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I walk down the corridor to my apartment, my things under my arm. Luckily the idiot who was with Tucker during the kidnapping grabbed my bag. My cell phone vibrates at the bottom of my bag. I pick it up, frowning. I discover five missed calls from Tucker, all from a few minutes ago.
The phone buzzes again, and I answer it with a sigh. “What now? Are you planning on annoying me all night, or am I allowed to get some sleep?”
I hear a jerky breathing through the phone, as if Tucker is running or just pissed off.
“Are you home?”
His question isn’t really what I expected.
“What?”
“You’re not with Sanchez anymore?” he continues as I get more and more confused.
“Well, no, but—”
“Good, good night.”
And he hangs up as if this simple answer was enough.
A few minutes later, I fall back on my mattress, exhausted. Although my eyelids are heavy, I can’t fall asleep. I can’t help but replay the course of the evening. Now that I have passed this third trial, what will change?
I try to push away the growing curiosity that is taking over. I pull myself together and shake my head. I don’t care! They’ve already kidnapped me, they’re not going to force me to make friends with them on a daily basis, are they? So I’m going to go on living my life as before, and I don’t care if they have a problem with it!
25. Accept the Obvious
Iris
Something quite strange happens when I arrive at the campus parking lot the next morning. The first thing I notice is the look on the faces of the few students who are present in the west hallway leading to my first class of the day. They stare at me strangely and smile at me with respect and envy, some as if they are almost…afraid of my reaction. I stare at my shirt, wondering if I’ve put it on backwards again or if something is wrong with my face. But nothing is wrong. And then the light goes on in my mind. Is it because I’ve joined the most elite group in school? As I walk down the hallway, I realize that yes, it is. A guy I’ve never seen before waves at me from a distance, and I remember his face. He was part of the small group waiting near Tucker and TJ outside the warehouse. I return his gesture, hesitantly.
The worst part is when I walk into the lecture hall. Two chicks are whispering while staring at me and I swear I’m the subject of their conversation. This situation is really ridiculous! Is this what it means to be part of the pack, to be a freak? No, thank you!
***
Tamells, my cognitive psychology professor, continues wasting his breath in front of the many students who are already rushing out of the lecture hall. And I am one of them.
“Iris?” someone shouts behind my back.
A Hispanic accent…I don’t believe it! I don’t need to turn around to know that Sanchez is behind me. What the hell is he doing here anyway?
I ignore him. I’m sure he’ll think I’m just a mirage, not really there. Yeah, that’s a great idea. At least that’s what I keep telling myself until I see him trot alongside me and stop in front of me, blocking my way.
“Oh, hi,” I mumble, “I didn’t hear you.”
“Sure, it’s so crowded.”
His dark look becomes mocking. He and I both know the truth.
“And the hallways are so wide,” I add with a real smile this time.
His medium-length hair curls slightly. He casually holds a backpack over his shoulder and looks at me without answering.
“And so…? You were looking for me?”
Be civilized. He gave me a ride home on Monday night. I can’t turn him down when he’s been nice to me. Be polite. Yes, I can do that.
“Well, actually, I was in that class. But I didn’t know you were too. I think I was too focused on Tamells.”
I keep myself from rolling my eyes. Why does he have to take the same class? Seriously, I’ve already got Tucker in Criminology. I don’t want to have to deal with every member of the Pack! People stare at me strangely enough like that. I’m not trying to draw attention to myself, quite the opposite.
