MARIA RETURNS AGAIN

19 FEBRUARY, FRIDAY, HOMEROOM

The morning bell rang, interrupting the girl talk that was happening around me. I wouldn't say I was a pro at girl talk now, but I was definitely improving. I would like to credit this level up to my friends, the cool girls, who had tirelessly held girl talk sessions around me every morning. I'm not yet at the level where I knew how to initiate girl talk, or even be a main contributor to the session, but I knew how to play the "live audience" role. I knew how to listen and nod at the right place, and apparently just looking slightly stunned at whatever was being said was acceptable too.

Anyway, at the ring of the bell, the cool girls packed up their things to return to their seats. Some of the other kids came in late, including those two girls quickly scooted into their seats in front of my desk.

And like how all really good villains would return after their defeat, Maria returned to school today. She stepped into the classroom just at the end of the bell. It was weird because the hairs on my neck pricked up at her entry. On the surface, it was just Maria, but for some reason, my wolf found her more unsettling than before.

I watched as she glided over to her desk next to mine. The wolves growled lowly at her passing in warning, but she only smiled, that creepy self-satisfied smile. Then she daintily set down her bag and turned to me with a smile. I could just make out her fangs, it was like she was showing them to me on purpose. She tried to mindlink to me, but I blocked her out. There was something different about her today. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but she wasn't the same Maria that used to sit next to me.

"It was so dreary at home." Maria said aloud once she gave up trying to slide herself past my mindblock, "You'd think I would have more freedom now that I've completed my dark cycle. Maybe I should just blame my bad luck at meeting my Sire this morning."

"Don't you mean your Dad?" I asked. I mean, my Dad was the alpha, but I had never referred to my Dad as Alpha.

Maria looked surprised, "How did you know?"

"It's pretty obvious." I told her.

She covered her nose with her hands, "It's my nose, isn't it? I hate my nose."

Wait, what? I tilted my head, "There's nothing wrong with you nose, Maria. I meant the way the both of you were..."

Actually, wait, how did I know he was her Dad?

"I guess it just felt like it." I shrugged it off. Lucky guess, I guess.

I watched her carefully, still trying to figure out what was different about her today.

Maria didn't remove her hand from her nose, "Stop looking at me. I'm going to read up on some minds to see what I've missed."

Because that's where vamps got their gossip from while the rest of us had thought we were getting news direct from the source when we read it online.

I adverted my gaze. Whatever. Just as long as she didn't pry into mine. I tightened my mental shields just in case.

Mrs Henderson came into the classroom in a hurry. She didn't seem to notice Maria's return at all.

"Liam, please come help me distribute these."

I tried to see what the papers were. Please don't let it be Math worksheets!

On Fridays, Homeroom was an extended period for form teachers to connect with the students, and we had Math straight after. So if she needed more time for Math, she could triple it if she used Friday's Homeroom time. Luckily Liam was giving out mind mapping worksheets and notes.

"Today, I'm going to teach you how to make effective mind maps as a tool to help you study smarter and better." Mrs Henderson began as a way of introduction, "I know many of you study hard, but what if I told you, its not enough to study hard - you need to study smart."

At this point, I tried to think of one person in this class who studied hard...

"Now tell me, how many of you are using the mind map method to study right now?" Mrs Henderson asked the class, "Put up your hands if you know how to use a mind map."

Ivan was first to put up his hand. Zara sighed (a little too loudly) because his smartness made her swoon. She quickly covered her mouth with her hands and the rest of the class laughed.

Henry and Marcus put up their hands too, because they were know-it-alls. Nobody swooned for them though. Haha. Although now that I knew about Leia's crush, I wondered if Leia had swooned very secretly in her heart.

But that was about it. Mrs Henderson nodded her head, "Right, so let me get started. By the end of this homeroom lesson, all of you would be able to draw your own mind maps and improve your grades. I promise you, it would make studying so much simpler."

Thus began a really tedious lesson about mapping facts from your textbook onto a blank sheet of paper, and using boxes and arrows to organize and link them together, resulting in a really complicated and colorful web of bad handwriting. I didn't understand why we couldn't just read the textbook/notes once and be done with it.

"Mrs Hen, I ran out of space!" Terrence raised his hand.

"You can use the top half of your paper too, Terrence." Mrs Henderson advised him.

The class snickered.

"Oh!" Troy realized belatedly, "You can write on top too?"

"Yes, just shut up and do your work." Ivan scolded.

"I can't believe that we have to study to learn how to study!" Troy complained. I don't think he meant to tell the whole class, just Ivan, but he was too loud as usual.

While we "gave mind mapping a try", Mrs Henderson walked around the classroom to check on our attempt. Every now and then she would stop to give tips like shifting a whole section to the side so there would be enough space to fit all the points in, or admire the number of colors some of the girls owned in their pen collection. My pencil case only had black pens and a mechanical pencil though, so I decided on just making a mind map about math, which I had initially thought would be the easiest subject, you know, since it didn't have many words involved, but as I did it, I realized how a mind map did kind of help me see how everything joined together and soon I had this term's topics and the main equations drawn into my map.

"Samantha, have you done this before?" Mrs Henderson stopped at my desk to ask.

I looked at my mind map, I guess it did look a little like a Thinking Map, "Not really, but I did learn something similar..."

Mrs Beta had taught us 8 Thinking Maps during one of the holiday camps after elementary school. I did try to use it in middle school, but after a while, I got frustrated because it didn't let you put the whole paragraph in, just the key words. Key words weren't enough to fill in a half page space in the tests at middle school.

Furthermore, nothing in school actually needed me to think too hard about it. Okay, I'm not saying this because I was really smart or anything. I didn't even have Boo then to help me. So it was more like because I wasn't really the most diligent type of student. For me, just floating in the top half of my class was good enough. And it wasn't like any of the schools I've ever been to were known to be academically demanding. Dean had told me that the reason why I breezed through all my exams was because my school standard wasn't like New Leaf Academy's.

Come to think of it, Dad had meant to send me to Black Forest High School at first. He said that I was the type that just liked to be in the top half. If that's the case, maybe I should go somewhere the top half was equal to the top three. I wondered what made him change his mind? The opportunity to study next to a vamp? I took a side glance at Maria. Maria's mind map had the word "Dionysus" written in the middle. The rest of it was blank, even though Maria continued staring at her sheet of paper.

{What?} I mindlinked her to ask.

She seemed momentarily surprised at my intrusion, {Do you know Alpha, what I ever saw in him?}

I pulled out immediately, my hair flared.

"Is everything alright?" Mrs Henderson asked, looking up from Zara's desk at my raised hair, "Samantha?"

Darn my hair, "Nothing. Maria she... I don't think she's herself today."

Mrs Henderson frowned and came over. She took one look at Maria's mostly blank mind map, "Maria, are you feeling unwell?"

Maria shook her head, "I'm okay."

But she said it so weakly, Mrs Henderson said, "Oh dear... what should we do?"

"Do you wanna call your dad?" I asked Maria, or maybe she just needed a drink of blood, "Or go to the sick bay? I can go with you."

Maria perked up at that, "Yes."

"Yes to what?" Mrs Henderson looked confused.

"The sick bay first." Maria decided, "Sam, bring me to the sick bay."

Oh boy. What did I just get myself into?

So there I was, bringing Maria to the sick bay, she held my arm the way she always did when we walked through the hallways. Three seconds later we were being followed. I stopped and turned around to confront my bodyguards, "Fluffy! EJ! Are you following us?"

"We're going to the washroom." Fluffy smiled.

Whoever heard of grown warriors going to the washroom in pairs?

"Hoi, hoi, alpha! There's one just next to the sick bay." EJ informed me.

"There's one on this floor too." I told them.

"I've never used the washroom next to the sick bay before." Fluffy said, "It is my personal goal to visit all the washrooms in this school before we leave."

"Why would you have such a goal?" I burst out at him.

Fluffy's smile never wavered, "I want to make the most of my very few high school days."

Eh?

"Don't remind me Fluffy!" EJ planted his palm over his face dramatically.

"Why would you only have a few high school days?" I asked.

"Alpha is transferring to the Lorent Girl's School next term, yes?" Fluffy smiled, "You won't need us anymore."

"It's not fair!" EJ whined, "I want to study in a girl's school too."

"You're not a girl, EJ." I pointed out.

"Yes, but I'm good with girls!" EJ argued.

I did feel sorry for them, that they didn't get the go to school by default - even if they were idiots. It was not the healthy who needed a doctor but the sick. I'm sure in the same way, idiots needed school more.

And then EJ whined again, "I don't want to go to military school."

Apparently Stephan's mentor, the Elder Gamma Cornelius had decided that the young warriors in the underground army should at least learn to read and write and do basic math. He had convinced Mate to allow for a military school at camp for the Underground army - particularly for those who had not yet completed their years in formal education, to be given an opportunity to better themselves. The argument which won my mate over was that an intelligent army would be more effective than a stupid one.

Now that they brought it up, I did remember reading the report about it. Delta Charlie had even provided the military school with a donation of textbooks and workbooks. There were also a few Morning Light Warriors who had volunteered to go over during the weekends to help teach the warriors. There wasn't any certification or future plans for the school yet, and it was rather informal, like a weekend tuition class held in one corner of the army canteen.

I hadn't thought much about it then because it had seemed too vague and faraway. But now that I was looking at the actual faces of two idiots who were going to study there, I realized how good a thing school would be for them. I get it, what Dad had always said, education is the key to a better future. Okay, so Fluffy could already read in several languages, but he was the exception. EJ's reading was at Elementary level at best - which turned out to be the right assessment since he had been kidnapped right outside his elementary school.

I heard him tell the other girls that. I'm not sure how much of it was true, but it was a tall tale of being lured and kidnapped by a family friend, sold to rogues who forced his first shift and then sold him to the vampires as a fight dog. That was why EJ had not ever eaten many of the cute snacks and candies that were popular among high school girls now. The girls all gasped and felt really sorry for him. To this day, many of them would buy an extra treat or candy to bring to school for EJ on a regular basis.

Like I said, my wolves (particularly these two) were idiots who were only good at fighting and flirting. All the more they should go to school and get useful at other things, I suppose.

We were still walking down the hallways because Maria was leading us the long way around, past Dino's class... again. She slipped by my side as we passed a peeked in. WTH?

And then she smiled, "His profile is still so handsome."

WTH! I was tricked!

I growled at Maria. She didn't stop smiling. I wondered if Fluffy had learned to smile from a vamp like Maria.

"Forgive me, Alpha. But if I didn't see my Dionysus, I fear I would die." She told me aloud, since I was too mad at her to let her mindlink me.

Grrr...

Maria laughed, her laughter tinkled, like falling shards of glass, "It's good to be back in school. But I'm sad to hear you plan to leave me."

And good riddance too! Grrr...

But okay, I did feel a little bad then.