NOTHING LASTS FOREVER

1 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, ENGLISH

"Tell me what?" I asked. Suddenly, I had a bad feeling.

"I've had it with this hell hole." Henry said. (He obviously hadn't been in our dungeons before, but this wasn't time to joke.)

"I'm leaving." Henry said, "I've passed the entrance exam. All I need now is a perfect GPA to transfer directly into the top class. I don't think there'll be a problem. I'll be transferring to Black Forest Academy next term."

Black Forest Academy, the only other full Lycan academy besides New Leaf Academy. AKA the number 1 Lycan school that made New Leaf's number 2, and also the school of choice of almost alpha children... including my cousins Estella and Esmeralda.

Henry continued studying the treeline, "You'll be the Alpha after I leave. Listen to Marcus, he'll take care of you."

"No! I mean, I can't! I mean, I'm transferring too." I finally managed to find the words, "You can't go, Henry! Who would take care of this school?"

And what the hell did he mean by listening to Marcus? I was the Alpha!

"And where would you be going?" Henry asked.

"The Lorent Girls' Academy." I said.

Henry lifted a brow at that, "That's hard to imagine."

What was that supposed to mean?

Marcus sighed, "So you're both going then?"

"Guess it's just you left to take care of everyone here." I said suddenly feeling sad. I hadn't thought about the implications of me leaving till now.

I had always thought of myself as the extra Alpha. I didn't think I would be missed. I wonder if this was what the second alpha son felt like. It was rather fun and carefree, but somewhat insignificant.

But now that Henry was leaving too, what would happen to this school? Or our little pack here? Could Marcus take care of everyone on his own?

Marcus shook his head, "Then I'm leaving too. My parents got me a place at New Leaf Academy."

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"If I go over, I would be able to play in a band." Marcus said. He was talking to the grass, "I wasn't sure about leaving you alone at first, but since you're leaving too, I might as well press on toward my own dreams too."

That's right. Marcus wanted to play in a band. There were lots of bands in New Leaf.

It looked like we were all moving on.

"As you know, Principal Laura is being forcibly transferred next term. Without her at helm, this hellhole is just going to sink deeper." Henry said.

Eh? She was? Why would I know that?

"Don't tell me you didn't know?" Henry studied my expression.

"Then why did your parents arrange to transfer you out?" Marcus asked.

"It was just part of my betrothal agreement." I said weakly.

"Lucky as always." Henry shook his head, "It's not anyone who is able to deal with vampires. They are fools to think the situation here has stabilized in anyway and just any other principal could continue running this school. Best we leave before the chaos starts."

Then who would protect the other students?

"By Spring, this would be a very different place." Henry predicted, "It's best we left. Especially you, Sam."

What? Why me? Because I'm a girl? Because I'm unstable? Was Henry worried? Was Marcus going to stay behind with me?

Well then it's lucky I was leaving. Henry and Marcus should have their freedom to chose their own dreams too.

I looked at the patch of Spring surrounding us. We were just about to start something good too.

"Better we keep this matter to ourselves." Henry said, "We'd tell the others at the end of the term."

"Sam! Henry! Marcus!" Jasmine waved as she appeared with Liam and Janice.

"Where's Pearl?" I asked.

"Still fighting with Abigail over Terrence." Jasmine nearly snorted out. She covered her mouth to stop any unseeming sound from escaping.

"Hi." Janice waved tentatively to us.

"Hi." I waved back.

"Hi." Henry and Marcus said before looking away uninterested.

Janice looked down at her hands. Ah, no Janice, you're misunderstanding! When the male wolves look uninterested, it meant they were interested, but just playing it cool. Unless they really are uninterested, then you didn't misunderstand.

I paused to study the guys, were their "uninterested" or really uninterested?

Liam shrugged at me with a wry smile, then he adverted his gaze to the trees.

I looked at the trees too. The grass and buds smelled nice. I could also smell the magic. It made me feel closer to home.

"Come on, Sam. Stop daydreaming. You wanted to do stunts right?" Henry said, "Show me what you've got!"

Oh right! Romeo and Juliet! We were going to make Romeo and Juliet exciting! Henry and Marcus moved to an open area, exactly where Jasmine and Janice could watch from. Hahaha. So they were just "disinterested".

After that we tried a few moves. I found some sticks to use as swords. My skirt was troublesome, I couldn't kick very high in it, "Don't worry! There's gym on Fridays so I can wear my gym pants and kick all the way up to your nose." I assured Henry.

"Never mind the kicking and jumping around!" Henry said, "You look like a monkey with a stick."

I used the stick to hit Henry, but he blocked my attack and parried. Arugh! I dodged just in time, dropping the stick to kick him from under his legs.

"Halt! stop!" But it was too late, Henry was down on his bum and visibly pissed.

Marcus was coughing too hard to speak.

Henry got up, "Think you can do better, Marc?"

Marcus managed to stop coughing, "Well, my Alpha likes to fence so I've had some practice."

"En garde!" Henry didn't give Marcus much time to react, but Marcus managed to block the attack with his stick. The two of them fenced.

Henry was obviously the better fencer, he was powerful, surefooted, and swift. But Marcus was light on his feet and could match Henry's blows.

By now the rest of the class had somehow all gathered around the picnic area. It was like a soft launch for tomorrow. There were groups sitting on the benches, some were just standing around talking, or trying out actions, some were just watching Henry and Marcus sparring.

Abigail had also positioned her group in a prominent space. She had sat herself on the wooden table, and propped her feet on a bench, then she made Terrence stand in front of her and act as Romeo. Terrence struggled with the old English. Every time Terrence stopped, she would clap and praise him and urge him to continue. Who knew Abigail could be so encouraging?

It didn't take long for Terrence's face to turn permanently red under her encouragement.

And every now and then, Abigail would take a quick glance to see if Henry was noticing. Humans were not very subtle with their body language.

"Looks like spring is coming early for Terrence." Henry chortled.

Henry said really old man things sometimes.

And then back to practicing our parts because at the back of his mind, Henry was determined to keep his straight A GPA.

"What are you, Sam? An animal?" Henry laughed. He shook his head, "That's not how to use a sabre."

"I'm a sabre tooth!" I snarled. I would have bared my teeth for the effect, but remembered at the last minute that we had classmates all around us.

The guys laughed.

"Maybe we should switch roles according to our swordplay ability." Marcus suggested, "You be Tybalt, I'll play Mercutio. We'd play the fencing parts. Sam can be Romeo and jump in to stop us."

"Okay!" I was done with swinging the stick around anyway, "But don't you dare miss and stab me with that stick Henry!"

The guys laughed. I played Romeo's part like a fool. I decided to go all out, I mean with a name like Romeo, he had to be a fool.

So I seriously overacted, pretending to be some lovesick dude, and then refusing to fight announcing, "I have reason to love you, but I can't tell you why yet, so let's not fight!"

I imagined I was one of the over dramatic Shakespearean actors, with the woe is me and what nots. The rest of the class were watching and laughing.

And then Henry drew his stick and started fencing with Marcus. I jumped around panicking like a headless chicken, and then jumped right in the middle of the fight in desperation.

Henry stabbed Marcus from under my arm. My hair flared, that was fast and close! If I hadn't trusted Henry's aim so much I would not have been able to stay put like that.

Marcus moaned and dropped to his knees and then all the way down to the ground. Hahaha. That was pretty dramatic too.

The class laughed and clapped. Someone realized aloud that they better get on with their own practice and every one busied themselves in their own group again.

"I wish we did that scene." Troy complained loudly.

"Was that even the right play?" Ivan asked skeptically.

I guess we didn't quite follow the script. I mean it was hard to choreograph the action and read off the mambo jumbo of ancient English printed on the paper at the same time.

"Okay, that'll do for now." Henry decided, "Just go back and memorize your lines - especially you Sam. If you dare ad lib like that again on Friday, I will seriously stab you."

Arughh... My hair flared again. Why was my life suddenly on the line for Henry's perfect GPA?

Henry was a meanie.

But I would have done the same.

"I want to fight too!" I complained, swinging my stick at Henry, "Plus Romeo has too many lines!"

"Am I your f***ing dog that you come at me with a stick?" Henry was smirking. He blocked my stick with his.

"Like I'd ever hit my dog." I said. I struck at him again.

"Okay guys. Stop. I'm sending the email. So next rehearsal on Thursday afternoon?" Marcus asked.

Wow, Marcus was so in Beta mode today.

"Yeah, at my place." Henry said, "We can practice with fencing gear."

"Yes!" I said. Real swords sounded like fun. I had never fenced before. I imagined I'll be good at it.

"I'll make arrangements with both your betas." Marcus informed us.

"Friday's lunch break too." Henry added. "We need to warm up."

Marcus sighed at this phone, "Yup, sure... You've even dangled those box seat tickets in front of Mr Devon. That should ensure our A."

Henry smirked, "That was just an opportunistic grab. No harm sealing the A."

Wow, Henry was going all the way.

"Well, we don't have much longer in this school together. Might as well live it up while we can." Marcus said.

I looked up at the buds in the tree. There was a bird, and then the bird flew away.

Henry called this place a hellhole. I guess it's not the most ideal place for Lycans. There were too many humans, and there were vampires - that alone made Winderhill the last choice school for most parents.

But I was having fun here. I had friends, sure... They were different from me. Sometimes they annoyed me. But they were real friends who stood up for me, who made sure I always had a group to work with, and worried about me getting into trouble. And we had all these fun experiences together. I was really lucky.

I wondered if I was leaving a good thing without knowing it.

Nothing lasts forever, I know... But even so, it's hard to think that all this will be over by Spring.

By Spring, I'd be studying at the Lorent Girls' School. Why did Henry say it was hard to imagine?

"Hey Henry, why can't you imagine me going to the Lorent Girl's Academy?" I asked.

Henry froze and then shrugged, "Forget it, Sam. You'll be fine."

But I wasn't going to let it go. Not since my future could be at stake here. What was the Lorent Girls' Academy like? I knew next to nothing.

"I've dated girls from Lorent Girls Academy." Henry said, he held up his hand, "Their skirts were so short, they were the length of my hand."

Marcus' eyes widened at Henry's hand. Henry smirked.

"What are you talking about?" Jasmine, Liam, and Janice walked over to us.

"The length of Henry's hand." Marcus answered calmly.

Yeah, nothing to do with skirts or the school that you don't know that I will be leaving to. Omg I'm sorry I'm not telling you guys! Henry said it's better not to. And even though I don't make it a point to obey Henry, he actually had a point.

If I told Jasmine, she would tell Liam. And it would be unfair if we didn't tell Pearl. And after that, we pretty much had to tell everyone.

It would just upset and complicate things for everyone.

I watched Jasmine and Janice laugh at something Henry said. The boys were calling Liam for football.

"Pete says he will arrange the training room for our usage. Ki will be accompanying Sam on Thursday." Marcus looked up from his phone, "Can I get a ride with you Hen?"

"Yeah, sure." Henry smiled easily, "Let Pete know."

"Are you guys going to Henry's?" Jasmine asked, "To practice? Wow, you're really serious about this project."

"Henry seriously wants an A." I told her.

"I think you'll definitely win." Jasmine smiled at me, "You were a really cute and funny Romeo."

"Yeah," Janice agreed, "If you were a guy, you'd be really cute... I mean, cute in a cool way."

Janice started to turn red.

I heard the guys behind me growl. Hahaha. What? You thought she was watching you?

"Too bad she's a girl." Jasmine giggled, "Sam makes a better guy than a girl."

My hair flared at that. What? WTH?

But Jasmine and Janice only laughed.

Henry patted my shoulder. "Good luck with Lorent Girls Academy." He said lowly to me.

Marcus laughed and shook his head.

"I can too be a girl!" I yelled, "Just watch me! I'll show you!"

The rest of the class looked over. The guys just laughed.

"Then it's a bet. Sam will become a perfect lady by Spring." Henry announced.

WTH. The class whooped and clapped. So unnecessary. I felt my face turn red, so I did what any perfect lady would do. I punched Henry in the stomach.

"Ooof." Henry bent forward.

He straightened growling, I took my position ready for his attack.

The bell rang.

"Let's go alphas." Marcus said, "Playtime is over."