I Don't Need You

In Which Lunch Consists of Male Posturing

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~Raely~

Was in-person high school always like this? So much drama and we weren't even halfway through! Still, I tried to keep the smile on my face as I followed Luke to the cafeteria. He was telling me all about the sad lack of desert packed by his brother for their lunch. With Grace as my best friend, however, it wasn't difficult for me to follow his conversation without actually paying attention. Instead, I was internally freaking out.

I saw Benji almost immediately when I entered the cafeteria. He was surrounded by basketball buddies and a few girls I didn't recognize, probably the girlfriends of his teammates. I did not want to go up to my boyfriend who was surrounded by strangers to ask him if he wanted to sit with me and a group of pretty much strangers, but I didn't have much of a choice.

Summoning the entire teaspoon of confidence I possessed, I excused myself to Luke and squeezed through the crowds towards Benji. Several people bumped into me on the way to his table, and I could barely hold in my winces. Physical contact initiated by others was not on my list of favorite things, or even tolerable things.

When I had finally reached my boyfriend, he was mid-conversation with a girl I vaguely recognized as being in my homeroom. Blonde, tall, and with expertly applied makeup, she was everything I wasn't. My insecurities pushed their way out of their box in the back of my mind. Why would someone like Benji date me when he could have someone as perfect as this girl?

My boyfriend stopped talking to the girl as soon as I arrived, stopping my insecurities in their tracks with a huge hug. "Hey, Beautiful! How are you liking real school?"

"Online school was totally real, just different," I insisted. We'd had this argument many times, and by this point, it was a bit of a running joke more than an actual debate.

He laughed and smiled at me. His smile was white and clear and just imperfect enough to make it even more striking. Yet somehow, I didn't blush this time like I had every time I'd seen it previously. Maybe I'd started to grow accustomed to him.

"You've met my teammates," Benji gestured toward the tall, lanky boys at the table. "The girls are Renee, Chloe, Sonia, and Jen." He pointed as he spoke the names. Renee was the name of the impossibly pretty blonde Ben had been talking to, Chloe was a cheerful-looking redhead with more freckles than blank skin, Sonia was a gorgeous olive-skinned girl with piercing grey eyes and raven hair, and Jen appeared Latina and curvy. They all looked up to smile at me, and if some were more sincere than others, it wasn't blatant.

I gave my best smile in return, grateful I no longer had the awkward metal braces I'd been forced to wear for most of my middle school experience. "Nice to meet you all."

Ben scooted over on the bench to make room. "Come on, sit down."

"Actually, I made a friend in my Foods class last period and he asked me to sit with him and his friends. I was wondering if you would come, too?" I did my best to communicate with my eyes how I had been all but forced into this.

Ben seemed to understand. "No problem! We have all year to sit with this group, might as well make some new friends."

He stood up after a few bro handshakes (I never understood those) and took my hand. Standing on my tiptoes to reach his ear, I whispered, "Thanks, Superstar. There you go, saving me again."

Benji squeezed my hand in response.

~North~

I tried not to look as Raely walked over to her boyfriend. If I did look at my beloved with another guy, I knew I'd get angry and probably do something to make her hate me. My wolf couldn't stand it if his mate despised him. Not that he much liked the idea of her with someone else.

Silas and the others were waiting at our usual lunch table with an air of excitement. Luke, who'd gone before me, must have told them Raely would be joining us. I took a seat between Nathan and Silas. 

"What did you think of Agelle Mou?" my big Greek packmate asked in a low tone. He was the only one I had told of my mate-related trepidations.

There weren't good words to answer his question. "Just wait until you meet her. She can't be summed up," I told him.

"That good or that bad?"

I growled low in my throat, "That good, obviously."

His hands went up in a defensive manner. "Okay, okay. No need to attack me, brother."

It was then that Silas saw Raely and her boyfriend, a tall Japanese basketball player I vaguely recognized. The pair were holding hands. Red tinted my vision at that, but I looked away. Stay in control, I told myself. Don't you dare ruin this.

Kota, ever the peacemaking Beta, stood up at their arrival, gesturing toward the empty seats. "Glad you're joining us, Raely, Ben."

~Raely~

Benji and I sat down. I had Luke on my right and Benji on my left. On Ben's other side was a guy I didn't recognize. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a muscular frame. His olive skin and stormy ocean eyes were captivating, but I tried not to stare. This must be Silas.

My boyfriend, always the socially competent one, introduced us both to the group. They replied in turn, with wary stares in his direction. Grace said they didn't really interact much with others, but they had all been so nice to me earlier. What was up with that?

The group was silent, everyone on pause as the boys seemed to stare each other down. Sometimes males really did act like wild animals, all trying to intimidate each other into submission. I pulled my lunch out from my bag.

My parents were never home, so one of my long-time babysitters (who were part of the family by now) must have packed it. I hoped it was Marc or Corey. None were great cooks, but the two of them could at least follow directions. If Raven had been in charge of my lunch... it was likely I'd have a banana and possibly a taser. Hard to tell with him.

Upon opening my brown paper sack, I found a ham sandwich and water bottle. Ah, that would be a Brandon lunch. Not bad. On top of the sandwich was a post-it note. In Brandon's messy scrawl it read "You better text us by the end of your lunchtime or we will assume you've been kidnapped and will send in Raven. You have been warned."

That was no empty threat. My batch of surrogate older brothers (plus Mindy) really were crazy enough to let Raven, ex-professional Russian that he was, barge into school in the middle of the day just to make sure I hadn't been kidnapped. To prevent that highly embarrassing outcome, I pulled out my phone.

As I expected, I had many missed messages. They ranged from Mindy's: "Hope everything's going alright!" to Raven's: "You brought a gun, no? If not, hit them all where it hurts".

I responded in a group message. "Everything's fine, no kidnappings here. Don't you dare send in Raven."

I put my phone down after that, not bothering to read the replies. The group still seeped in awkward silence.

"So..." I started, but didn't quite know how to finish the sentence. My social skills were slightly lacking, to begin with, and online school didn't help at all.