Chapter 23

Ruby

After my fight with Donna on Monday, I’m suspended from school for three days. It doesn’t feel much like a punishment, since I would rather be anywhere than inside that school after those photos were posted of me. The only thing that particularly burns about not being in school is that I have to wait to try and talk to Nancy.

I wake on Wednesday morning to Alice’s lovely voice.

“Rise and shine, princess,” Alice says annoyedly. It seems as though I’m not moving fast enough for her, because she stomps over to my side of the bed and yanks the covers down, then tosses a bundle of plain clothes into my lap: a pair of black jeans and a gray wool cardigan with toggle buttons and a hood.

I must look confused, because Alice rolls her eyes and tosses the clothes down onto the bed.

“Despite your misbehavior in school and your three-day suspension, the King has decided to take you on a da-” she stops herself mid-sentence, then continues: “an outing.” It’s clear that she meant to call it a date, but apparently she can’t bring herself to do that even though Atwood and I are mates.

I quickly get dressed, excited for what the day has in store. Despite Alice’s complaints, I think that the clothes look nice on me. It feels good to wear something other than formal gowns and a school uniform.

Atwood is waiting in the car when I come downstairs. He’s chosen a plain black car today, and also wears casual clothes -- something that I haven’t seen him do aside from the day he wore his training clothes. He wears a black turtleneck and black trousers with boots, and a pair of sunglasses. As he opens the car door for me to get in, my heart flutters a bit at his handsome appearance.

He gets in the driver’s seat and starts to drive.

“Open the glovebox and take the little red bag out,” he says sternly. I do as I’m told. “Go on, open it.”

Inside the box is a pair of glasses and a lilac purple beanie.

“Are these for me?” I ask, holding the glasses up to the light.

“We’re going somewhere with lots of people,” Atwood says as he pulls out of the driveway and turns down the road. “I’d like to enjoy my time with you without having to worry about either of us being recognized and badgered by fans.”

We drive for a while in silence as Atwood focuses on the road and I stare out the window at the beautiful fall landscape. Eventually, we come to a town. There is a large shopping strip with all sorts of restaurants, cafes, and shops. The street bustles with obviously wealthy people who are carrying bags upon bags of items from all of the expensive designer stores that line the strip.

Atwood pulls into a parking spot and puts his own beanie on, still wearing his sunglasses. I follow suit with my hat and glasses, then he gets out of the car and comes around to let me out.

“Welcome to Greenwood,” he says with a smile, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as we walk. “The best shopping district in the entire Lycan Kingdom.”

We spend the morning checking out all of the stores. Atwood thoroughly spoils me with new clothes, books, and accessories, and buys himself a few things as well. After we’ve done all of the shopping, he takes me to a quaint little French cafe where we order pastries and coffee.

I’m still happily eating my chocolate croissant when Atwood tells me that he has to take a phone call and steps out, leaving me alone in the cozy cafe. As I sit and enjoy my coffee, bubbling with excitement, I look over to see someone familiar walking in.

It’s Donna.

She looks disheveled and practically slumps up to the counter. There are dark circles under her eyes and her hair looks a mess. She’s not wearing her uniform, but rather baggy sweatpants and a sweatshirt.

I slide down in my seat, forgetting that My hair and face are covered by the hat and sunglasses. She picks up her coffee and leaves.

It’s strange to see Miss Perfect looking like that. I wonder what happened?

Atwood reappears a few minutes later and asks me if I’m ready to head home. I’ve already finished my coffee and pastry, so I nod. When I stand, Atwood chuckles and wipes a bit of chocolate from my lips with his thumb, then licks the chocolate off. My panties get a little wet at the sight.

He holds my hand the entire ride home.

Things feel much calmer when I return to school on Friday. People don’t seem to be looking at me as much; in fact, most of the students don’t even look my way when I walk in.

I make my way over to my locker, then pause as I see Nancy already at hers. Taking a deep breath, I walk up to her.

“Hi,” I say with an awkward smile. She jerks her head up to look at me and scowls.

“I’m still mad at you.”

“Can I at least explain myself?”

Nancy huffs and folds her arms, turning to face me. “Fine. You have thirty seconds.”

I explain everything to her, from the drugged drink that Donna gave me to the fight. Her expression is first that of disdain, but eventually softens as she realizes that I’m telling the truth.

Wordlessly, Nancy pulls me into a tight hug. Even though her large breasts squeeze me so tight I can barely breath, I admit that I missed her hugs.

“Oh!” she says suddenly, pulling away. “Did you hear about Ethan?”

I look around confusedly. “Um… No?”

Nancy looks around to make sure no one is listening and leans toward me to whisper. “He was in a huge motorcycle accident on Monday night. Broke several bones. Got a serious concussion, too. No one knows who the other biker was that caused the accident. Just someone who went by the name ‘Black Wolf’.”

I’m shocked. That means that my vision came true… But…

The image of Atwood driving away on a motorcycle on Monday night flashes across my mind. Did he have something to do with this? No, I think to myself, Atwood wouldn’t get involved in things like that.

“And,” Nancy continues, “Donna had a total mental breakdown. She let her wolf take over, jumped up on her desk in Global Werewolf History class, and started shredding the textbook with her teeth because the professor gave her a C on her homework. Look!”

Nancy pulls out her phone and shows me a shaky video taken from beneath a desk of exactly what she just described. On one hand, I feel bad for Donna, but on the other… Her pain is delightful to me after the hell she put me through.

“Needless to say,” Nancy says with a smirk, “Donna’s not going to be attending school for the rest of the semester. Rumor says that her parents shipped her off to live with her aunts.”

I guess that explains why everyone seems to have forgotten about my pictures.

Just then, the headmaster uses mindlink to call me to his office.

“I have to go,” I say. “The headmaster wants to see me about my punishment for Monday.”

Nancy’s eyes widen in fear, which causes me to laugh.

“You know,” I say as I walk away, “he’s really not that bad. You shouldn’t listen to gossip.”

The headmaster calls for me to come in when I knock on his door.

“Ah, Ruby,” he says with a smile from his desk. “Come in.”

I walk up to his desk and bow my head respectfully.

“Now,” he says, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes. “I’ve already given you three days’ suspension, but I must say that you’ve had quite the difficult time integrating into school here.” He stands and rifles through a pile of papers to pull out a pamphlet, which he hands to me. “The students here might be standoffish, but they’re not all bad. You just need to take some initiative when it comes to fitting in. I’d like you to join an extracurricular by the end of the day. Does that sound reasonable?”

“Yes, headmaster,” I say, turning over the pamphlet in my hands. I’m just thankful that the punishment wasn’t something awful, like scrubbing the toilets. Those were the sorts of punishments that were often doled out at the school in my village.

Unfortunately, finding a suitable extracurricular is easier said than done. Cheerleading is out of the question since so many of Donna’s friends are on the team, and things like chess and debate aren’t really interesting to me. I spend all of my time in between classes checking out various clubs and sports teams, but nothing seems to ignite a spark.

Just when I’m about to cave and join the cross country team, I see a flyer posted outside of the bathroom.

“CASTING CALL: LEAD ACTRESS NEEDED TO STAR IN UPCOMING MUSICAL.”

I cock my head to one side as I look at the poster. The drama club? I’ve never thought about acting before.

Leaning closer, I check the date of the audition. It’s today, after school.

Figuring that anything would be better than nothing at this point, I decide to audition for the play.