Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Monday morning, the week following the suspension of class, I finally got out of the house. Since it was already a week, the hype about the attack eventually died down. Either that or the Gridon pack may have pulled a string or two, so the press would no longer bother me.

In any case, I got out of my house and was met by none other than the Hybrid himself.

“Hey, good morning, my lovely prin-” I didn’t hear the rest of what he was going to say when I slammed the door to his face.

With a sigh, I turned back, grumbling in annoyance as I left the door’s side.

Well, I guess that I’m going to have to use the kitchen window to make my exit. Thankfully, my parents were out early that no one would scold me for climbing out of the window like a burglar. I was already halfway out when I noticed something strange. My foot doesn’t seem to be touching the solid ground but rather something soft and shaking.

It doesn’t matter! I chided myself with a shake of my head. I will worry about it later. Right now, I have to get out of here and get to class.

Once I was out, I finally turned around and closed the window.

“Um, Gabriella, if you’re done, is it okay if you can get off now?” I gasped and glanced down only to see that I was standing on Tyrelle’s back. I guess that explains why the ground doesn’t seem to be solid.

“Tyrelle!?” I didn’t hide astonishment in my voice as I got off of his back and watched him get back onto his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“Gabbie bear, is that you? I thought I heard your voice.” There really was something about Al appearing on the most inconvenient times that made me want to bury him alive. Al initially wore a cheerful look on his face as he ran towards me, but upon glancing at Tyrelle, his face turned sour. “Oh, the pup is here?” He did not hide the disdain in his voice as he addressed Tyrelle.

I couldn’t blame Al. To be honest, I don’t like the fact that Tyrelle is here after a whole week of disappearing without a word.

Tyrelle, on the other hand, paid him no attention as he was only focused on me. “Gabriella, I-” He paused midway as if the words escaped his thoughts before he could even voice them out. He seemed to hesitate, and I saw that he was sweating profusely at this point.

“You don’t have to say anything. You got scared of my smile. That’s it.” I told him. “And besides, we still have a contract to deal with.”

The look on Tyrelle’s face was unreadable at that time - and more so when he hid his face from me by turning to the side. “Y-Yeah. That’s right.” He muttered.

“Give me the word, Gabbie poo, and I will break this guy’s jaw,” Al says with a crack of his knuckle.

“You,” I turned to Al to address him, resulting in him smiling sweetly at me and batting his lashes. “Stay out of this.” I gave him a pointed look as a warning before walking past him. “Let’s go, Tyrelle, or we’ll be late.” I feel like I was acting cold towards him, but no one can really blame me.

I’ve had my share of nightmares both from the present and the past for the past week. Every time I remember the look that Tyrelle gave me at that time, I recalled how my friends avoided me back then.

The only thing that kept me sane is when I keep reminding myself that Tyrelle and I are no friends. That it was stupid of me to be even bothered by the issue.

A hand suddenly grabbed me from behind, and I turned about and saw Al looking at me seriously. “I know I said that I’d help, but if you are no longer up for this, then you don’t have to do it.”

“I signed the contract with him. It was already promised.” I told him as I drew my hand back. “As stubborn as this sounds, I hate people who break their promises, so I am not going to break mine.”

Al looked at me intently. “If that’s the case, I have one question for you.”

“What is it?”

“Will you sign a contract with me to become my bride once we get rid of THAT mutt?” He jerked his thumb behind him, where Tyrelle was giving him a sour look like he wanted to deck him or something.

“No,” I answered.

There was no change in Al’s facial features when he nodded his head, “Understood. Have a great day, and see you at school.” He turned around, gave Tyrelle a warning look before blowing a kiss in my direction. After that, he simply disappeared from our sight.

I looked at Tyrelle, who simply cowered under my gaze the moment I turned to him. I sighed. “You know, I can go to school on my own if you are still wary of me. We’ll continue this at-”

“No!” Tyrelle cut me off and began to walk beside me. “We...We’ll have to go to school together. Otherwise, the pack will notice something.” He wasn’t looking at me when he said it, so it was hard to tell what was on his mind.

Tyrelle and I then headed to his car and sat together in silence. If things were awkward between us before, it was more uncomfortable for us now. But I no longer mind it. To me, it felt like I was living my old life once again - save for this werewolf chaperone and my stalker hybrid.

Our first period for the day is about physical education, in which we have to go to the indoor gym. Tyrelle and I parted so that we could head into our lockers and change our clothes.

My injuries still hurt, especially my back. I already got permission from the school nurse that I won’t be joining today’s activity, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have to stay and watch.

When I reached the indoor gym of the door, I saw my classmates already doing their stretches while Al and Tyrelle seemed to be arguing about something. But when Al noticed my presence as soon as I entered the gym, his gaze went to mine as he happily beamed and waved at me.

“Gabbie poo! Can I just say that you look amazing in your gym uniform!?”

“Ugh!” I lowered my head in embarrassment when the other kids in the room turned to look at me. I quickly made my way to the bleachers where I sat and pretended that Al didn’t even exist.

I noticed a group of girls whispering beside me before they moved away and changed their spot, but not before casting a glare in my direction as they went. I wasn’t sure why that happened, but I feel that it must have involved something about Al or Tyrelle. It was already a given fact that Tyrelle had become the new popular kid in class. But given Al, with his dangerously good looks and rebellious attitude, I feel that his popularity will rise in a few days.

And speak of the devil.

At the corner of my eyes, I saw a figure standing at my side. When I looked up, I saw Al smiling sweetly at me with a pillow in his hands. “Look what I stole from the nurse’s office.” He says proudly.

“You what!?” I gapped at this. This fucking psycho!

“It’s fine, Gabriella,” Tyrelle says while standing beside Al. “I already cleared things up with the nurse. She agreed to lend it to us.”

Al snickered. “You heard him, baby girl. Now, let me just place this on your back so you can sit comfortably.” He said merrily and made a move in approaching me when he stopped. “Oh yeah. The others are watching.” He grumbled and shoved the pillow in Tyrelle’s direction. “Here. You do it. Since you both are supposed to be a ‘couple.’” He mockingly says.

Tyrelle’s eyes widened, “How did you-”

“Sorry. He knows.” I admitted, causing Tyrelle to turn his gaze towards me with a confused look. “My mistake, but I can at least assure you that he won’t say a word about it to anyone.”

“Damn right, I won’t,” Al says with a frown on his face. “I want you to leave my girl as soon as possible, so you better act right and make your dad believe in this fucking play that you two are having. Now, what are you standing there for? Do your job, you useless mutt!” Al suddenly pushed Tyrelle towards me.

Tyrelle’s eyes changed into bright yellows when he glared at Al warningly. “Don’t touch me.” Al unfalteringly raised his hands in the air with a roll of his eyes as Tyrelle offered me the pillow.

“Thanks,” I wanted to refuse, but fom Al’s words, there must be a few people here who belongs to Tyrelle’s pack. Al caught my attention when he seemed to be glaring at a particular area. “What’s with that look?” I decided to ask him.

Al’s gaze shifted to mine when he noticed that I was talking to him. He pulled out a smile and smiled bashfully at me. “Nothing to worry about, babe. I just imagine what our future kids would look like.”

He had that look on his face while imagining our kids? “That won’t happen.” I blatantly told him.

At the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Tyrelle was looking at me and then at Al with an expression I couldn’t quite understand. Then, before he could even word out his concern, the gym door opened and our instruction came in, pushing a box full of volleyball balls as he entered.

“I’ll make this quick.” Our instructor said, looking uninterested and stressed out as he addressed the students in front of him. “Since we can’t use the outdoor gym because of the construction and renovation, we can’t conduct our physical test. We can’t even play volleyball because the nets are broken as it was used to capture some wold animals.” At this, Al suddenly fiddled with his hands uncomfortably, which leads me to believe that he was the one who destroyed the nets. “Instead,” The professor continued, “I am going to have you, kids, group yourselves into two teams of equal members. You have ten minutes to prepare.”

I wanted to speak up and inform him that I was not exactly in the best physical condition to play. But I’m afraid to speak up because it might catch some unwanted attention. So instead of saying anything, I just shut my lips.

The class began to form a team except for Al, Tyrelle, and me. Al sighed and sat on the chair beside me with a shake of his head. “Gabbie poo, Gabiie poo,” He says disappointingly. “Why didn’t you tell the old man that you’re not physically well enough to do strenuous exercise?”

“For what? To remind the others that the school was under attack and I was a victim? No thanks. I don’t want to remind the school journalist about the issue and have them racing towards me for an interview.” I said. “I’ll be fine. All I need to do is dodge.”

Al pursed his lips and began to open his mouth when he was suddenly cut off when a couple of guys came to us. I recognize one of them as Byran, as he is the captain in the basketball team. “Tyrelle and Aelfric, right? We need two more players for our team. You guys in?”

Tyrelle seemed to take the lead as he was the one who answered, “Sorry, but Gabriella and I come as a pair. If she’s not on the team, I’m not going.”

“Ditto.” Al chimed in.

“The girl, huh?” The guy turned to me and eyed me with a scrutinizing gaze as if he was already weighing our chances of winning if I joined them. “Don’t get me wrong, Tyrelle. The offer is tempting, but we are playing to win. Coach is going to make the losing team clean up the gym after class, and we certainly don’t want to risk it, especially when we already got one girl in our team.” Byran gestured at the tall red head smiling and talking with the other guys in the team.

Al suddenly cackled at the exchange as he addressed Tyrelle. “You have to admit. The guy has a point. What can a pup like you do? Your friends are on the other side.” He asked him teasingly, earning a glare from Tyrelle. Al ignored his look and turned to the other guy instead. “But you know, it would be a different story I were the one joining. If I won’t hold back that is. Unfortunately,” He says with a sigh, “I have to for the sake of you humans.”

I elbowed Al to the chest for that last part. Judging from the way that Al talked to him, I guess that Byran is human, which means that the others must be as well.

Thankfully, the guy thought that the comment was simply a joke, and it was Al’s way of comparing his skills to Tyrelle. But Byran also took it as an insult as he glowered at Al. “Wow. You’re that good?” He asked sarcastically.

“You said you wanted a win. And you were the one who came to us first to invite us to your team.” Al shrugged as he proved his point. Then he turned to the other group of kids at the other side who was eyeing us carefully. “Seems you and that other team have some sort of rivalry. Something tells me that you want to win, not because you don’t want to clean.” Al smirked as he addressed Bryan. “Fess up. Why do you want to win so bad?”

Bryan seemed to hesitate and frustratingly scratch the back of his neck with a groan. “See that tanned blonde guy over at the opposing team? He’s the captain of the volleyball team. And between the basketball and the volleyball team, we always fight over who will use the court. I may have made a mistake to bet a whole week’s worth of practice on this game as well. And as you can see, the balls that we are going to use are ones that they are familiar with, so they got the upper hand.”

“Indeed,” Tyrelle agreed with a nod of his head. “The balls in volleyball are lighter and smoother compared to basketball. It was a mistake to make a bet like this.”

Byran lets out a frustrated sigh, “Yes, I know that. I just got caught up in the moment. That’s why I wanted to take both of you along, but considering your conditions, I guess we’ll take that girl and Tyrelle.”

Al yawned, not the slightest bit offended by not getting picked, “You know, if you want to make me a part of your team, there is another way.”

Bryan turned to him with a raised brow and a seemingly interested gaze. “How?”

Al turned to the group of students behind Mark. “Kick the cheerleader off your team and add me instead.” He smirked.