Thank you to my one and only review so far: ClumsyBrunette
Disclaimer: SM owns it, I just play with it.
My alarm started blaring at a disturbing hour Monday morning. I rolled over and smacked the snooze button to get it to shut up. I threw myself back down with a big sigh, stupid alarm woke me out of the most wonderful dream of Paul and our future. Well I guess it's time to get this charade started, I was not looking forward to relearning everything they teach in high school. I'm hoping that they've come up with some new material in the last 15 years that I'll be pleasantly surprised and learn something new. I had to start laughing at myself at that thought. Yeah, school really hasn't changed that much and any new discovery that they may be teaching now I've already learned about. The only good thing about school would be the pack, I hope there were other imprints around that I wouldn't be the only girl in the group because then I would stick even more.
I headed to the shower mentally planning my outfit for the day. Did I want to go with something more my usual style or did I want something more subdued? I went through my entire stock of clothes in my mind and picked out two outfits, one from each category and still couldn't decide 15 minutes later when I was trying to figure out what to do with my hair. I couldn't do my hair or my makeup until I figured out what I was wearing. I really couldn't decide and decided to text my Mosquito to get her opinion. I took pictures of both outfits with shoes on my bed and sent her both pictures.
"Hey Quito, Need help with 1st day outfit. What do you think?"
"Hey Ceress, since when do you hide? Go with outfit #1 and make all the boys want you but hate you cuz you're taken."
"Thanks, I needed the pep talk. Don't know what I'm afraid of, my singer will be there."
"Stupid humans, this will make them all drool. Don't be afraid, you can make them all have warts if they piss you off enough."
"Hahahah, funny with the witch jokes."
"You still coming over tomorrow after school? I've got some new additions in our book."
"Yup I'll be there, can't wait to see our book. Thanks for the kick."
"Any time, see you tomorrow."
There is always something refreshing about talking to your best friend. I grabbed my jeans and shirt that I had picked out and put them on. These jeans did amazing things for my butt and made my legs seem miles long, I paired it with a pink and yellow polka dotted corset that made my waist look tiny and my chest look fantastic with a black lace and riveted military style jacket over top. I quickly brushed out my hair and left it hanging straight to my waist, and finished my simple makeup.
I grabbed my shoes off my bed and ran towards my brothers' bedrooms, I figure if I have to be up a this wonderful hour then so did the rest of the house. I opened Devon's door, he was going to be my first victim this morning. I conjured up a little lightening and sent it straight to his butt that he was so nicely aiming at me.
"Damn it Mom, five more minutes." Was the only reaction that I got from him, maybe I need to up the amps. It was funny that he thought it was our Mom she really needs to come up with a new way to get us up. I got a bigger bolt ready and sent it at Devon again and got the reaction I was looking for.
"What the hell!" Devon yelled as he jumped out of bed, he spun quickly towards the door where I was doubled over laughing. "Not funny Mia, why did you do that?"
"For a wolf you have really bad instincts. If I have to get up then so do you. Keep teasing me about having to go back to school and I'll find new ways to wake you guys up every day." I gave him a smile and a wave before skipping off to Drew's room to give him the same treatment. As I slowly opened his door I was struck in the face with a wave of water, I wiped my hand down my face and saw Drew laughing.
"I heard you waking up Devon and I couldn't resist. Admit it you old crone, you can't keep up with your younger brother." I sent the lightening I had ready at him anyways. I wasn't going to but he called me a crone and that word got me every time.
"What the hell is going on out here?" Phil yelled as he walked into the hallway with sleep still in his eyes.
"Sorry, I figured if the boys where going to make fun of me for having to go to school, then they could at least get up with me while I play my part. They took offense to the way I selected to wake them, which by the way is the same way Faye does." I answered quickly; there is nothing worse than an irritated shape shifter step-father in the morning.
"Drew clean this up, Devon help him, Mia get cleaned up then go to school. I'm going back to bed." Phil grumbled.
"Thanks Dad, have a great day everyone!" I gave Phil a quick kiss on the cheek and he gave me the same grin he gives me every time I call him Dad. Even though he was younger than me, and he knows I only do it to suck up he still likes to think of me as a daughter and likes when I call him Dad.
"A bucket full of water has ruined my hard work, return my look to the way it was before Drew decided to be an ass first thing in the morning." With a wave of my hand I was back to being dry and ready for school.
"It's amazing how you managed to work in that I'm an ass into your spell. Can you at least do a spell to clean this up?" Drew asked. I just grinned at him and thought of my truck and flickered to my stall.
As I walked over to the truck I realized that I still hadn't put my shoes on. I quickly pulled them on and had to admire them, they were freaking cute and brand new. They are open toed, sling back 3 inch wedges that are black with pink polka dots, hmmm this morning I seem to have something for polka dots. I don't really need the height because I'm 5'6 but when you date someone that's almost a giant it makes it easier to have a little extra height. I jumped in and started my truck and pulled out of the garage and hit the highway.
I pulled my truck into the parking lot at school and I was having a small panic attack. You'd think after all these years I would get used to this but I haven't. I always hate being the new person and I hate being stared at like everyone wants to find out my deepest darkest secret. At least this time I have some back up in the form of a boyfriend/soul mate and friends. Speaking of boyfriends, where the hell was mine. I looked around the parking lot and none of the Shifters where here yet. I didn't know if any of them had imprints that I could talk to yet, so at this point in the day I had no back up. I closed my eyes and looked for Paul's aura, only to find it wasn't moving. The bastard was still sleeping, well I'll fix that. I grabbed my phone from my bag and dialed his number.
"Hello," Paul answered groggily.
"Where the hell are you? You have school in 10 minutes and I'm waiting in the parking lot for you." I snapped; I was not looking forward to walking into the school by myself.
"Shit, patrol ran late because we picked up a new scent. I'll be there in 5 minutes, don't move." I could hear Paul running around his house, probably in search of clothes that were clean and he hadn't phased in.
"I've got to head to the office but I'll see you when you get here if you're in my morning classes if not I'll see you at lunch."
"I'm so sorry! I know I promised that I'd be there." Paul sounded so upset that he'd broken his promise.
"No worries, I understand the responsibilities. How much sleep did you get?" I knew from experience the responsibilities and the pitfalls that come with being a protector.
"Only about 3 hours. I'll see you soon, and I love you." Paul hung up. OH MY GOD! He just told me he loved me, that kind of makes up for him being late.
I took a deep breath and climbed out of my truck. I walked toward the school with my head high at a leisurely pace, even though I wanted to run, and tried to ignore the stares that I was receiving from my fellow students. I went straight to the office which was very easy to find.
"Hello, I'm a new student here and I need to get my schedule." I told the receptionist with a smile.
"Hello dear, you must be Anthemia Franklin," She struggled with my first name.
"Please call me Mia," I said with a grimace.
"Here is your schedule for the remainder of the year and a map to help you get around school. I have highlighted where all of your classes are, your locker and the lunch room. You will also need your teachers to sign this paper and you can bring it back here after your last class."
"Thank you, that is very kind. Have a great day." I told her as I excited the office. Since I didn't have any books yet I made my way to my first class. Great, I have a Calculus first thing in the morning, I hate math even though I could do it with my eyes closed it's still not my favorite. I slowly moved towards my class, keeping my eyes open for any of my new friends. I saw Jared but he was so engrossed with a girl that he didn't even notice me. I decided not to interrupt him as it looked like they were having a private moment. I arrived in class and handed my paper to the teacher.
"Hello I'm Mr. Tetchinyn. I'm sorry but I have no idea how to pronounce your name," he said as he handed me a text book.
"Just call me Mia; it's a lot easier and less embarrassing."
"You can sit anywhere there is an open spot. We don't have a seating chart in this class. If you need any help getting caught up let me know and I'll be happy to help you at lunch or after school." I think I'm going to like this teacher as he seems generally like a nice man, very helpful and sincere.
I went and sat down beside the girl that I had seen Jared in the hall with and she gave me a shy smile.
"Hi I'm Kim, you must be Mia." She introduced herself.
"Hi Kim, yes I'm Mia. I saw you earlier with Jared in the hall but didn't want to interrupt." I replied.
"I've heard a lot about you from Paul. It's great that he's finally imprinted."
"Finally?" I questioned.
"Yeah, Jared and Paul have been best friends since they were younger and when Jared imprinted on me I think Paul started to feel left out and pulled away from Jared a bit and started hanging out with the non imprinted members more. Now that he has imprinted, the four of us can do more things together." Kim whispered to me.
"Did Paul or Jared tell you what I was?" I was curious.
"Besides being his imprint? What are you then?" Kim looked confused.
"Maybe Paul hasn't told anyone yet. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough, and it's not a bad thing."
With that Mr. Tetchinyn called the class to order and I was off into the boring world that was math. I thought the class was never going to end and my mind started to wander. I was wondering if Paul was here yet and if he was going to have any classes with me. I gathered my stuff as the bell rang and was getting ready to walk out when Mr. Tetchinyn stopped me and asked if I needed any help. I told him I was fine and that we had just finished this chapter at my last school. Kim was waiting outside the door for me when I walked out.
"What class do you have next?" She asked.
"Advanced World History, how about you?"
"I have the same. There is no one else in any of my morning classes because they are mostly advanced. Jared and Paul are in both afternoon classes though. Let me see you schedule." I handed her my schedule and she giggled. "Looks like we'll be seeing each other a lot. We have every class together, which also means we won't be seeing the boys until lunch."
We walked into History, which was my easiest class. When you've lived most of it History class really doesn't have much meaning. I repeated the same story to the teacher that I had in Math, but she made me stand at the front and introduce myself.
"Class, this is Ante….. I'm sorry dear how do you say your name?" She asked.
"Just call me Mia. I just moved here with my sister, brother-in-law and two brothers. My sister is the new Vet, so that's why we moved."
"Thanks, here is your text book, you can sit beside Dave. Dave, raise your hand so Mia knows who you are." Darn I don't get to sit beside Kim in this class. The boy that raised his hand seemed friendly enough; he was cute and seemed to know it but nowhere near Paul standards.
"Hi, I'm Dave. Maybe I can give you a private tour of La Push sometime," He said, with what I think was suppose to be a sexy smile and a wink.
"Nice to meet you. Thanks for the offer but my boyfriend has already shown me around." Well not yet but this at least let him know about Paul.
"Maybe we could do something else then, to get to know each other." Oh joy yet another male that can't take a hint, what is with guys in Washington being thick headed.
"I think we should be listening." Not that I haven't lived this as the subject was about the progression of royalty in Europe from the 1500s to the present day. I tried to ignore Dave for the rest of the class, even when he put a note on my desk; I just put it into my notebook for later.
After class Kim grabbed me and we walked to English Lit. together, talking about how Jared had imprinted on her. She also told me all the names of everyone that we would be sitting with at lunch and filling me on school rumors, telling me who I needed to avoid and who were actually good people.
"Class, this is Anthemia Franklin." Wow, someone actually got my name right. "Please introduce yourself."
I repeated the same thing that I had said in History and went to sit in the only open seat, which fortunately was beside Kim but unfortunately also beside Dave from history. I can't wait until next period which is lunch. This morning is never going to end!
"Did you read my note yet?" Dave leaned over and asked.
"No and I don't intend to. I was thinking of giving it to my boyfriend to read, I hope you didn't put anything in there that he would find offensive." I told him and turned to Kim.
"I don't know what the note says but it's probably not the best idea to give it to Paul. I'm sure you know what his temper is like." Kim warned me.
"I won't give it to him; I just hope that it puts some fear into this boy when he sees who my boyfriend is." I answered.
The teacher put us into pairs to work on a project for the book we were working on. She put me with Kim thankfully, saying she didn't know if I had read it so she wanted me with someone who could catch me up. That worked great for me, of course I had read the book, and I had a PhD in English Lit. from Oxford. Kim and I discussed what we were going to do our paper on and had it outlined before the end of class. Kim told me she had to run to her locker to meet Jared and put her books away and asked if I wanted to come with her or meet her in the lunch room. I had no idea where Paul was at this point so I told her I would meet her at lunch and hoped that he would be in the lunch room.
I walked into the lunch room and was very aware of all the eyes on me. I know I'm new people, but I'm not some sideshow freak to be gawked at. I quickly went into the lunch line only to have my new stalker, Dave, follow me. I really should have either went with Kim or looked for Paul before coming in here.
"So I think you should read the note. I'll tell you what it says." He told me.
"Once again, no thanks."
"So you want to sit with me and my friends at lunch or you going to sit with the mousy freak?"
"Do not talk about my friends that way!" I snapped at him.
"Sorry, I didn't realize that you managed to get that close to her already." He was trying to apologize but it didn't seem too sincere. "Oh look, here comes the La Push gang."
"La Push has a gang. I highly doubt that." I knew that he was referring to the pack but I felt like making him embarrass himself.
"They're all on some kind of drugs; no one gets that big without steroids or something. They're always together and they follow this gang leader that graduated years ago."
"What do they do that's so bad?"
"They all have these wicked tempers, especially Paul. He broke a guy's arm just for looking at him funny a few months ago. But don't worry about it babe, I'll protect you from them." He slung his arm over my shoulder.
"But who will protect you from me when I break your arm if you touch me again." I asked innocently shrugging off his arm.
"Because I'll be standing there watching, and trust me Cooper, you touch my girl again I'll break more than your arm." The voice that I had been waiting to hear since this morning's phone call said from behind me.
"Paul!" I was very excited to see him; I spun around and threw myself into his arms. "I missed you this morning. Kim and I have all the same classes so I don't get to see you until now."
"I missed you to," Paul pressed a possessive kiss to my lips. "How has your first day been so far?"
"So far so good. Annoying little boys that won't leave me alone even when they've been told I have a boyfriend. But nothing I can't handle." I shot a glare at Dave at the last comment. Paul stated to pile more food on my tray, I guess this way he didn't have to wait in line either and I don't mind. It'll be interesting to see if he'll let me pay for it all.
"Paul I'm so sorry. She said she had a boyfriend but I didn't realize it was you. If I had of I never would have even looked at her twice." Dave said quickly then ran to where his friends where sitting.
"I guess he wasn't hungry anymore." Paul quipped.
"No, I think you scared the hungry right out of him." I said with a giggle.
We reached the end of the line up and the cashier rang up our lunch. Before Paul even managed to grab the money from his pocket I had handed the money to the lunch lady. It pays to be quick sometimes, and to know that Paul wouldn't have let me pay any other way. He gave me a half-assed glare and grabbed the tray with one hand and put the other arm around my waist to guide me over to our table. I could feel all the eyes on me.
"Not even through her first day and she's already managed to snag Paul. That whore works quick." "What a slut." "I wonder what she had to do to get him to pose as her boyfriend." "How does Paul have all the luck with girls, she's not even through her first day and he's already snatched her up."
These where just a few examples of the disgruntled comments that I heard before we reached our table. We sat down and I leaned into Paul's side trying to hide from the stares.
"Are you okay?" Paul sounded concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just don't like being looked at and talked about this way. It makes me feel like a piece of meat. Everyone must think I'm some kind of slut to already have a boyfriend in the so-called gang on my first day of school."
"Don't listen to any of them. It was the same when Kim started to sit here to. The drama dies down after awhile." Paul reassured me.
"I hate high school drama. I'm way too old for this crap."
"Ahh, my poor little cougar." Paul whispered in my ear, which caused me to start giggling.
The other guys had gotten their food and started to join us, Kim thankfully sat next to me. The guys started to joke around and push each other. I couldn't help but smile, they were like a family and reminded me of when my whole family got together which was only once a year in the summer. They all knew that Paul had exploded yesterday in front of me and were cracking some jokes at Paul expense. Mostly how lucky he was to have an indestructible imprint and that it was great that I already knew what to expect.
"What do they mean you're indestructible?" Kim leaned over and whispered.
"Remember earlier when I said I was something else? I'm a witch. My skin is very tough, tougher then vamps. Shifter claws and teeth can't penetrate my skin and neither can vampires. I'm hard to destroy, so Paul can explode on me anytime and I'll be perfectly safe." I replied with a smile.
"Well that's so cool. Do you have any spells that would make the rest of us like that? It sure would come in handy being around these guys." Kim said.
"Sorry, I only have temporary spells for other people. This is a gift I was born with, but I'll ask my mom and maybe she'll have something."
"Mia, did I tell you that Sam wants to meet with you and your family after school at his house." Paul said to me.
"Cool, we get meet Mia's witchy family." Quil said.
"Sorry guys, Sam said only Mia and her family and I get to come to because Mia is my imprint." Paul laughed at the sour looks he was getting.
"Thanks for asking him, what time are we meeting him at and where?" I asked.
"We can head over right after school, if you can give me a lift and you can let the rest of your family to meet us there."
"After my last class I have to go back to the office so you can either come with me or you can meet me at the truck."
"Well after this morning, I'm not letting you out of my sight." Paul said with a wink.
I quickly sent a text to Fay, Phil, Dev and Drew to let them know when and where we are meeting the current Alpha. They sent back texts saying they would see me there. I received a text from Quito as well.
"Hey Ceress! How's the first day going? Any drooling boys?"
"Yup, a couple and one that doesn't take a hint."
"So the outfit worked? Told you it would. Did you manage to scare away the boy?"
"Nope, my singer did that for after I threatened to break the guy's arm if he touched me again."
"HAHAHAHA, so you to go with the physical instead of a spell."
"Less suspicious, got to keep up the human charade, you know what its like."
"Glad you're having a good day. See you tomorrow and you can fill me in on the rest."
"Thanks Quito for checking in."
"Who's Quito and Ceress?" Paul asked, he'd been reading my texts over my shoulder as I typed and responded. I didn't care because he would be meeting her soon.
"My best friend is Quito and I'm Ceress that's what we call each other. I had a minor melt down this morning about what to wear and she helped me out." I told him.
"What do the names stand for?" Embry asked.
"Mine is Sorceress and hers is Mosquito." I replied.
"How long have you been friends, we know that you're, ummm, older?" Quil asked trying to be nice about mentioning my age.
"We've been friends for 78 years just before the stock market crashed and the Great Depression but we became really close 74 years ago and that is when we came up with the nicknames for each other." I told them.
"I'm sorry but your how old?" Kim looked very bewildered at this.
"I'm guessing Jared didn't tell you I'm immortal? I'm 296 years old, but I don't think I look a day over 18 because on my 18th birthday I decided to stop aging." I explained to her. "We'll have a girl's night one night and I'll explain all about being a witch to you and any other imprints that are in on the secret. Are there any other imprints?"
"Right now, there is Emily, you and me. The rest of the guys haven't imprinted yet." Kim told me.
"That's okay; we can have a girl's night with the three of us and still have a great time." I replied.
Before I knew it, the bell was ringing for us to head off to class. The younger guys waved good-bye while Jared, Kim, Paul and I walked together to Spanish. There was no advanced class for Spanish so I'll be bored to tears but at least I have something nice to look at all afternoon.
"Hola, soy nuevo." I walked up to the teacher as soon as I put my bag on the table beside Paul.
"You must be Anthemia. I'm Senora Mendez, please introduce yourself to the class and then you may return to your seat beside Paul." Senora Mendez told me.
"Hola, I'm Mia. I just transferred here from New York, I moved with my sister, who is the new town vet, her husband and my two older brothers. I've also have a boyfriend, Paul." I told everyone and pointed towards where Paul was sitting, this time hoping everyone already had the hint or would now see that I was with Paul, I didn't want a repeat of this morning. I returned to my seat beside Paul and he gave me a big grin, I think he was happy that I had included him in my introduction.
Spanish flew by quickly, as I figured it would. I'm happy that I'm fluent in Spanish because otherwise Senora would have caught me a few times unprepared. I think she was testing to see what my Spanish level was so she kept asking me for answers for the first half of class. When I had answered all her questions in flawless Spanish that rivaled her skill she stopped picking me and moved on to the other students. This was one of the classes that Paul needed help in, his accent grinded on me every time he spoke. I told Senora that I would be working with Paul to improve his Spanish skills and she seemed very happy about this.
After Spanish we had gym, it blows that gym is mandatory to grade 12 here. At least I have this class with Paul and Kim. The teacher got me a gym shirt that somewhat fit and I got to wear my own shorts because they didn't have any that fit me. Paul growled when he saw my t-shirt, as it fit very snuggly across my chest, and then pushed me sort of behind him so no one else could see me.
"Paul, they are going to have to see me eventually. I also own a lot of clothing that is more form fitting and revealing then this that I will wear to school. Even my corset top today is more revealing. Calm down."
"I still don't have to like it," He grumbled then released me.
We were doing my oh so favorite running today, because I didn't get enough of that yesterday, I at least got to pace myself to Kim and we slowly jogged around the track. For a while Paul and Jared tried to keep pace with us but then got bored so took off at their own pace. Kim and I ran for a bit and then would walk slowly and talk, and then we would start running when the teacher started giving us the evil eye. Gym class seemed to drag on forever and I almost sprinted to the locker room to get changed. Yeah the first day of hell is over! The only highlight of the day was Paul (of course) and meeting Kim. I knew we were going to be great friends, which was pretty rare for me to make friends with humans.
We quickly detoured to the office on our way out to the parking lot to drop off my first day slips. I thanked the receptionist for her help this morning and let her know it had come in handy. Paul and I walked out to my truck hand and hand only to find a bunch of boys standing near my truck gawking. I handed Paul the keys because I didn't want to have to deal with anymore stares when I jumped up and drove away in it. This probably only perpetuated the idea that Paul was in a gang but nothing was going to change most of the people's perspectives. Paul roughly shoved his way through the group that was standing there and opened my door then jogged around to the other side to hop in. I pretty sure that if the boys hadn't of jumped out of the way Paul would have just ran them over without a second thought for anything but the dents they would have left in my truck.
"What time did you tell your family to meet us?" Paul asked.
"I told them to meet us there at 4:00. So we have some time if you want to stop somewhere." I answered.
"I want to show you something." Paul told me.
Thank you for reading, please review.