I could feel someone jabbing my side, but my body was too tense and stiff. I feel so drained and dead, like I have run a marathon even though I hadn’t. I could not understand why I was so tired when all I did after lunch was eat with Tyrelle.
“Gabriella.” I could hear Tyrelle calling for me as he tried to shake me awake. Because of his continuous pestering, my body slowly started to awaken. I began to feel the stiffness of my neck from the position that I was in.
Wait. Position? Where am I exactly?
In my haste to find out where I was, I abruptly lifted my head while lights danced in front of my eyes. I started to blink rapidly until my vision slowly started to clear.
“Well, it looks like Miss Gabriella finally decides to join us. Welcome back.” Someone spoke before me. It was our professor in literature who eyed me with distaste. “If my lecture bore you so much, you can leave, you know.” She says.
Before anyone could laugh at me, Tyrelle spoke up to defend me. “Miss Claire, due to recent attacks, Gabriella is still under medication, which makes her tired all the time. I don’t think that it is fair if you hold her responsible for falling asleep due to the influence of her medication, don’t you?” His challenge made everyone silent that even Miss Claire bit the inside of her cheeks.
Tyrelle’s claims were a lie, but only he and I know about it - and maybe other wolves in his pack. But it was enough for the professor to contemplate her actions.
“Well then, I guess that I would have you teach her the topics that she slept on, Mr. Gridon.” She says.
“It’s no problem at all because I plan on doing that already.” He said that with so much poise and confidence, it was hard to doubt him. Miss Claire raised her brow skeptically at him before she went back to writing on the board.
I waited for a couple of seconds before turning to Tyrelle. “Hey, thanks for the cover-up.”
Werewolf boy waited for a few seconds before casting me a side glance and then smirked. “I never knew that you were the type of person to sleep after you finish a meal.” There was something about how Tyrelle says the words that made me think that he was teasing me.
“I take it back. I am not thankful at all.” I grunted and folded my arms while slumping into my seat. The vacant seat at my side caught my attention, that I turned to it. That seat was the same one that Aelric took from my old seatmate, but now it was empty. “Where is he?” I unconsciously asked Tyrelle.
“Where is who?” Tyrelle asks without looking at me. He was busy jotting down every note that our professor wrote on the board.
“Aelfric,” I answered him. “Didn’t he attend he attend classes earlier?” I wonder.
At this point, Tyrelle turned to me with a weirded-out expression. “I haven’t seen the guy since the first period. Why do you ask?” He turned to me at the last question with his brow raised in question.
“Nothing. I was just-”
“Miss Gabriella and Mr. Tyrelle,” Miss Claire turned away from the board so she could look at us. It was clear that her face was telling me that she was holding back just to not yell at us. “If you two have more important and more pressing matters to discuss, I suggest you two to leave and continue your discussion elsewhere. That way, you won’t have to disrupt the class.”
Is it really that bad that I wanted to tell her that no one was paying attention in her class? But, of course, I didn't tell her because I didn't want to put us in any more trouble.
“No, ma’am,” I answered.
“We’re sorry, miss Claire. It won’t happen again.” Unlike me, Tyrelle was more level-headed when he answered her. If it weren’t for his status as the Alpha’s son and his family being influential people, I figured that we might be in more trouble than we really were.
Miss Claire frowned at us like she was to say something but decided at the last second not to. She was left with no other choice but to look back to her board and continue writing and explaining the lessons.
Since neither I nor Tyrelle wanted to get into any more trouble, we decided to stop talking after that and try to listen to her lectures. I saw Tyrelle picking up his phone from his pocket at the corner of my eyes. There was a deep frown in them when he read something on the screen. When he pockets the phone, the frown remains.
I wanted to ask him what it was, but I figured that Miss Claire might lecture us again, and we might get detention.
After literature, Tyrelle and I continued to head into class together, but still, there were no signs of the hybrid anywhere which was getting weird. We were already at two more classes after literature. It was an odd feeling that I had not heard my name being called in such a weird way, but at the same time, it was a relief.
“Hey,” Classes were already over. Tyrelle and I planned to head for the Doctor to get the kitten and thank him for all of his help. I also heard that Tyrelle would give the witch doctor a raise for his services. I didn’t respond the first time that Tyrelle called for my attention, which ended up in him grabbing my wrist gently. We both came to a stop in the middle of the hallway.
“You need something, Tyrelle?” I ask him, to which he responds with a nod.
“Yeah. Sort of.” He replied. He was looking at the ground in a nervous state. “I-It’s my dad. He’s been bugging me to invite you over to dinner. Trust me, I tried so hard to keep him out of our…relationship deal, and I gave him a lot of excuses to keep him at bay. But right now, I don’t think that he’s going to buy my excuses anymore. Do you think you can spare some time and have dinner with us for one night?”
If I were being honest, I would shut him down in a snap of my fingers. Unfortunately, we have a deal. And I am not the type of person to just abandon our agreement. That would simply make me a jerk.
I let out a long breath through my nose and gave him a nod. “Sure. Just text me when.”
I did not miss the look of relief on his face when he heard my confirmation. Is that why he was so anxious all this time? It’s because he wanted to ask to eat dinner with him and his father?
“Come, Gabriella. Let’s see Doctor Kusher before it gets a little late.” Tyrelle smiles when he offers me his hand. One brief look at it, and I subconsciously pictured out a different hand that was offered to me.
I gasped, horrified that I would even think of that person’s hand that I immediately grasped Tyrelle’s outstretched hand firmly. Something was wrong with me, and I could not figure out why. Why the hell am I thinking of Aelfric? Wasn’t the purpose of me agreeing to fake date Tyrelle was to keep Aelfric away?
It must be fatigue that was blurring out my senses.
I started to follow Tyrelle back to the school clinic, where we found doctor Kusher talking to a girl I am familiar with. It was Julie, and she had the kitten in her arms. The kitten lifts up its head. As soon as it saw me, it meowed and hopped off of Julie’s arms and ran towards me. Before I could bend and pick it up, it jumped in my arms.
When Julie saw us, she gaped, “Gabriella?” She spoke my name like I wasn’t there. Then, she returns her gaze to Doctor Kusher. “That’s the person you were talking about that got near this kitten? Only her?”
I was perplexed with their conversation, but something tells me that there were talking about me long before Tyrelle and I arrived at the scene. Tyrelle managed to sense this as well because he took a step forward and addressed the two.
“Doctor Kusher, do you mind explaining what this is all about? Why are you with…this girl? She threw salt at me.” He said and glowered at her.
Julie looked like she was going to make a snide remark until Doctor Kusher pushed her back. “Young Lord, she’s my niece. Her name is Julie, and she’s a witch in training.”
“YOU’RE A WITCH!?” I gapped at my lunch buddy in disbelief. Now that I think about it, she does read an awful lot of weird books. I sort of remember the time she told me about the ingredients of a love potion. Thinking about it made me shiver.
Julie’s face was expressionless when she turned to me. “I’m sorry, Gabriella. There’s a rule in our coven not to reveal ourselves to humans, so I didn’t think there would be any significance for me to reveal myself to you. That is, until now.”
“Until now?” Tyrelle was the one who questioned her. By now, he was slightly covering me from their gazes and stood close by my side. He turned to Doctor Kusher. “What does she mean by that?”
I feel like I was missing some crucial parts of the conversation because either I misunderstood something or Julie assumed that I was something more than a human.
The witch Doctor looked slightly troubled. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses before he spoke to Tyrelle. “My Lord, I tried to tell you earlier. My potions cannot heal at the rate that miss Gabriella’s wounds would vanish overnight. No witches in our coven are capable of such powerful magic alone. I already had some doubts about it when I heard the news of her recovery. At first, I assumed that there was a possibility that she could be a dormant werewolf. But a werewolf cannot pass their healing magic to other creatures.” His eyes landed on the kitten in my arms, who was now snuggling as it fell asleep.
I could not speak as I was at a loss for words. Two pairs of eyes were already making me uncomfortable, but when there’s three of them? It just makes me want to crawl into the nearest cabinet and hide.
“Doctor Kusher, are you telling me that Gabriella isn’t entirely human?” Tyrelle gulped and whispered. I was thankful that Tyrelle was here so he could do all the talking for me.
Doctor Kusher nodded and turned to Julie. Julie understood his gaze. It was now her turn to talk. “Gabriella, you’re not human. You’re a witch. A powerful one that needs to train.”