First Glances and Familiar Frustrations - 1
Jasmine’s Point of View
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, the weight of an intense gaze pressing against me. I tried to ignore it, focusing on the doodles in the margin of my notebook, but curiosity got the better of me. Glancing to the side, my eyes locked with a stranger’s—a guy I’d never seen before. He was smiling at me, his expression confident, almost playful. My neck heated instantly, and I whipped back around to face Chelsea, trying to compose myself.
“Oh my God, Chelsea,” I muttered under my breath, doing my best to sound indifferent even though my voice betrayed me. “Why is that guy staring at me and smiling? Do you know him?”
Chelsea shifted in her seat to look, her expression as casual as ever. She shrugged. “No clue. But Tyron must know him—look how they’re interacting.”
Following her gaze, I saw Tyron laughing and gesturing animatedly with the new guy, like they were old friends. Figures. Without waiting for me to respond, Chelsea turned back to her conversation with Riley and Mia.
Mia is Chelsea’s cousin and a member of our pack, while Riley is someone Chelsea had befriended a couple of years ago, in sophomore year. Riley isn’t from our pack but from Blood Moon Pack, a neighboring territory. I don’t know her well, but Chelsea seemed to like her. They both own matching hot-pink Volkswagen Beetle convertibles, which Chelsea swore make them “kindred spirits.”
Mia’s parents are not a member of leadership in our pack. Therefore, we did get to hang out with her as much as Chelsea and I was able to. Mia’s mother Gwen is a music teacher at our high school and Mia’s father is a professor at our local university, Pelican State.
It was the first day of senior year, and I felt torn between excitement and dread. Graduation was finally on the horizon, but the thought of enduring another year of the same frustrations made it hard to celebrate. Chief among those frustrations and the bang of my existence: Tyron.
As if on cue, Tyron’s obnoxious laughter filled the classroom. I sighed inwardly. He’d been a thorn in my side since middle school—a six-foot-tall, athletic-built nuisance who didn’t seem to understand the concept of boundaries. Back then, he was the class clown, and I was the quiet, slightly chubby awkward girl with a secret crush on his friend. High school hadn’t changed much. If anything, his relentless teasing had only gotten worse. I was hoping to never interact with him again. But as my luck would have it, no such luck would occur.
Chelsea, on the other hand, was a different story. We’d grown up together, our parents pushing us into a friendship since her dad was my dad’s Beta. For a while, we’d been inseparable, but things had shifted with Chelsea somewhere along the way. Suddenly, she was spending more time with Mia and Riley, and our bond felt more like an obligation than a true friendship. Chelsea is a year older than me. I am 17 years old and Chelsea is now 18. Chelsea and I stopped hanging out together about 10 years or so ago when I had restricted movement due to an injury. Fortunately, that’s how I got to meet my best friend, Nicole. Nicole is the pack doctor’s youngest daughter.
I tried to focus on the lesson, but my mind kept drifting. I could still feel the new guy’s gaze flicking toward me every so often, and it annoyed me that I wasn’t more annoyed. Normally, I hated being the center of attention, but there was something about his persistent smile that I couldn’t shake.
The rest of the day was uneventful, thankfully. Tyron kept his antics confined to second period, and I managed to avoid the new guy entirely. My other classes went smoothly, and a few of my classmates even seemed genuinely friendly.
By the time the final bell rang, I felt cautiously optimistic. If I could keep my interactions with Tyron to a minimum and steer clear of whatever drama the new guy might bring, maybe—just maybe—this year would go smoothly after all.
