Althena Book 2

4. First Day

Mike pulls me against him. "Go back to sleep, babygirl."

"I don't want to be late."

He rubs my back lightly. "It's 3 in the morning. And you set 4 alarms. I promise I won't let you oversleep."

He gives me a shower in the morning and helps with my hair.

"I'm tired."

"I knew you would be. You were up and down all night." He kisses my head. "Everything will be fine. Get your outfit on."

The uniform for the school is weird. It's black, white, and green. Then there are options for everything. Pants or skirt. Blouse or polo. Jacket or cardigan. Long socks or short socks. White shoes or black shoes. I thought uniforms were supposed to limit options.

I pick a black and white plaid skirt. It goes to my thigh. Then a black polo shirt. It's tight, but I guess it's supposed to be. Thigh high black socks. Then some plain black heels.

"You can wear heels?"

"Drogon said yes. The dress code only says black or white closed toe shoes. I would have picked white, but I don't have any white heels."

I sit at the table and Drogon kisses my head. "You need a cardigan, baby. You don't have to wear it, but you have to have it on you."

"That's dumb." Conner shakes his head. "Am I good?" He's basically wearing a black suit with a green tie.

"Yea, that's fine. Good job waking up."

"Can't play hockey if I don't go."

Drogon and Mike laugh then finish getting us fed and out the door. Conner makes me ride with him because I'm a jittery mess.

We get there early, and he takes me to the office. Mr. Penn hands us each a key. "Let's go find your lockers and make sure you can get in them."

I hold Conner's arm the whole way through the hallway. It's mostly empty and nobody seems to care. My locker is only a few down from his. I open my locker and nearly cry. For some reason, this wasn't real until now. I haven't had one of these in so long.

"You're alright, baby." Conner rubs my back.

"I have a locker."

"My school girl." He pulls me against him and hugs me. "Let's walk around and find your classrooms."

Mr. Penn hands us each a paper. "Thena, you have 4 classes in the morning. Then lunch at 12:00. The afternoon will be with tutors. You will be right beside the office for that. If you get lost, you can ask any of the teachers for directions. Conner, you have 4 classes in the morning. Then you can eat lunch at 12."

"Sounds good. Thank you."

"My pleasure. Also, you can eat breakfast in the cafeteria as well. They stop serving at 8. You need to be in your first classroom by 8:10."

I nod and try to swallow the tears. I have no idea why this is so emotional.

Conner puts his arm around me and pulls me down the hallway. "What's your first class?"

"General Science."

"Yea, they push science a lot in Darkburn. We weren't required as much in Crystal Falls. I had to take chemistry here. There I was done with science."

"I'll have to take chemistry next year?"

"That or biology. It's one or the other. They require 2 science classes to graduate. Alright, the classrooms are down these 2 hallways. But there's another level above us. See how science is 104?"

"Yea."

"1 is first level. All of yours are on the first level. That's easy. The classrooms are in order. 104, 110, and 117 are down this hallway with your locker in it. That's the easiest schedule I've ever seen. When I was a first-year student, every class I took was in a different hallway and on a different level. None of which were by my locker. I was always running everywhere."

"Where are your classes?"

"125. It's around the corner. 119 is right there. 240 and 235 are upstairs."

"We need to find your 4th class. Hey, what the hell is aud?" He grabs someone walking by and shows them.

"Choir is in the auditorium. It's across from the lunch room."

"Thank you."

"What do I take to the classes?"

"First day take a folder, paper, and some pencils."

"I didn't..."

"They're in your bookbag, woman. We didn't send you with nothing."

I get back in my locker and empty my bag. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, baby. If you need anything, go into the office and have Penn pull me out of class."

"What if it's a cuddle?"

"Then I'll come cuddle you. Let's go find the auditorium."

The cafeteria is at the end of the hallway. It's a big open area. It's going to be very hard to get lost here. "Will you eat lunch with me today?"

"Of course, baby. I'll eat with you every day if you want. There is the entrance to the auditorium. This cannot be any simpler."

"Yea, all my classes are right here."

"Let's see how the food works, while it's somewhat empty."

The place has a huge buffet. We get what we want, then type our locker numbers into a box.

"This whole place can't get any easier." He sits at an empty table.

I sit with him and nibble on some ham. "That was simple. Didn't even have to talk to anybody."

"You're not going to eat all that."

"I had to get something. I know you'll eat the meat."

He chuckles. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Lila pulls me up. "We don't eat here. You're confusing the losers. Come on."

Conner and I move over to the table Lila tells us to sit at.

Amber looks at us over her phone. "Why were you at the losers table?"

I shake my head. "We didn't know there was such a thing."

"Yea, don't sit there. We sit here."

Conner laughs. "Good to know."

Kristen sits down an entire plate of bacon. "The bacon is good today."

Amber eats a piece. "That is good."

"Can I sit here? None of my people eat breakfast here."

"Of course, Willow. Try the bacon."

"Try these pastries." She sits down an entire heaping plate of golf-ball sized dough balls covered in liquid sugar.

I try one. "Wow, that's a lot of sugar."

"They're good though."

Lila sits a serving bowl of fruit down. Everyone picks at that too.

A couple of Conner's teammates come over and sit with him. They make fun of all the food on the table, then eat it.

Someone says, "10 minutes. We should probably go to class."

I stand up. "I'm going home. It was nice seeing you all again."

Lila shakes her head. "No. It's not time for that yet."

I try to run for it and Conner's got his arm around me. He's not letting me run. He walks me to my locker. Hands me some stuff then walks me to my classroom.

"Welcome, Althena. You can sit anywhere you want."

Some kids are already there. I go for the exit door.

Conner picks me up and carries me to the classroom. He puts me at a desk and sits my s**t in front of me. "Now you sit here." He shrugs his shoulders at the teacher. "She goes by Thena. I'll be back by the end of class. Don't let her leave and if she escapes, tell Penn to pull me out of class. I'll find her."

Her eyebrows are stuck up. "That sounds like a plan."

He nods and leaves.

I stare at the door until a bell rings. Then 3 guys tackle each other coming in.

"And now we have everybody. I'm Mrs. McBride. I teach general science. If that's not what you're taking, you're in the wrong room. Today, we're going to move to the lab cubical in the back of the room. Go back there and pair up. 2 people to each lab cubical."

I could cry again. This is horrible. I check the door and the teacher is right in front of it. She's smiling at me. Exit is not an option.

The guy in front of me stands up and turns around. "Will you be my lab partner?"

"Yes." Every muscle in my body relaxes.

He laughs and helps me up. We pick the very back lab room. It's a table with a fake wall around it. "Why were you so relieved?"

"I don't know anybody here."

"They're all Freshmen. I'm a junior."

"Me too."

"Do you hate science too? I have put this off as long as I could."

I remember what Conner said. "No. In Crystal Falls, science credits weren't required. But I doubt I'll be any good. I've never taken a science class."

"Damn. Never?"

"No."

"We'll figure it out. Or fail and do it again next year."

I laugh as the teacher passes out stuff. "This bottle is full of sand, salt, and iron shavings. You are free to leave when they are separated into individual piles."

"It's going to take a while to separate."

He nods. "We'll be free to leave tomorrow." He looks at it from different angles. "How the hell?"

I jump up and down. "Salt melts."

"It melts?"

"Like in water."

"Dissolve. That's a good one. And I bet iron is magnetic." He goes through a couple of drawers and pulls out a magnet. He turns it on and mixes it in the jar. The iron sticks to it.

I put a white paper down, and he turns the magnet off over it. It lands on the paper. "We are so smart."

"Yep."

"I have an idea. Put the sand and salt in a filter. Then run water over it, back into the jar. The salt and water will be in there. The sand will be on the filter."

"Perfect."

The teacher peeks her head in for a second. "You 2 are fast. I do not want water in the salt though. You'll have to make that go away."

He lays the wet sand on the table, and we stare at the jar for a minute. I shrug my shoulders. "Can we boil it? I don't know what salt does boiled."

"Let's try. I can't think of anything else to try." He pulls out a hot plate.

We watch it boil for a while and make small talk.

"Are you in any sports?"

"Basketball. Let me guess. You're in choir?"

"Yep. How did you know?"

"You look like a choir girl."

"Good. Maybe I'll fit in."

Mrs. McBride comes in. "Good job. Let me get that. We're going to continue with it tomorrow. So it needs to sit here and dry some more. You're free to go."

I get my stuff and go to my locker. I'm not sure what to do for 15 minutes. Conner finds me after 10. "Did you escape?"

"No. I got out early. I don't know what to do."

"Go to the bathroom. Get a drink. Clean your locker. How did class go?"

"Fine. We did well. Had to separate some stuff."

"And you didn't even run. Good job, baby." He kisses my head and hugs me. "What's next?"

"Algebra."

The bell rings and we're flooded with people. He walks me to class. I go in myself this time.

I make it to my last class and go to the auditorium. There's a stage with a bunch of seating in the room. There are risers on the stage. She makes us stand on those and sing. Lila is in choir with me. We stand together.

She lets us out a few minutes early for lunch. Which is good. I'm starving. It's set up like breakfast. It's a huge buffet. I get food and put my locker number in. Then Lila and I sit at our table.

Conner joins us after a minute. "You get out early for lunch. That'll be nice."

"It's amazing."

"You're in choir too?"

"Yep. It's an easy A. Helps keep the GPA up."

"Smart."

"What class are you in to get out early?"

"Penn's gave me passes to get out early every class for the week. And go in late every class for the week."

"Why?"

"You kept trying to run away."

"Sorry."

"It's alright. I'm glad you're getting it now. But I need to go to work."

"Work can wait. You need to eat, or you'll miss your lunch break and not be able to."

"That's true. I'll grab something." He kisses my head and goes to get some food.

Lila watches him walk away. "So, are you dating him?"

"He's my mate."

She about chokes. "For real? How did you find out?"

"Witches can do a blood test. We came back as soulmates."

"What about Drogon?"

"I'll tell you later."

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Amber jumps up and down. "My morning schedule is so easy. I'll be right back." She runs off.

Conner sits back down. "The food is good here."

All of a sudden, the place gets so loud. People are everywhere. The girls from our cheer team sit around us.

"Conner, you a cheerleader now?" One of the hockey guys smirks.

"I guess so."

"Look at this." Lila shows Amber her phone.

"I don't trust anybody to hold me up by an ankle."

"But it looks cool." She points it at me. One girl is holding another up by her foot while she does a cheer kick.

Conner laughs. "You'll break your ankle and not be able to cheer all season."

She drops her phone. "Never mind."

He kisses me on the head. "I'm going to work. Let's make sure you know where you're going."

We swing by my locker then go to the office.

Mr. Penn smiles at me. "Didn't run away. Good job. You're going to be with Mrs. Crew or Mr. Alan. They do tutoring one door to the left."

"Thank you." Conner pulls me out and takes me next door.

"Welcome, Thena. I'm Mrs. Crew. I'm going to be one of your tutors. The tutoring is going to be a mix of things. We're going to make sure you're good for the testing at the end of the year. We'll also help you with any homework you have from your morning classes. Make sure you bring it with you."

"Ok. I didn't have any today."

"That's fine. We'll find stuff to do. You'll still have breaks between classes as well. You're not going to be locked in here all afternoon. So, don't worry about that."

"Oh good."

Conner laughs and kisses my head. "I'm leaving, baby. I'll be back after school for practice."

I give him a hug. "See you then."

"What is this?" She stares at us.

"He's my mate."

"Mate?"

Conner checks his phone. "Yes. The witches have a blood test. We're soulmates."

"You're going to want to be careful. You can get detentions and things for mate activities in school. Does Mr. Penn know?"

"Yes." Conner puts his phone away.

I crack up laughing. "Mate activities."

She nods. "I couldn't think of another way to say it. Anyway, have fun at work. We're going to start on some graphs."

"Sounds good." He kisses my head and runs out the door.

I follow her into a cubicle and three hours of boredom begins.