Change of Plans (3 page)

Chapter Five

A Little Faster

Allie

First,
third, fifth, and sixth period were
probably
definitely my least
favorite classes. They were those classes that you wished would go by just a
little faster. Not only did Caleb sit by me in all of them, he made it his
personal goal to distract me and get on my nerves as much as he could. Why did
teachers have to put us in alphabetical order? I never understood why he had to
bother me of all people. Yeah, he and Brody were friends, but that didn't make
us friends, not even close.

Coach
Watkins, like always, was late to class. Students stood around, throwing balls
of paper and gossiping in little groups. Ten minutes into class when he finally
did show up, he popped in a video about Shakespeare and told us to take notes.
Coaches didn’t make good teachers. Most students just played on their phones or
talked during videos, but a few others like me took notes. Or at least tried to
take notes. Five minutes into the video Caleb started flicking my hair with his
pencil. The one thing I know about Caleb is that he loves attention and when he
doesn’t get it, he will usually stop.
Emphasis on usually.

I
tried my best to ignore him, but his pencil was distracting me from my notes. I
was already annoyed from my splitting headache thanks to the video turned up
too loud and the obnoxious chatter of my classmates. When he was bored from not
getting a response out of me and reached forward and tugged my hair. Hard.
Dang, he was strong. Good thing I’m so hard headed or that might of actually
hurt. Gathering all my hair together, I plopped it in a sloppy bun on the top
of my head and out of his reach. If I turned around to tell him to stop he
would only be more satisfied. Sometimes he acted like a little kid.

I
guess exposing my neck gave Caleb a personal invitation because the next thing
I know his fingers were trailing up and down the space under my hairline.
Ignoring how good it felt, I used my hand to swat his away. He just leaned
forward; close enough I could feel his breath tickling the back of my neck. I
chided myself when I realized that I was leaning back into his touch without
even meaning to.

“So,
how about that date?”

“Never
going to happen,” I snapped quietly back, still trying to pay attention to the
video.

“Oh,
come on. You, me, dinner and a movie in a dark theater, what could go wrong?”

“More
than you will ever know. Now, why don’t you go to one of your many groupies,
like Sierra, and ask them out? I’m sure they will be jumping all over each
other for a chance to be in a dark theater with you.” I was getting really
tired of his little games. This was the third time in the past two weeks that
he’s “asked me out” and the answer always stayed the same. No. He was about to
open his mouth to say something else when Coach Watkins spoke up, spitting on a
couple students in the process.

“Is
there a problem back there, Miss Underwood?”

Oh,
this was going to be fun, “No, Coach Watkins. Caleb here was just telling me
how he would love to run a couple extra laps at football practice this
afternoon.”

“Well,
he can consider his wish granted. Now, Mr. Winters if you would be so kind as
to stop talking in my class and leave the poor girl alone, she’s obviously not
interested.” That earned a couple snickers from other students in the class.
Although Coach might spit, he could
diss
any student.
With a big smirk on my face, I leaned further back into my seat, daring Caleb
to bother me again. I glanced toward Matt who was frowning but when I sent a
smile his way, he winked and turned around in his seat but I could still feel
him watching me out of the corner of his eye.  

The
rest of first period was uneventful. When the bell rang, I strolled out with
Matt at my side. I could feel Caleb’s eyes on my back all the way to the door.
Passing Sierra, who was waiting pathetically at the door for Caleb, I waved
goodbye to Matt and headed for second period.

———————————

Gym
class was a joke; there wasn't even an official teacher for it. Every day we
did the same thing: run a lap around the track, come in, change out of our gym
clothes, and then hang out. Easy didn't even begin to explain it. But, it
seemed my day just got worse and worse.

“Coach”
Betty was overweight and owned at least four
cats,
she
always had bloodshot eyes from crying and her hair in a messy bun. News around
school was that her and Mr. Mitchell, the freshman science teacher, were
dating, but the look on her face said not anymore.

“Everyone
outside, run four laps, I’ll be timing you. If you don't run a mile in under
ten minutes, then you can run it again, and then you can come back in,” her
voice was raspy and raw. I would have to be soulless to not feel bad for her,
but no matter how bad I felt for her, I was not looking forward to running a
mile. Running was
not
my thing.

Along
with the rest of the students, I lugged my feet out to the track that needed to
be replaced ten years ago. It was an awful red, burnt color with holes and
cracks everywhere. I have no idea how the track team didn’t break an ankle.
Complaining about the track wouldn't get me out of running, so I jumped in line
and started jogging.

I
didn’t expect the people in my class to run fast, but at their pace, an
eighty-year-old could outrun them. I passed the two people in front of me and
finally went my own pace, pushing myself to go a little faster. Before I knew
it, I was on my third lap. Running actually felt really good, the clean air
offered me some release compared to the perfume filled hallways. On the fourth
lap, I lapped three people and wasn't even breathing hard. When I passed the
line on my last lap, Coach Betty was there with her stopwatch and a ghost of a
smile on her face.

“Under
six minutes, not bad Underwood, You should think of joining the track team this
spring, we could use a runner like you,” Under six minutes? Wow, I guess
running was my thing.

I headed back into the locker room that was
marinated by the permanent stench of sweat and dirty socks and got changed.
After throwing my hair up into a high ponytail, I headed to the library early
to get a head start on putting up books.

Chapter Six

Between the Books

Caleb

I hated second period. Math
class was fine, but having Sierra sending me flirty looks all period was not
fine. It was plain out awful. Every time I looked her way, there she was making
gooey eyes
at me or sticking her chest out
. It was
like this every day. And like every other day, when the bell rang, I was the
first out the door. Not only to get away from Sierra, but to go see Allie.
Third period was library assistant which just meant putting up books and
flirting with Allie.

The library was old and
always smelled like dirty, moldy books, but it was still one of my favorite
places, not that anyone on the football team would ever know that. The
librarian was never around, and no students ever came in here. When I walked
through the squeaky doors, I caught a glimpse of Allie in-between the stacks of
books. As I grew closer I saw that she was on her
tip toes
trying to put a book on the top shelf. She hadn’t noticed me yet, and I snuck
up behind her and grabbed the book, placing a hand on her hip. I pressed
forward until my chest was against her back and asked, “Need help?” I let some
of my alpha power drip into my voice. My lips were so close to her ear that I
felt her shiver. At least I knew I had some effect on her.

One great thing about being
paired was that her Wolf knew mine, even if she didn’t know she had a Wolf. So
while the Allie that I know would usually be spitting some snarky remark, her
Wolf was drawn to me, which meant no matter how hard she tried, she will always
come back to me. I guess I caught her at a moment of weakness, and with the
help of alpha power, she was melting in my arms, I know it was wrong to use it
against her but looking at her in those tight jeans did crazy things to my
mind.

“Yeah,” her voice was hoarse
and low, which just made my head spin even more. “Thanks.” After I put the book
on the top shelf, intentionally brushing my arm against hers, she slowly turned
around facing me. Her chest was pressed right up against mine so I could feel
how fast her heart was beating, and my hand was still on her hip. Her head was
tilted up so she could look me in the eyes. This is probably the first time
we’ve been so close together without her pushing me away, and I never wanted to
let her go.

“Anytime,” God help me; I
wanted to kiss her so much right now. Her full lips were slightly parted, and
her breath was teasing my chin. I’m pretty sure that my eyes kept drifting down
to her lips, but I was fine with that, I wanted her to know how much I wanted
her. I was slowly leaning my head down closer to hers, waiting for her
response.

A clearing of a throat
stopped me. I didn’t move away from Allie as I tilted my head to find Brody
standing there. If looks could kill, I would be six feet under in a coffin.
Allie’s cheeks turned a bright shade of red and she radiated embarrassment. She
shimmied out
from between me and the bookshelf mumbling how
she should go put up some more books
.

Not even a second after she
had turned the corner, I was pinned up against the shelf and Brody was right in
my face. He knew that I could easily push him off, but that didn’t stop him. I
knew that I might as well let him take out his anger now. Every time I brought
up Allie he would go all protective brother on me. I got that he wanted to
protect his little sister and all, but this was getting old. I would never hurt
her and he knows that and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop this.

“Stay away from her,” he
growled. He sounded like he was on the verge of changing. Now I knew I had
really done it, Brody had the most control out of any of us. Yet, here he was,
eyes glowing and with hands that looked more animal than human.

“Why so in two weeks when
she changes, I can’t be there for her? I don’t think so, I’ve played this your
way long enough,
it’s
about time she knew what was
going on.” I shoved him hard enough to get him off me and pin him against the
bookshelf. “Now get yourself under control and go back to class before you do
something really stupid in front of Allie.” I didn’t mean for any alpha power
to be put behind the words, but I couldn't help it, he was getting on my last
nerve. Without any other choice, Brody turned on his heel and stomped out the
library, letting the door slam behind him.

The rest of the period Allie purposefully avoided me and ducked
her head whenever she passed me. It was
kinda
cute to see her all flustered, but I really wanted to talk to her, I guess it
would have to wait for fifth period after computer graphics with Brody. Maybe I
should skip that period…

Chapter Seven

Pushing Buttons

Allie

I
hated Caleb Winters. I hated his charm, his ridiculously hot face, and
everything else about him. But right now, I hated myself more than him, how on
earth did I let him get under my skin? One moment I was putting up books,
then
I was ready to full on make out with him. Ugh! He was
so frustrating sometimes.

There
were only two things that could make me forget about that moment: chocolate and
Matt. Since chocolate was unavailable, Matt would have to do.

I
made my way to the empty classroom frustrated and sat in my usual seat. The
cold metal bit into my back and made me uncomfortable. Mr. Whitman, our
so-called teacher was passed out on his desk snoring loud enough for me to hear
from my seat in the back. Fourth period was study
hall which
required nothing
and Matt was in it. He walked in with Debbie Singer, a
cute sophomore with tons of freckles and brown curly hair. She was always nice
to everyone and had a huge crush on Matt. She giggled and bounced off to her
seat while Matt headed towards me. He grinned when he saw me and slid into his
seat next to mine, his body looking colossal in the tiny chair.

“Oh,
Caleb must have really pushed your buttons, you look like you're about to
explode.”

“Tell
me about it. Are you still coming over after school?”

“Of
course, I would never miss Junk Food Monday.”

Of
course he wouldn't. Ever since sixth grade, every Monday Matt has come over. We
grab all the junk food we can find, go to my room and watch movies. It was the
only thing about Mondays I looked forward to.

Ignoring
the constant snoring, I bent down in between my desk and Matt’s to grab my
homework. Luckily, since it was the start of the year, teachers were still
light on homework, well except history. While working on the extensive history
homework, I felt Matt staring at me out of the corner of my eye.

I
looked toward him and dropped my pencil on my desk, “What?”

He
smirked, “Nothing.” A small blush was rising on his cheeks. That was new.

Whatever.
I turned back to my
text book
, brushing back a piece
of pesky hair that kept escaping my ponytail. I was reading about the Battle of
Waterloo when the same strand of hair escaped again. Before I had the chance to
put in back in its place, Matt reached across the desk and brushed it behind my
ear. I jerked back from the foreign touch of his hand on my face and looked at
him. Oblivious to my reaction, he continued to work on his homework like
nothing happened. I’m really hoping that was just a friendly gesture, not a
hey-I-sort-want-to-be-more-than-friends gesture.

My
eyes continued to wander to the clock above the whiteboard. I slowly counted
down the minutes until the bell, homework forgotten. Still oblivious to my
discomfort, Matt continued his homework. I was getting down to the last two
minutes of class when he started packing up his stuff. My bag was already
packed. In the last five seconds, Matt stood and grabbed my backpack, taking it
with him to the door. The bell loudly pierced the air as he crossed the
threshold and I stood to chase after him.

When
I caught up to him in the hall I asked, “What are you doing with my bag?”

“Walking
you to class,” he said casually, as if it was something he always did.

“Why?”

“Why
not?”

“Because
your class is on the other side of the school.” I threw my thumb back in the
opposite direction toward where his class was to emphasize my point.

“I’ll
be fine,” he responded. I could try to get my bag from him, but he was towering
over me, and honestly I didn’t have a chance against him.

We
walked the rest of the way to my class in silence.

Next
I had science, my best subject, but for some reason it was my lowest grade. Not
pointing fingers or anything, but I had a feeling that had something to do with
my lab partner. Brody was also in the class, so by last name we should have
been put together but the teacher was against putting siblings together so next
in line was Caleb. Joy.

So
far within the first six weeks of school we have broke three beakers, had to
use the fire extinguisher twice, and got a toxic chemical in Caleb’s eye, not
that he didn’t deserve it. Even after all that, the teacher refuses to change
my partner. It would be a miracle if we didn’t burn the school down before
winter break.

Today,
we were testing something about mixing chemicals. So not only do I have to put
up a guy that I almost kissed, I have to babysit him and make sure no one dies
from poisonous toxins. Great, and I was probably going to get gray hairs out of
the process.

Matt walked to my desk and set down my bag,
giving me a big smile before turning to leave. As he was walking out, Caleb was
walking in and they glared at each other.
Guys.
I sat on a stool while
Caleb collected all the materials. He probably hasn't noticed that I’m in class
yet, but he always collects the materials. Whenever I try to get up and do
something, it’s always, “Don’t worry, I got this, you just sit your cute little
butt back down.”
Big ego, jerk, and sexist- every girl’s
dream.