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Garth's Proposition

The following day...

Humphrey's P.O.V.

I took Lilly home yesterday afternoon once the rain settled. To my suprise when I got there, Kate didn't seem all that angry at me anymore. I thought that maybe it's how she felt at the time or something but she still had that look though.

Right now I'm cycling to school like any other school day. I hear a Camaro approaching from behind me as I cycle. The driver slows down next to me to match my speed. I recognized the orange glossy paint on this ZL1 right away. "Hm..." The driver rolls down the window revealing their face to speak to me.

"Morning Garth." I greet him. "Morning, you're Humphrey right? Kate and Lilly's friend?" He asks. "Mmhm." I nod my head. "So since they aren't with you now, I take it they're staying in for another day." Garth says, continuously turning his head to face me then back in the road ahead to make sure he doesn't hit anything or anyone. "They need the time off. You heard what happened right?"

"Yeah, Kate told me everything." Garth nods his head. "We'll continue this talk at school 'cause I can't be going 7 miles an hour when cars start driving up here." He says. I look at the guy with much scepticism. "See ya, Coyote." Garth says before flooring the fuck out of the Camaro. "What...?!" The Camaro's roar was way too loud for Garth to hear me as he sped off. "Coyote? What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

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Flashforward to school grounds

I place my bicycle on the rack just outside the main building as usual. Shakey and Mooch were at the door, waiting for me. Salty was either inside, talking up some girls or just late. "No sisters on your bike today?" Shakey immediately asks without greeting me. "Well good-fucking-morning to you too." I greet the two sarcastically. "Language." Someone says behind us. I turn my head so fast that I hurt my neck doing so. It was Garth... again. Mooch and Shakey stared at the slightly bigger (much bigger wolf in Shakey's case) in silence.

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Meet Garth Richards. The most difficult wolf an omega can handle. Height: 5'9. Fur colour: Ginger. Garth is a biased but calm alpha wolf in Jasper High's current SBC. Once a troublemaker in his junior years, now a leader among his fellow students. Something happened in his second year that changed the alpha for the better, no one knows what. He's still somewhat of a jerk towards omega's but atleast he stays within the rule book... well more like he's forced to.

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"I'm joking." Garth says then starts laughing. The three of us join in with slow and awkward chuckles. "I get that I'm alpha and all but I thought omega's were all about jokes and immature behavior, loosen the hell up guys." I almost took that personally. Almost. Shakey was already at his limit. I try telling him not to break by tapping his foot with mine. "Alpha's and omega's, peanutbutter or jam? Why not have both living happily ever after?" Gerald saves us just in time from going to town on Garth. I smirk at the irony of his rhetorical question since Gerald was eating a PB 'n J sandwich.

"Living happily ever after isn't an option for some of us..." Garth states as he grits his teeth. Shakey and Mooch stare at Garth, not knowing what he meant. The ginger alpha turns his back on us then starts to walk away. "Hey, coyote..." He still calls me by that stupid nickname. "Hey, don't-!" I say but I'm almost instantly cut off.

"Look Humphrey, Kate asked me to do her a solid before the school year started." Garth tells me. I relax as this got my attention so I stepped back to hear him out. "I don't like it but here goes nothing. Will you accept an official invitation to be an omega representative in the-" Garth tries what Kate also attempted but I'm not having it. "No."

"Yes! I-I mean why not?" He asks, thinking that I'm stupid enough to have not caught his excitement at my reply. I roll my eyes at him. "Not up my alley. I don't like rules." I reply. Shakey now rolls his eyes at me, knowing that we both follow the school rules but just not outside the school. "Okay... but you still haven't broken a single one? Hate to break it to ya coyote but you aren't a bad boy here. On the plus side, I know plenty of girls that are into law abiding good boys." Garth tells me while looking over his shoulder. I trace his eyes to Candice and Sierra. Why did I feel like he was gonna use this against me?

"Are we still on the topic of you trying to get me to join the student fun police department? It sounds like you're trying to hook me up with girls now." I ask Garth. "I gotta go Coyote. You should to, since you're such a good guy and shit." Now it totally sounded like Garth was mocking me for... following the rules, I guess? I don't get what he's trying to do but I also don't care either way.

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History Class

I'm slouching on the chair while reading the dusty textbook when I get a message on my phone. I pull my phone from my pockets to view this message. It's from Kate. Salty leans over his desk, trying to get a peak at the message.

Kate: Hi Humphrey. Have you met Garth yet?Me: Yeah, not long ago.

Kate: (...)

"Where's this going?" Salty asks over my shoulder. "Shutthefuckup!" I say quickly then push him back into his seat.

Kate: I know you said you didn't want to be in the SBC but did you atleast think about it after Garth offered the invitation?

I sigh outloud after reading her message. I genuinely don't want to join but Kate sees something in me that I don't see in myself there.

Me: I dunno... I'll keep thinking about it but that still isn't a guarantee that I'll join, y'know.Kate: It's ok. I just wanted you to atleast think on it just a little because Garth, well... I think you already know how he is.Me: Yep -_-Kate: Whoops, I think I've taken too much of your class time already. TTYL.Me: C ya.

"No, I wanted to see more." Salty says with a frown, peaking over my shoulder again. "I wanted to chat more too but whatever I guess." I respond with a simple shrug of my shoulders.

The rest of the period was really slow, I almost took a nap in the middle of class. Salty on the other hand couldn't be bothered with going over the history of the Cold War. "Hm..." I hum as I think about the last few eventful days.

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Lunch Break

School Cafeteria

Shakey, Mooch and Salty are sitting and eating while I text Kate. "I just figured something out." Shakey gasps. "What?" I ask him. "If the opposite of pros are cons, then the opposite of progress is congress!" He answers. Salty, Mooch and I all stare at Shakey, unfazed by the joke. "You guys have an ass sense of humor." The shorter wolf says to us the takes a bite from his sandwich. "I think you have it the other way 'round, bro." Mooch states. I look down at my phone again and continue texting Kate.

Me: So yesterday you said you jogged in the rain then someone gave you a lift in a Corvette C7, right?

Kate: That's right, a black one. Why?Me: Lilly and I saw the same car on our way home the day before. We couldn't see the driver because the windows were over tinted.Kate: The driver was a really nice wolf. She's into 80's songs apparently.

I blink a few times after reading that last text message.

Me: "She"?Kate: Oh, you're interested in her? Now it's crystal clear why you were asking about that Corvette.Me: No! You're getting the wrong idea here!Kate: Am I? ;)

"You've been on that thing for a while, are you still texting your crush?" Salty asks with a toothy grin. "Yeah... I don't think I can call her that anymore." I reply with a small frown. "Hey, just because Garth is making moves with her doesn't mean- speak of the devil, here he comes now." Shakey switches his tone mid-sentence.

I turn my head to the right and see the ginger alpha approaching our table. He shouldn't have any business with us but it looks like he's gonna be coming by us often from now on for some reason. "Well if it isn't the little pack of coyotes. You think on the offer yet, Humphrey?" Garth asks. "The hell's up with that stupid nickname?!" Shakey snaps at Garth. "Easy bud..." I try and calm Shakey as I tap his shoulder. "But seriously Garth, what the hell?" I say in Shakey's defense.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop with the names." He says but obviously he's gonna continue with it pretty soon. "Why are you even here Mr. club sports representative?" Salty asks him, unintentionally flattering the alpha and stoking his ego. "I'm only here to make a proposal to your friend." Garth tells Salty. "I said no." I state in frustration as I slam my arms lightly on the cafeteria table. "It's still about the SBC but different. Underground."

"What the fuck do you mean by 'underground'?" Shakey asks. "Meaning outside of school, keeping it on the down-low, only trusted wolves will show. I challenge you to a lap around Crest." Garth says. "What the hell are you on about? A street race?" Salty asks. "I knew something was off about you..." Mooch says and slams his fist on the table. "Don't be such fucking squares, it's just around the area." Garth rolls his eyes at the two before turning back to me. "Humphrey, I'm not letting this slide, I promised Kate I'd get you on board in some way, even though I'm not a fan of it. If I win: you WILL become a representative in the the student council. If you win-"

"No... I don't drive, I don't have a car-" I try to subtly step off from the offer. "You get Kate and my pink slip." Garth tells me. "What?" I ask. "You heard me. I know you and Kate are close and I'm willing to step off if you beat me in this race."

"Is this some kind of joke? Sure, I'm not gonna deny that I like Kate but I'm not gonna win her over in some street race like she's an object. I'll have to earn her a different way, a better way." I tell the alpha. "Okay then Romeo, if you win you can just keep my car but sounds like a hollow victory anyway." Garth tells me.

"I'm only doing this just so I can get further away from the SBC." I say to Garth while looking at him dead in the eye. "Fine by me. Friday night at nine, we ride." Garth tells me followed by a brief handshake. I don't understand why he offered to give up Kate so easily. If I took that first offer, I doubt Kate would've liked the idea of me taking part in something like this just to get her. She still wouldn't approve of me doing what I'm about to do either.

Garth walks away, leaving Shakey, Salty, Mooch and myself to our own business for once. "Why the hell did you agree? You could get expelled if shit hits the fan during the race or get suspended for awhile if Clinton finds out." Mooch says. "I see this as an absolute win. If I win, I don't get to join the council. If I lose, I probably won't get join the council anyway because I took part in a street race outside of school." I explain to the others. "You dense motherfucker, shit could get real bad for you if go through with this." Shakey tells me.

"On the bright side of things, if it doesn't go well for me, nothing would get any worse than it already would be." I say with a shoulder shrug. "I don't get your optimism, dude." Salty shakes his head as he says this. "Yeah right, no one does." Mooch adds.

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To Be Continued...

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