Forbidden (BoyxBoy)

Chapter I: Permission

Jason.

The silence in the room was heavy.

My parents sat opposite me at the dining room table, gazes trained on me skeptically. My father's thick eyebrows were furrowed incredulously, his fingertips pressed together as though he were the host of the evening news.

"You want... to go to school?" He asked for the second time, narrowing his hazel eyes at me. Dread settled deep into my gut. God, maybe I made a mistake in telling him. Maybe this idea was a delusion. I forced down my insecurities and took a deep breath.

"Yes, yes I do." I repeated for him, shifting uncomfortably in my seat. My dad pressed his lips together and glanced sideways at my mother, who was looking at me with her wide, soft eyes. Noticing my father's gaze, she reached out and placed her small hands on his. That was all it took for the brief frustration to dissipate from his face. She was the panacea to all his emotions. Her gaze settled on me warmly, midnight blue eyes bright against her milky skin.

"What's brought this on honey?" She asked, her voice kind and filled with curiosity. I cleared my throat, nervously twisting my fingers together beneath the tabletop. But this was my mother I was talking to, and she had a way of making you want to tell her the truth.

"I've never been to real school before, and this year is my last opportunity before I graduate." I explained as confidently as I could. "And I want to see what it's like, to live a normal life as much as I can."

"But you've been studying here, with the other kids like you." My dad replied hurriedly. He had this way of trying to be stern that just came out all awkward and neurotic. He wasn't really the stern type, instead he fluctuated between flustered and oblivious. Still, I could tell that he was a little offended by my suggestion.

I sighed, having know that he'd bring that up. In truth I had been hesitant to ask them, but Dean, Frankie and I had talked about this non-stop for the entire summer. It had been a fantasy, a dream just out of our reach, but now, asking them to let me go into the real world felt like asking them to give me a chance at my own life. One year going to a normal high school, meeting normal people and acting like a normal teenager before I turned eighteen and had to dedicate my life to the pack.

"I think that is the point, darling. Isn't that right Jason?" My mom articulated quietly. I nodded eagerly, looking at my dad to gauge his reaction. He just looked confused, which is what I expected. This pack was my father's life, and he loved every single thing about it.

His brother, my uncle Stephen, was the Alpha until he passed away three years ago, leaving the pack to his only son, Elijah. My father was like a second father to my cousin and was often the person Elijah came to for advice on leading the pack. Hence, he lived and breathed this community, and could see no reason why I would want to experience anything else.

"I just want to experience something new, you know. Try something normal for a year, and see what's it's like going to a high school, and meeting humans who are just humans." I spoke, a small smile curving on my lips the way it did when I thought about the year ahead of me. If my parents agreed, of course.

Dean, Frankie and I had been together since we were in diapers, the way most werewolf children the same age are. Together we'd come to the decision that this year we were going to be as normal as possible for creatures like us, and we'd planned it all out perfectly. Dean's mom's and were the most liberal, so he'd asked them first, followed by Frankie's parents, and finally my own. All we needed was a yes from them, and I was good to go. We were good to go.

"You've met humans before, son." My dad said matter-of-factly, as if my entire argument had just been disbanded. I watched my mother elbow his side gently, her eyes not leaving my face. His eyes widened in surprise at her jab, before at me apologetically.

"Yeah, I mean, of course I have - at the grocery store and stuff. But, that's not the same as having classes with them, or having lunch with them, or maybe, I don't know, going to a prom with one of them." I countered. At the mention of prom my dad looked like a deer in the headlights and my mom broke out in a wide, affectionate smile. I had inherited my goofy, broad grin from her.

Silence hung between the three of us. I grew more anxious by the second. The sound of my younger brother playing Halo drifted from upstairs.

"Dean and Frankie's parents are okay with all this?" My father said finally. I smiled at him, knowing that I was a step closer than I had been a minute ago. What he actually going to say yes? Could this actually be happening?

"They've both agreed already." I answered insistently. My father sighed, rubbing his large, rough hands over his face before looking at my mother questioningly. She lifted a delicate hand from his to tuck a strand of caramel-blonde hair behind her ear, subtly nodding her head in his direction as she did. I could kiss her for that.

"Really?" I beamed, knowing that in their own way, they had just agreed to let me go. "You're letting me go?"

"You'll have to be back straight afterwards to catch up on training of course, and this doesn't mean that your responsibilities to this pack are postponed, and you're going to have be very careful, son, about how much of your life you show people. Exposing yourself could put our entire pack in danger." He explained hurriedly in a tone of voice that meant he was trying to be stern, but there was a soft edge to it, one that told me that he would live with this idea. I grinned widely, nodding vehemently at his terms as he listed them. My mom leant across the table and squeezed my hands with one of hers, the other patting my father's forearm affectionately.

"I think that's fair dear." She cooed approvingly at my father's agreement.

"Thank you, Dad. And you too, Mom." I grinned, leaping up from my seat. An anxious smile twitched at the corner of my father's lips. Whilst I had inherited my mother's infectious grin, I could attribute most of my remaining features to my Dad. We shared our tousled, walnut-brown hair and speckled hazel eyes; as well as a relatively tall, muscular build. The physical training we had to do as part of the pack helped too.

"I'm going to go and let my friends know." I explained excitedly, pointing behind me to the door of the dining room. My mother laughed, my dad rolling his eyes at how ecstatic I was to do something as simple as go to school.

I can't believe they're actually letting me go to school.

Turning on my heels, I rushed up the stairs and down the hall to my room, passing my brother's bedroom where he sat, unaware that a potential life-changing moment had just crossed my path. Flopping down onto my bed, made messily in navy-blue linen, I pulled out my phone and typed quickly.

To: Dean Rothchild, Frankie Horne

At: 7:36 pm

From: Jason Bishop

It's a yes from my end.

To: Jason Bishop

At: 7:36 pm

From: Frankie Horne

Get out! We're really doing this... I can't wait x

To: Jason Bishop

At: 7:37

From: Dean Rothchild

Sick man. Public school here we come.

I breathed a deep sigh of relief and tossed my phone beside me on the bed, unable to wipe the grin off my face. I was itching for the upcoming days to pass, and I just knew that I was going to be a bundle of nervous energy until our first day came.

I'm going to school. I really am going to school.