Then the Wolf Step In

Chapter 8

Joy’s POV

When I arrived home, there was no light on.

The house was quiet, and I could only hear my own footsteps. I fumbled to turn on the lights and was startled by the person sitting on the sofa.

Ryan was sitting there with his eyes closed, arms crossed, and his long legs sprawled out.

What was he doing here? Why didn’t he turn on the lights but sat in the dark?I was puzzled, but I decided to leave him alone. Without greeting him, I went upstairs as if I hadn’t seen him.

My mom and Uncle Henry were not at home. During these days there was no need for Ryan and I to pretend to be kind to each other. No more pleasantries; we communicated in silence.

Days went by like this. I woke up early and went to school, which enabled me to avoid seeing Ryan. Even we crossed path at school, we pretended not to know each other. I came back late at night, and would always find Ryan sitting in the dark.

We hadn't spoken to each other for a long time. We were living in the same house but we acted like we were strangers.

Fairly speaking, we were no different from strangers to begin with.

The routine continued and I wondered if this mode would ever be stopped before my mom and Uncle Henry came back from the business trip.

On a sunny Wedenseday, Mr. Martin wanted my presence in his office, saying that we need to talk.

As I entered the office, my eyes fell upon a cluttered small desk, stacked with books, pens, and a textbook. Despite the mess, Mr. Martin sat comfortably in front of it. He was holding a pink mirror and carefully examining his mustache. The mirror was no bigger than his palm and I doubted if he had confiscated it from a student.

I knocked on the door. Mr. Martin jumped and hurriedly put away the mirror. He picked up the cup, took a sip, and regained his composure, "Come in Joy. We’re having small talk and it won’t be long.”

I approached and sat opposite Mr. Martin.

“So how have you been doing recently? Since you’re new here, The school environment, teaching methods, and the classmates? How do you feel?"

“Everything is fine. I am doing well.”I replied without hesitation.

“Glad to hear that,"Martin gave me a smile and said, "I looked at your GPA in your last school. It seemed to me that you are a top A student.”

“I was.”

“You never bragged and boast about the glorious past, right? I quite like that.” Mr. Martin laughed and said, “I heard my colleagues talking about you. We’re all impressed by the progress you’ve made.”

“Are they?”I asked uncertainly.

“Yeah. Why would I lie to you?”

“But I didn’t perform well in the quiz.”I fidgeted my fingers nervously.

“Well, it was just a quiz. Don’t see it as a tremendous failure or you will lose the morale to move on.”Mr Martin continued, “As you may have noticed, the competition in Groton was fierce. More fierce than any other schools. To bring the best side of our students, we’d like to give students tougher tasks even this could casue students stressed out. But I am happy that you go through this. The first day you were here, you barely passed the quiz. Days later you reached average in the second quiz. Half a month passed and you ranked in the top fifteen. Let me be honest with you, kid. Only a clever learner can advance so fast and I see great potential in you."

“Thank you for your nice words, Mr. Martin.”

“I am just telling you the truth. Sooner or later your name will be on the honor roll.”Mr. Martin coughed and said, “However—”

I should have known it. All praises coming from the mouth of an adult would always be followed by a “but” or “however”. As if the sentence wouldn’t be completed without the conjunction.

“However, recently you zone out often and I wonder if you’re troubled by anything?”

I am not troubled by anything. I am troubled by someone. Ryan, specifically.

But there is no way for me to explain this to Mr. Martin. He is a nice teacher and I am willing to trust him with this secret. The only question is that I myself haven’t figured out my feeling towards Ryan.

It is too complicated.

My reasonable part hates Ryan like hell and it guides me to distant myself from the dangerous person while my physical part is uncannily attracted to Ryan. Perhaps this is the so-called forbidden fruit effect-the harder I try to ignore him, the more frequent I think of him.

“What is on your mind, Joy?”Mr. Martin studied my expressions with his eyes squinting behind the spectacles like a detective.

“Nothing is troubling me.”I shook my head and smiled at Mr. Martin, “I didn’t sleep well recently. Could be the reason why my mind drifted away. I am sorry Mr. Martin. I would go to bed early.”

“I see.”Mr. Martin nodded even though he didn’t look like he believed the excuse I offered. He said, “Just take good care of yourself and let me know if you need any help, alright?”

“Alright.”

“Right. Meeting dismissed.”Mr. Martin smiled warmly and waved his hand, indicating that I could leave.

I let out a sigh of relief and headed to the door. At the same time a student walked in carrying a pile of textbooks. He said, "Mr. Martin! These are the assignments from Class 5."

“Thank you. Just put them there.”

Driven by curiosity, I glanced up to look at the visitor, only to see a familiar face. He was the boy who picked up my student card and returned it to me. I was hesitating if I should say hello when he put down the stuff and saw me. He blinked and followed me, walking by my side.

“I didn't expect to meet you here”he cried in excitement, “You still remember me?"

“You're Tyler. Thank you for returning my card."

"No problem, it wasn’t a big deal."

Tyler blushed while keeping his head low. It was a miracle that he didn’t run into a wall. He reached his classroom first so we parted ways there. I was about to leave when he called out, "You haven't given me your name yet."

He was expecting an answer and he looked so sincere that I found it hard to say no. I sighed and said, “Joy Morgan. You can call me Joy.”

"I love this name." Tyler grinned and used his finger to point at the corner of his mouth, "You should smile more to deserve the title."

I couldn't help but smile.

“That’s it.”Tyler smiled too.

I waved goodbye to him and headed towards my classroom. As I was about to step into the classroom, someone grabbed me by the collar from behind and pulled me to the corner of the stairs. My head jerked up and I saw Ryan.

He looked down at me with his arms crossed against the white wall.

My heart was pounding but I stayed calm and said, "Nice to see you, Ryan."

“Do you? Your face is gloomy.”Ryan c****d his head and waved his hand in front of me, "So, you can still see me."

“If you are not wearing the ring and the invisible cloak, of course I can see you.”

Ryan sneered and didn’t comment on that. He looked in the direction I came from and asked with a smirk, “You've spotted a client? Who was that kid? How long have you been hitting on him? How much did you charge him? Did you give him a discount?"

The questions made me feel I am a p********e facing the police interrogation.

I was furious but I knew it would be pointless to argue with Ryan. His purpose was to provoke me, making me crazy. My anger will only satisfy him. I took a deep breath, letting reason took the better side of me and turned around to leave.

Ryan didn't let go of his hand, though. He grabbed my collar and pulled me back with a slight tug. I kept my head looking ahead and didn’t look back. He scowled mockingly and placed his palm on my neck.

I felt a sparkle and my body shivered at the touch.

Ryan held my neck and gently pulled me closer to him. He used his free hand to place my hair behind my ear. He lowered his head and whispered, "Shouldn’t I be the one you target on? How could you turn your back on me?"