THE THREE MOONS PACK

“Are you all right, young lady?” It was like looking at the woman leaning over me through the bottom of a plastic bottle. From what I saw, she looked pretty. I blinked several times. Ouch! What was this pain in my skull? Did a sadistic woodpecker settle there without my knowledge? I could see her open white blouse over a purple T-shirt and jeans. I didn’t answer right away. Because obviously, I wasn’t doing well. What had happened? Another person came into view. Tall. Tall. Tall. He easily surpassed the one I assumed was the school nurse by three heads. “Is she still out?” asked the super-tall guy. The super-pretty nurse nodded and smiled at me. “I already told you and your friends not to play football near the school entrance.” Super-tall-guy looked irritated. I noticed that these two had the same caramel blond hair. “She’s so tiny. She’s not likely to have a concussion or anything like that?” Super-pretty-nurse chuckles. “No, but a nice bump, that’s for sure. You and Erwan won’t be able to avoid a visit to Principal Homont. Koran, you really need to be careful...” So, his name was Koran. “I’m fine,” I said, straightening up on the bed I was on. Did I own that hoarse, slurred voice? Oh! A morning hangover without even the pleasure of drinking a single glass of alcohol. The so-called Koran leaned over super-pretty-nurse a little more. This guy didn’t look like a student. He had a hard face, too mature for his seventeen years. Hard, but with undeniable charm. Especially his milk chocolate eyes. “If she can look at me without too much trouble, we can forget the concussion,” Koran mumbled. Okay. We can’t be handsome and nice. Mother Nature has her own set of rules to follow. “I’m not looking at you Hulk...” I growled as I swung my legs off the bed. Super-pretty-nurse moved out of the way, followed by the blond moron. “What did she call me?” “Hulk.” “Hulk?!” “Yes, you know... the superhero who turns into a green giant when he farts or freaks out or something. I think she means you lift weights.” “I don’t lift weights!” “That’s between you and your gym partner, sweetie.” Despite myself, I held my breath under the fire of his dark chocolate eyes. Is it possible to kill with a murderous look? Because that’s exactly what the infamous Koran seemed to want to try right now. “Well, she’s alive and whole. I’ll go with Erwan to Homont.” He turned away, walked towards the door, and stopped just before leaving, one hand on the handle. There, he swivelled to face us again. “Linie... She smells funny.” And with these last words, he left the infirmary. I have a funny smell? Automatically, I tried to discreetly sniff my rebel T-shirt to the glory of the rock group Muse. No, I smelled nothing but my favourite organic Vanilla Island deodorant. “I guess you’re Elizabeth Barrem? The new kid we’ve been waiting for...” I nodded. “Well, that’s what’s called a smashing entrance.” I was still staring at the door that had closed on the blond giant. Linie smiled at me before gently pressing my painful skull. “Don’t mind my brother, he’s always in a terrible mood, whether it’s morning, noon or evening, whether he’s hungry or not. The instructions are as follows: if you feel nauseous or about to faint, it’s direct to the infirmary. Okay?” “Okay.” I looked up at the nurse. Her brother? This explained the strange hair resemblance. “I’ll give you a note to excuse your delay… Do you have your schedule? I…” She was interrupted by the furious entrance of a teenager almost as tall as Koran but much less massive. He wore a black T-shirt, a leather biker jacket, and baggy holey jeans. His eyes were as dark as his shaggy hair. He could be in the wickedly handsome bad boy category without that angry facial tension. “Where is she, the disabled girl?!” His angry eyes turned to me. Awesome. I had just arrived and managed to antagonise two guys with a bad temper. Attractive... but not embodied with the joy of life, if you want my opinion. “One, I’m not disabled, two, I’m here and I have a name, Beth, short for Elizabeth.” Frankly, I was proud of my icy voice. A hint of disdain... perfect. “Erwan...” began Linie with a warning tone. “You knocked this poor girl out. The least you could do is apologize and not bark at her.” Erwan stiffened under the reprimand before rushing over to me. He came to within about twenty centimetres and lifted his nose as if... as if he were sniffing me! “Who are you? You smell so f*****g weird!” I choked on my saliva. “And you sure know how to talk to a woman!” “Woman?” he repeated with a strange grin. He took his time to look me over from head to toe, lingering a little too much on my virtually non-existent chest. You might as well tell it like it is. Which made me blush. “Yeah, clearly, you’re still a long way from a woman... Baby would suit you better.” “Erwan!” Linie scolded. “If you have nothing better to do, I suggest you run along.” “I’d love to, but Homont ordered me to show the school to… Baby. First punishment of a long list.” “My name isn’t Baby!” “Well, now it is.” I was out of my mind, even if I refused to admit that without his furious expression, Erwan was really, really cute. “That’s the art room, and that’s all your subject classrooms,” the young man mumbled, handing me my schedule. As I looked at the classroom door numbered 403 B, Erwan pulled me by the collar to get my attention. “This way, Baby. I’ll show you some places where you have to play by the rules.” I followed him to the inner courtyard. We crossed it to an exercise area, out of sight of the rest of the white stucco building. There he took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. “Have you ever been told it’s bad for your health?” I asked. He gave me an amused smile. “Baby is against tobacco?” I glared at him before putting my backpack at my feet. “I told you not to call me that!” Erwan stared at me with his dark eyes while inhaling a puff and exhaling through his nostrils. “Little chick... that’s cool too.” Suddenly, something strange happened. As if a hot wind was spinning around me, hardly fiercer than a breeze but strangely dense. Erwan gave me a smile that I found both fascinating and scary. The phenomenon suddenly stopped. I felt I could breathe normally again. “Baby... the school is divided into two groups. And if you don’t intend to join one or the other, try to blend in. The courtyard is ours, Bhrean. As for the bike parking area, that’s the Leirighs. Wonderful. A high school ravaged by a gang war! “Understood,” I said, annoyed. “I’ll stay away from these two places.” The teenager threw his cigarette butt with a flick. “Come closer.” “What?” My voice had risen into the treble. Erwan showed an amused smile. “I’ll not eat you. Frankly, I’ll break a fang on your bones.” “Oh, but what do you want?” I squeaked. He was leaning against the wall, one leg bent and one foot against the stone, hands in his pockets, in a cool pose. “Come closer, I said. I want to show you something.” I advanced cautiously, stopping at what I thought was a reasonable distance. With a quick gesture, he reached out to grab me and pressed me against him at a speed that made me dizzy. He smelled like a forest. Pines and moss. A funny scent for a bad boy dressed in leather. “Let go of me!” I told him, trying to shake off his embrace. Erwan had a kind of laugh halfway between a grunt and a chuckle. His arms enclosed my waist with surprising strength. “Go ahead... rub up against me, Baby. You make it easy for me.” I looked at him as if he’d just grown a second head. “You’re a very sick boy!” The more I tried to struggle, the more he tightened his grip. I would have given him a knee in a strategic location if I had enough space. “Can you tell me what you’re doing, Erwan?” I stiffened. This masculine voice wasn’t unknown to me. As Erwan slowly relaxed his embrace, I jumped away from him, slightly out of breath. “I’m sparing her a difficult choice, Koran.” Erwan seemed to be having a lot of fun. The blond giant pushed past me. “Haven’t you done enough bullshit this week, Err?” Erwan shrugged without looking at him. “I kind of like her... a nice change from the hot chicks.” It would have felt the same if he had slapped me. Okay, I was the first to admit that I was nothing like a Latin bombshell with my five-foot-two and my delicate bird constitution. But this guy insulted me after wanting to grab me without my consent! The last straw! Erwan stared intently at me before winking. “Looks like a little pixie.... don’t you think, Koran?” purred the young man with dark hair, still looking at me. Koran didn’t even bother to turn to me. I furiously grabbed my bag to leave these two lunatics together. I had other things to do than find myself amid gang-involved nonsense. “Hey! You still have a nice little ass, Baby!” cried Erwan behind me. I gave him a murderous look before I went on my way. He burst out laughing.