Chapter 35

Rowena

The light from my desk lamp was all that illuminated the room as I hunched over my textbooks. Soft music was playing through my headphones, and I hummed to myself as I flipped to the next page.

Ever since I was in high school, studying had strangely become a sort of comfort for me.

When I couldn’t physically keep up with the other kids who had their wolves, I would instead turn to my studying. It initially started out as a way to try and improve myself and prove them all wrong, but now it was more of a habit than anything else.

And truthfully, I already knew everything I needed to know in this chapter of my textbook; I just needed something, anything, to help calm my nerves after what had happened at that party earlier.

However, my studying was abruptly brought to an end when I suddenly felt warm hands reach around my head and pull off my headphones.

“Studying on a Saturday night?” Eric asked, smirking down at me.

I spun around on my chair and grabbed my headphones from his hands. “You could have knocked,” I said.

“I did. Your music was too loud.”

“Sorry,” I said with a sigh. I set my headphones down on the desk and passed a hand over my weary face. “I guess I didn’t realize.”

“Makes sense. It was a pretty big day for you,” Eric said, walking over to my bed and sitting down on the edge. “Which do you want to talk about first: your victory in the swimming pool or the fact that you saved that guy’s life?”

As Eric spoke, I felt my face redden beneath his gaze. We hadn’t talked about either of those things yet, and honestly I didn’t know how to feel. It wasn’t… often that people noticed anything except my shortcomings.

“Well, the swimming competition was one thing,” I said, rising from my chair and walking over to sit next to him on the bed. “The accident with that warrior, well… I just had to act. It all feels like a blur now.”

Eric listened intently, leaning back on one elbow so that his blond hair fell down across his shoulder. He had just showered, and his hair was a bit damp with small curls strewn throughout it.

“You know I’m proud of you, right?” he suddenly said.

My eyes widened. “You—what?” I asked.

He nodded. “I’m proud of you, Rowena. Seriously. Not just for getting over your fear of swimming and standing up for yourself today, but… you did good. You kept your cool, spoke up when you needed something, and acted fast.”

I didn’t know what to say. Hearing Eric utter these words was oddly far more comforting than I had ever anticipated, and it was only now that I realized that I had been missing this for a long, long time.

“Wow, um… Thanks,” I said with a half-smile. “That means a lot.”

Eric smiled and sat up, running a hand through his hair. “I’m really glad you were there,” he said. “And I guess I learned a lesson, too. I took it way too far in that fight, and I should’ve been paying more attention.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault. No one could have known that would happen.”

Now, for the first time that night, Eric was the one who looked surprised. For a few moments, he just looked at me, his lips slightly parted as though he was about to say something.

But no words ever came out.

He simply stood, ruffled my hair, and walked out of my room.

…

I chewed the inside of my cheek as I turned away from the buffet, looking around at the bustling cafeteria. This was always my least favorite part of the day: trying to find a place to eat my lunch.

In a cafeteria as crowded as this one, I would have expected that I would be able to make some friends by now. But unfortunately, that hadn’t been the case. Ever since Heather had booted me out of the main manager’s office and decided that she hated me, I had been eating alone.

Although, I had been eating alone for most of my life—hence the book tucked under my arm in preparation for a lonely lunch.

It was just as I was walking to my usual corner table, though, that I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned, wondering if maybe I had dropped something, to find a girl about my age smiling at me.

“Are you Rowena?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Er—Yes,” I said, albeit a bit warily. It wasn’t often that people walked up to me like this, and I had learned years ago to assume that people were up to something when they suddenly wanted to socialize.

“I’m Megan.” The girl stuck out her hand and grinned at me. I shook it hesitantly. “I’m Adam’s girlfriend,” she explained. “You know, the guy whose life you saved at the pool party?”

My eyes widened as recognition dawned on me. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I was so out of it, I didn’t see anyone’s faces.”

“That’s okay!” Megan giggled, then pointed at a table off to the side, where a group of other students was sitting. “I actually wanted to ask if you’d like to sit with us.”

“Oh, uh…” I froze, looking down at my tray of food and then the book under my arm. This was a first, to say the least.

“I mean, if you prefer sitting alone, that’s fine too,” she began, but I quickly cut her off with a shake of my head.

“No, I… I’d love to sit with you guys,” I breathed, the words tumbling out faster than I meant.

“Awesome!” Megan led me over to the table where the others were sitting, and I was shocked to see a group of smiling faces look up at me. She introduced me to them as I sat, and then I saw him: Adam.

“Hey,” he said, reaching across the table to shake my hand. “I’m Adam. I don’t know if you got my name.”

I swallowed hard. Adam looked a little pale and worse for wear with a bandage around his shoulder and chest where the drain tube had gone in, but he was… alive. And smiling.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” I managed through the lump that formed in my throat.

Adam grinned and patted his chest where the bandage sat. “I was pretty much better by the time I got to the hospital,” he said. “Thanks to you.”

“You seriously saved his life.” Megan sat on her boyfriend’s lap and kissed his temple, ruffling his hair. “Really, thank you.”

“O-Oh, I mean, it was nothing—”

“Don’t say that. You saved my life.” Adam pointed his fork at me, grinned, and popped a steamed carrot into his mouth before continuing. “Have you considered trying out for the championships?”

“My name is actually on the ballot,” I said.

Everyone’s eyes widened. “Seriously?” Adam asked. “I didn’t—”

“It’s right below Heather’s,” I said with a soft smile. “And my office is just down the hall from the main manager’s office. I’m always open for new patients, if you ever need anything.”

Adam, Megan, and all of their friends looked at each other before Megan suddenly stood, placing her hands on her hips.

“Come on, guys,” she said. “We have to go vote for Rowena.”

My eyes went as wide as saucers and I watched as, one by one, they all got up and made their way over to the voting area near the front door. I couldn’t believe it; they were really voting for me? I wondered how close I was to beating Heather by now.

Speak of the devil…

As I watched Adam and his friends cast their ballots in my name, I saw Heather saunter past. Our eyes met from across the room, and in that moment, I saw the hatred in her gaze.

Pure, seething hatred.