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Giselle cursed the siren screeching its serenade at god-awful-early-in-the-morning-o’clock and stumbled over to the alarm, nearly demolishing it with a slam of her fist on the snooze button. The sun had not yet pierced their window, but still she had to be up and mobile, pretending to be human. The first day of school demanded things like wearing clothes and keeping your eyes open, neither of which Giselle had any interest in at this early hour. But before she could turn and collapse back on her bunk, Taylor flicked on the light, blinding everyone with the power of three 60-watt bulbs. Might as was have been the sun for as bright as their room became in that blink of time.
“Warn a girl before you do that,” Giselle hissed, covering her eyes against the sharp light.
“Have you gone vampire on us?” Taylor laughed.
“That’s how we’re starting today?” Di asked with a groan as she pulled herself upright. “Bitching at each other?”
“I’m not responsible for anything that comes out of my mouth before I’ve had coffee,” Giselle grumbled, and went to work finding her assigned outfit for the day.
“Then just keep your mouth closed,” Taylor said, with a surprising measure of snark.
A spiteful retort tiptoed to the edge of Giselle’s tongue, but before it came out and ruined the day, she was able to rein it in, deciding that silence was better than picking a fight. She’d have plenty of time for that later, and all her uncaffeinated brainpower was needed to stop herself from falling flat on her face as she clumsily navigated stepping into her jeans. How anyone could be expected to function and learn at this ungodly hour of the day was beyond Giselle. Two, maybe three more hours of sleep, and she’d be just fine to start the day. Hell, she might not even need to drown herself in coffee to stay awake in first period. But no. Force kids to get up at the butt-crack of dawn and make them sit through boring lectures when they could barely keep their eyes open from exhaustion. That made sense.
Giselle grumbled to herself as she dressed, put on her makeup, and shouldered her backpack. She lumbered toward the car like a zombie in serious need of brains and contemplated how much sleep she could get between here and school.
Di and Taylor didn’t seem to have as much problem with the morning as she. And as always, they managed to look like runway models as they strutted out to the car. Bitches.
“I know just what you need,” Di, said as she started the engine. “A little vitamin C.”
“Orange juice ain’t going to help.” The thought of it turned Giselle’s stomach.
“Not that kind of Vitamin C,” Di giggled. “You’ll see.” She pulled out of the driveway so fast she sent Giselle sideways in the back seat, nearly smashing her head against the window.
“In a hurry?” Giselle pulled her seatbelt taut and grabbed the oh-shit handle in the back, in case Di decided to pull any maneuvers like that again.
“Sorry. Just anxious,” Di said sheepishly.
“Your outfit is fine.” Giselle turned to look out the window. The sun was just starting to come up over the mountains. If she’d been in a better mood, she might have found it pretty the way the sky lightened from inky black to an almost light-steel-colored blue. Streams of early light escaped between mountain peaks, spotlighting the desert below, while above, gentle wispy clouds picked up the early light like streaks of highlighter outlining the sky. Mornings could truly be beautiful under the right circumstances; but early as it was, and on her way to school where she was expected to be more than just awake, her primitive brain would only be happy with one thing. And as if on cue, Di turned the car down a familiar road, and she saw ahead her salvation.
“Coffee,” Giselle groaned as Di pulled up to the drive-through window.
“What kind?” Di asked.
“Espresso, straight up. Triple shot,” Giselle said. “Stupid early bird classes,” she grumbled.
“That’ll burn a hole through your stomach. No,” Di scoffed. She turned her head out of the window and ordered: “Two triple caramel lattes, no whip, extra foam, and an extra shot of caramel, please.”
“So, and ulcer is bad, but diabetes is okay... gotcha!” Taylor snickered from the passenger seat.
“And one small skinny latte with a shot of vanilla, for Miss Priss.” Di finished her order.
“I’m just saying, that’s a whole lot of caffeine and sugar on an empty stomach,” Taylor added.
“Uh, can I add three bagels and sides of cream cheese?” Di spoke again into the speaker box.
The reply came out somewhat garbled, but it sounded like they had the order right. Giselle couldn’t care less about the sugar content at this point. The sun had barely come up over the mountains, and she was in no fit state to start the first day of her junior year. When the hot beverage came, it was all she could do not to guzzle it down in one slug.
Ten minutes later and freshly caffeinated, Giselle walked to her locker and began the ritual of organizing and finding the items she needed to start the day.
Asher came up behind her; the smell of him gave him away before he had the chance to startle her.
“Hey,” she said lazily, as she continued to sort her binder and hunt for her favorite set of highlighters.
“Who you have first?” He leaned up against the locker next to hers. Giselle’s eyes wandered of their own accord to his shirt, pulled tight across his muscular frame. It had to be the wolf in him that always aroused her attention, because her wolf was always close to the surface when he was near. Animal attraction was hard to overcome even when her rational mind knew he was off limits. She had a boyfriend, and Asher was supposed to be getting closer to Taylor. But still she had to look and appreciate the way his clothes showed off his natural physique.
“Harper.” She tried to sound casual, as if she were just tired and had not been silently admiring him for the last thirty seconds. “You know. Because life couldn’t be more unfair.”
“Lucky for you, I have him too. Let’s be lab partners again.” Asher offered her one of his award-winning smiles to go along with his tempting offer.
“You think that’s wise, after last year?” Giselle laughed and playfully smacked at his arm.
Asher deflected her swing and used her outstretched hand to pull her in for a hug. “Oh, don’t be such a pessimist. He loves us.”
“He loves you.” She pushed away from his body. “For what reason I can’t say, but not me.”
Asher laughed. “Just be a good little wolf and do as you’re told. He likes rule followers.”
“I don’t have near enough caffeine in me this morning to come up with an appropriate comeback, but when I do... you’re in for it, Mr. Thrace.”
Asher laughed again. “I’ll give you a raincheck, but Harper won’t, so we better get moving.”
They walked together down the hall. Giselle looked around, hoping to see Damien before she went in, but he was nowhere to be found. They’d left on a sour note the day before. That new witch and the sudden way he’d clammed up about her had set her wolf on edge. She didn’t like secrets. Too many had been kept from her.
He was supposed to be an open book. Her boyfriend.
After sleeping on it, though, and now that caffeine was jumpstarting her brain, she felt a little more understanding. The whole doctor-patient thing that witches had meant there would be many things he had to keep to himself, and she’d just have to get used to that, as long as they were a couple. And they were a good couple. There was no need to mess with what they had. Damien was one of the few guys in her life who truly understood the whole supernatural thing, and she couldn’t fault him for having his own supernatural issues too.
Sadly, that conversation would have to wait until later. As she and Asher walked into Harper’s class, she could already see he was in a foul mood. Perhaps he needed a triple shot of espresso too. Maybe that was how she could get on his good side? Giselle made a mental note to grab him a coffee bribe the next morning.
“Richards and Thrace, are you two planning to be partners again this term?” Harper asked, looking down his nose at them with the most evil of smiles.
It didn’t take much for Giselle’s wolf to rise to the surface. She practically vibrated where she stood, trying to hold back. Asher took her hand. His gesture, surprisingly, soothed her near savageness this morning.
“If that’s not a problem, sir,” Asher replied.
“You may partner with whomever you wish, but the quality of work had better be up to snuff. This is advanced chemistry, and I will have no messing around.” Harper set his gaze back on his desk as if looking at them was no longer worth his time, his warning sufficient to have made his point.
“Of course, sir,” Asher said, as calmly as ever.
He was used to taking orders, Giselle assured herself. Mr. Thrace was no softie, and Asher and his brothers no doubt had been housebroken at gunpoint. That thought brought out a giggle and sent her wolf back to sleep. She ducked her head to hide her expression at the inside joke, and slid into her seat at the lab table. “See. I told you he hated me,” Giselle whispered to Asher.
Asher shook his head. “Because he warned us to be on our best behavior?”
“Read between the lines.”
Asher set his notebook down and pulled out a pen. “You’re paranoid.”
“Whatever. Downplay it.” Giselle got her pen and notebook ready and faced the front of the class, waiting for Mr. Harper to begin a lecture that would no doubt negate the effects of the caffeine she’d just drank.
Written across the board in bold letters was the word caffeine.
Giselle nearly burst into laughter.
“Do we find something funny, Miss Richards?” Mr. Harper, sharp as always, zeroed right in on her. And Giselle hadn’t really made a spectacle of her laughter either; at least, she didn’t think so.
“I think we could all use a little caffeine this morning,” Giselle said, trying to sound as if she were not being scolded by her teacher.
“Yes. Well. I thought for the start of term we’d pick an experiment that touched on all of your little lives.”
Could that man sound more condescending?
“Show of hands, please. How many of you consumed a caffeinated beverage this morning?”
The entire class raised their hands.
“Just as I thought. In my day, I’d have seen no one with their hand lifted, but that’s just a sign of the times. We’re going to explore the effects of caffeine on the central nervous system and find the amounts of caffeine present in your favorite beverages of choice, as well as look at alternatives to coffee for the same buzz you get out of caffeine. This will be the focus of the next couple of weeks.”
“At least the subject matter is good,” Asher whispered to Giselle.
“Only if I can volunteer to drink each and every beverage he comes up with,” Giselle responded with a laugh.
“Miss Richards, care to share with the class what you and Mr. Thrace are discussing?”
“Yes, sir. I was saying to Ash that I’d volunteer to drink any of the aforementioned beverages.”
Mr. Harper’s face contorted with an evil smile. “I’m pleased to hear that, Miss Richards. When we get to tribal herbs and remedies for malaise, you’ll be the first I call on for samples.”
Shit!
Giselle feigned a smile as she slowly let her head slip to the desk.
She didn’t see his face, but she could hear Asher laughing next to her.
This year was already off to a great start.