In the Heart of the Forest

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Thea

"I. Hate. Mondays!" I say, banging my head on the desk between each word. My hair falls around my head, temporarily blocking me from the depressing classroom.

"Same, girl. Wolf Boy is still watching you," Rose says. We have taken to using Wolf Boy as a code name for Logan. "I would keep an eye on him, he could be stalking you, especially if he follows you to all of your classes," she says, getting out her English homework.

Really, for some strange reason, I don't mind his staring. Trust me, I hate when people give me unnecessary attention, but that's not the feeling I get with Wolf Boy. It feels more like a guardian angel watching over me (although that sounds really sappy), rather than a creepy stalker. I just don't get that vibe with him. I feel safe when he is walking just a few paces behind me, not freaked out.

Unfortunately, when I tried to tell this to Rose, she brushed it off, and I haven't talked about it since.

"Everybody listen up! We will b--" the teacher is rudely cut off when the door slams open to reveal a disheveled boy with sandy brown hair, blue eyes and a killer body.

"Sorry, Mrs. Dickinson, I was talking to the football coach," the boy says.

"That's alright, but dont let it happen again, or there will be detention," she says sternly. "Now, have a seat."

I look around to see the only seat left open is next to me. Great. He takes a seat.

"Hi, I'm Carter Jones, and you?" He whispers, leaning towards me. I turn to see Rose nodding enthusiastically at me with a sly wink.

"Thea Allen, and before you ask, yes, I am new," I whisper back.

"Nice, it's not often we get new people. Especially ones as pretty as you," he says. I snap my head around to see he has an amused smirk spread across his features.

"Man you people have low standards here," I murmur to mostly to myself.

"Or maybe the people where you used to live were blind," he says, making me turn away to hide a blush. I hate blushing. He chuckles, leaning back in his chair, probably noticing my heated cheeks.

"Seriously though, you are totally hot." At that moment I hear a small snap behind me. I turn around to see Wolf Boy staring down at his desk with his fists clenched so tight his knuckles are turning white. His blonde friend whispers something in his ear before he slowly unclenches his fists, releasing shards of pencil from his grasp. I wonder what that was about.

"Did he just crush a pencil with his bare hands?" Rose whispers beside me, having seen heard the snap as well.

"Yeah, I guess so," Carter says before turning back to face the front.

The rest of class goes by pretty quickly, with a little more paying attention being done.

○○○

Before I know it, I am sitting in the lunch room next to Rose. With Carter constantly talking to me and complimenting me, the day has gone by much faster. I think I like his presence.

"Can we sit here?" Carter says to Rose and me. I look up to see Carter along with two other boys. One is a boy with darker skin and a shining white smile, while the other has pale skin and dark hair. The latter boy smiles shyly while the other smiles at Rose with a sly wink.

"Erm, sure," I say.

"Oh! Uhmm, this is Shane," Carter says, pointing to the shy boy. "And this is Jack," he continues. This time pointing at the flirty boy.

"Pleasure," I say, nodding my head. They each take a seat across from us.

"So I heard Logan snapped a pencil one-handed this morning in English. That true?" Jack asks before stuffing the cafeteria pizza in his mouth.