Cursed

First Day

Lana

The sunlight pierced my window, giving me a migraine before I even got the chance to open my eyes. Groaning, I turned over, pulling the downy pillow over my head to block out the light. I don't remember waking up more than a few times in the night, still, my body felt like lead, my pounding headache weighing me further into the comfort of the darkness of my pillow.

Exhaustion settled over me once more, until a sudden knock at my door pulled me back to reality.

The door creaked open, and Aunt Susan spoke softly, yet still stern.

"Time to get up, breakfast, then Noah will drop you off at school."

"Guessing he made it back in one piece?" I mumbled, attempting to make my voice audible. I don't think she heard me though, as I could hear her footsteps retreating down the hall.

I sat up slowly, the pain in my head reaching a peak. I leapt to my feet, running and barely making it to the toilet. I vomited until nothing could come out anymore. Groaning, I sat up, shivering from the cold sweat that coated my skin.

There's no way in hell I could be this sick. Maybe some ginger ale could help. I lifted myself from the tile and turned on my sink, washing my face with cold water.

"God, that feels too good." I moaned, before drying my face off with the towel that hung next to my mirror.

Was it just me, or did my forehead look a little red and splotchy? Ugh, just what I needed. I brushed my teeth and wandered over to my closet where I threw on some jean shorts, a comfortable bra, and a cute flowy loose-fitting white tank top.

I went back to the mirror and peered at my reflection. The splotches were gone... Or maybe I was just seeing things in the first place. Frowning, I brushed my hair out, flat ironed what I needed to and did my best to conceal the dark circles under my eyes. At least my stomach was starting to feel better.

Before I turned away, a glint caught my eye in my hair. Was that? I scowled and looked closer. Sure enough. White. The hell? I'm only 18, and I already have damn gray hair? Snorting in disgust, I plucked the strand and left the bathroom.

I grabbed my backpack off the desk, taking care to remove all the paperwork from the previous day's therapy session. I slung it over my shoulder and headed to the kitchen where Susan, John, and Noah sat at the table. Noah was, of course, wearing a dark hoodie. His dark hair draped his eyes. He didn't even look up at me, and I could hear the heavy rock coming from the earbuds he had on.

"Good morning." I said, sitting down in my chair. A plate of eggs, bacon, and toast was already there.

"You look like shit." Noah said, a humorless smirk aimed at me. I had to stop myself from throwing my half-eaten toast at his face.

"Did you sleep alright?" Susan asked.

I nodded, finishing my food as quickly as I could. I took the empty plate over to the sink and grabbed my backpack.

"Good luck." John called to me, a hint of warning in his tone as if to remind me about spilling pack secrets or whatever it is he and the Beta were talking about the night before.

I followed Noah to his two-door mustang and slid into the passenger seat. The car roared to life after he turned the key in the ignition and he peeled off with a screech of the tires circling the driveway and down the winding path to the main street. I was glad that he preferred his music to deafening levels, as the angry music didn't leave any room for personal thoughts. I just wanted to get through the day as painlessly as possible.

He turned into the big school's campus parking lot and parked in front of the curb. He didn't say anything as I opened the door and skirted off as if he couldn't get away from there fast enough. Inhaling deeply, I glanced at the school. People were already filtering through the main campus doors.

Avoiding eye contact, not because I'm shy, I honestly don't have any patience for shyness, but mostly because that's just what I'm used to around the pack. I could smell everything though, it was a little overwhelming. A mixture of teenage hormones, perfumes and other noxious school odors. The sun was way too bright, it hurt my eyes and I hurriedly made my way through the main doors, after a small group of guys and girls, rubbing my eyes.

Immediately, I found the signs dictating the directions of the front office and found the very human secretary at the desk taking sign-ins.

"What do you need?" The nameplate on the desk said Mrs. Anderson.

"Uh.... A class schedule, I just enrolled."

"Ah, yes new student, let me get the paperwork ready for you. Name?"

"Lana Greystone." She typed in something on her computer, then the printer behind her went off. She stood up, grabbed the papers and handed it to me briskly.

"Here is a map of the school, I assume you can read maps." I nodded mindlessly, as she went on. "First class is Sociology 1 with Mr. Park. You will have an assigned student ambassador to escort you to your classes on your first day. After that you're on your own."

"Thank you." She picked up the phone.

"Eli Thomas, please come to the front office, Eli Thomas, please come to the front office, thank you." Her voice echoed in the speakers across the school. Not five minutes later, the door opened up behind me, a nice smelling, musky, yet masculine scent filling the air with it. I turned around and peered up at the tall guy who had just entered the room.

He had stylishly scruffy dark hair, almost black. His eyes were a deep ocean blue. His shoulders were broad and surprisingly well developed. He wore a dark gray v-necked t-shirt and well-fitting jeans. He adjusted his backpack, his eyes drifting in question to Mrs. Anderson, and then finally lay on me. I almost flinched, then I remembered as my eyes grazed his forehead, that I might as well just be human. He seemed curious, but expressionless.

"You will escort Ms. Greystone today." He nodded, then opened the door, waiting for me to follow.

He doesn't say much. Huh. I thought to myself as I followed him down the hall. He stayed slightly ahead, but made sure to not go too far.

"So, new here." He finally spoke up, stopping at a nearby water fountain. He leaned down to take a sip, shielding his hair from getting wet, then wiped his mouth, looking at me.

"I guess." I said, tilting my head at him. I never really had much use for small talk. He gave me a slight crooked smile, and then kept on until we made it to a large hall, filled with people chatting loudly at tables, or studying.

"Eli!" A short, pixie-haired blonde girl called out from a table towards the outer edge. She waved excitedly, and noticed me. She whispered to the other people at the table, gesturing at us. I didn't really know what to do, I guess, follow. We approached the table and he sat down. A caramel-skinned guy lobbed a wadded up paper at Eli.

"Who's the cutie?" He asked, flashing me a cocky grin. I was slightly taken aback, and pursed my lips.

"Chill, Tyler." Eli said, folding up the paper the secretary gave him and sticking it in his back pocket.

"New girl."

It was uncomfortable. I adjusted the shoulder strap to my backpack and stood there awkwardly, not knowing if I should sit. I tried to ignore the speculating look of the blonde girl who wrapped her arms around Eli's waist. Mate? Wait, no, stupid, humans don't have goddess given mates. I thought to myself, eying their blank foreheads. I've spent time around humans, but not a lot of time. Only whenever I had appointments or whatever in human intermingling office spaces. Never around teenagers though.

"Well, you gonna introduce yourself?" The guy said, they were clearly waiting for me to say something. I cleared my throat.

"Lana." I said. Just then a slender girl with exotic features and long, shiny, dark hair walked up, accompanied by a tall lanky guy with dark brown hair. They seemed to be in a quiet argument, and then, fed up, the girl dropped her book bag and strode off towards the vending machine area at the back of the commons. The guy sat down.

"What was that about?" The blonde asked.

"I dunno man, she keeps talking this crazy s**t, thinking i messed with Mandy." He grumbled, then raised an eyebrow at me.

"That's Lana." Tyler said. "By the way, my name is Tyler, and might I say, it is VERY lovely to meet you, gorgeous."

"Thanks." I said, his words rolled off of me slightly. The blonde scoffed and sat down on Eli's lap.

"Obviously, you met Eli, gotta say bro, I'm especially jealous you get to take her 'round town today."

"Shoulda applied for Ambassador then." Eli responded, waving him off. "Courtney, you're killing my nuts, get up."

"Sorry." Courtney said, standing up, she gave me another look as Eli adjusted his jeans as if daring me to look and sat back down.

"You gonna sit?" Tyler said, pointing at the empty chair next to him. I nodded, and sat down, trying to take everything in.

"Ben." The other guy introduced himself. "And the rude chick's Libby. She's PMSing or something."

"Ew, be nice. She wouldn't be mad if you kept your f*****g hands to yourself." Courtney piped in.

"Jesus, chill, bruh." Ben said, shrugging. "I didn't do anything."

I didn't know what to say and just sat back, my hands idly combing through the long tresses of my hair. Was it just me or was there a few more specks of silver in there?

The loudness of the commons had my ears buzzing. They were already sensitive enough, and they seemed even more sensitive for some reason today. I tried to tune it out as the group had meaningless conversation. Luckily, it was like they had forgotten I was there for a moment, til, all of a sudden, my body lurched, launching the chair from under my feet. I caught myself just in time instinctively, before I landed on the ground as a couple of guys wrestling had launched themselves straight into me.

"f*****g i***t!" One of them yelled, while the other apologetically picked up the chair, setting it back on it's legs. "Dammmmn. Who's the hottie?"

I could hear him whisper to the other inaudible to any ears but mine. Did these people think I was attractive? I certainly wasn't used to it as I've never been looked at as anything but scum from my own pack. Beauty be damned, if you're a markless outcast, then you're worthless.

"You good, Lana?" Eli asked, a layer of concern in his tone.

"What I get for daydreaming." I said. The bell rang, sending a painful throb pulsing through my skull and I stood up while everyone else did the same. I took a look at my class schedule, seeing that my first class was up on the second floor at room 212.

Courtney planted a huge, almost NSFW kiss smack on Eli's lips, giving me another knowing look before sauntering off, her hips swaying. I watched Eli's eyes trail after her behind, before grabbing his stuff.

"Actually, it looks like we got the same first class."

"What a convenience." I responded, rubbing at my temple.

"Your eyes are wild, you know." He said, offhandedly, giving me a side glance. He actually stayed at an even pace with me. Maybe he was just shaking off the morning drowsiness before.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Never see anything like that, two different colors. Learned about that in biology, heterochromia is a rare genetic trait. I didn't notice before."

"Oh." I trailed off awkwardly, not sure how to take the compliment. "Thank you."

He shrugged and led me to a door marked 212. "Ready for your first day of class?"

Before I could answer he pushed the door open. Classmates were mingling with one another, the teacher was sitting at his desk. His cocoa brown hair, mixed with little pepper streaks. He looked up at the door and saw me.

"You must be Lana." He said. "You can take the empty seat next to Eli."

Eli was already at his desk but gave me a double thumbs up with a crooked grin as he pulled out the chair next to him. Sitting down, I draped my hair over one shoulder and settled in looking at everything.

Little motivational posters decorated the walls, one cute one with a kitten hanging off a

branch, saying just keep hanging on. The late bell sounded through the school, then the teacher stood up, waiting for the chatter to die down.

"Easy, calm down, class is starting." He spoke over the class. The buzz quieted down as they waited for him to continue.

"Can anyone tell me the meaning of the word ‘deviancy?" He finally asked. A few hands popped up. "Charlotte?"

"Not normal."

"What do you mean not normal?" He asked.

"Um... Like, weird?"

"Okay... Anyone else like to elaborate?" He said, pointing to another kid in the back.

"Abnormal, they don't do things like normal people."

"Okay, that's a little closer. That's good enough. Abnormal, aberrancy, irregularity, preternaturalness. Taboo. The definition of deviancy is an action or behavior that violates social norms. NOW." He stood up and paced a little bit, stopping at the white board. He picked up a marker, uncapped it, writing keywords.

"We as a society, have our own habits or traditions that bring us together as a people. There's a general normalcy that we are comfortable with. That we feel safe with. Anything outside of that? Well that's just weird? Right? Just nuts. You see it out in the real world, even in schools. You have your cliques, or your little circles that you run around in.

"What can be considered deviant acts?" He continued looking at us all one by one. His eyes settled on me for a moment, as if debating, then moved on to the dark haired girl next to me.

"Jasmine."

"Stealing, cheating, not closing your mouth when you chew, littering." She listed off. Mr. Parker nodded, then looked at Eli.

"Mr. Thomas?"

"Serial killers, school shooters, homeless people, rapists, child predators."

"Very good, see the act of deviancy can be surveyed on many levels. You got your simple rule breakers, nobody really bats an eye but the more severe the crime the more looked down upon it is, the more looked down upon the action, the more society outcasts an individual and casts them off as social deviants. Basic right? Pretty common sense?"

I squirmed uncomfortably in my chair slightly. Topic hits a little too close to home. Mr. Parker wrote the labels in one circle in a red pen. In the other, with a green pen, he wrote conformity.

"We all basically conform to societal norms whether we want to or not. From the manners and rules our parents teach us, to following the law. But there's a huge gray area. How can we as a society collectively categorize individuals into these specific categories? What about the areas that we can't really tell? Are the inquired individuals truly socially deviant? How does being labeled like that really affect us as a society? Are they MORALLY right or wrong? So that brings us to a little project."

He bent down and grabbed a bucket from under his desk and strode to Eli. "There are little slips of paper in this bucket. Pass this bucket along, grab a paper, don't read it, and wait til everyone has one." Eli grabbed a paper and passed it to me. I did the same and passed it to the girl next to me. When everyone grabbed one. Mr. Parker gave us a thumbs up and everyone proceeded to unfold and stare at their paper. Mine has a blue eye on it.

Confused, I looked up at the teacher, everyone else gaped at him questioningly.

He smiled and turned his back towards us, grabbing two laminated signs off of his desk one with a drawing of a brown eye, the other with a green one. He stuck it on the white board with a magnet.

"Only green and brown eyes are the social norm, blue eyes are social deviants." He announced to the stunned class. I almost choked back a snort. "Do with that information what you will. Now everyone with blue eyes, you will be given a sticker. So that everyone will know that you have blue eyes. Everyone hold up your cards as I pass out these stickers. Put them where everyone can see them."

The class lifted their cards and one by one, Mr. Parker handed out a handful of stickers including me and Eli. I watched as they put it on their hands and followed suit. A cartoon yellow smiley face grinned up at me. Maybe four out of the 15 or so of us had stickers, the rest grinned at each other taking note. This was a fun game. They honestly had no idea what it's like to be truly an outcast.

"Everyone with blue eyes, you will now come only second to all the normal people. You aren't allowed to take bathroom breaks so use the bathroom before and after class or if you absolutely do, you are not allowed to use the hall pass for anything whatsoever without one green or brown eye present. You will not be allowed to co-mingle with brown eyed or green eyed people. You will only have access to second rate school supplies, crappy broken pencils, dryish pens etc. You cannot use the electric pencil sharpener, that's only for the normal kids. You can use the hand ones. Every time you come to class, you will need a new sticker.

"That's all for that, and as it's still early on in the semester, just split into groups of 2 and make a diagram of what's considered social normalcy and social deviance."

I felt a nudge to my arm and looked over at Eli who shrugged over at me with a hand gesture.

I nodded and he slid his desk over with a screech against the laminate floor. Mr. Parker glared at him for a moment before returning to his laptop. The rest of the class teamed up, quiet whispers erupting around us. If I focused, I was sure I could pinpoint every conversation in there. Some of them talked about the funny assignment and jokingly mocked people with stickers.

Even I understood the point of the exercise, it wasn't hard.

"Looking super distracted." Eli mentioned. "Us baby blues gotta stick together."

I rolled my eyes, couldn't help but smile a little. He was pretty charming for a human. His scent is nice too. I guess my eyes lingered on him a little too long as I hyper focused on his scent, because he waved for my attention.

"Sorry, just a little overwhelming. First day and all." I casually waved, making a point to stretch my arms above my head and relaxing with a pencil. Eli's fingertips grazed mine slightly as he took the pencil from me. "Hold up."

Giving him a questioning look as he stood up and walked over to the desk where a little sign with blue eyes sat. He jiggled something around in there for a moment before picking up two broken and splitting pencils from the basket. "Remember our place." He joked, sitting down and handing me mine. Nice of him to give me the sharper of the two.

"Gee, thanks." I quipped, writing my name at the top of the paper. The point immediately broke.

"Don't worry, I grabbed the best pencil sharpener I could find." He laughed, passing it off to me. The blades were a little dull, but it worked.

We concentrated on our work, until we thought it was good enough. Everyone else was finishing up as well. Eli was doing something on his phone, before he looked up at me.

"So what's your story?" He asked. My heartbeat quickened a little bit with anxiety. I didn't even think to create any backstory for myself. What an i***t.

"I dunno, I mean, same as anyone..." I answered slowly, and I hoped, casually. "I live with my aunt, uncle, and cousin."

"Same as anyone, huh?" He said, chuckling. "What, no mom or dad?"

I frowned a little. "No, not really, I guess."

"Ah shit." He ran his hands awkwardly through his hair. "Sorry, didn't mean to be rude, that was stupid."

"No, it's okay." I gave him an encouraging smile. I didn't really expect to meet any friendly faces here, but here was this guy, just casually talking to me. No weird glances, nothing. This was what it meant to have a normal interaction with someone. Not like I forgot to keep my distance, it was stupid to make friends with anyone let alone a human, but maybe for once, I could finally feel normal. Like I belong. If at a distance.

"They had an accident when I was five."

"I'm sorry to hear." He looked like he didn't know what to say, but his eyes lit up. "What are you doing after school? A bunch of us are hanging out at the lake tonight on the outskirts."

"Oh yeah?" It wasn't really realistic to go, but then again, nobody ever said I couldn't. When have I ever had the opportunity? "Hmm... Maybe."

"Gimme your phone." He commanded, holding out his hand. Raising my eyebrow, I pulled it out of my purse and placed it in his palm. "s**t it's locked."

I put in the pattern, and tilted my head at him. He typed something in, then his own phone lit up silently. He grinned and typed something else in before handing it to me.

"Let me know, text me." He said. The bell rang, and he stood up, waiting for me to do the same. I followed behind him in deep thought. I couldn't help it as a real, genuine smile pulled at my lips. I actually felt happy, excited even. Curious about the boy in front of me... God he smelt so good.

I felt a little clear headed in his presence until a bubbly blonde launched herself at him, holding him in deep embrace. Oh yeah, that's Courtney. He wrapped an arm around her and whispered something in her ear. She grinned and burrowed her face into his arm. She waved to me without turning her head. I felt a short but instantaneous burst of irritation that took me off guard.

A weird gurgle bubbled in my chest. I placed my hand over my heart, stopping in my tracks as the sound cut off almost as quickly as it came. Almost like my stomach growling, but it rippled inside of my ribs. Surely, I'm not hungry.

"You coming? I gotta take you to P.E, then go back up to the second floor." Eli stopped and called back to me.

"Yeah." I said breathlessly, as I shook my head, catching up. Courtney separated from us at the 1st floor stairway, and we went down to the ground floor, past the commons.

"I'll be back to meet you here, it's cool meeting you Lana."

I was still lost in thought, barely taking in the people around me, nodding listlessly when the gym teacher handed me my own uniform and sending me off to get changed. I was given a sticky note with a locker number and combination. I found my locker, all the other girls had finished apparently and were already filtering out into the gymnasium. I was the last to get my gym clothes on. I tied my hair up in a messy half bun and met with the others, while the gym teacher instructed us to run 21 laps around the length of the gym.

A mindless activity to do while I introspected. If anyone talked to me, I honestly wouldn't have noticed it. I easily out ran the entirety of the group, it was just a brisk jog for me, completely effortless. Not even a sweat broke out on my forehead. I didn't realize I had already passed up a lap as the rest of the group looked incredulously on. Even the teacher gawked at me and I realized my mistake. s**t, I can't make it look like this is too easy. I slowed down a little, pretending to be slightly winded.

They seemed a little less alarmed as they talked amongst themselves. I passed the coach on her stopwatch, and she called out to me.

"It's not a race, you know, you can take your time."

I felt my face flush hot, embarrassed and then it hit me. A crippling pain in my chest that sent me buckling to my knees with a yelp. I whimpered and curled up around myself, my heart hammering away in my chest. I felt the need to tear at my chest but settled for gripping my hands around my clothing in agony. It was like something was clawing at my ribs, ripping and wanting to surface, with an involuntary whine.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER?"

"Ew, is she crazy?"

"Do we call the nurse?"

"EVERYONE BACK UP!"