The Reason

Chapter Two

“Miss Winter, do you care to explain what happened to you to harm Miss booth?” Mr. Ronan asked me. I looked him in the eyes and told him exactly what happened.”Jewel was looking for my friend. When I told her he wasn’t in today, she started getting mad and slammed me into the lockers. When I fell, she started kicking me. Because she was hurting me, I grabbed her ankle and defended myself.” I stated bluntly. Luckily for me, I had a small bruise forming on my cheek backing up my story, but thanks to her heels, I knew my sides were worse.

"Look, she started it all. I was just defending myself", I let out a long sigh. "Win, you know better. You shouldn't have beat her like that" my father said. "So next time you expect to just take the abuse? Got it, Mr. Ronan, I am sorry for my actions today. They were out of line and it will not happen again", I said, wrapping my arms around me. " Miss Woodland, I am going to have to suspend you for the week and you will need to give Jewel a sincere written apology. " I just nodded, not wanting to talk to anyone in this room. My father and I stood up. He shook the principal's hand again and we headed back to the pack house.

I pulled out my phone, but still no messages. I sighed and sent another message to Ember. "Hey Em, I don't know if I made you mad or something, but I need someone, please message me back or come see me. I was suspended… " I sent the message. And looked out the window watching the trees fly by. We were almost home when my father started yelling at me. I’m such a disappointment to him.

"Your mother is going to be upset with you. Y'know that, right?" He just kept going. I couldn't take it. Em ignoring me, getting beat, defending myself as I had been taught but still getting suspended, disappointing my parents. I started crying. Dad hadn't seen me cry in years. The pain in my sides grew. We reached the packhouse, and my father parked. "Don't be crying for sympathy now. You did this to yourself.” my father said harshly.

I couldn’t stop myself. I kept crying. I had to get away. I jumped out of the car and ran to my room. I raced through the house, passing wolves with surprised faces. I was almost halfway there. I bumped into someone, trying not to look up. I mumbled a quick " Sorry" while still crying, trying to get up.

"Win". That voice. I looked up as Ember stood in front of me. Seeing him only made me want to cry more. The last time he saw me cry was when my brother left for a new pack. I haven't seen him in 2 years. "Winter what's wrong, you don't cry," he said, helping me up. I looked at him. Still filled with emotions, trying to calm me. I took a deep breath and grabbed his arm, looking him straight in the eyes.

"You have been ignoring me all day. '' I spoke softly, still looking into his eyes, feeling more tears running down my cheeks. He sighed "I know I just got told some stuff and I didn't know how to tell you. But you never cry, so that can't be it." He said, wiping my tears. I grabbed his hand and we walked to my room. I locked the door when we got there. " Jewel was looking for you. I told her she wasn't there and called her a bimbo. She started kicking me, and I defended myself and now I'm suspended for a week and have to write her an apology", I kept rambling. He grabbed my sides to try and calm me down. I jumped back and yelped. He looked at me, I pulled up my shirt, exposing my sides. Thanks to Jewel's heels, my sides were bloody and bruised. There was a puncture wound on my side that was still bleeding.

"Winter, tell me you got her back" I nodded slightly, suddenly feeling extremely light-headed as someone knocked on the door. I pulled down my shirt and went to open the door. Of course, it was my mother. The last thing I saw was her face before everything went black and I felt myself drop. All the pain then left my body.