A Bit of Wolf in Her

2. Want to go to a party?

Despite Classics Week having gone forward as planned, by the end of the day, the buzz about the returning Delaney hadn't died down. Winnie passed a couple of girls talking about him close to her locker. She had yet to see the Delaney in question herself. Her friends were waiting for her by her locker and Gabriela lifted her Classics Week assignment up angrily.

"Fucking Classics Week. Why didn't I drop out and become a stripper like I had planned?"

"Because women aren't seen as sexual beings in the same way men are and have been indoctrinated and moulded to fit the narrow-minded needs of a patriarchal society?" Winnie answered.

"Fuck yeah, we have!" Gabriela yelled and Stella shook her head.

"You two are spending too much time together." She handed Winnie a sparkling pink notebook. "This is my first semester's work. Use it wisely," Stella said, and Winnie nodded. "I have a meeting in ten minutes, so I'll find you guys after practice." With that, she scurried down the hall without waiting for a response. Stella's diligent note taking in class would prove way more useful to her than a hundred more purple files.

"How many purple files did you get today?" Miles asked, watching her struggle to peel out her schoolbooks from between them.

Winnie huffed. "Oh, I don't know, a gajillion." She cursed as a file toppled sideways, sprinkling papers all over the floor.

"Why don't you stay and we'll take you home after practice?" Gabriela asked as she and her brother helped Winnie clean up.

Winnie bit the inside of her cheek as she mulled it over in her head. It wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, considering the alternative was dragging all the files home with her in a backpack that would weigh a ton.

"Okay, sure," she said.

Miles flashed her a big toothy grin, and Winnie ceased her wrestling match with the papers. The three of them headed to the football field, but Winnie stopped when she got a text from Stella, telling her that the new Classics Week groupings were up. "Stella just asked me to check on the Classics Week groups," she said when her friends looked at her. "I'll meet you guys on the field."

She parted ways with the Montez siblings and headed to L. Bowers' class. To her delight, the list was neatly stuck to the door, just like Stella said. Her finger slid down the paper until she found her name next to Noah Delaney's. For interest's sake, she scanned the rest of the paper to see if she could find any other Delaney's name, but with no success.

"Looks like we're partners," a voice behind her said. Winnie swung around, hitting the intruder with her elbow in the process. "Ow, Jesus." Noah Delaney stood rubbing his stomach behind her. His bare stomach. 

"Shit," Winnie breathed, holding a hand over her chest. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking the list."

"And you just had to come do it without a shirt?" She gestured to his shirtless torso.

He shrugged, and even though he smiled, it didn't seem genuine. "I'm just wasting time until people stop fussing so much over my cousin." The way he said it made it seem as if the words tasted bad in his mouth. Winnie guessed the infamous cousin must have finally made an appearance. "Anyway, what are you doing here?" He took a step forward and although he wasn't that much taller than Winnie, his broad shoulders made it seem like he towered over her.

"Waiting for my ride," she replied, side-stepping him so she couldn't be pinned against the wall should the desire arise in him.

He nodded. "I'll walk you to the football field."