Carina couldn't believe her luck. She was twenty minutes late for school. Twenty! She parked her old red truck in her designated parking space and got off. She quickly straightened her uniform and tied her unruly curly black hair in a ponytail. Maybe-just maybe- old Mrs. Schneider won't give her a demerit for wearing the wrong socks, but Carina knew that was just a bit of wishful thinking. She grabbed her bags from the bed of her truck and walked towards the school. She opened the plexiglass doors with a huff and tried to sneak pass Mrs. Schneider's watchful gaze.
"Ms. Collins," a small elderly woman spoke behind Carina, "late again?"
Carina spun around slowly with a sheepish grin on her face and let out a nervous laugh. "Good morning, Mrs. Schneider." Mrs. Lillian Schneider was four feet of pure mean and had a bite that could put a pit-bull to shame. Her snowy white hair spiked out and seemed to form devil horns atop her head.
"Ms. Collins, if I was the principal I would've kicked your tardy behind to the curb a long time ago!" Mrs. Schneider hissed at the poor girl. "Not only are you embarrassing yourself, but you are embarrassing the school!" Carina shrank back from the petite woman. Unfortunately for the sixteen year old, tardiness was the elderly woman's top pet peeve. Carina was definitely not going to get out of this one unscathed.
"Furthermore I-"
"What seems to be the problem here, Lillian?"
Mrs. Schneider angled her head towards the newcomer. "Oh, it's you Sr. Catherine!" She greeted.
The genteel nun smiled back at the elderly woman. "Good morning, Lillian. But, if you don't mind me asking, why are you yelling so?"
Mrs. Schneider blushed a bit before regaining her bearings and glared at Carina. "This student is twenty minutes late to school, and this isn't the first time either!"
"Well," Sr. Catherine spoke, "this poor child has probably missed a good deal of her first class already. I don't think lecturing her about being tardy will make her any less late for class, do you?"
Mrs. Schneider grimaced. "I guess not."
Sr. Catherine smiled at the unpleasant receptionist, before letting her warm gaze wash over the teen-aged student whom she just spared. "Run along now, dear."
Carina gave the nun a grateful smile as she whispered a quick "Thanks" and rushed off to her locker.
When Carina finally reached her locker, she entered her combination with lightning speed and threw her library of textbooks into her canvas messenger bag. She bustled down to Rm. 104, ignoring the new algebra teacher's comment of "No running in the hallways!" and skidded to a halt as she approached her destination.
"Ah! So nice of you to join us, Ms. Collins."
Carina straightened her again disheveled uniform before entering the classroom. To her chagrin, her red plaid skirt was still a bit too high for her liking. She smiled politely at her teacher before responding, "Sorry I'm late, Mr. Reed."
The young English teacher smiled back at her, a twinkle in his sea green eyes. "See me after class."
The statement made Carina recoil as if she was almost bitten by a viper. See me after class! Was sweet and awesome Mr. Reed actually going to punish her? Blasphemy!
"Well, go find a seat." He continued.
The student trudged towards the back of the class, while snickers and oohs were directed to her as she went by. Luckily for Carina, an open seat was right next to her best friend, Alistair.
The wiry and lean blond was currently snoozing atop his copy of The Great Gatsby, oblivious to what was going on. Carina frowned at his sleeping form and gave him a subtle nudge. "Wake up!" She hissed.
He jolted awake, but quickly relaxed once he realized who woke him up. "Morning to you too, sunshine." He mumbled.
"I know it's tough being captain of the soccer team and all, but you should really stop sleeping in class."
He smirked. "At least I get here on time."
The bell rang, dismissing the students from the class. Everyone got out of their seats, grabbed their things, and bolted out of the room. Mr. Reed tried his hardest to yell tonight's homework over the din and clamor of the exiting students, but to no avail.
Alistair hung back and waited for Carina to finish packing her things. "Ready for biology?"
She sighed. "No, I have to stay a bit, Mr. Reed wants to talk to me."
He cast a suspicious glance towards the smiling teacher, who was sitting on top of his desk. "Be careful." He murmured before exiting the room.
Carina didn't think much of his warning. What did she have to be scared of, another essay to write? She slung her bag over her shoulder and marched towards Mr. Reed. "You wanted to see me, sir?"
He slid off his desk and flashed her a patronizing smile. "You've been tardy to my class quite a bit, Carina."
She thought it was a bit odd that he used her first name. Teachers and faculty at St. Mary's Academy usually addressed the students in a formal manner, kind of like in Harry Potter. "With all due respect, sir, it's not like I'm trying to be late. Traffic's just horrible in the morning."
He clucked his tongue at her. "Traffic is not a good excuse at all." Mr. Reed spoke, his voice deep and sultry. He moved closer to her with slow deliberate steps. "You want to know why I think you're always so late?"
Carina backed up. This situation was starting to head south, fast. She glanced at the door, a good five feet away. "Sir, I'm already really late for my Bio AP class. So, if you don't mind, I'll just be leaving...now." Carina made a mad dash towards the door. She got two-maybe three- steps away from her teacher before being yanked back by the collar of her Oxford blouse.
Mr. Reed grabbed both of her wrists in one hand and slithered his other arm around her waist. "You naughty girl," he whispered huskily into her ear, "I might have to punish you a bit more now."
Carina felt a surge of panic rush through her. She thrashed wildly in his grasp, but her effort to get away was futile. His grip around her wrists tightened even more, and his arm began to feel like an anaconda.Tears pricked the edge of Carina's eyes, but she quickly shut them. There was no way in hell she was going to give this creep the satisfaction of seeing her cry. If she was going to go down, she was going down with pride.
She felt the tip of his nose graze the side of her neck, inhaling her sweet and alluring scent. The hand that was around her waist slowly undid the buttons to her blouse. Carina kept her eyes shut and braced herself for what was to come, as the sound of a growl reached her ears.
However, the growl- Carina noticed- wasn't a guttural growl of arousal, but the growl of a beast. A very pissed off beast.
Carina fluttered her eyes open. In front of her was a snarling white wolf, its razor-sharp fangs bared. The angry animal reminded her of its Arctic Tundra habitat, harsh and unforgiving. Mr. Reed dropped his victim at the sight of the wolf and backed off quickly. His eyes which were once darkened with lust, were now wide with fear.
The wolf padded past Carina and headed towards Mr. Reed. The wolf growled and snarled at the cowering teacher, who was begging it for mercy. The beast narrowed its ice blue eyes and let out one final growl, before lunging at the man; burying him in a frenzy of fur, fangs, and claws.
