False Confidence

Cologne and Spearmint

Azriel Huang

"Azriel!" I heard people call as I walked through the halls, I greeted them with a grin as I took a long intake of breath. The air smelled like fresh cleaner and varied scents of wolves and humans alike, walking by. The school mainly consisted of wolves, unknown to the small amount of humans present. The squeak of shoes and bustling students was familiar since it had been about 2 weeks since school started and only a day after the party. A bit late to throw a beginning of school year celebration but I didn't care all that much after the events of last night. Seemingly on cue, a couple of seniors bounded up to me, phones in hand.

"Wow that's our alpha, you really handed his ass to them!" The short one exclaimed, looking down at a video of me pounding my fists into the flailing Trent. I winced slightly but quickly smoothed out my composure.

"Yeah, but you let the transfer guy stop you." The taller one added, puzzled.

I cleared my throat, embarrassment making my face heat up, my cheeks and the tips of my ears probably turning red. The two students in front of me didn't seem to notice, engrossed with the video.

"I felt angry, enough to kill. When the person grabbed me I came to my senses and realized I had to let him stop me." I answered calmly, blowing out a quick breath. The two seniors glanced up and nodded quickly, like it all started to make sense. After trading looks they waved their goodbyes as they darted away, hopefully to spread the word about my reasoning.

Sighing heavily, I prepared to head to my next class. Walking up the stairs, I heard a familiar whiny laugh and deep chuckle. I spotted Ani and Wren making their way down the stairs while giving each other dreamy looks beneath half-lidded eyes. I quickly averted my gaze, keeping my eyes forward, but a swift movement from Wren grabbed my attention. I glanced up and caught Wren tapping his ears with a smirk. I was confused for a second before realization struck me. I cleared my throat, hoping to dispel the reddened ears and cheeks from my prior embarrassment. I could kick the shit out of Wren right about now, but that wouldn't look very good after what had happened last night. I shook off my irritation, continuing my path to Ms.Donnel's class, lugging my heavy bag along with me.

I hated math, and it was the only subject I wasn't especially good at. It just annoyed me that the one teacher I liked was teaching the one subject I despised. I was lucky though that Ms.Donnel was kind of lenient.

Walking through the door to the classroom, I gazed around to find a seat next to Griffin. He greeted me with a smile and a wave, fiddling with one of his hoodie strings. I sat in the vacant seat beside him as the classroom began to fill up.

"The video is everywhere, you should post something to explain before Trent beats you to it." Griffin advised, his warm brown eyes catching the light, making it appear copper.

"Yeah, yeah." I replied with a sharp intake of breath, my eyes catching the familiar way Griffin's strong hands moved to run through his sleep-mused tresses. The golden hair was unstyled today, which was better in my opinion. His hair was only slightly shaved on the sides, the fade only reaching about eyebrow height before gradually becoming ear-length strands that were fluffed to an extent.

"Hey, why didn't Nora show up to the party yesterday?" I inquired as Griffin rubbed at his angular jawline.

"She had an appointment at the clinic to see if she caught something from that stupid football kid. Seth, I think?" He answered quietly, not wanting anyone else in our friend's business.

"Gross, she actually fucked Seth?" I guffawed softly, hiding my grin by resting the tip of my nose in between my outstretched thumb and pointer.

"You know she's into future frat boys." Griffin chuckled, clicking his pen.