Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(10)
“What kind of shitty person would take their aggression out on an innocent creature. And for what? Because you’re insecure in your own sexuality?” I must have hit a sore spot for this douche, his smirk fell into a thin line, and his tanned face turned red. I didn’t have the chance to regret what I’d said before he was charging at me. My training from earlier in the summer surged forward, I yanked back my arm and shot my fist forward catching him off guard in the nose. He stumbled back, blood gushing when his friends caught him.
“Fuck this, this bitch isn’t worth it,” his words were nasally as he held his nose, attempting to stop the flow of blood. The three bullies glared for a moment longer before turning and shuffling down the path. Turning back towards the injured animal, I reached out with shaking hands slowly to not frighten it. Both of its tails curled around my arm as it clung to my shirt, poor thing is terrified. Wait… what the fuck? It had two tails and was eyeing me with suspicion?
“It’s okay,” I cooed. I froze when the small fox started to shift. A tall, lithe boy stood naked circled in my arms, yelp bubbled out of me before I ripped my arms back into my chest and stumbled away from the apparent shifter. Guy, not a fox. Got it.
"Thank you for that, I'm not really a fighter," the boy said quietly as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a faded red shirt from a backpack I hadn't noticed was leaning against the building. "I'm Benjamin, I go by Benji,” he said. Once he was clothed, he ran his left hand through his hair. There was a small Deathly Hallows tattoo on his forearm, the black ink dark against his pale skin. “Sorry about the sudden shift change, I’m still struggling with controlling it. Only seems to happen when I’m afraid," he trailed off, his hand held out with a soft smile on his face despite the puffy red mark on his left cheek. The mark held my attention as it slowly healed, the swelling went down as the red faded back into his pale skin tone. I had to clear my throat before responding because, again, what the fuck.
"Uh, I’m Lucie," I responded and shook his hand, pulling my attention away from his newly healed cheek. Now that the exchange was over, the adrenaline drained out of my system leaving panic and anxiety in its wake. I was attempting to keep my breathing even to keep the memories from clawing to the forefront of my mind when I looked to my right. Logan and Landon were standing there with the group of guys from the quad. They all had varying expressions of awe, anger, concern, and worry. Realizing they’d witnessed the entire scene destroyed any control I had. Pulling my hand back from Benji, I scrambled for my bag. Desperate to get back to my dorm building without any further interactions, I was too focused on breathing through the chest pain to hear my name being called from behind me.
"Babygirl, you think you can run from me?" his voice whispered in my ear…
4
August 27th
Monday Morning
Lucienne
The front doors to the Power Building were propped open, letting a cool breeze seep out into the muggy morning air. I was fueled with an abundance of coffee. As if I’m never not fueled with caffeine, along with a fruit cup and bowl of oatmeal that I ate at Coffeeology. The crowd of freshman was fairly quiet since it was so early on a Monday morning. Technically, my first class wouldn’t start until nine, but they were holding the “Power Placement Lecture” before classes officially began.
Chairs were lined up in front of a small podium within the gymnasium. I sat off to the side in one of the middle rows, figuring I should be able to hear from over here and only have to have someone on one side of me. I pulled out my phone to check if there were any missed texts from Char after I fell asleep. She knew me well enough that she basically has a sixth sense for when I’m having an issue with my panic attacks.
Charlie: “boo, just take some deep breaths. I know it has been a rough few years, but you’re at RSU for a fresh start, so make the most of it. I’ll let you know if I hear from anyone back home.”
I didn’t have any other texts. After midnight I’m usually attempting some kind of sleep. Mostly nightmare-filled, fitful sleep, but sleep nonetheless. I shot back a quick thanks and that I’d talk to her after classes before I put my phone into my pocket. They must have had the air conditioning at full blast because it was freezing, making me glad I’d worn dark wash skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and my warm zip-up sweatshirt. My thin white tank top sported a glittery gold pineapple on the front that sparkled between the black fabric of my hoodie. The only issue with this shirt is the scoop neckline was loose enough that it showed off the jagged scar on my left collar bone and a hefty amount of cleavage. On the flip side though, it also showed off the first tattoo I got with Char to get the day before graduation, so that’s a plus.
“Hey Lucie, do you mind if I sit here with you?” A familiar soft-spoken voice sounded from over my left shoulder followed by a very high-pitched, “Lucie!” a little ways behind that. I turned to see Benji looking over his shoulder at Sadie running down the side of the chairs towards me, her blue hair flopping into her eyes obscuring her glasses. I stood up as she neared us, her breath coming out in heavy pants.
“Hey, guys. Benji, I want you to meet my roommate, Sadie. Sadie, this is Benji. We met after the orientation speech on Saturday,” I introduced them to each other when Sadie finally reached the row I was seated in. Sadie eyed Benji and slowly crossed her arms.