Silence

Chapter 2

He likes me? No fucking way. It was probably just a fluke. As soon as Mackenzie or one of her minions gets ahold of him, he'll avoid me like the plague. Trying to keep the sadness from my eyes, I tear my gaze from his and focus on the paper he gave me. It's his schedule and just so happens, he has first hour with me. Our schedules practically line up except for a class or two.

I hand his schedule back to him and gesture for him to follow me. He does and we walk in silence. Out of the corner of my eye, I study him. He's tall, at least 6'0. I'm tall at 5'10 and he tops me by at least a foot which is weird since I'm used to towering over people. I can't tell if this is a nice change or not. His black hair is short and a little wavy. A few pieces swing into his eyes, making me want to reach over and move them out of the way. My cheeks turn tomato red, surprised at how strongly I desire to run my hands through that thick, black hair and down over the obvious six-pack. It's not just this physical desire though. It's more of a pull to be near him and be with him. There's only one explanation I can think of but it's not possible unless he's a werewolf and I have a feeling he isn't.

So I'll just chalk it up to my weirdness and move on. We get to our first hour and I sigh heavily before opening the door. My old history teacher, Ms. Jenkins, absolutely hates me even though I do pretty good in her class. The sad thing is, she's not even part of the pack so there's no reason to hate me. But she does, so I try to steer clear of her wrath which is exactly what I just walked into.

"Ms. Cartwright. Do you have a reason for coming into my class 10 minutes late?" She puts her hands on her hips, so completely engrossed in being mad at me, she doesn't even see the big, hulking guy behind me. I'm actually really impressed at her tunnel vision because for me, it would be impossible to miss him. The class definitely didn't. All of their wide eyes, stare at him, flicking back and forth between us soaking in the drama where there is none. I just point at hot guy and have to force myself to not laugh at her expression. Her eyes get wide and mouth slightly agape. I'm pretty sure there's a rule somewhere that prohibits checking out teenage guys if you're that old.

"And who might you be?" Ms. Jenkins stands a little straighter and pursues her lips. I take this as a distraction and practically run to my desk in the back, ignoring all the whispers and stares I'm getting. It's no different from every other day. Except for the fact that I just walked in with possibly the hottest guy in the entire world.

"I'm Owen Bainbridge. I'm new here." Owen, huh. It fits. Ms. Jenkins just nods a little and suddenly shakes her head, as if waking from a trance. I guess Owen has that affect on everybody.

"Welcome, Mr. Bainbridge. Now, if you would please take a seat, we can get back to where we were. There are a few empty seats but whichever one you choose, you're stuck with the entire year, so choose carefully." Ms. Jenkins purposely looks back at me and I duck my head, not liking all the attention. The last time I got this much attention is when a group of guys hung me by my feet from the roof of the school and over the big dumpster. Sadly, the principle also suspended me, saying I "provoked" them and I was stuck with Susan for 2 weeks straight. It was not a great couple of weeks.

Owen surveys the room until his eyes find mine and then they move to the empty seats on either side of me. The corner of his full lips turn up as he makes his to the back toward me, plopping down in the chair on my left. Everybody silently gasps at his choice of seating, even Ms. Jenkins. My cheeks burn at the thought Owen might actually like me. That'll change pretty soon though. Ms. Jenkins slowly reenters the lecture, but I don't hear a word of it. Instead, I'm focused on the insanely hot guy who just got hotter when he chose to sit next to me out of all the other empty seats.

The whole hour, I run through every possibility as to why he sat next to me and I came up with a couple. One, he actually likes me(which will change). Two, he's just trying to be nice because I walked him to class. Lastly, he also feels the pull I do which is probably not right, but a girl can dream, right? I don't understand why I feel this way. Even right now, I occasionally find myself leaning toward him, as if I can't help myself. I've heard that this is the way mates feel about each other, but I don't see how that's possible. Werewolves have a distinct..... vibe they give off and Owen just doesn't have that. I'm not a werewolf, there's no way I can be. So is it possible for humans to have mates? No way. I instantly push that thought out of my mind. Maybe it's just teenage hormones. Yeah, that has to be it. I'm just an overly hormonal girl.

The bell rings, jerking me out of my crazy thoughts and into the real world. I quickly get up, my movements jerky and ungraceful as always. Even more so today since Owen's right next to me. He smiles at me, his hazel eyes sparkling.

"Walk me to 2nd hour?" Trying to hide a smile, I lead him out of the classroom.