Hidden Strength, Hidden Scars

The morning sun hits my face as I walk into Riverside Pack Academy. I keep my head down, my dark hair covering most of my face. This is how I survive here. Invisible. Forgotten. Safe. My name is Aria, and I am the daughter of the Beta. You would think that means something. It doesn't. My father barely looks at me. Ever since my mother died when I was born, he has treated me like I'm the reason his life fell apart. My older brother, Marcus, gets all the attention. He gets praise for everything he does. He gets love. I get silence and cold shoulders. Marcus walks ahead of me in the hallway with his friends. He doesn't acknowledge me. He never does. Sometimes I wonder if he even remembers I exist. His best friend, Kane, walks beside him. They laugh about something as they pass by me without a glance. This is normal. This is my life. "Watch it, Beta's freak," someone whispers as I pass. I don't know who says it. There are so many voices like that now. I've learned not to react. Reaction only makes it worse. I make it to my locker without incident today. That's a good day for me. I grab my books for first period and head to class. In the hallway, I see Tessa and her group of friends. They're the worst bullies in our entire grade. Tessa's father is the Gamma, which means she has power. She uses it to make everyone around her miserable. "Hey look, it's the Beta's daughter," Tessa calls out. My stomach drops. "What are you even doing here? Your father doesn't want you. Your brother pretends you don't exist. Maybe you should just find another pack." Her friends laugh. Of course they do. They always do. I keep walking, my jaw clenched so tight it hurts. I want to say something back. I want to push her into the lockers like she does to everyone else. But I don't. I can't. If I do, my father will hear about it, and the disappointment in his eyes will be worse than any physical pain. The worst part is that nobody stops her. Teachers walk by. Other students watch. My own brother, Marcus, walks past us with Kane without saying a word. He could make her stop. He has the power to do it. He just doesn't care enough. By lunchtime, I'm exhausted. Not from classes, but from keeping myself small. From swallowing my words and my anger. From pretending not to hear the whispers and the jokes. From being invisible. I sit alone in the cafeteria like I always do. There's a table with other quiet kids, kids who are also treated like they don't matter. I could sit with them. Maybe I should. But even that feels like giving up. Like accepting that this is my place. I'm picking at my food when something happens that I didn't expect. A girl walks over to my table. She's tall and strong-looking, with bright red hair that seems to glow under the cafeteria lights. She's wearing a fighter's jacket, which means she trains in combat. "Can I sit here?" she asks. Her voice is confident and clear. I nod, too surprised to speak. "I'm Sage," she says, sitting down across from me. "I'm new. Just transferred here from the Eastern Pack." "I'm Aria," I say quietly. "So, Aria," Sage says, opening her lunch container. "I've been here for exactly four hours, and I've already noticed that certain people think they own this place. That girl over there with the crew?" She points subtly at Tessa. "She seems like a nightmare." I almost smile. "Yeah, she is." "And I've noticed you," Sage continues, looking at me directly. "You're interesting." "How am I interesting?" I ask. "I'm nobody." "That's exactly why you're interesting," Sage says. She leans forward. "Everyone else here is playing a game. Following rules. Trying to be important. You're not doing that." I don't know what to say to that. No one has ever talked to me like this before. Like I matter. "By the way," Sage says, her eyes getting darker. "I saw what happened in the hallway this morning. With Tessa." I feel my face get hot. "You saw that?" "I did. And I saw your brother just walk past like it was nothing," Sage says. Her voice is sharp. "That's not right." Something inside me shifts. No one has ever said that before. Everyone in this pack just accepts the way things are. But Sage is looking at me like the situation is wrong. Like my brother should have done something. Like I deserve better. "Welcome to my life," I say, trying to sound like I don't care. "Well, things are going to change," Sage says with a small smile. "Trust me on that." Before I can ask what she means, there's a commotion near the food line. A younger kid is being pushed around by some older students. I recognize the bullies immediately. They're Tessa's friends. The younger kid drops his tray, and food goes everywhere. The older students laugh. Sage stands up immediately. "Where are you going?" I ask. "To fix that," Sage says. She walks over to the bullies and says something I can't hear. Whatever it is makes them stop. They actually back away from the younger kid. People around me are starting to stare. This is unusual. No one stands up to bullies here. Not unless they have power or status. When Sage comes back to the table, she's smiling like she just accomplished something amazing. "Did you just...?" I start. "Told them that if they wanted to keep their teeth, they should probably stop," Sage says simply. "Seems to have worked." I look around. Everyone in the cafeteria is watching us now. Watching me, sitting with the new girl who just intimidated bullies into backing down. For the first time in years, I feel something shift inside me. It's small, but it's there. Hope, maybe. Or the beginning of something. Something that feels like it could be dangerous. "You're going to get me in trouble," I tell Sage. "Probably," she agrees. "But not the way you think. Come on, we have training after school, right?" I nod. Combat training is the only place where I feel like myself. Where my father's disappointment doesn't matter because he never comes to watch. "Good," Sage says. "I've heard you're one of the best fighters in our year." I look up at her, surprised. "How did you know that?" "I asked around," Sage says. "People talk, you just have to listen. And what I heard was that the Beta's daughter is actually amazing, but nobody notices because she hides." My heart pounds in my chest. I want to ask her more, but the bell rings, signaling the end of lunch. As we stand up to leave, I see my brother watching me from across the cafeteria. His expression is hard to read. Confused, maybe. Or angry. I've never done anything to make him look at me with interest before. Sage walks out of the cafeteria like she owns the place, and I follow behind her, suddenly very aware that my invisible life just became very visible. By the time I get to training that afternoon, word has already spread. Everyone knows that I'm the girl who sat with the new fighter. Everyone knows that Sage stood up to bullies. And somehow, everyone knows that I might not be the weak, invisible person they all thought I was. During warm-ups, I notice the other trainees watching me differently. Evaluating me. Wondering. The training instructor, Coach Raven, announces that we'll be doing combat pairs today. I'm about to pair up with one of the quieter students when Sage walks over. "Partners?" she asks. I nod. The moment we start fighting, I understand why she transferred here. She's incredible. Fast. Strong. Smart about how she moves. And she's holding back against me, letting me keep up, letting me learn. Between rounds, she whispers, "You're so much better than everyone thinks you are. Why do you hide?" "Because it's safer," I whisper back. "Nothing worth having is safe," Sage says. "Let me show you something." For the rest of training, Sage pushes me harder than I've ever been pushed. Not to hurt me, but to help me see what I'm capable of. By the end of the session, I'm exhausted and exhilarated. As I'm leaving the training grounds, I see Tessa talking to some older students. She's pointing at me. She's saying something that makes them laugh. I should ignore it. I should keep walking. But before I can decide what to do, Sage appears beside me. "Let them talk," Sage says. "Trust me. They're about to have a much bigger problem than you."