Lost and Found Bearcat Bites

High school has never been fun

I won't be with those that think I'm a trophy or a novelty. I've gone to school with the same kids my whole life and my friends are the only ones I truly trust. Not just any humans, wolves or fae. To me, my friends are only outshined by my mom. My mom found me when I was a toddler lost in the woods, and she took me in after being unable to find my parents. She is my Hero. We have been together through the good, the bad and the ugly! Now, with the end of my childhood so close, I'm fending off the stupid alpha and beta wannabes in the pack. I haven't been on their radar previously. I kept my head down and got grades that made my mom proud. Then for some unknown reason in this, my final year of high school at the ripe age of seventeen, they started to notice me. Not only them, but the young fae prince and the human quarterback on the football team. I'm not the most popular girl, I'm just a bad-looking girl who can turn into a bearcat. My eyes are two colors which I guess could be considered unique to some. I have green brown eyes. The bright green melts into dark brown, which melts one way or the other based on my mood. Green for when I'm happy and relaxed, and dark brown black when I am angry or frustrated. I keep true hair neat, braided and tucked under various wigs. I collect wigs like some girls collect shoes. It allows me to be colorful without being a colorful binturong. I dyed my true hair once, and I'll never forget seeing a bright pink bearcat in a tree. Mom immortalized the choice with a picture that she refuses to take off her desk!

Today I'm wearing my favorite rainbow wig with pom-pom ponytails on either side of my head and black leggings with a shorter navy blue turtleneck sweater dress. It's midterms and if I can get good marks, my mom has promised me that we could go visit a couple of college choices for spring break. I'm so interested in how other towns, villages, and communities live. They are all like the wolf pack I grew up with. These are just a few of the reasons why I don't intend to stay in my town for college.

"Aye-Aye!" Melissa, my soul sister, calls my name, she is sweet like my mom. Her hair is a beautiful blond red, like her wolf, and she has golden eyes in both shapes. Unlike me, she can't wait to join the pack and start contributing to them. She has been apprenticing with my mom for the last two years and will finalize her training this year. At our graduation she will start her medical training for more medical learning. My mom is one of the healers using more natural means. Melissa hopes to be able to treat those no matter preference, scientific medicine or holistic medicine.

As I approach her with a smile, she grabs me and starts telling me all about what her siblings did to annoy her last night. She has 5 siblings with one more on the way. Her parents have been very lucky to have so many healthy children. They are good people and give nothing but kindness and light to the pack, they are a house full of omegas and peaceful vibes can be felt just by turning onto the street they live on. Her dad is the pack therapist, and her mom rehabs the wolves who are their last chance before being removed from the pack and banished as a rogue. She only loses 1 in 3, a bit of a miracle worker than that one. Both work with my mom to help keep our pack healthy body and mind.

I giggle and chuckle along with her story as we make our way to our first class. It's our 2nd quarter midterms, and we only share this one class, so we don't see each other til the end of the day.

*****

'Later, Melissa' I wave and head to my next class. I feel good about the test we just had, but it's the next one that has kept me distracted. I'm okay at Literature, but I don't always understand what I'm reading the same way the rest of my class does.

"AyeAye! Are you ready for this next test?" Oliver catches my arm, and we make our way to class. He understands my pain in this class being Fae. His cultural references are not all the same as the rest of the class either. Oliver joined our school as part of a cultural exchange program, and after his first year, decided that he needed to stay with us. He and Melissa are my best friends and the three of us are the ultimate peas in a pod. "Did you see your Apple Stalker?" Oliver is always quick to point out the strange new attention I've been getting, but he is just a little jealous since he is bi and only seems to find guys at our school hot.

We have labeled each of my admirers with their own special nickname so we don't get any heat from their own fan groups, who have already been a bit of a problem lately as they each make their bid for my affections.

***

Apple stalker Austin is in line to be the next Beta of the Bluemoon wolf pack. He has a habit of trying to take pictures of me with his phone while looking like he is taking a selfie. Then he posts them on social media under the screen name of "appleofmyeye" and it's pictures of me and clips of things about surviving unrequited love. However, I've never heard more than a "hi" from him as he runs away, putting a certain distance between us.

Daniel is the Alpha to be, and he seems to want me to see each of the girlfriends he has. Placing himself and the current flavor of the month in places where I'll be sure to catch them making out. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel about this. While the girls with him must be drawn to his wavy blond hair, I just see him as a blond shaggy dog. His blue eyes glint in any light, yuck! I'm sure he is around me more. I might even have a class or two with him, but unfortunately for him, I don't know and can't be bothered to remember a good portion of his information. His nickname is "the forgotten" because I just learned his name a week ago. I kept having to look at my friends to ask if it was worse, look at them blankly when they tried to tell me something about him.

Frederick talked to me, and we were friendly when he got here, also part of the cultural exchange. He is the youngest prince of the summer fae court. Oliver started as his own attendant, but after the first year he got a new attendant who had already completed school. Oliver isn't interested in the same things that Frederick is. Unfortunately for him, he made it clear our first year that if I was friends with Oliver, I was going to regret it", but not sure how that was working out for him. I haven't talked to him since that ultimatum. I don't even say hi to him. Oliver has been kind enough to let me know that he is the one that drops off poems into my locker unsigned. He earned "The Poet" nickname and I feel like I really wish my bestirs would get their own drama.

My final suitor, as Melissa likes to remind me, is the human, and you'll learn more about Rick as, unlike the others, we actually share classes together. He talks to me and I just wish he would be happy being a friend. My poor friend who is ZONE Blocked.