Rejected, Redeemed, Royal

"Today is going to be a great day." "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." "Today you're going to puke on someone's shoes if you don't get your s**t together." The guy behind me in line snickers at my failed pep talk to myself, but I can tell it's good natured. I'd laugh at me too. I turn to look at him. He's a bit shorter than me (most guys are), but unlike the guys at home he doesn't seem to hold it against me. He has an open face, and he's clearly a student like me, but he has none of the first day jitters I've got going on. "I'm Sam" He introduces, after I've spent longer than socially appropriate staring at him. Oh Goddess, I'm an embarrassment.  "I'm sorry!" I blurt out, face going red. He raises an eyebrow at me, still amused. "I'm not, I happen to like the name Sam."  "I'm Claire, and I swear I have manners." Sam laughs again "Its ok Claire, I could tell you were nervous even before you threatened to vomit on people." Someone behind Sam clears their throat in a very obviously annoyed manner, gesturing at the line in front of me. Sam and I move up, still chatting a bit. Turns out hes not nervous because hes a third year already. He'd graduated early from High School, and his whole pack had gotten together to fund him attending out of state college when he found out his scholarships didn't cover everything. "That’s so sweet!" I like to think my pack is supportive, but I can't see everyone there sending me to college. I frown a bit. The only reason I'm here at all is I'm the Alpha and Luna's daughter. Most kids in my pack don't go to college. "Hey, what's with the sad face?" Sam noticed my dip in mood right a way. "I…" I'm embarrassed now. My new friend worked hard to get here, and here I am taking up space just because my parents were important. Its amazing how fast I went from nervous enough to throw up, to happy, to self doubt. "My parents are the pack leaders, I didn't work to get here. I'm a fraud." Wow. That’s a lot to dump on a dude in the first 10 minutes. Can I be a bigger mess? I look down at my flannel, my jeans. I think of my long blond hair up in the most haphazard bun ever. Yeah, I can be a bigger mess, but it will be hard. "Hey, Claire, it's ok." My eyes jerk up to his, I'm pretty sure I'm catching flies with my open mouth. "It really is." He makes a shooing motion and I scoot up in line. "You filled out an application, right?" I nod, its all I can do, I've embarrassed myself enough with my social ineptness. "Did you cheat on your application or your exams?" I shake my head no. "Then you deserve to be here. Just because your family helped make it happen doesn't make you a fraud. LLU is hard to get into, and having connections doesn't really help. Sure, having Alpha money helps pay the bills, but the entrance, actually deserving to be here, that’s all you." "I…You…Sam…" I look down, avoiding his gaze. He's right though. Goddess he is right. I studied day and night for years to do well enough on the exams to get a place. I started drafting my application essays as a sophomore in High School. Sure I've got a leg up, but the admittance work, that was all me. "Thanks Sam" I whisper, "you've really made my day." After the nerves and the first of what I'm sure will be many "imposter syndrome" episodes dissipate, Sam and I get back to chatting. "Just how long IS this line? I picked this place because it was close to campus and the line didn't look that long, but we've barely moved!" "It's always like this at the start of the semester," Sam informs me "they hire a bunch of new baristas and training is basically sink or swim, here is the equipment, make some caffeine goblins happy." "That…seems like a terribly inefficient buisness model." "Yeah, but it makes sense in a way. The owner wants to see how they'll perform in high pressure, and it doesn't get much more high pressure than angry weres looking for a java jolt." "Ok, fair." I laugh. I'm a bit nervous for the barista, though. We’re shuffling along at a pretty good pace, but I can still smell aggression in the air. Oddly, it doesn’t seem to reach a peak. I notice then that there seems to be a pretty good smattering of older students in the café. I guess having people who know the drill in with the newbies is a good call. When we eventually make the counter I make sure to greet the harried baristas by the names on their tags, smile and tip. It’s the least I could do. Sam and I head to campus at the same time as well. I'm so excited I made a friend my first day, I blurt it out. Sam of course just laughs and gives me his contact info, tells me he works part time in the tutoring center, then heads off to class. I already walked my class route the day before, so I know where I'm headed. Standing in front of the double doors to the BioSciences hall, I take a moment to just let it all in. I'm here. I'm finally here. Everything I've been working towards my whole academic life. I made it. I polish off my coffee and head inside. It feels momentous, overwhelming, awe inspiring. I feel amazing. I feel sick. I feel, wet? I tear my eyes off the grand entrance to the BioSciences building and look down, the front of my blouse is dripping with lukewarm coffee, while THE most gorgeous man I've ever seen is sprawled out in front of me, having clearly tripped over someone's wayward back pack. Melanie my wolf perks up and whispers "mine" right as he looks at my sopping wet shirt and says, "Holy s**t you're hot, can I buy you a coffee?" The confusion on his face as I bust up laughing is priceless.