Scarlet's Mate

Part Five

RING RING RING

I jump up, gasping for air.  Last night's dream is still clouding my thoughts.  He was the wolf.  He is the wolf.  That's impossible, I know it's impossible.  My overactive imagination is just getting the best of me.  If anyone knew I even thought that for a second, I'd be thrown into a padded cell. 

I grab my phone and delete the alarm, I don't want a repeat of yesterday.  I get up from my bed and stretch, despite getting 9 hours of sleep I still feel very exhausted.  I grab my outfit and waddle my way to the bathroom.  After brushing my teeth and all that other fun bathroom stuff, I throw on my outfit and walk back to my room.

I grab my backpack, car keys and my water bottle and go to the kitchen.  On the counter there's a banana and a note, "Scarlet, here's breakfast, love grandma."

I grab the banana and peel it. I'm a little early today so I take my time eating it.  After I finish, I dump out the water from my bottle and refill it.  This time paying close attention.  I go over to the shoes and decide to wear my ratty high top chucks.  I feel like they go great with the old college hoodie.  Mom loved when I dressed, as she phrased it, 'vintage.'

I walk out the door and the cold hits me like a brick, shorts definitely aren't a smart idea for today, it's supposed to be cold.  But it's too late, I've already fallen in love with the outfit.  Changing it now would for sure make me late for school too.  I run to my car and jump in, I impatiently wait for my car to turn on then I put the heat on high.

Sometimes I wish I had a fancier car with seat warmers.  Seat warmers sound so nice right now.  Think warm thoughts.  Fire.  Very warm.

I wait a couple minutes for my car to heat up before I head to school.  I'm about halfway when I see something out of the corner of my eye, it's still dark outside so I'm not 100% sure, but I swear I just saw a wolf.  I pull over and try to look outside more intensely but I don't see anything.  That dream really is making me crazy.

The rest of the drive to school I was hyper focused.  I don't know if I actually wanted to see a wolf, or what I would even do if I did.  Maybe if I actually saw one, it would prove I'm not going crazy.  The school lot was half full by the time I got there, I found a spot in the back and jumped out of my car, fully prepared to sprint towards the school to get out of the cold.  But before I had a chance, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey you," Derek's voice was soothing, "are you seriously wearing shorts?  Do you not check the weather before you get dressed?"

As if my body heard his comment a chill went down my spine making me shiver, "honestly I didn't even think about the weather, and by the time I realized how cold it'd be today it was too late."

Derek put his arm around my shoulder and rubbed it firmly, "Well come on then," he started pushing me towards the school, "don't want ya catching a cold now."

"Hey, you're wearing shorts too, you should worry about yourself sometimes," I said, teasing him.

He looked down as if he didn't remember what he was wearing, "well, my body runs a little hotter than normal, the cold doesn't bother me."

I huffed and continued walking.  When we reached the school, Derek dropped his arm and went to open the door for me.  I laughed, "wow, such a gentleman, thank you."

"Hey now, don't let this get to your head, I'm only being nice as a favor to my dad," although he tried to, he couldn't keep a straight face.  His lips turned up into a smile and his eyes softened, "but it's starting to seem more and more like he might've done a favor for me."

Derek's confession made my face warm up, I smiled at him, "hey, I need to stop at my locker before math, so I'll meet you there."

"Alright, I'll save your seat," Derek flashed a smile and headed off.