Chapter 11 - The Week Before the Fall
1203 Words
Third-Person Limited – Kendra, then Dominic, then Kendra
By Monday morning, Kendra had decided three things:
She hated this school.
She hated Dominic Garrison.
And whatever weird, floaty feeling had shot through her chest when he grabbed her wrist? She never thought about that again.
She told herself it had been adrenaline. Or low blood sugar. Or lingering glitter poisoning from Friday’s slime fiasco.
Definitely not anything to do with him.
Still, when she woke up, her first instinct was to check her phone. Not for messages from friends back home. Not for news.
For the gossip page.
@GarrisonTea was not disappointed.
Post 1 – Friday, 11:58 p.m.
When pranks go too far 💅 Karina Frost’s locker “mysteriously” attacked her whole beauty routine & gym fit. Sources say: it’s war.
Post 2 – Saturday, 3:01 p.m.
Cafeteria Showdown 🍿
Dominic publicly drags Kendra about her weight.
Kendra walks out like a boss.
Witnesses say tension was “???”
Popcorn, anyone?
Hundreds of likes. Comments arguing, speculating, and taking sides.
Kendra read none of them.
She closed the app, tossed her phone aside, and stared at the ceiling.
“Today,” she muttered to herself, “I keep my head down. I don’t fight anyone. I don’t swing. I don’t accidentally join prison.”
She dragged herself out of bed and got ready.
Downstairs, the girls were halfway through breakfast.
“Morning,” Erica said. “Are you good?”
“Peachy,” Kendra lied, grabbing a banana.
Jeah studied her face. “If you want, we can skip lunch today. Eat in the bathroom or something.”
“That sounds depressing as hell,” Kendra said. “We’re not hiding from anyone. If they want a repeat performance, they can keep dreaming.”
“Atta girl,” Alrreah said, raising her mug.
Jennie still looked worried. “Just… don’t let him get under your skin again,” she said. “That’s what he wants.”
Kendra took a bite of a banana and shrugged. “I learned my lesson,” she said. “He wants a show; he’s not getting one.”
She didn’t mention the split-second replay playing on a loop in the back of her brain:
His hand on her wrist.
His eyes locked on hers.
The world is going quiet for a heartbeat.
She shoved the memory away.
Adrenaline. That’s all.
At school, the air felt… different.
Not quieter, not louder. Just charged, like right before a storm when clouds gather but haven’t broken yet.
As they stepped through the front doors, Kendra braced herself.
No one dropped slime on her.
No one called her whale.
No one tried anything.
People still stared, yes. But there were fewer obvious laughs. More side-eyes. A couple of nods, like tiny “respect” head-bobs from kids she didn’t know.
One girl with braids and a nose ring passed by and murmured, “If Karina comes for you again, I've got hands too, just saying.”
Kendra blinked. “Uh… thanks?”
“Name’s Maya,” the girl added, then melted back into the flow of students.
Kendra filed that away. Backup was backup.
At her locker, she half-expected another trap. A bucket. A glitter bomb. Something.
She opened it slowly.
Nothing.
Just books. A faint, lingering scent of cheap cleaning spray. No slime. No glitter.
She exhaled.
“Progress,” she muttered.
“Or they’re planning something worse,” Erica said unhelpfully.
Kendra shot her a look. “Thank you for your optimism.”
They grabbed their books for first period and started down the hall. Halfway there, Kendra realized something.
They hadn’t seen Karina.
Or Dominic.
Or his little encouragement.
She tried not to care.
She failed.
Later – Dominic
Dominic could still feel the ghost of her pulse in his hand.
He knew that was dramatic. He knew he was being ridiculous. But no matter how many times he flexed his fingers, he swore he could still feel that moment—her wrist under his grip, the bond slamming into place, his wolf howling Mate so loudly it drowned everything else out.
He’d barely slept.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw one of two things:
Kendra, face set in hard lines, shoulders tight, as he called her a glutton in front of everyone.
Or Kendra, eyes wide and startled, staring up at him like the world had tilted sideways when their skin touched.
You did that, his own brain kept whispering. You did both.
By some miracle, he made it through the first period without snapping at anyone. Or passing out. Or ripping the desk off the floor.
The second period was worse. Kendra wasn’t in his class, but he could feel the faint tug in his chest that meant she was somewhere close.
In the third period, Mrs. Turner asked him a question twice because he was too busy scanning the room for someone who wasn’t even there.
“Dom,” Antonio hissed afterward as they filtered out into the hallway. “You've got to stop looking like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I’m fine,” Dominic lied.
“You’re pale,” Robin observed. “Paler than usual. Like… Twilight extra pale.”
“Say ‘Twilight’ near me again, and I will end you,” Dominic said without heat.
They reached the hallway intersection—one way toward the science wing, the other toward math and the junior lockers.
His wolf pulled toward the lockers.
So, apparently, did his feet.
“You going to pretend you’re not rerouting your life around Joint Service Girl?” Robin asked.
“Shut up, Robin,” Dominic muttered, but he kept walking.
He spotted her before she saw him.
Kendra stood at her locker, head tilted slightly, lips moving. For a second, he thought she was talking to someone, but then her eyes flicked down, and he saw the earbuds tucked into her ears.
Her lips moved again—mouthing song lyrics. Her body swayed, just barely, to a rhythm only she could hear.
She didn’t look fierce right now. Or angry. Or like she wanted to rearrange anyone’s teeth.
She just looked… tired. Human. Real.
His chest twisted.
“Are you going to stare at her all day,” Antonio murmured from behind him, “or are you going to actually talk to her and not be a jerk for once?”
“I’m not staring,” Dominic said, staring.
“Bro,” Robin said, “if you were any more obvious, there’d be a neon sign flashing MATE over your head.”
Dominic dragged his gaze away, scowling. “She doesn’t know what she is to me,” he muttered. “And she can’t. Dad was clear.”
“So be… less of an ass,” Antonio said simply. “Step one. Stop making her life hell. Step two: don’t hover like a creep.”
“I’m not—”
The bell rang, cutting him off.
Kendra pulled one earbud out, checked something on her phone, and slammed her locker shut. Her friends swept in around her, and together they headed away without seeing him.
His wolf whined.
He ignored it.
For now.
- Writer
