Claiming My Wolf

4 - New Classes

~~Sadie's PoV~~

I try not to stare at Logan as he walks down the hall just ahead of me. He's so tall and broad, he hardly seems real. He looked way less intimidating when he was sitting at the table, bent over his phone. If I had seen him standing up first, I probably wouldn't have gone over to talk to him.

I wasn't even sure why I had. Ava had told me to stay away from him and he was definitely giving off a 'don't talk to me' vibe. Everyone else gave him a wide berth, I noticed. But when I found myself back in the cafeteria and saw him sitting there all alone after everyone else had gone, I had an urge to go and make sure that he was okay. Or at least make sure that he knew that lunch was even over.

It's kind of funny to me now that I thought I could help him, now that I see just how little he must need anyone's help.

“In here,” he says as he stops outside a classroom door, opening it up and holding it open to let me go first.

He doesn't talk much, I notice, but he's still polite in a kind of old-fashioned way. Like his parents made sure he had good manners.

The thought of his parents leads me to thoughts of my parents, and that same sadness shoots through me. I close my eyes for just a second to try to hold it together.

“Hey, you alright?”

When I open my eyes again, Logan's giving me a curious look, but it's not unfriendly. It's almost sympathetic.

“Fine,” I assure him, even though I'm lying. Before he can ask me anything else, I step past him into the room and everyone inside turns to stare.

“Yes?” the tall, thin man at the front of the room asks. He must be Mr Craig, he's got thin wireframe glasses and looks exactly like you'd expect a math teacher to look.

“I'm Sadie Jennings, I'm supposed to be in this class,” I explain, and his mouth sets in an unimpressed expression.

“Be on time next time, Ms Jennings,” he snaps at me, pointing to an empty desk. “Take a seat.”

Then there's a rustling among the other students and I realize Logan has walked in behind me.

“It's my fault Sadie's late,” he lies for me, speaking to the teacher. “She was helping me with something.”

It's nice of him to try, but I don't expect that will make much difference. But to my surprise, the teacher bends his head to Logan almost submissively. “I didn't realize, Mr Riley. That's fine then. Please sit down, both of you, when you're ready.”

Okay, that's weird. Why would a teacher defer to a student like that? Nobody else acts like it's strange though, so I go sit in the seat that Mr Craig pointed to earlier while Logan heads for an empty one on the other side of the room.

An hour later when the bell rings, I'm completely lost. The stuff they're working on in this class is way different than what I was learning in my old school. I'm going to have to ask Ava or Aaron to help me catch up.

As I pick up my bookbag and shove my notebook inside, a pair of shoes appears beside me. Without even looking up, I know who it is.

“Do you know where your next class is?” Logan asks, and his deep voice makes me shiver. There's something strong and authoritative in it, and I almost feel like bowing down to him like the teacher did. Why do I feel like that? What is it about this guy?

“Chemistry, I think,” I manage to reply, and Logan nods.

“Me too. I'll walk you there.”

There's murmuring around us from some of the other kids in the class who must have been listening to what he said. I glance around and, sure enough, several of them are looking at me curiously or whispering to their friends behind their hands.

Is it so strange that Logan would walk with me? I wish I understood what was happening.

He doesn't speak as we make our way through the busy halls. The crowd parts in front of him almost by magic, like there's some kind of force around him that pushes people out of the way. I don't feel that though. I almost feel the opposite, like there's something pulling me to him instead.

Maybe my grief is making me a little crazy. It's the only explanation that makes any sense.

“Logan!” A familiar voice shouts out as we enter the room and my stomach sinks as I see Micah Geary walking over. He spots me too, just a second later, and the grin on his face quickly turns to a scowl.

“Hey, Micah,” Logan greets him casually. “Have you met Sadie?”

Micah looks between Logan and me in consternation. “You're hanging out with her?” he asks Logan. I guess it's supposed to be under his breath, but I hear it anyway. “You know what she is, right?”

Logan just raises his eyebrows in challenge. “You mean that she's new here?”

Micah's face scrunches up, looking more confused than ever. “No, I mean she's...”

“Everyone get to your stations,” a woman in a white lab coat announces, cutting off whatever Micah's about to say.

Everyone shuffles over to one of the lab stations set up and I just stand there a little awkwardly, not sure where I'm supposed to go.

“You must be Sadie,” the teacher says, giving me a warm smile. She's only like the second person today who's actually smiled at me, so I appreciate it. “I'm Ms Browning. Everyone's already paired up with a lab partner for this term, so you can join whichever group you'd like to.”

Nothing like putting me on the spot, I think. My eyes flit around the room, trying to decide where to go. Logan seems to be paired up with another guy who's almost as big and really good-looking too. What is with the guys at this school, honestly?

Meanwhile, Micah's still glaring at me from the next table where he's sitting next to a pretty girl who's wearing way too much make-up. She was at our table at lunch but I can't remember her name, and it's not like I'd choose to join Micah's table anyway.

Finally I go to the front where there are two girls who look relatively normal. “Is it okay if I join you?” I ask.

“Sure,” one shrugs, not looking at me, and my stomach sinks again.

But the other one turns to me with a kinder smile. “Of course. You're Sadie, right? I'm Alison and this is Emma. Don't mind her, she's just jealous that Logan walked you to class.”

I look at the other girl in surprise and her cheeks are turning red. “I didn't say that! Ally, you're so dead!”

The teacher starts talking again before any of us can say anything else and soon we're working on an experiment and I forget all about the unusually hot guys of Westbridge High. Ally and Emma are funny and smart, and by the time class is over, I'm hopeful we might be friends.

But not today. Today has been a really long day, and I really just want to go home and lie on my bed with my pillow over my head for a while.

I say goodbye to my new classmates and head out the door to find Ava, not daring to glance over at either Logan or Micah as I go.