Wolfblood

Chapter Fifteen

"6 more days and 7 more hours of this; I don't think I can stand it." Maddy agonizes to Rhydian.

Rhydian groans, "Do you wanna know what helps?"

"Yeah! Tell us, I'll do anything!" Maddy begs. Rhydian takes Maddy's wrist and runs outside with her. "What are we doing?" She asks.

"You know the best way to get rid of the pre-transformation blues? Move." He replies, running across the field towards the forest behind the school. Maddy grins as she runs after him. 

They both dash through the large hole in the school fence between the forest and the school field and continue sprinting through the trees. 

"Hey!" Jimi calls, getting Tom's attention.

"You seen Maddy?" Tom asks as he walks over to the lunch table.

"Took off with leek-boy last I saw her." Jimi replies.

Tom widens his eyes in shock, "What? Rhydian?!"

"What's the big deal?" Jimi questions in confusion.

"Nothing." Tom pauses for a moment before turning back to Jimi, "Are you sure? Rhydian?!"

Jimi laughs, "I get it. You want help from your little girlfriend for the English test!"

"Whatever." Tom scolds as he turns to walk off.

"You know what," Jimi says, getting Tom's attention again, "I think revisions way overrated."

"Yeah? Well you don't have dyslexia." Tom responds sternly, walking back to Jimi.

Jimi raises his eyebrows, "Maybe you, Thomas, just need to think outside the box... Let's talk." He smirks, beckoning for Tom to sit with him.

"Hey Shan." Kara smiles, getting glares from Kay and Katrina as she snaps Shannon away from her thoughts.

"Kara. What are you, like, doing?" Kay asks, shocked.

"Do you mind if I sit down?" Kara ignores Kay, sitting down next to Shannon.

"No." Shannon nervously replies, looking around to find out if this is some sort of trick.

Katrina blinks, "This can't be happening." She sighs, walking away with Kay.

"Urmm. Actually, Kara, I'm trying to do a bit of revision." Shannon admits, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I know. I was thinking we could work together." Kara grins.

Rhydian and Maddy fell back onto the soft grass, panting heavily as they watched the blue sky.

"Better?" Rhydian questioned.

"Better." Maddy nodded, still breathing heavily, "I know I've got a Mam and Dad and stuff... Which is more than what you've got, but..." She began, struggling to focus on what she was saying as Rhydian gives her a slight glare. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Rhydian breathes out.

Maddy shakes her head, "No, what I meant was... Like, it's just really good to have someone my age to share this stuff with."

Rhydian nods his head in agreement, "Yeah, that goes for me as well." 

A short moment passes as their breathing relaxes back to normal. Maddy abruptly sits up, a guilty expression over her face, "Oh no." She mumbles. "Tom!"

Rhydian quickly sits up too, "What?! No, you're suppose to calm down."

"No! I was supposed to revise with him - we've got a Maths exam in ten minutes!" She exclaims, instantly standing up and running back through the forest towards school.

"Oh yeah..." Rhydian mutters, "I'll catch you up." He shouts after Maddy before falling back again.

"Sometimes in life, Thomas, you have to help yourself." Jimi says, gently kicking the football to Tom, "Nobody's gonna do it for you. It's all about self reliance." 

"Exactly! I just hate having to ask for help, man." Tom groans, harshly kicking the ball away as he storms across the field towards school.

"Tom!" Maddy calls, running to catch up with him, "I'm really sorry, Tom. I only just remembered-"

"Yeah, it doesn't matter, forget about it." Tom interrupts, continuing his walk across the playground.

"No, it does. I'll come 'round yours tonight-" Maddy says.

"I don't want your help! It's fine, alright?!" Tom scoffs, picking up his pace as Maddy hangs back.

"Fine then!" Maddy shouts, kicking the ground in frustration as her mood changes from guilt to anger.

"Maddy! I do believe you have a Maths exam!" Mr. Jeffries calls, making Maddy hesitantly trudge back into school as the bell rings.

Maddy fidgets uncomfortably in her seat, finding it difficult to concentrate as she sits in the middle of the exam room.

"Nice of you to show your face, Rhydian." Miss. Parish says as Rhydian enters the room.

Rhydian sends Maddy a comforting smile as he sits down at the desk opposite to her.

"Settle down everyone. You have exactly one hour, starting now. You may open your papers." Miss. Parish announces, starting her stopwatch. 

Everyone opens their papers, whilst Maddy ignores everything around her - nervously tapping her pen against the table. She soon realises everyone is already working and she quickly flips over to the first page. She breathes deeply as her heart beat rises - the stress of all the different noises around getting to her.

She tenses up and begins panicking - noticing the dark veins crawling down her arms.

She quickly hides under her table - sending Rhydian a glance as her eyes glow yellow.

Rhydian begins panicking as he launches himself from his seat - running to the wall and setting off the fire alarm.

Everyone jumped from their seats, screaming and rushing out. 

"Walk, don't run - please!" Miss. Parish shouts.

"Maddy, it's ok. It's over," Rhydian whispers as he runs over to her, kneeling down to her under the table, "Keep calm. Deep breathes." He comforts her and she listens to him.

"Rhydian Morris you are in big trouble, young man!" Miss. Parish scolds at him and he stands from the ground as Maddy pulls back her sleeves - checking to make sure her wolf veins had gone.