B e l l a ♣ A l b y

I said goodbye to Xanthos and made my way to my locker. Once I reached, I put on the password.

I glimpsed at my timetable which was sitting on top of the piles of my books. I let out a sigh. Today, the first course I had was French and second I had English. I memorized my today's timetable. At my last school, we had to follow one day's timetable for a whole year while here each day we had a different schedule to be followed.

As I was putting my French books in my backpack, I heard the clicking of heels. My heart started to pick up its beats.

I began getting flashbacks of my last school's queen bee and her minions as soon as I saw heels. I got reminded of my first encounter with her, I was pushed down the stairs. For two months, I was getting treatment from the school's dispensary as my right arm was fractured. My father refused to allow me to go to the hospital to get treated. He didn't care, he didn't want to spend money on a 'burden'.

I crouched down, holding my head in my hands. In my sight, I saw a pair of heels. Red heels to be more exact. Tears blurred my vision. Someone shook my shoulder and called my name. I gazed at the person, It was Natasha causing me to hyperventilate. "Breath Ella, breath in and out. In and out..." She continued telling the words 'in and out'.

However, I struggled to breathe. Natasha moved out of my sight and a pair of black shoes came in the line of my vision. I tried distracting my mind by focusing on the Adidas brand sign.

The person crouched down and wrapped their arms around me. My cheek rested on their chest. Sparks travelled through my body. I recognised it was Xanthos holding me by the sparks.

I concentrated on the rhythm of his heartbeat. After some time, my breathing became laboured. Lifting my head up, I saw Xanthos already staring at me.

"What happened? Why were you having a panic attack?" He voiced out his question.

"I-I go-got reminded of something bad. Th-that's all."

He stared ahead and made a confused face.

"Like what?"

"Red heels...old school-" I stopped myself. He turned towards Natasha who was now standing, looking at me in worry.

"Remove your heels," he commanded. She nodded her head and did what he asked.

I shook my head. "It's fine, wear them. What will you wear otherwise?" I noticed that I was still in Xanthos arms. I pulled away and got up from my crouched position.

"I have my gym shoes, I'll wear them." She shrugged her shoulders and walked towards me. "Before that, are you okay? I am really sorry I wouldn't have worn if I knew this would happen." Her eyes held regret in them.

"You didn't know so, stop apologizing. Let's get to our class. Which period do you have?"

"I am having French." She continued."I have to go to my locker to wear my shoes. You keep going, I will come after some time." I nodded my head and turned to face Xanthos. He looked lost in his thoughts.

"Xanthos, thank you for aiding me." He snapped out of his trance and gazed at me.

He smiled but I knew this time it was unnatural. Something was disturbing him. I did want to help him but I didn't want to force him to tell me his personal problems. Was I being too suspicious about my personal life though?

"I have got to go, take care." He walked in the opposite direction.

I started walking to my French class by following the signboard. Once I entered the class, I made my way to the seat which was at the top of the last corner. As I sat, the door opened and in walked Natasha now wearing a pair of white sports shoes. She looked around and when her eyes landed on me, she made her way towards my direction.

"I noticed yesterday also, you always sit at the last seat. Why is that?" She asked as she sat along with me.

"I like sitting here." I shrugged my shoulders. The bell rang, signalling the starting of the period. A man who looked in his late twenties walked in the class making the entire class grow silent.

"He seems to be our new teacher now," Natasha whispered.

"He is new? What happened to the old professor?"

"He was a 70-year-old man. He passed away a week before."

"Oh..."

"Bonjour tout la classe. Je m'appelle Zanon Alonzo. je remplacerai votre vieux Professeur de français."
(Good morning everyone my name is Zanon Alonzo. I'll be replacing your old french teacher.)

I understood what he said as I learned French at my old school.

"Bonjour Professeur, Alonzo," I shouted from my place.

I looked around and noticed all were looking at me weirdly.

What? I just greeted the teacher. Maybe we were not supposed? Feeling embarrassed, my cheeks burned.

"Quelqu'un d'autre qui a remarqué ma présence?" He asked sarcastically.
(Anyone else who has noticed my presence?)

All nodded their head and greeted him. "Bonjour Professeur Alonzo."

"Je compte sur vous tous pour me saluer quand j'entre dans ma classe. Maintenant, asseyez-vous." We all nodded our head again and sat down.
(I expect you all to greet me when I enter my class, now sit down.)

"Girl, you made a first good impression." Natasha whisper.

"I just greeted him, you see we should have common sense."

"Which ain't common." She muttered.

"Aujourd' hui, nous allons commencer par la conjugaison de verbes..." He began teaching about how to conjugate verbs.

I heard Natasha snoring beside me. I controlled the chuckle that was trying to escape from my mouth.

🕳🕳🕳

I heard the high pitched school bell ring. I tried to wake up Natasha. "Natasha, wake up," I whispered to her. She even slept during calculus. We both shared the majority of the class. None of the teachers even scolded her, it was as if they were used to it.

"Five more minutes..." she grumbled.

"Natasha, you're at school not at home," I screamed in her ear, getting frustrated. She jumped awake.

"Who is having puber-phonia?" She shouted; gaining the majority of class attention. She turned around and looked at me. "Did you complete your puberty today?"

"What?" I asked her confused.

"Why was your voice squeaky?"

"Oh god! My voice is the same. I screamed in your ears because I was really getting annoyed."

"Can two little annoying girls stop talking. I am trying to concentrate on what that rubber mouthed man is teaching." A guy with brown eyes and black hair whispered.

"Mason, the bald-headed man is nearly a deaf person. He didn't hear the bell go. On top of that, he is speaking nonsense. When did you start caring about your studies?" Natasha asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Since my life is at stake," The guy which now I knew his name to be Mason whispered back.

"You mean football?" Nat asked to him whilst chuckling.

"You can--"

"Class you're all dismissed," Mr Collis announced. We were the only people sitting in the class.

We packed our backpacks and left the class but before we left I saw Mason saluting to Mr Collis.

"So... What was I saying, yeah if I don't pass in my upcoming tests then Alpha Xanthos warned me that he'll take me out of the football team." He sighed dramatically.

I continued walking with Natasha awkwardly.

"Aww! My poor boy... Wait I forgot to introduce you to Bella. Bella this is Mason Harriswoth, my best guy friend and Mason, she is Bella Alby, my good friend."

"Hello!" We both said together.

"It's the first time I see Natasha is actually friends with a girl," Mason said sarcasticaly.

"Shut up, masofucko."

"If Natasha likes someone, it means they truly are good. Well then hello my dear friend. Even I can feel the innocence and purity radiating from you." Manson shook his hand with mine.

"Thank you for accepting me as your friend!" I squealed. "I'm glad to be your friend, too."

"Ok! Come on let's eat food. My stomach is growling. My poor stomach." Natasha interrupted my happy dance. I stopped dancing and blushed.

When did I start dancing? Mason and Natasha chuckled looking at me, I blushed even more.

"Awe! You're so cute." Mason pinched my red cheeks.

"Ok bye! I'll meet you all in the next class," I said before turning around and walking towards the library. I didn't stutter majority of time today, I feel so good about that-- 

Someone pulled me back gently. "Nuh-uh, hun! You're coming with us. From today onwards you'll sit with us in the cafeteria, not in the library," Natasha demanded.

I got dragged towards the school's cafeteria. Mason and Natasha came to either side of me and held my hand in theirs. Suddenly a loud growl was heard from the crowded hall. It was powerful that I almost shrunk small.

I looked around startled, Was there any animal here?

"Hey, sis, it's fine. There's nothing." Mason smiled reassuringly.

I nodded my head. Yeah! There's nothing. I tried to reassure myself.

I heard another growl while Mason was rubbing soothing circles at my back. Again, this time it was more powerful. The growl made me cry out in pain as my ears started paining.

I noticed around to find other people doing the same as me. Mason shouted something but I could hear it faintly. "Alpha Xanthos! Please stop growling--" He ceased shouting when he saw something ahead of him.

All of them present in the hallway shrunk back to a corner of the room. Natasha tried to pull me but got unsuccessful. I fell, hitting my head hard against the floor.

When I looked up, I saw a blurry image. It was none other than Xanthos. He was standing there with his eyes closed. "Xan wh-what's the sound. Ma-Make-it s-stop." I pleaded to him. Maybe he may know from where the growling was coming from. A few surprised gasps echoed in the hallway.

"Get up Bella! Come back here," Natasha shouted at me. I rose up from the ground but was suddenly pulled back.

"No! She won't come there." I heard someone tell, their voice was deep.

"Bella, wrap your arms around him. That could calm him." I heard a voice shout. I could recognise it was Mason's.

I wrapped my arms around the person holding me. I began to shut my eyes as I couldn't take the headache anymore. I felt someone sniff me where my neck and shoulder meet. "Mine"

I gradually felt myself slipping into darkness. "little one...?"

Before I lost my conscious I heard someone mutter; by the voice and sparks, I knew it was Xanthos. "Bella!"

"We are so sorry, little one." I got embraced by darkness.