The Shadow of Stars

One

"Athena Josie Mennison if you don't get your but down those stairs right now I am going to come up there with a bucket of ice water and don't think i don't mean it!" I shoot up in my bed, my eyes cracking wide open as I look at the clock on my night stand.

"Shit, shit, shit," I mumble, throwing the duvet off my legs and clambering in my sleepy haze to a safe distance from my door. "Yep! Yep I'm up!" I yell back and groan loudly, moving to grab my cell phone only to find it completely dead. I frown and look at the switch on the wall turned off and instead of getting overly upset about it I just yank out the adapter and throw it into my school bag, the new books and pens already stacked neatly inside.  I'm not usually late, ever. Being late attracts attention, attention attracts unwanted people and unwanted people are never pleasant to deal with. I show up ten minutes before the first bell, walk at a mediocre pace to my locker then to my first class and arrive just as the class begins to slowly fill.

If I could stay home and just start over again tomorrow I would but given the tone of my mothers voice, that isn't an option. Not to mention the fact that Henry is most definitely loosing his mind waiting for me to walk to school.

I practically jump into my pair of skinny jeans and fumble around for a pair of bras, the only pair left in my drawer being a rather exposing red lace, the price tag still attached after months of sitting there unused. Without wasting another second I tie my ratty hair into a bun, concealing the many knots that formed from my constant stirring in the night and slip on a sweater before grabbing my bag and walking over to the small latch in the corner of my room.

Living in an attic might sound drab and something similar to what a child of neglect might have to face but it really isn't all that bad. As a self-declared introvert, living a ladder away from a noisy family is a blessing. Besides, loft living in an apartment is basically like living in a penthouse which is what Henry and I have unofficially dubbed it. The penthouse, or 'pent' for short. Lame, I know, but it helps.

Of course this room used to be good for simply collecting dust but after my twin siblings were born there was simply no space downstairs for me to comfortably live so my parents used their initiative and voila. I shout "Heads!" Before letting the ladder retract until it hits the floor with a thud and I clamber down, pulling a string and setting it back, fastening it and moving hurriedly into the living room. It's a cramped apartment, one that was assigned to us when the reform began in the packs but it was so much better than what we used to live in.

My little sister runs past me in a giggling storm and jumps right into the arms of my dad who spins her around. He is dressed in his construction uniform having just come off a morning shift down at the docks and he smiles and pats me on the head as I walk past.

"Hey kiddo, you better get heading out that door soon or you'll be late for school," he points out and I grumble an incoherent mess back, still too tired to string my words together.

"Bye!" I yell into the house, grabbing my packed lunch from the counter and walking up to the door.

"Hey! Remember the rules?" My mom asks and I spin around to find her stood in the hall next to my dad, both of them holding a child as they stare at me with seriousness. My moms curly brown hair sits like a birds nest atop her head in a bun and the tired lines on her still beautiful face aren't visible in the morning light.

"Keep my head down, don't talk to any wolves, be home by nine." I repeat for what has to be the hundredth time and walk out of the door into the corridor, the walls effectively muffling any further comments they'd have to make. New year, same parents.

They seemed to miss the whole purpose of our Alpha's speech at the beginning of the assimilation attempts when my human school was merged with that of the wolves in a test trial that has yet to end. All they heard was that their daughter was going to be put in a classroom that held both species and it was enough to make them panic.