Chapter-7

Ava's POV:

Another day here at school. Actually, it feels a bit peaceful to live like this. No offense to my mom's love, but being independent just hits differently. I didn't want to go to class immediately, so I chose to roam around.

Actually, there's more to it than that. I was waiting for that Noah guy. I wanted him to apologize to me. How could I let him go? He had to apologize for his behavior yesterday.

I spotted him in an empty corridor. I wondered why he was always around empty places or, more like, isolating himself. Was he a psychopath or what?

Then again, who was I to judge? Maybe he was more of an introverted person and hated being around people. Wait... wait... wait, get a hold of your thoughts, Ava. We don't really care about him. You don't have to think so deeply about him, I told myself.

This is what happens when I say I'm an overthinker. I let out a sigh and started to make my way to him. Then the bell rang, making all the students rush to their respective classes.

Dealing with this situation was more important to me than classes. Soon, the rest of the students emptied the corridor. I reached Noah, and he was about to move, but I held him by the hand to make him stop, which earned me a glare from him. I let go of his hand immediately.

"What?" he asked in an irritating, almost rash tone.

"Sorry," I said. He nodded and turned around.

"Wait," I said, and he looked at me with a confused expression. Noah was staring at me.

I don't know why, but this guy was very intimidating. Usually, I'm the type of person who never easily gets intimidated, but today, here at this very moment, I would say otherwise.

"Apologize to me," I said, and he gave me a very confused look.

"Care to enlighten me?" he asked.

"Yesterday, you yelled at me," I said.

"Excuse me, Miss, I don't even know who you are or what you're talking about," he said.

"Yesterday when you were fighting with some boys..." my voice got cut off mid-sentence when I heard "Hey, you..." coming from the other direction.

We both turned our heads to see who it was. "Great," I rolled my eyes, and I heard Noah sigh under his breath. The same boys from yesterday. They were running towards Noah with baseball bats in their hands, and I got a bit scared, but surprisingly, I heard a chuckle from Noah.

Is he serious? I thought to myself. I wondered why I was always in the middle of complex situations.

"Hey, you... you thought you could just get away by hitting me?" the main guy said. You may wonder how I knew he was the main guy. Duh, he stood in the middle.

"Now come face us," the guy threw a challenging look at Noah. I looked around for help, but there was no one. I took a step back, and they started to fight again.

It was the same old cycle. Noah was punching, and these people were getting bruised. I came here for an apology, but the scene was completely different.

Three guys were attacking Noah. He pushed a guy by kicking him in the elbow and struggled with the other two. The guy who got kicked in his elbow was about to attack Noah with the baseball bat, and I don't know what got into me, but I placed myself in between them, resulting in a hit from the bat to my right shoulder.

"Ahh..." I winced in pain. Noah turned towards me, and taking it as a cue, the guys ran away to avoid the situation. Noah looked at them, and I heard a little growl from him.

Did I hear it right, or was I assuming things in pain? Why would he make a sound like some wild animal? God, why was I like this? Noah was looking at me now with complete shock, but he was also angry and confused. I was getting mixed reactions from him, and I was just staring into his eyes.

Noah's POV:

The bell rang, and I was about to move into my class, where Micki and Steve had already left for theirs. Someone held my hand. I turned around to see who it was.

It's a she. Who was she?

"Sorry," she said, and I nodded, thinking she had mistaken me for someone else.

"Apologize to me," she said, and I got confused.

Who was she? And why should I apologize to her? She was a human. "Care to enlighten me?" I asked.

"Yesterday, you yelled at me," she said.

Yesterday? I was trying to remember who she was and what I had done to her.

"Excuse me, Miss, I don't even know who you are or what you're talking about," I said.

"Yesterday when you were fighting with some boys..." the girl was saying something, but she got cut off in the middle by some other voice saying "Hey, you..." coming from the other direction.

I chuckled, looking at their dumbness. How did they even think they could win against me? I knew what was coming next—the same old boring fight—but hey, I could count this as practice. We started to fight. One guy was about to hit me on the back, and I guessed it by my wolf instincts. I was turning back to punch him in his gut, but the dumb human girl put herself in between us and got hit by the baseball bat.

I got very angry that I couldn't control my animal instincts and let out a growl, looking at them. If I hadn't realized that the girl was standing there, I would have chased those guys. But why did I get so angry? This made me more confused, and the dumb girl too.

I was staring at her and thinking about her stupidity. Who in their right mind would put themselves in the middle of an attack by some complete stranger?

I examined her shoulder, and it was starting to get bruised. "Let me take you to the infirmary," I said.

"I think this can be managed," she said.

Oh yeah, you're a strong werewolf warrior who literally doesn't care about any bruises and can heal yourself, right? I thought to myself.

She pulled her hand from mine. "I think it's better if we go," I said and started to pull her by the hand without giving her any other chance to deny it.

We both entered the infirmary, and I saw no one there. I looked around, which made me more irritated. Why was I stuck in human business? Then I saw that dumb girl sitting on the bed and looking at me.

She looked very cute for a moment with those big eyes, a cute confused expression, and her eyes trying to be so brave, not showing the signs of pain she was feeling. It made my heart flutter for a second.

No girl ever did that to me. I only had girls on my bed to... sleep with, and this scene was completely different. I contained my thoughts.

She pointed out ice packs, and I got them. I thought for a while about sitting beside her and doing it myself or just handing it over to her. I wasn't really the type, so I handed the ice pack to her.

She started to pat the ice pack slowly over her bruise and winced once in a while. My thoughts went back to the fight. Why did she put herself in the middle? To save me?

No one ever did that to me, except my mom. She was the only person who put herself in the middle of danger just to save me, and I lost her.

"Hey?" the girl's voice brought me back to the present.

"Huh?" I said.

"Thank you," she said, and I really got confused again. No one ever made me feel this confused.

Why was she thanking me now?

"Look, the one who's here to ask for my apology is thanking me," I said.

Ava's POV:

Noah took me to the infirmary and stood there in the middle like a lost child. He looked cute while lost in his own thoughts. Maybe he didn't know what to do, so I pointed out the ice packs, and he handed them to me.

I remembered the moment I was staring at his eyes back in the corridor; he had emerald eyes that reminded me of the woods behind my room. Maybe he really wasn't as half-bad as I assumed him to be. I felt like thanking him for bringing me to the infirmary.

"Thank you," I said, and he gave me a confused look.

He smiled and said, "Look, the one who's here to ask for my apology is thanking me."

Was he a good guy or a bad one?

"I have to leave. I hope you get back to your class," he said and left.

Did he even know my name? I wondered.

I went back to my classes. The half-day passed, but I couldn't stop thinking about him.

I thought of the dialogue in which he said at the end, "Look, the one who's here to ask for my apology is thanking me."

I thanked him because he brought me to the infirmary. He had a choice; he could have left me on my own. But he chose to be kind. Maybe he didn't realize that.

Maybe he wasn't a bad guy. Maybe there was something to the scene that I didn't know. Maybe it wasn't Noah who started it. Maybe I had assumed the situation wrong.

All these "maybes" had started to mess up my mind. I hated my mind for all this overthinking. I shouldn't hurt a person. This had always been my rule: never hurt a person.

I think I had misunderstood him. I couldn't blame him without getting my facts right.

I could only be at peace if I apologized to him. Maybe it was the bullies who were bullying, and this guy just reacted, but still, I got angry at the fact that he yelled at me.

Whatever, I would meet him once and say sorry to him, and then my mind might give me some peace, or else I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about him. I was literally waiting for school to end so that I could meet Noah and apologize to him.

Meanwhile, I spent some time with Mary. She was kind of cool but an outcast. She didn't mingle with other people much, but I decided to be with her.

Even she told me that it was the other guys who started bullying, and Noah was just passing by. It was just my stupid mind assuming things, the way it does all the time.

Finally, after two hours, school ended, and I was on my way again to find Noah, like I did this morning.

I found him near the parking lot, and there were two other guys with him inside the car. I knocked on the window, and he glared at me with an annoyed expression. He got down.

"Hey," I said.

"What is it now?" he said.

"Look, I'm sorry," I said.

"What are you sorry for? In the morning, you asked me to apologize, and now you're here asking for my forgiveness? Who are you?" he said.

"I'm sorry because I thought you were the one who was bullying yesterday, but I got it wrong, and it really made me angry when you yelled at me in the corridor yesterday. That's the reason why I asked you to apologize to me.

I thanked you this morning because you did first aid and chose to stay when you could have left.

And Mr., I'm apologizing to you now because I assumed things that weren't true, and I can be at peace when I make peace with my thoughts. You may not understand this," I said all in one go.

"Just accept it, and you were still wrong for yelling at me," I said.

He looked at me, confused.

"You're a nutcase," he shook his head and got back into the car. The engine revved, and soon he was out of my sight.

I don't care what the hell he might think of himself, but he's no human at all. He's an arrogant idiot. I hate him.

I left for my place, and also, I needed to find myself a part-time job to survive.

Noah's POV:

"Who is she?" Micki asked.

"What was she talking about? Why is your mood like that?" Steve questioned.

I looked at them and let out a sigh.

"Just some human who was apologizing for something which I had done," I replied.

"Then isn't it you who should be apologizing? Then why is she?" Micki asked.

"That's why I said she's weird," I said.

"What is the first aid she's talking about?" Steve asked.

"Why are you guys so interested in human business? Just ignore it," I said, and started to drive.

I got back and attended training. Everything went as usual. And here I was in my bed, not able to sleep, and all I could think about was the nightmare. I couldn't always use women to distract myself.

I started to think about my mom. Her scent was rose, and so was mine. I got it from her. I smiled to myself, thinking of her, and then my mind showed me the images of the girl in the school.

Her big, cute eyes and that confused look brought a small smile to my lips. I didn't know if she was stupid or brave. I didn't even know who she was or her name. She surely was human.

She was stupid enough to put herself in danger for some stranger. Oh God, she was a completely dumb person.

And of all things, she came to apologize while I was the one who yelled at her? Why?

She was an interesting girl. But I didn't want to involve myself much with humans.

I didn't know when I started to doze off while thinking about her.