Accepted In The Pack *EDITING* *ON HOLD*

Chapter Eight: Greatest Fear

"HEY!A-hole! Where the hell do I get my lunch?" I caught up to Pierce's fast pace when I found him after art.

"Oh, the sweet sound of my bitchy friend Omen." He grinned at my anger. "How was training and art?"

"As interesting as talking to you. So boring." 

"Touche." We continued walking through the trees until we got to a large brick building with a chimney. Pierce led the way through the wooden door to reveal a big cafeteria. In the far back was a giant lunch line where women with graying hair were serving boys food. Scattered around the room were marble lunch tables occupied with exactly five guys. Pierce ordered a cheese burger and I ordered a slice of pizza, then we made our way to the table where Alden, Simon, Dominic, and Elliot were sitting.

"Hey, guys." I greeted, sitting next to Dominic and Pierce.

"How's your classes so far?" Alden asked me, picking at his chicken wing. I shrugged and took a bite of my pizza. The rest of lunch went on with us talking about random things.

Then the bell rang and I wanted to go anywhere but my next class, which was irritatingly all I could think about. Dominic and I walked across campus to the large dome that held the swimming pool. I managed not to show my fear when I saw how deep it was. Ten feet. It started at five and a half feet, which was already taller than me, and ended at ten. I found myself clinging to Dominic's arm.

"What's wrong?" he asked me, sounding very brotherly. I mentally slapped myself and stepped away from him.

"Nothing. It's fine. I'm fine." I said quickly. Shortly after, I realized that didn't make me sound like I was fine. "I mean- Nothing." My eyes were still glued on the sign that said 10 ft.

"I have to change." he said. He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and I worried for a moment that he might have known about my fear of drowning. He walked off to the locker room. I was alone in the room except for a couple of other guys. They seemed preoccupied, so I began stepping closer to the edge of the pool. I kept one foot behind me and one foot in front, then I slowly peeked at the bottom of the pool.

I found myself reciting the Hail Mary prayer. The thing was, I didn't even know that prayer before I came face to face with my enemy. The few times I had heard it seemed to come back to me that moment.

"Hey."

I stifled a shriek and whipped around to see Ashton behind me. He was wearing black swim shorts. My eyes rested on his amazing abs for a couple moments before Ashton spoke again.

"Why are you so pale?" he asked me. I swallowed, trying to speak, but found my throat to dry to do anything but croak. I stepped a good yard away from the edge of the pool before shaking my head. "Are you afraid of the water?" He looked down at me, completely serious.

"No." I said after a little while of swallowing spit.

"Yes, you are. You aren't taking this class." He began walking to the door on the other side of the room labeled Teacher's Office. I grabbed his arm and pulled back.

"No! Stop, stop, stop! I'm not! It's fine!" He looked back at me with raised eyebrows. "I'm not afraid of the water." He stared into my eyes before sighing and leading the way back to Dominic. "I'm afraid of drowning." I muttered low enough for him not to hear when his back was turned. "Wow, Dominic, nice pecks." I attempted to return to my normal self.

He smiled. "Well, y'know I do work out everyday." He stopped flexing his muscles abruptly. I turned to see he was staring at Ashton, who was glaring daggers at him.

"Stop scowling." I said pinching Ashton's arm. He turned his glare on me. 

He leaned down and muttered in my ear, "Stop flirting." His hot breath tingled on my cold skin.