The White Wolf (2020)

Chapter Twenty-Four

SYDNEY

After what felt like a never ending night of tossing, turning, tears, and a horrible ache in her stomach, morning finally came. She was resigned to going to school. A cynical part of her thought that that's what she gets for skipping school the day before.

Sydney knew that wasn't true though.

A piece of butter toast, a lazy attire composed of skinny jeans, a journalism hoodie, and a messy bun later, she was headed towards one of the last places she wanted to be.

The day was overcast mimicking her feelings for once. Seated in her Journalism class she was relieved to see that Mat had seemingly decided to take off from school. She knew she should feel guilty about that, but she had no clue what would even happen the next time they saw each other.

"Where's Mat? You two avoiding each other and not telling Meg and I what's going on between mom and dad?" Emmery swept into the seat beside her.

Tense, her first instinct was to ask if Meg and her knew what was going on, but quickly getting a hold of herself she knew that Mat wouldn't have told the two of them.

"Nope," the pop of the 'p' was pronounce. "Have you texted to check in on him?"

The dark manicured eyebrow of her friend curled upwards, "No, that's usually your job Syd."

"Oh," She shrugged, "Well maybe he is mad at me for skipping and wanted to get back at me, so maybe best bet's you text and check in on him." It was intended to sound sarcastic but it came out on a dead note.

Emmery frowned but pulled out her phone, "If you say so."

Thankfully class began, and Emmery only had the chance to say Mat's reply was 'taking a personal day.'

Lost in her thoughts, logging onto the schools computers, she scanned through her notes for edits she was intending to make.

"Sydney," Mr. Greg's voice interrupted her thought process, "are you and your group ready to head down to the English Department to get more interviews? I know they want every student interviewed, but then you and the rest of the Editorial staff can choose what students to narrow down and focus on."

Her stomach dropped. She completely forgot about the English Department projects.

With a dry mouth Sydney nodded. "Of course, sorry. Muscle memory going straight to the computer. I'm ready to go whenever everyone else is."

☽✣☾

Convincing herself that, much like last time, it was unlikely that she would be paired with Jay, and that, like Mat, he could've also been avoiding school.

A.K.A. Her.

A small flurry of conversation behind her though from a few of her fellow classmates reminded her that Jay and the team had a game that evening though. It wasn't mental gymnastics for her to figure it'd be unlikely that Jay'd be allowed to skip school and still show up game day ready.

So when she entered the classroom, Emmery talking at her side about the last debacle Meg had with her family, she was somewhat prepared to see Jay in the corner of the classroom, staring out the windows into the grey. She admired his profile as he propped his head up on his hand staring out the window lost in thought. Well he was until he lifted his head from its resting spot and his unique eyes quickly settled on her.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so defensive last night... so far Jay's been nothing but kind and considerate of the entire situation and while, yes, Mat's confession blindsided me it wasn't right for me to downplay Jay's concern...