“Yes,” they all answered as one.
“Wow. That’s really embarrassing. Can we talk about something else?”
Meredith crossed her arms. “No.”
“Okay…”
“If you’re going to run away again, you have to make sure it’s next Tuesday during fourth period.” She punctuated her words by banging the table. “It’s the only way you can make it up to me.”
Holy hell. How dumb did they think I was? “I’m not going to run away again.”
“Yeah, you are. Every once in a while there will be a Were who marries a norm and doesn’t tell their partner about the whole going wolf thing. It’s a hot mess when their kids come here. They always run away. And you were an actual norm. So, you’re due a couple more runs at least.” She paused. “Tuesday. Fourth period.”
Meredith had somehow managed to turn something uber-humiliating into something kind of okay. I could’ve kissed her for that. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Fair enough.”
I tried to bring the conversation back to something normal. “So, what are the teachers like here? Tough? Easy?” I said as I tugged at my gloves.
“Classes are pretty tough, but the teachers are helpful,” Meredith said. She eyed my gloves, but accepted the topic change. “I mean most people leave here and go Ivy League or study in London or wherever they’re from.” She paused. “What’s up with the gloves? You can’t be cold. Werewolves don’t get cold.”
“I’m not cold.” I shoved a giant bite in my mouth as everyone stared. I swallowed. “So I take it not everyone is from here?”
“Yeah. This is the place to go if you’re a Were. People come from all over. I’m sure you already know all about that because of being with Dastien.”
I knew exactly nothing about that. “Um, I think he mentioned that he’s from France.”
“Oh?” She paused, waiting for me to keep going but I wasn’t going to tell her what happened. There were too many ears around. Plus, she was right. I didn’t trust her yet.
A soft tone dinged throughout the cafeteria, and everyone got up and moved toward the doors.
“Well ladies, it’s been lovely. See you at lunch.” Chris blew us another kiss before leaving.
“That’s the bell?” I said.
“What did you think it was?” she said.
“I had no idea, but it doesn’t sound like any bell I’ve ever heard. Usually they’re more fire drill-like.”
“No fire drills here. Talk about insta-headache. Werewolves have really good hearing. Plus, once you know what the bell sound is, you can’t miss it.”
“But your alarm clock—”
“Just because I have good hearing, doesn’t mean I want to get up in the morning. The more obnoxious and harder to turn off, the better. And I have a tendency to smash them. I go through a couple a month.” Meredith frowned at my tray. “You didn’t eat nearly enough.”
The girl had lost her mind. “I ate a humungo-sized omelet, hash browns, a bagel with cream cheese, and a bowl of fruit. That’s more than I’ve ever eaten in one sitting.” There physically wasn’t any more room in my stomach.
Meredith rolled her eyes. “Hang on one second.” She walked back to the guy making the omelets, talking to him while pointing at me. He shook his head in disapproval.
Jeez. Why didn’t she call the National Guard while she was at it?
Meredith came back with some sandwiches in plastic bags and an apple. “Take these. You might not think you need them, but when your stomach growls in ten minutes, do yourself a favor and eat them. Okay?”
I saluted. “Yes, ma’am.” I shoved them in my bag.
We walked outside with a group of other students.
“The classes are all in there.” She pointed to a two-story red brick building next to the infirmary. “The physical stuff is on the first floor. Don’t want anyone going out a window, right?”
I laughed. “They’re not so bad.”
“I kind of was bummed about getting a suite-mate, but that moment changed my mind. The whole breaking the window with the IV stand and then jumping thing was kind of badass.”
“Thanks,” I said, grinning. “In retrospect, maybe not my smartest move, but you gotta go with what you’re feeling at the time, right?”
“Totally.” She laughed. “Anyway, the academic stuff is on the second floor. All of the lockers are there too, so we can stash your stuff.”
Off to the side of the building was some training equipment. It looked way more Navy SEAL than high school. “What’s that?”
“Anyone who wants to be a Cazador has to pass a physical test and a sparring test. Most people try it after they graduate. Although some will come back and practice after graduation if they can’t pass it the first go-round.”
“Cazador? As in Spanish for hunter?”
“Yup. They keep the norms safe from all the things not so normal.”