The Pain Thief

Chapter 3

SCHOOL, WOLVES, THE SUPERNATURAL... WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

Zoe and Jack walked the rest of the way to school until they finally sat down in their first period class. Their high school didn't have lockers, so they kept their stuff beside them. Classes were a little less than an hour each, and their were six classes, not including lunch. The way their schedules were, Zoe and Jack had three classes in the morning, lunch, then three classes in the afternoon. 

The two of them usually sat in homeroom talking before the day started. They didn't really have a need to do anything else since they were always with each other most of the time anyway. 

Zoe sat in her desk and crossed her arms and legs, leaning back as Jack sat on the desk right in front of her. He gave her a sly smile and she rolled her eyes playfully. 

"So Snowdrift, what do you plan on doing after school today?"

Zoe rolled her eyes again at the nickname; Jack always managed to pick a snow-related name, but it never bothered her. It had become a form of endearment over the years. 

"I've got to get Mr. Z some milk, but that's about it." She stared at him pointedly. "You could come if you want."

He shrugged, which usually meant that he was coming. 

Suddenly Zoe felt someone slide into the desk behind her and felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She winced and slapped away the hand of the person who had pulled her hair, not surprised to find it was one of the overgrown idiots who usually picked on her. 

Zoe leaned forward to get a little bit of distance, scooting closer to Jack. 

She rubbed the back of her head to see Dean Michaels, the biggest jerk in the school. Dean was a muscular and generally was considered good-looking by most of the female population, but Zoe never saw him as such with how mean and, well, idiotic he was. 

"Would you stop?" she said venomously. 

"What, Granny I thought your hair would already be falling out," replied Dean. 

Zoe kept glaring at him. The "old lady" joke had gotten old a long time ago. It really didn't bother her anymore, but that didn't mean she liked dealing with it either. 

She felt Jack tense up like he always did when someone got in her face. Zoe reached out and placed her hand over his on the desk, giving it a squeeze to calm him down. 

Before anyone could say anything else, the teacher, Mr. Barns entered, signalling the end to any fight that may've broken out. Even Dean wasn't stupid enough to start a fight in front of a teacher. 

Jack would've still done something if Zoe didn't tighten her grip on his hand when Dean got up. Despite his ability to stay cool during a fight, when it came to her, Jack had an incredibly short fuse. 

There had been multiple times when he'd punched someone for her when she just let it go. Zoe didn't let too many things get to her and let most insults just bounce right off of her. Though she didn't know if she would be that strong if she didn't have Jack standing by her. 

Mr. Barn stood at the front of the room getting himself organized. Class wouldn't start for another ten minutes, but now students were beginning to come in in groups, talking to their friends and hurrying to get work done that they hadn't finished the night before. 

Zoe kept her hand on Jack's, moving her thumb over the back of his hand as she felt him calm down. 

"I wouldn't have hit him," he said quietly. 

Zoe got up and stood next to him, moving her hand away. "Yeah you would have and we both know it." 

She sighed and removed her binder from her bag. "But..." She bit her lip, unsure of how to continue. "You know I still love it when you look out for me."