The Golden Lycans (Ella) novel Chapter 4

***Ella***

I smooth down the front of my new navy blue skirt and adjust my crisp white shirt for what was probably the fourteenth time. This was actually not a bad uniform, and I am particularly thankful for the lack of a school tie which I had always loathed at my last school. It was rather fitted for a school uniform, highlighting a small waist I had never noticed I had, before. I brush and meticulously thread my long hair into a french side plait while Freya moves around in the room behind me. 

"Have you ever tried a bit of eyeliner?" she suddenly asks, peering over my shoulder and into my face in the mirror. I stare back at her awkwardly.

"Uh...no, not really," I reply, shrugging my shoulders a little, "I've tried it once or twice but I just couldn't get the hang of it. I'm not particularly good at makeup. I don't really wear it unless it's a special occasion."

Freya turns me around to face her and looks at me a little excitedly.

"Okay, hold still, close your eyes...and just trust me" she commands. I hesitate for a moment but then close my eyes. Aside from getting poked in the eye, what was the worst that could happen?

"You have really unusual eyes. They're really pretty and this will juuuust make them pop a little more," she says, sweeping liquid eyeliner effortlessly across both of my eyelids. She turns me back around to face the mirror. I lean forwards and look at myself in the mirror in surprise. I have to admit, she is right. The black eyeliner really does make my eyes stand out a lot more.

"Wow...it really does. But I don't think I'd ever get the hang of it myself, though. My hands aren't steady enough," I say quietly, flashing her a thankful smile.

I start trying to apply a coat of mascara, which was usually my upper limit with makeup. Now there was eyeliner on my eyelids it would look daft without some mascara. Makeup wasn't generally my thing, but after seeing everyone at dinner last night, I was feeling a bit more of a social expectation to try and look a bit more mature, even if I couldn't manage it in the same way as the other girls. I knew it was silly, that I didn't want to feel the need to conform, but everyone looked so put together, that I was starting to feel very plain. Perhaps this was a normal time in life for getting self esteem issues? I didn't think I was that person but apparently I was indeed like any other teenage girl after all.

Maybe I should find some comfort in that?

I turn around and started putting bits and pieces into my satchel; everything I'd need for a morning of biology and chemistry. I was relieved to find out that Freya would be in my biology class too, so at least I wouldn't be going to my first class on my own.

Freya and I walk down to the main hall together for breakfast. I wasn't sure what to expect at first, but I am not disappointed by the full English and continental spread on offer. All the essentials of a cooked breakfast, pastries, pancakes, muffins, waffles, even French toast...Wow. 

I'd never seen so much food, but it was a big school and the dining hall was huge and looked like it could seat at least five hundred people at one time.

We sit down with our food and I start tucking into some poached eggs on toast. 

Freya's friend Annabelle joins us once again and we chat about the classes we are going to have this morning. 

"You guys do know college level bio class dissects a frog on the first day, right?" she says, slicing an egg and watching the yolk pour all over her bacon. 

"Gross, I hope not," Freya replies, wrinkling her nose and making a repulsed face, "hopefully just a myth spread by the older kids."

I take a mouthful of coffee as whispering begins to get stronger within the general din of the hall. I look up, wondering what the whispering is all about.

"So, Freya, how is he doing?" Annabelle asks quietly, her eyes tracking the movement of someone across the hall behind me.

"Oh, he'll be fine. Okay, so he's more than a little bummed out, but he's a guy, I'm sure he'll be over it soon enough," she shrugs, her gaze somewhere further behind me. I assume she is talking about her brother. I recall her mentioning she was going to see him after dinner last night, and that his girlfriend had dumped him. I wasn't sure if he was older or younger, but Freya definitely gave me older sister vibes with the way she acted, though.

"Well, that is going to get very annoying, very quickly," Freya huffs quietly, pointing her fork subtly toward a group of pretty, well manicured girls on a nearby table who were gossiping and giggling. I had a group of those at my last school too. They suddenly get up as a group, leaving their belongings at the table and wander off. I turn to watch where they are headed and I see them descend on a table of guys, soon blocking our view of the table entirely.

"Oh come on Freya, you can't really blame them, can you?" Annabelle jokes with a c****d eyebrow, earning herself a scowl from Freya. I laugh at her expression. I wasn't sure what Annabelle was implying right now but I patiently wait for more information.

"What, why look at me like that? Like it or not Freya, he got a hotter over the summer since he started training a little with Ollie. Plus that aloof attitude of his now makes him seem all mysterious to girls like them."

Freya glances at me and I must look confused and lost, as she then decides to explain.

"We are talking about my older brother, Austin. His girlfriend left him last night for another guy in their year, a guy called Chase," Freya says, nodding towards the table of guys. I turn back around to see that the giggling girls are now heading back towards us, looking disappointed a possibly a little annoyed. Now I could see the four guys that are sat at the table. 

"Which one is your brother?" I ask as I look at them all individually. I realise quite quickly who he must be, clocking the same dark brown hair, thick dark eyebrows and the same piercing green eyes that were so visible even from twenty metres away.

At a distance he looked like yet another winner of the genetic lottery. The three other guys on the table were laughing at him for some reason and he looked a bit embarrassed. The other guys on the table, much like the rest of the school it seemed, also seemed to be in serious shape.

"It's easy, just look for the cutest guy at the table," Annabelle says teasingly with a little laugh. I turn back around to see her waiting for Freya's reaction to her words. Freya groans and puts her face in her hands, and I laugh at their exchange.

"Just accept it, Freya. Embrace it, even, because you're the female equivalent with your long legs, lush hair and killer smile," Annabelle laughs with a slight eye roll. 

I turn to watch the guys on the table joking around again. I had to silently agree with Annabelle. The longer I looked at him, I could see that he really was really quite handsome. He had a sharp, masculine jaw and a pair of full lips. His facial features were all together were just so striking. I can't tear my eyes away for a moment. He smiles broadly at something one of his friends says and I can see he has perfect teeth, too. His hair is short, dark and wavy with a rather casual beachy appearance to it. He really did have the whole package. Not surprising, as Freya is an absolute stunner herself. I wonder if their parents are models or in show business or something. I turn around at the same moment Freya decides to click her fingers in front of my face and I snap my head backwards in surprise.

"NO," she exclaims bluntly, her face serious. I frown a little, for I am rather confused.

"No?" I ask, wondering what she is talking about.

"No. Just, no. Don't go there. Please, just trust me, you'll only end up getting hurt," she mutters, looking down at her breakfast. After a few seconds I realise what she is getting at and I wonder what is so wrong with her brother for her to say that to me.

"Oh...okay, what's wrong with your brother?" I laugh nervously. She frowns at my question and her expression turns serious.

"Nothing. He's the absolute best, any girl would be very lucky," she says immediately in his defence before realising how counterintuitive her comment is.

"Look, I can't really explain it to you, but...it's probably best for you to avoid every guy at that table...and perhaps quite a few others..." she says awkwardly, looking down at the table. I frown at her advice, which seems rather odd. 

I turn and look back over at the group and now wonder if Freya is subtly telling me I am not good enough for any of them rather than trying to protect me for some reason. She would probably be right. They all looked like tens, her brother a clear twelve, and I was probably...a six?

I turn back around and smile meekly at her.

"Don't worry Freya, I'm just here to study, guys are the last thing on my mind," I say truthfully, finishing my coffee and getting up from the table. 

...

The biology lab is definitely one of the most well provided science classrooms I have ever been in. I was really impressed. The lab stations are arranged in a U shape around the room with the teachers station in the centre. There is the latest model in high-tech electronic whiteboards mounted on the wall behind, and every lab station had its own sink, gas outlet and power plugs....and much to our horror, on each station is - 

"Oh no, we are dissecting frogs!" Freya groans behind me as we select a station of our own to sit at. 

While the class is getting settled our teacher arrives and does the typical teacher thing of clapping their hands together and rubbing them with teacherly glee.

"Good morning! Welcome to the first year of A-Level Biology. I am Mr Swithun, but most of you probably already know that. I can see a few new faces dotted around the room. Welcome. As you may have noticed, we are truly going to dive right in today and start to get an appreciation for basic anatomy and physiology!" the teacher says, rubbing his hands together yet again in mock excitement at the task before us. 

A few groans are heard around the room. 

It was good to be back at school. I for one am pretty happy to get stuck in with this activity.

We put on some gloves, aprons and protective glasses before staring down at our frogs, tentatively picking up the scalpels from our lab tray. Over the next twenty minutes, we are guided through the dissection by Mr Swithun via video link that appears on the whiteboard which was apparently also a high definition screen. Exton was impressive.

"Now, we are going to make the smallest cut just here to remove the kidney," he says, demonstrating on the video feed. 

I carefully try to make the cut but my arm slips on the table. I feel the scalpel slice cleanly across one of the gloved fingers that I was using to hold my frog in place. Blood immediately blossoms everywhere as I stand up in a hurry and peel the glove off my injured hand. Freya looks startled and very soon everyone has stopped to observe the commotion, as Mr Swithun hastily comes over to check on me. 

"There is always one!" he chuckles, wrapping my hand in a sterile towel he already had to hand, and begins to apply pressure to my fingers. After a minute or two he unwraps my hand to see how bad the cut is. 

There are large patches of blood on the towel, but there was no sign of any wound. Nothing. 

"How peculiar..." Mr Swithun mutters. I stare down at my hand and finger in disbelief, turning it over and inspecting it several times. Had I imagined it? 

But, I couldn't have, as where had all the blood come from if not from me? I stare at my hand once more before putting a new glove on.

"Let's get back on track everyone," Mr Swithun says as I notice Freya looking at me with a strange expression on her face. 

...

The September sunshine is in full effect as lunchtime comes around, after a rather boring introduction to  chemistry class. Freya, Annabelle and I had arranged to meet outside with it being so sunny, and I now found myself on the very well maintained patio off the main hall with a view of the back fields, carrying my lunch tray. It featured a number of round wooden tables, with a modest sized fountain in the middle. The fountain is impressive, and depicts three large golden wolves in what looks like some sort of battle, water flowing gracefully out of each of their mouths.

I am the first to arrive, so I take a seat at one of the free tables with my lunch tray, looking out across the grassy field. There must've still been a class or sports practice on still or something, as I can see around thirty guys running around with brightly coloured sports vests on. 

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