Chapter 27

After what happened with Victor the previous day, I was in a sour mood the next day at school. But Werewolf History class made my day a nightmare.

I had been looking forward to the class all morning. The chance to be in the same room as William raised my spirits a little. But my mood took a turn off a cliff soon after the class started.

William smiled when he entered the room and saw me at my usual desk. I smiled back when he sat at the desk to my left.

“How are you doing?” William asked me.

“I …I’m good,” I said and smiled.

Miss Grant, the teacher, stopped any more conversation between us when she demanded everyone’s attention.

“Yesterday, I told you to read and study chapter twenty-three in your textbooks,” Miss Grant announced. “Today, I want you to write a short report on the chapter's highlights.”

She handed out blank sheets of paper and said, “You have a one-half hour, and then we’ll go over some of them in class. Any questions?” When no one raised their hand, she said, “Begin.”

Chapter twenty-three was one of my favorites. It covered the beginning of modern werewolf society and how our current government was formed.

I skimmed the chapter to ensure I had the correct dates and began. My report needed to be good. When Miss Grant handed them back, it would be awesome to have William see a fantastic grade on my paper.

I wrote three paragraphs before I realized I had skipped an essential section on the early days of the formation of The United Association of Alphas.

I started over on a fresh sheet and let the words flow from my pen. I write much better than I speak, and I soon filled the page with important facts and the names of the alliance's founding members.

One of the surnames was Wilson. I knew from Alex this man was my ancestor.

Soon, I raised my hand to let Miss Grant know I was finished. She came to me and took my paper before returning to her desk. Then I waited quietly for the others in my class to finish.

Before long, Miss Grant had everyone’s paper. One of them was waiting on her desk by itself. She picked it up and smiled at me.

“Daisy,“ she said. “Your paper is excellent. Would you please come up here?”

My stomach dropped. I hated standing in front of the class. Hopefully, she just wanted to hand me back my paper. But when I got up there, I discovered she had a more horrifying idea.

“Would you please share your paper with the class?” It wasn’t a request.

I shook my head.

“Daisy, read your report to the class,“ Miss Grant repeated.

I had no choice but to try. I began reading aloud. “In eight …eighteen fuh …fuh … fifty-three, the …the res …resolution pah …pah …passed the fah …first cuh …cuh …counsel.

“Oh, geez, “ a girl’s voice in the back of the room said. “It’s going to take her all day to read that.”

The class erupted in laughter.

“Dah …dah …Daisy can’t read,” a boy said, causing more laughter.

“How did a dummy like her write that report by herself?” Another whispered to a friend.

Humiliation coursed through me. My face flamed with embarrassment, and my tears made the words on the page in front of me blurry.

“Class,” Miss Grant said. “Be kind.“ She turned to me. “Daisy, please continue. You can do it.”

I blinked away a few tears and tried to pick up where I’d stopped. But I felt like I was being tortured. Why was Miss Grant doing this to me?

“The cuh …cuh …council vah …voted u … u…unanimously to a …a …adopt…”

“Oh, come on,” a voice groaned.

I crumpled my report and went to my desk to grab my things before running out the door. The humiliation was too much to bear.

I went up to the roof and sat by myself. Why couldn’t I speak normally? I hated making a fool of myself in front of everyone. I had no doubt the whole school would hear of it.

I didn’t know how long I was on the roof when I heard the door to the stairwell open. Maybe Amy had heard what happened and knew I would be up here.

But the footsteps approaching me belonged to someone larger and heavier than my best friend.

I looked up and saw Victor walking toward me. Great, the person I made a fool of myself with the last time I saw him. Ugh. I can’t believe I thought he was going to kiss me.

“Wah …what are you …you duh …doing here?” I asked.

Did it have anything to do with what happened the other day? Maybe he could tell I thought he was going to…kiss me.

After he rushed out of the mansion, I knew I was wrong. He wouldn’t hit on me like that. Victor liked beautiful women, not geeks like me. Sometimes, I could be such an idiot.

“Well, Daisy. You aren’t the same unimportant girl that you used to be. The principal pays a lot of attention to you since you were bullied in school the last time,” Victor said.

“He called your father and told him you had a bad experience in a class. And he told him that you were so upset that you ran out of the classroom, and they didn’t know where you went.”

I was relieved that he wasn’t here because I thought he was going to kiss me. I didn’t want to talk about it. It was embarrassing. “But why …why did you come?”

“Alex was so worried that I told him I would find you and take you home,” Victor said. “Your teacher told me what happened, and your little friend Amy told me where I would probably find you. Now, I’d like you to tell me what happened.”

“I …I had to read a report in front of the class,” I said, again wondering why talking to Victor was easier than with anyone else.

“Miss Grant told me about that. She said you had a difficult time reading aloud.”

I snorted. “I stuttered and stammered and made a fool of myself. And I did it in front of William.”

Victor chuckled. “It’s not the end of the world, Daisy. William already knew you stutter.”

“Don’t laugh at me,” I said. “Everyone laughs at me.” I stood and wiped my eyes again. “You don’t understand. There’s something worse than William watching me humiliate myself today…”

“What is it?” Victor asked.

“I…always wanted to be a lawyer, one who would work for Betas and Omegas in need.”

“That’s a lot of hard work…and won’t earn you a lot, especially if you work for Betas and Omegas.” Victor’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “With your father’s money, why do you want to put yourself through all that work and time in law school?”

“With my father’s money, I wouldn’t need to charge my clients anything to help them,” I replied. “I’ve always wanted to do something like this, even when I was just plain poor Beta, Daisy.”

I wiped away more tears with the back of my hand. “I was just fooling myself. I can’t be a lawyer when I can’t talk every time I’m the least bit nervous.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want to do with your life?“ Victor asked.

“What difference does it make? It’s impossible. I would probably make a fool of myself the first day of law school. And I’m tired of people laughing at me for something I can’t help!”

My temper flared, remembering the laughter and mocking voices of my classmates. None of them understood what it was like to have a mind full of ideas and not be able to speak.

“Stuttering is like a prison for my mind,” I mumbled.

I turned away from Victor and looked out over the empty football field.

Victor put a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know what you’re going through, but there must be a way to overcome your stuttering.”

I shook my head. It was a hopeless situation. “Victor, would you please take me home before everybody else gets out of school?“ I asked. “I don’t want to see any of the other kids yet.“

“Sure,“ Victor said and offered me his arm. “And even though I do not totally understand your insistence on being a lawyer, there is one thing I do know. “

“Don’t give up on your dream. There is always a way for you to accomplish something if you want it badly enough.”