The Beta and His Human Mate

Chapter 3: Making New Friends and an Enemy

Ashtyn’s POV

            “My face hurts”, Kyle complains as he is messing with the tissues in his nose as the two of us walk towards the nurse's office.

            “Well, you shouldn’t have gotten into a fight,” I reply sarcastically.

            “Shut up! Did you seriously have to get involved?”

            “Duh! I couldn’t sit back and let those guys hit my cute little brother” I say as I squeeze his cheek.

            He slaps my hand away. “Can you stop embarrassing me? It is bad enough you have to fight my battles”

            I shake my head and laugh, “No, and I wouldn’t have to if you would let me teach you how to fight.”

            He rolls his eyes and groans, “Fine.” I smile at him and then he c***s he brow at me, “Why was that guy growling at you?”

            I shrug, “I have no clue! I think it’s because I called his friend hot. Everyone at this school is weird. I will tell you this my socially awkward brother never growl at a girl, it's weird and she won't like it.”

            Kyle, "I'm not that socially awkward and I would never growl at a girl, I rather meow." I just shake my head to his comment chuckling to myself.

            We make it to the nurse’s office and walk in. A woman who looks to be in her early 30’s approaches us and looks at Kyle saying, “What is your name sweetie, and what happened?”

            He looks down saying, “Kyle Rainer and I-I uh fell down the stairs.” Of course, he doesn’t want to be a snitch.

            She directs him to sit down on one of the beds in the office, “I know when a kid gets into a fight. Unfortunately, it happens a lot at this school. Just give me their names and I will take care of it.”

            I speak up at that point, “Some seniors named Chris and Derek.”

            She nods before looking back at Kyle, “Well, it looks like your nose is no longer bleeding. The cut on your lip is already closed, and most of the swelling around your eye went down.” She then looks confused and asks Kyle, “Do you usually heal pretty fast?”

            Honestly, Kyle and I  have always healed fast. Kyle faster than me though. When he broke his arm, the doctors told him he needed to wear a cast for 4 weeks, but he was out of it in 2. When I dislocated my thumb, it was healed in like a week even though it should have taken 2.

            Kyle nods, “Yeah, I would say so.” She nods and writes something down on the clipboard she has.

            She looks at my face then and asks, “When did you get your black eye?”

            I motion to Kyle, “A few minutes after he got his.”

            She nods and writes something down on her clipboard again with a peculiar look on her face, “Okay, your swelling hasn’t gone down as much as his.” And she grabbed my hand figuring out that I got involved in the fight too, “Your knuckles are still pretty bruised but not as bad as I expected them to be.”

            I just nodded not knowing what else to say since she already figured out, I got involved. She looked at me again and asked, “I am assuming you are his older sister”

            I nod and say, “Ashtyn.”

            She writes my name down and walks over to the fridge in her office and pulls out two ice packs. She passes a bag to both of us. We thank her and she writes both of us a pass to our next class.

            Kyle and I walk out of her office to our classes after answering a few more questions. I head down a few hallways towards my Art Class, but I first place my hoodie in my locker and grab some of my art supplies. I slowly open the classroom door to not draw any more attention to myself. I see everyone is talking to their tablemates and working on their assignments. I walk over to the Art teacher and give her my pass.

            Ms. Burns smiles at me, “I am assuming you are Ashtyn.” I nod and return the smile. “Great, it is nice to meet you. The class is starting a new project you need to draw or paint something you find beautiful.” She then points to the computer in the corner and printer, “If you would like to print off a picture off the internet or from your social media account to base your picture off of, feel free to.”

            I thank her and head over to the computer and pull up my f******k. I find my favorite picture of my mom; it was from our last family vacation to Settle before she was killed. My dad took the photo of my mom laughing at something Kyle and I was doing. She just looked so happy in it. I print it off and grab a piece of drawing paper and go find a seat.

            I see a table with two girls sitting at it. One of the girls has dirty blonde hair and brown eyes and the other one has raven-colored hair and green eyes. I walk up to their table and ask, “Do you guys mind if I sit here?”

            They both shake their head no and I sit down. The blonde is super cheery, “You’re Ashtyn, aren’t you?” I furrow my eyebrows and nod in confusion. She laughs, “I’m Casey, your black eye and ice pack gives it away that you were the one that punched Chris in the face.”

            I chuckle, “I guess news travels fast here.”

            The other girl laughs, “Yeah, get used to it. I’m Sarah by the way.”

            I smile at them and say, “Nice to meet you both.”

            As the three of us are talking I draw grid lines on the picture of my mom and on my paper to help with my drawing. Casey then notices my tattoos, “I love your tattoos! Are there any reasons behind them?” 

            I smile and lift my sleeve to show the whole tattoo on my right shoulder, which is two flowers, a rose (my birth  month flower) and a marigold (Kyle’s birth month flower) with a hummingbird and bee, “This one represents my family, with my brother’s and I’s birth flowers, then my parents are  the bird and the bee.” I then show the one on my left forearm which is the different moon phases in a line, “This one I just got because I really like the moon and I thought it looked cool.” I have always had this weird fascination with the moon, and every time there is a full moon I feel like my mom isn't as far away. 

            I then point  to the right side of my rib cage, “I have another one which is a sunflower with the phrase, ‘you are my sunshine’ in my mom’s handwriting since she used to always sign it to me before she passed away.”

            Sarah and Casey look at me with sympathetic eyes and Casey say, “I am sorry to hear that.” She then looks at my picture, “Is that her?” I nod and she says, “She was really pretty, you look a lot like her.”

            I smile, “Thanks, and don’t feel bad she passed away almost 7 years ago.” I don't tell them it's her birthday today because I don't want them to look at me with more pity.

            I then notice that Casey and Sarah are both drawing Wolves. I ask them both as I nod to their drawings, “So are wolves your guys' favorite animal?”

            Sarah speaks up for them, “Yeah, I just think they are so pretty and majestic.”

            I nod and Sarah looks at me, “Are they your favorite animal?”

            I shake my head no and look confused at her she then points to her ear, “Sorry I just assumed since you have a tattoo of one.”

            I laugh, “No, I am actually terrified of wolves and any dog that resembles one.” They look at me shocked.

            Casey then asks, “Why, and why would you have a tattoo of one.”

            I laugh, “It’s a long story that I don’t want to get into. I purposefully put it behind my ear since I can’t see it. I guess in a way I can try and leave it behind me and overcome it."

            Sarah laughs, “You’re like that Bachelorette Kaitlyn who is scared of birds but has tattoos of them on her elbows.”

            I laugh, “Yeah, I guess. Actually, I got this tattoo with my best friend. It was his idea to get a tattoo of our fears. He explained if we could both name our fears it will help overcome them." 

            Casey, "Oh, that makes sense. What was his?"

        "He got a super detailed storm on his forearm." They both nod at what I said. 

        I notice there is still some tension, so I change the subject and ask the two of them, “So what are you two involved in at school?”

            Casey smiles, “I am one of the co-captains on the cheerleading time.”

            I smile and look at Sarah, “Are you a cheerleader too?”

            Sarah and Casey both laugh, Casey then says, “Yeah, as I could ever convince her to be a cheerleader.”

            I laugh and Sarah says, “I am a Flute player for the band.”

            I reply, “I wish I could play an instrument.”

            Casey looks at me, “So Ash, you going to join any teams or clubs?”

            I shrug, “Well, this school doesn’t have a team for the sport I do. So I am not sure what to join.”

            Sarah asks, “Which is?”

            “Gymnastics”

            Casey asks, “What event did you do, and were you any good?”

            I nod, “Floor, I was supposed to try out for the Junior Olympics team, but I was injured when the day came around.” Thanks to Ricky.

            Casey's face lights us, “You should try out for Cheerleading, we need tumblers.”

            I shake my head, “I am not really the cheerleading type.”

            She places her hands together in a begging position, “Please will you think about trying out?”

            Before I can respond a voice that I don’t know says, “Trying out for what?”

            I look up and see a bleach blonde girl with gray eyes and fake nails. Casey smiles at her, “Hey Rachel, Ash here is thinking about trying out for the cheer team.”

            She looks me up and down with judging eyes and makes an “o” face as she does it.

            I smile at her, “Yeah, Casey said you guys needed tumblers.”

            Casey squeals slightly, “So you will try out?”

            I look at her and roll my eyes, “I didn’t say that.”

            Rachel then says in a tone, “Are you any good?”

            I shrug, “I guess, I mean I can do a cartwheel and my legs stay straight.”

            Sarah chuckles, “She was supposed to be on the Junior Olympics Gymnastics Team.”

            Rachel gives me a fake sympathetic look, “Ohhh, you weren’t good enough.”

            I roll my eyes and say, “Nooo, I just had 3 broken ribs, a concussion, and a sprained wrist when the day came around. Now that I am healed, I can easily do a standing back tuck without much effort.”

            She realizes I am actually good and tries to be sweet, “Oh well we will see you at tryouts.” She then gives me a smile before walking away, “Oh, and Ashley, you would be a lot prettier without all those piercings and tattoos.” 

            I smile at her, “Oh you see, I purposefully do this to repel guys. Because if I didn’t have all of them all the guys at this school would break up with their girlfriends and you know worship me at my feet. And it is Ashtyn.”

            She rolls her eyes, “Yeah, whatever, well my boyfriend Aaron would never do that.” She says his name like I am supposed to know who he is.

            She must have noticed my confused expression and says, “You know, Aaron Miller, like one of the hottest guys at this school.”

            I nod and say, “Oh sorry, when they gave me the school handbook it didn’t include the hot guy list. Do you mind making me one?”

            “Just stay away from him.”

            I salute her and say, “Aye, Aye Captain.”

            She scuffs and walks back to her table but not before shooting me a glare.

            Sarah starts dying with laughter and Ms. Burns tells her to quiet down since she was being too loud. She apologizes then looks at me, “Honestly, you have become one of my new best friends.”

            I laugh, “Thanks. I think she likes me.”

            Casey then speaks up, “There is a party at this girl Becky’s house this Friday, you should come with us.”

            I smile, “Sure, that sounds fun.” I then lean forward and ask, “So who is Aaron, so I don’t piss Barbie off more?”

            Casey pulls out her phone and shows me a picture of him and her, “That is him and he is my older brother. To be honest, no one likes them together, we all know they aren’t right for each other.”

            I recognize him instantly as the guy who growled at me. I say out loud not realizing it, “That’s the guy who growled at me.”

            They both look at me shocked and Sarah asks, “What?”

            I brush it off as if it is nothing and go back to drawing, “Oh he growled at me for some reason during the whole fighting Chris thing.”

            Casey then asks, “Do you know why he did?”

            I shrug, “I am pretty sure because I called his friend Scott, hot. But I am not sure.”

            Casey and Sarah look at each other wide-eyed like they know something I don’t.

            I look at them, “What?”

            Sarah shakes her head, “Oh nothing, don’t worry about it. Guys are weird at this school.”

            I laugh, “Haha, yeah I picked up that.”

            The three of us go back to talking and working on our projects for the rest of the class. Well, I am glad I made some new friends and possibly an enemy.