Turning The Tides - Bugz Rox (year 7 reading list .TXT) 📗

New town, new school, new friends, new everything. We moved to another town. Again. My Christian parents expect me to make new friends, something I've never really been good at. But, that's me no one else in my family has that problem. I don't belong anywhere, I had to make my own pack because I'm the oldest werewolf in my family, except my older brother. He's really good at making friends so even though we're not normal weres, that pack in Richmond excepted him into it. My parents aren't werewolves and they can't have normal kids only weres. They don't know it though, they think that all six of their kids are normal human beings. How wrong could they get. It's unheard of so we get picked on by the others. My pack consists of five, my four younger brothers and me. My eldest brother still lives in Richmond. He got pissed and left. I'm the only girl.

I've always tried to protect the littler ones from the other packs' prejudices. My youngest brother is four, he just started to change. That's the age it happens, when your life changes. For normal weres, it's for the better, for us, it's the worse. I try to quell my fears as I walk two of my brothers to the grade school. They ran and started talking like little kids do, grade school, when you can meet someone and be best friends instantly. Now for Sammy, he always says I look like I'm dancing when I walk, so I pick him up and spin us toward the preschool.

 I take a deep breath and attempt to make my heart beat slower. There are werewolves in there, you're going to get bullied, especcially if they can hear your heart beating that fast, I think to myself as I slowly look around, there, my mind tells me. I walk toward the ragtag group, probably nerds.

"Hi, I'm new here. Can you tell me where the office is?" They looked stunned as they took in my 6' 3" slim form , glossy hair so blond that it's almost white, slightly freckled face, and black eyes so deep that you could get lost in them.

When their eyes reach my modest long sleeve turtle neck and baggy cargo pants they widened. One girl finally snapped out of if when she saw my hands. "You'd fit in better with the gothees over there," She practically snarled at my heavily tattooed hands and face, jerking her head toward a black clad group of people. I may fit, I have the tattoos and looks. But I know deep down they won't except me either. I quickly try to tug the sleeve of my shirt down farther on my hand than it was meant to go.

"Please just tell me where the office is, I don't want to speak to new people," I plead, another rejection. Will no one want to be my friend?

"Lay off, she's new. Give her the same chance we gave you," A brunette boy told the black haired girl who was mean to me. Maybe I'll get a friend after all. "It's over there. I'm Conner, by the way. This prick is Charlie, that's Haven and Jenna." He introduced them, pointing at them in turn.

"Pluto," I said as I walked toward the building he had motioned toward.

When I entered, the lady looked at me and told me, "Your parents warned me about you, no monkey business." She handed me my schedule and a paper to get signed by all my teachers. Then turned around ruffling the papers on her desk. Obviously the conversation was over. I looked at my schedule, first class, maths. I navigated the halls with my head down, trying to learn the halls faster. Maybe I'll actually learn the halls before we leave again. Bingo, this is it. I stopped in front of the door knowing the tardy bell already rang so I would get stared at.

I knocked the door opened to Conner catching me nervously tugging my sleeves down. He let me in and I quickly walked to the teacher in the front of the room, being careful not to bring notice to my hands by tugging on the sleeves. People snickered at my head held high, covered in tattoos. The tattoos, to most, would seem just odd, but to a were they said what your rank in the pack was and which pack you were in. Mine showed me as the alpha for the Freedom Runners Pack. An odd position for a girl, I was the only female alpha in any pack. One of the reasons other werewolves picked on me. I got my paper signed and was told to pick any open seat. I took one by Conner, he was the only one who's been nice to me so far.

My first four classes I had either Conner, Haven, Jenna, or Charlie. I was glad to know someone, in fourth hour Jenna asked if I wanted to sit with them at lunch. So at lunch I went to sit with them in the cafeteria. About three minutes in I couldn't stay inside any longer, an occupational hazard of werewolves-they want to be outside 24/7.

"You guys wanna finish eating outside? I'm not a big fan on being inside." I asked them.

"Wow, you get tats like a goth, I watched you and you're shy like an abused kid, you're smart enough to be a nerd, and you wanna sit outside like a fucking popular kid? You either got guts or you don't fit in anywhere." Charlie replied.

"The populars like to sit outside?" I asked, only mildly surprised.

"Yeah."

"Pretty much."

"Yup."

"Uh-uh, and do the populars usually wear sleeves? And what do they eat?" Wolves have a specific diet and the only time you get tattoos on your face is if you're an alpha.

"Odd questions, most people ask 'Who's the hottie?' or ' Really? They got a girlfriend?'" Conner said instead of answering.

"Odd questions for an odd girl. I do hope you decide that I don't need to know the answers to those questions," I told them politely, awaiting an answer.

"Yes, most of them always wear sleeves like you and eat like you, miss picky." Charlie said as she gestured towards my lunchbox.

The rest of the day was uneventful, the only class I didn't have with any of my new friends was seventh hour. That class was almost all populars, I strove not to swear under my breath when I walked in and caught the overwhelming scent of many werewolves in a small room. I got my slip signed and went to the only desk available, one in the front by a boy that was obviously a were, damnit

After school I rendezvous with my friends and was talking with them as I waited for Liam. He waltzed up, looking every inch the god he obviously thought he was. "Hey, Billy Boy, Billy Boy. These I'm hoping are my friends, Haven, Charlie, Conner, and Jenna. How'd your first day go?" I asked him when he finally reached me, unlike me he had his sleeves up, tattoos showing in all their glory. He was a goth kid with hair black as my eyes, and a passionate love for black clothes.

"Same ol', Same ol'. Hey you made friends that's a start. Why are you hiding your tattoos? You're the one who said the five of us shouldn't be ashamed of who we were. If I had as many tattoos as you I'd show them off, my colorful sister." He replied, asking questions of his own.

"Whatever. Come on we gotta pick up the littles," I turned back and waved at my friends, who were busy staring at my brother like they did me, "Bye, guys."

They mumbled bye, still staring at my brother as I slung my arm around his shoulder and walked away, he seemed in shock. I must know why. "Okay, spill. You look like you've seen the ghost of a long lost best friend. Horrified yet in bliss. What up?" I asked slightly shaking his shoulders.

"I-I found her." He whispered and I stopped dead. My brother's mate was one of my new friends?

"What?" I asked him stupidly.

"The black haired one," He whispered. Holy crap! Not just on one of my friends but on Charlie. Suddenly I couldn't hold it in and I was laughing, we were probably still in sight of my friends. "What?" He demanded angrily not whispering any more. I couldn't stop laughing so he turned toward me and shook me. "You're my alpha so tell me. Alpha tell me what you're laughing at." He said, forcing all the power of an alpha's second into his voice, trying to make me.

I stopped laughing and looked at him. "You did not just try to make me do something Beta, maybe I won't answer at all now. I thought it was funny that's all, but I'm not sure I want to let you know what that funny thing was." I was pissed, you do not tell an alpha what to do and I made sure he knew it, letting the alpha leak into my voice. We were out of sight from anyone now so I wasn't afraid of making him cower, mean yes, but sometimes it's what you have to do to make sure you don't get killed.

And cower he did, he through up his hands in a defensive position and said, "I'm sorry! I don't know what happened. I'm irritable because I'm not by her!"

"I was laughing because you have Charlie as a mate, she's a rude bitch, but she's cool." I hated making my brothers afraid by pulling the alpha card, "Come on, we're going to go get the littles, then we're going to run home." He smiled, I'd hit his soft spot and we both knew it-we all loved running.

We raced home, I won, like always. I'm fastest probably because I'm a girl. When we got there, mom told us to take showers, get dressed in nice clothes and cover our tattoos. We went up to our seperate rooms, I had the entire attic, my room's best and they know it. When I went down mom saw my modest outfit she nodded and made approving noises. Liam came down with his top half naked and was rubbing his slightly shaggy hair with a towel.

"Liam Bud Johanson go get a shirt on, they will be here any minute!" Mom screeched as the doorbell rang.

When she walked to get the door he followed her saying, "Yo, woman if you had heard me out instead of screeching at me like a banshee, I woulda asked if you had seen my button-up?"

She turned and narrowed her eyes at him as she opened the door and whispered, "In the right side of your closet, hung up."

"Oh."

She turned back to the guests, who were staring at my brother's retreating form quietly thumping up the stairs, most likely at his tattoos. She welcomed them into our home saying, "Sorry about my son he apparently doesn't know that people hang clothes up."

"Hey don't be ranging my bro, mo. His room's cleaner than mine, and I hang up my clothes. Yo, Charlie wanna see my room?" I asked as I recognized Charlie's family.

"Okay! Go help your three little brothers get dressed, I'm hearing thumping. And last time that wasn't good," I could tell she just wanted all teens out of her hair right now.

I gestured to Charlie, "Come," I spoke softly.

She followed me as I went up the stairs to the room my three youngest brothers shared, "That doesn't sound good." She added helpfully.

"Hey, can I come in littles?" I asked as I knocked.

"No! We shan't wear pants you frivolous renegade!" They screeched in unison. I tried opening the door but something was in the way. Something heavy.

"Shit," I muttered, "Hey, Charlie back up a bit please."

"Nice vocab, what grade are they in?" She asked while