Chapter 242

Judy’s POV

“You look as if you haven’t slept in days,” Nan points out as I join her in the coffee shop near the school campus. I felt gross; I didn’t bother showering and knew I had dark circles under my eyes.

“I haven’t,” I admitted. “Not since my date with Gavin.”

“You still haven’t heard from him?”

I shook my head.

“I texted him last night after Matt left, but he hasn’t even opened it. His phone’s been off…” I told her.

“That’s odd,” she said. “Maybe you are right… Maybe something happened. Did you talk to Beta Taylor?”

“He won’t tell me anything. He gets weird when I bring up Gavin,” I told her, my heart pounding in my chest.

“Has Matthew said anything?”

I thought back to my conversation with Matt last night.

“He asked me if I still liked his father,” I told her. “Like if we were still friends… then he mentioned something about his perception being wrong. He didn’t get to finish his thought, though, because Taylor came to pick him up.”

“I wonder what he meant by that,” Nan said thoughtfully.

I took a sip of my coffee, my hands trembling as I brought the cup to my lips.

“I don’t know, Nan… I don’t know what to think. Is he ghosting me? Did he decide he wanted nothing to do with me during the date?”

“Judy, I don’t think that’s the case,” Nan said gently. “You didn’t see the way he was looking at you. That man was falling in love with you.”

I blinked as I looked at her.

“Falling in love with me?” I asked.

She nodded.

“The way he was looking at you, Judy. It was a look I had never seen before, not even with Chester. Ethan had never looked at you like that before. This was different…”

“I don’t know what to think anymore,” I admit, nibbling on my lower lip. The anxiety was bubbling inside of me, and I hated the feeling. I took another sip of the coffee and sighed as I leaned back on my booth.

“Well, how about we don’t think about it?” she told me. “We are graduating soon, Judy. This is huge. We have to focus on our finals… not men with poor communication skills.”

I nodded, knowing she was right. This could make or break my future. I knew that I had already secured a spot in the Elite Force because I had won the Gamma Competition, but having a degree would mean the world to me, and it would open the doors to other opportunities.

After we left the coffee shop, we walked to the campus. We spent some time studying in the student lounge before we had to go to our classes.

Lukas was already in class when I got there. I took my seat beside him and got my notes ready. He was trying hard to pretend I wasn’t seated right next to him, which aggravated me.

“Eventually, you’ll have to stop acting like I don’t exist,” I told him. “We are classmates, Lukas.”

“We are classmates, not friends,” he replied simply, his eyes fixed on his own notes as he prepared them for class.

It annoyed me that he wouldn’t even give me the time of day. He was so worried about getting on Gavin’s bad side, and Gavin probably wouldn’t even notice if he did talk to me or not. It’s not like Gavin was talking to me anyway.

My stomach knotted at the thought.

As class started, my mind went into focus mode. I pushed all thoughts of Gavin to the back burner and tried to make the most out of my class time. By the time class was over, my brain was feeling utterly fried.

“Judy, Dean Griffin wanted to speak with you in her office,” Professor Rivers told me.

I frowned, my heart pounding against my chest.

“Dean Griffin?” I asked. “Is everything okay?”

She shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m not entirely sure. But it’s best if you head there right now. I just got a phone call from her, and it sounded kind of urgent.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.

“Okay, thank you.”

I made my way across the campus and towards the Dean’s office. Dean Griffin was new as of this year; the former Dean, the one who nominated me for the Gamma Competition, retired over the summer and was replaced by a new, younger dean. I’ve only seen glimpses of her before; she was pretty and looked extremely intimidating. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about meeting her for the first time, and even more so that she wants to speak to me in her office.

As I approached the faculty office, I used the elevator to reach the top floor. I stepped out of the elevator and walked over to the receptionist’s desk.

Mrs. Connolly sat at the desk in her normal fashion, typing away on her computer. She had been the receptionist for years, and even in her old age, she refuses to retire. She’s so old, she can’t even shift into her wolf anymore.

Her eyes lifted from her computer when she saw me, and a small smile played on her lips.

“Well, hello there, Judy,” she said, her pleasantries easing my mind slightly.

“Good morning, Mrs. Connolly,” I replied, stopping in front of her desk. “I heard Dean Griffin wanted to speak with me.”

She nodded and turned back to her computer; she typed something on the screen and then turned towards the little speaker box on her desk.

“Dean Griffin, Judy is here to speak with you,” she said into the little mic.

The speaker crackled as Dean Griffin’s voice came through.

“Send her in.”

There was no emotion in her voice, and it made my stomach tighten into an even bigger knot.

Mrs. Connolly gave me a nod and motioned for the office door. I took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping inside. The office hadn’t changed much from when I was here last; there were the same modern decorations, with updated pictures of the new Dean’s family. She was a mother to what looked like a 3-year-old little girl and maybe an 8-year-old little boy. She was the wife of a Beta, which made her a female Beta. I knew little about her other than the fact that she was from the Whytecliff pack, a neighboring pack of the Redmoon, which was run by Alpha Edmond.

Dean Griffin, first name Lila, was blonde with long hair that draped over her shoulders and glasses that covered most of her young-looking face. She had a petite frame, and from the small amount of times I’ve seen her, I had never seen her smile.

I heard from others around the school that she never smiles.

“Take a seat, Judy,” she motions for one of the seats in front of her desk.

She didn’t bother looking at me; too focused on whatever was on her computer screen.

Tentatively, I took a seat, tugging my fingers nervously as I waited for her to speak. It took an eternity for her to say anything. Eventually, she looked up at her, her pale blue eyes narrowing.

“I’ve heard a lot about you from your professors,” she informed me. “I’ve gone through all your records, and I must say, I’m quite impressed with your performance.”

My heart stopped in my chest; was she complimenting me?

“Thank you, Dean Griffin,” I said, grateful for her words.

“It seems you’ve been on the dean's list more times than any student who’s been at this school,” she continued. “Not to mention your performance at the Gamma Competition deserves some recognition.”

My heart started up again, pounding heavily in my chest.

“So, with that, I wanted to personally congratulate you… You are graduating top of your class. If you ace your finals, which telling from your records, I have full faith that you will, you are expected to write and give a speech during graduation, and you’ll get a golden star on your degree, which indicates that you graduated top of your class.”

I couldn’t help the smile that lit up my face at her words.

“That’s a huge honor, Dean,” I told her. “Thank you so much.” S

She held her hand out for me to shake, and I did so without hesitation.

“It’s a pleasure,” she told me in return.

As I stood to leave, she stood as well.

“One last thing,” she said before I could turn away fully; I paused to look at her, curious as to what more she had to say. “If I find out that Gavin Landry is the reason you are so successful, you won’t like the consequences.”

My heart fell into my stomach.

“I assure you, Alpha Landry has nothing to do with my success,” I assured her.

With that, I turned and left her office.

As I walked away from the building and towards the student lounge, my mind was racing. This was huge; I couldn’t believe it. There was only one person I wanted to tell this good news to, and there was a chance he wouldn’t even answer, but still, I wanted to try anyway.

I pulled out my phone and brought up Gavin’s contact number. I pressed the call button and pressed the phone to my ear, waiting with bated breath for him to answer. His phone had been off these last few days and going straight to voicemail, so I was surprised when it actually rang.

Then, there I heard the line being picked up, and my heart thudded against my chest.

“Hello?”

A woman’s voice came on the other end.

My heart stopped as I pulled the phone away and looked at the name on my screen… it was definitely Gavin’s number.

Did he change his number and not tell me?

Why would he do that?

“Sorry, I might have the wrong number,” I said softly.

“Who are you looking for?” The woman asked, a curious tint in her voice.

“Gavin Landry,” I said, my voice coming out hesitantly as I spoke his name.

She was quiet for a moment, and then her next words shattered not only my heart, but my entire soul.

“This is the right number, though I’m afraid he’s currently in the shower,” she told me. “I can leave a message for him. We do have plans together later, but I’m sure he’ll call you before we leave if it’s that important.”