Young and Foolish

Chapter 26: Quick Internet Search on How to Smile

Theo's POV

Honestly, I was baffled. 

When I first arrived here, I expected it to be a chaotic mess of rowdy juvenile inmates. I expected that I'd have to get out of fights I didn't start nearly every second that I was around another student. I truly believed I'd be littered in bruises and walking in and out of the infirmary all day, every day. 

But so far, the only real trouble I had faced was when Jason threw me out of our room on my first day here. 

Maybe it was because I didn't interact much with other students. The only person besides Jason that had ever spoken to me in this past week was that blonde guy from the chess club. And he seemed somewhat nice, though a tad odd. I hadn't seen him around since that day and I'd consider myself lucky for that, because he was still pretty scary. 

Other than that, no one really talked to me. It wasn't like I was being ignored or scorned by anyone. More like they just didn't seem interested in me because I didn't seem all that interesting. 

At my old school, I was one of the outcasts. Here, I was a faceless nobody among the crowd. 

It was pretty similar, but not quite the same. 

Anyhow, I didn't need to worry about being beaten up at all. Heck, I hadn't even seen a single fight since I came here. No one was hostile or aggressive or at someone else's throat. I could almost imagine that the authorities here at Beaufort's were so strict and good at managing delinquents that they had eradicated all violent behaviour. 

But then again, I did tend to Jason's wounds. And there was no way those were self-inflicted. There had to be fights happening, just where I couldn't see them. 

And boy, was I glad for that. I didn't want to be anywhere near that. For all I knew, it was all some sort of underground fighting ring orchestrated by the authorities themselves. And I didn't want to know whether that was true or just speculation. Though I hoped it was the latter. 

My biggest worry was simply fatigue. Sure, I had signed up for so many clubs to avoid Jason, but goddess, it was all so tiring. 

The weekend was quickly approaching and that was all the more worrying. What did people do here on the weekends? The classrooms were closed, but were the club facilities open? Should I stay in my room and study or did Jason expect me to scram? How was Jason planning to spend his weekend?

Speaking of Jason, his scent had grown considerably stronger since that day I told him a story, which I noticed was because off all the sweaty clothes he left in the bathroom hamper. And maybe I was being paranoid, but it seemed like he was gaining more muscle mass, too. My silly wolf was always so tempted to bury our nose into his clothes, or feel up his biceps and abs and those powerfully thick thighs of his. 

I'd self-implode before I ever let that happen, though. 

By Friday morning, I was worrying up a storm before I even got the chance to get out of bed. 

I had managed to successfully avoid Jason by leaving before he could wake up and returning long after he fell asleep. But I couldn't resist sleeping in on the weekends to catch up on all the sleep I missed out on. No matter how desperately I wanted to, I knew there was no way I'd be able to wake up early. 

Worrying would do nothing but harm. I couldn't let this get to me. I'd figure it out. I had to. 

I tossed off the thin covers and quietly crawled over to ladder. All the lack of sleep must've caught up on me at that exact moment, because just as I was about to descend, my vision blurred for a second. 

I fell forward. 

On instinct, I shut my eyes and yelped. But rather than colliding with harsh wood flooring, I landed in someone's arms. The impact was still jarring, and I could only whimper as I opened my eyes to see Jason holding me close. 

The worried expression he wore melted away as if it was never there. He looked at me through tired eyes. 

Goddess, I was such an idiot. I just woke him up with a sharp cry, and toppled right into his arms. And rather than telling him I was thankful that he caught me, I could only cower in fear. 

"Study," he commanded, and the confusion was enough to override my shock. 

"What?" I asked. He gently placed me down on the floor. As scary as he was, I half expected that he'd drop me, so the softness of his gesture was mildly touching. 

"Do you want to study with me tomorrow? If you've got nothing else to do, that is," he explained. I studied his face for a moment.

I didn't have anything to do tomorrow. Did I want to study with him though? What would happen if I refused? 

Maybe he was just trying to make a friend. It's not like he had done anything bad to me after that first day, and thinking back on it, it did seem like he had no idea we were roommates. I'd be pretty unnerved too, if I found some random weirdo in my room. But I wouldn't take their keys and toss them out for a whole night. 

He probably had no idea how to go about making friends. He had asked me to tell him more stories. And now he was asking to study together. Well, I wanted to get along with him, too. We were going to be spending the rest of the school year together, so we might as well attempt to be friendly. 

"Sure," I replied, with a soft grin. He nodded and offered me a smile that wasn't really a smile at all. Just an awkward show of his clenched teeth. 

It was almost adorable, actually. I tried to hold back a giggle as he crawled back into bed. I turned around and headed into the bathroom as if none of that had ever happened. 

I only hoped my silly wolf's little crush on him wouldn't continue to grow while we studied together.