So this year, I cozied up with the administration just to make sure we had no classes together. So far, so good. Still, I spent my time trying to avoid him. Gabe would do his best to protect me, but usually that meant he would take the brunt of Tyler’s insults.

“Mila, watch out for that dragon. Behind us!” Gabe shouted, his eyes wide with excitement as he munched on one of my carrots.

“Sorry, I got distracted. I’m here,” I replied, my voice calm and focused on my phone. “Take care of the trolls.”

We always spent lunch either playing a co-op game or working on a new fashion design. Gabe was always supportive of my passion and wanted to find ways to bring my love of fashion and his love of coding together. Another reason I liked him. All through the game, I felt eyes on me, but I didn’t have time to look and see who it was. I didn’t think I wanted to know. After a few tense moments, we finally defeated the final boss for this stage.

“Victory fries?” Gabe suggested, and I nodded.

He left to order them as I went back to my designs. I was so engrossed in sketching I didn’t realize someone was behind me until they snatched my book from me.

“Hey, give it back!” I reached for my book only for Randall to hold it out of reach. I chased him around the table as he played a round of toss with Leo.

“Look at that,” Leo said. “You should be thanking us for making you exercise.”

“Please just give me back my stuff.”

I watched helplessly as my sketchbook was tossed back and forth. Laughter filled the cafeteria as I watched the sketches falling out of my book, and I scrambled to pick them up. Ari and Amber picked up a few pages.

“Wow, look at these designs,” Leo joked. “Are you sure this is for plus-size women?”

“More like ogres and poor people,” Julia chimed in.

I glared at her. “My clothes are for everybody.”

“These actually look good,” Ari complimented, unexpectedly. “Surprised someone like you can make designs like these.”

“Maybe she stole them,” Amber suggested with an evil smile.

The group continued their laughter and cruel game of insults until I tripped and fell to the floor. The laughter grew around me, and I felt like crying as I heard a few people call out, ‘Earthquake.’ Seriously, I wasn’t that big.

Don’t let them see you cry. I repeated to myself, but the moment felt like it was bearing down on me.

“Hey!” I looked up to see Gabe. Without hesitation, he pushed through the surrounding crowd, his eyes blazing with anger. “Knock it off!” Gabe demanded, snatching the sketchbook out of the mid-air. He turned to help me to my feet and stood protectively in front of me, his glare daring anyone to challenge him.

Leo and Randall exchanged looks before crossing their arms. “What’s your problem, Gabe? We were just having a bit of fun,” Leo mumbled.

“If your kind of fun is ruining someone’s hard work, then you’re more pathetic than I thought,” Gabe shot back, his voice firm. “So leave her alone.”

Leo and Randall took a step towards Gabe before hearing a growl behind them. Tyler was leaning forward, staring at Gabe with a sense of admiration before he turned back towards his table. Leo and Randall took that as a sign to leave, and Gabe turned to me, his expression softening. He handed me my sketchbook.

“You okay?” he asked, leading me back to our table. 

I nodded, my voice barely above a whisper. “Thanks, Gabe.”

I had never seen Gabe stand up to both of them without getting a beat down. Usually, Tyler would join in, claiming they were toughening him up, but ever since the night of the dance last year, he seemed different. All summer he was gone, and now he came back looking different. Not just his looks, but his aura seemed stronger than before. He was taller this year and a bit broader in the shoulders. I guess I never noticed until now. He smiled at me checking him out, and I quickly looked away.

“Oh, I forgot,” Gabe said, walking over to Tyler’s table and snatching the two sketches from Amber’s and Ari’s hands. 

“Seriously–”

“These don’t belong to you.” Gabe walked back to our table, and I couldn’t help the shock look on my face. 

I managed a small smile as he handed me my sketches. I looked over at Tyler’s table and saw them laughing and casting glances over to us. Now I was wondering if they were going to make me pay for this later when Gabe wasn’t around.

“Wow, Mila,” Gabe said. “These are awesome. So this is what you’ve been working on since I’ve been gone.”

I smiled and opened my sketchbook to show him more. “Well, I was working on my fashion portfolio for the Aliz scholarship. I wanted to design something new and different. So look at this one.”

Gabe’s eyes lit up with interest. “All of these look really cool, Mila.”

“Yeah. I just finished these,” I said, placing my favorite sketch in front of him. I could see him smile getting bigger.

“Is this…”

“Yup,” I said. “Inspired by the fantasy outfits in your game. I just took the capes and armor and modernized them. See, this layered skirt has hidden pockets like the thief in the game, and this leather jacket has a dragon scale pattern that changes color when the light hits it.”

Gabe leaned in close enough for our arms to touch. I would’ve been nervous if I didn’t see he was genuinely impressed by my work. “I’m telling you, Mila. That scholarship is going to be yours. You have such amazing talent. I can already see people lining up for your designs.” 

“Thanks, Gabe. It means a lot coming from you,” I blushed, my heart swelling at his compliment. “Well, enough about me. What about your game?”

We sat and talked about Gabe’s development. He was going over how he wanted to add emphasis on the storytelling and character development when a scream interrupted us.

“That is not what I wanted!” Oh boy. Here we go again.