AFTER SCHOOL GOSSIP

25 FEBRUARY, THURSDAY, LAST BELL

The shrill ring of the bell woke me up from my reverie. The newly renovated building now had a new bell system that sounded different from the rest of the school. It was clearer but also shrill enough to be almost unpleasant, but not quite. I guess it was passable, especially since it went off half a minute before the rest of the school.

Zara said she wanted to meet us new mummies at the student foyer before we went home, so the cool girls all obediently brought our coffee cups to one of the empty tables and sat down.

Today the atmosphere in the student foyer was a little weird.

The student council was out in full force. They had put up red and white barrier tapes and paper signs that proclaimed, "No photography beyond this point."

Now, they were out in droves, on duty to take down name of students who dared to flaunt the rule.

Most of the students around looked like they were just trying to get on with their usual lives though.

My friends shrugged it off coolly and settled down like it was no big deal, so I followed suit.

"I just want to say that I've been observing you with your babies today and I'm pleased to announce that all of you passed." Zara smiled broadly at us.

Krystal got an A for the first day of being a hamster mummy. Mainly because she didn't lose her hamster.

Leia argued that she technically didn't lose her hamster either, but Zara said that the point was that she thought she had lost her baby, "But you pass with a C. I could tell that you'll make a good mummy. You were just panicky because its your first day."

"Yeah, especially if you didn't count all the previous hamster that had lived in her cage." Krystal said.

"I did count." Zara revealed, "That lowered your score considerably... like quite a lot."

We all nodded like that made perfect sense.

"Actually, if anyone else deserved an A, it was Zammi." Zara said.

"What? Why?" Leia asked, "She was the first one who lost her hamster!"

"But!" Zara raised her hand to silence Leia, "I'm only going to give Zammi a B."

Which was like four grades more than the big fat F I would have given myself.

To me, Zara the hamster expert, and godmother to all hams said, "I know it was all that stupid Henry's fault for throwing your baby out of the window, but you need to be more careful who you let near your baby."

Zara continued, "You never gave up and your motherly instincts helped you find your lost baby."

I was pretty sure it was my hunting instincts.

Jasmine got a B too. She also had to be careful who she let near her baby, "You can't just let anyone who asks hold your baby next time. Luckily, you had Daddy Liam to save it."

Jasmine nodded, "Thank you for your guidance, Zara. I promise I will be more careful with little Zane in the future.

So Jasmine and Liam's baby would not look anything like them after all. Their baby looked like a hamster. Hahaha.

Zara looked very pleased about being thanked for her guidance, "Yes, so I want to encourage you to do your best for these babies. Take lots of photos, they'll grow bigger soon. And you must post a photo of your baby at least once a week so that I can see them."

Eh, what?

"Yeah, sure." Krystal, and A grade mummy shrugged, "I'll be making Louis a new fashion statement every week on my channel."

"Ooohhh... You're spot checking!" Leia accused.

"A clean cage is a healthy cage." Zara said sagely, "If you forget to clean your hamster cage, I will come down to your house and scold you!"

"Like all the way to the Green Packlands?" I asked.

"No, not you Zammi. I know you have lots of servants to take care of Lucky." Zara brushed me off, "It's Leia that would be too lazy to clean."

"It's not fair." Leia complained, "Send your servants over to my house too."

"Make sure you send the handsome one." Leia added.

Urm... Did she mean Ki?

"Clean your own cage!" Zara scolded, "As a hamster mummy, we need to give our best efforts to our babies."

"But Sam's servants would do everything for her!" Leia argued.

"Sam's servants are part of her best efforts." Zara answered as if this was a matter of fact, "Blame yourself for not being a princess."

"I'll be cleaning Lucky's cage myself!" I informed everyone. I could take care of my own hamster just as well as anyone else!

Leia made a face, "Why would you want to do that?"

"Yeah, whatever." Krystal shrugged, she rolled her eyes, "That's what they all say at the beginning."

"I really will!" I insisted.

Mostly because my mum would kill me if I left it to Ki to deal with.

Zara didn't look convinced either, "I know you love your baby and want to do everything for her, but Zammi, you need to know your limitations."

My what now?

"You can try to do it yourself, but it's kind of tricky and icky, so if you can't manage, you should ask for help." Zara told me, "I know you princess types are bad at cleaning."

Wow. My friends had that much confidence in me. It was just a tiny bit insulting.

Henry and Marcus showed up after their workshop class and settled themselves down automatically at our table to wait for their ride. They seemed completely oblivious to the fact that this was supposed to be a new mummy meeting, or that their usual table was empty next door to us.

A few students pointed in their direction, and then, as if having convinced themselves that the "cool kids" have chosen another table for today, they quickly scurried over to Henry and Marcus' usual table and marked the table with their belongings with no small amount of triumph.

I remembered Keanu and River complaining about how it was difficult for kids like them to get tables at the picnic area or anywhere that was the trending hangout spots around the school. Which was just dumb since it wasn't like Henry left his name on that bench. Shouldn't it be first come, first serve?

"It's a f***ing mess right now." Henry said. I knew he was talking to Marcus because he used the f-word so casually. He didn't seem to notice the cool girls at our table, or that he was at the wrong table, or that his usual table had been usurped.

"I want to say no, but yeah..." Marcus allowed.

"Yeah, okay! It's all my fault okay!" Krystal burst out, even though I was quite sure the two guys weren't even talking to us, "You want to announce it? Then go on, tell everyone I was the one who sold their info."

"Shhh...." Marcus took a quick glance around, "You don't actually want the world to know, right? That'll make you public enemy number one."

Because Krystal had sold the matriculation information of "all the guys who had ever fallen in love with the Alpha Princess" to some weird reporter, boys from my school had been receiving weird phone calls and some of them had strangers knock on their door.

Basically, an alarming number of our male student population were being harassed right now. Someone was also buying photos of any of these guys interacting with me.

Naturally, the leak had since been traced to the school administration.

"There would probably be some kind of investigation." Henry said.

Krystal looked worried now, "Does this mean they are going to find out I did it?"

Henry shrugged.

Krystal looked even more worried.

"You're going to be in so much trouble." Leia told her cousin with an unnatural glee.

"It should be fine." I said.

"What?" Zara asked, "How can you say it would be fine?"

I remembered what Ben said yesterday, "Krystal is still a minor. Just say you're sorry and that you didn't know it would like this. It's basically the school's fault for its lax security. Principal Laura would probably shield you too."

"What the hell, Sam." Henry said.

"What? Am I wrong?" I asked.

Henry shook his head, "Sam's actually right on this one. That's probably the best way to go. Just confess when they find you out and apologize properly. All the school can do is call your parents and give you detention or demerits or whatever. Gold Packlands rules protect minor offenders by not revealing their identities even in court cases. It's the school that would take all the flak."

Henry smirked at me, "What I want to know is since when did someone like you learn to jump loopholes?"

Henry always treated me like I was stupid, although I never took it personally because he pretty much looked at the majority of the world population like that.

I tossed my head, "Just because I don't do it, doesn't mean I don't know it's an option."

Because I was the Alpha and alphas didn't do dodgey things like sneaking through backdoors or wriggling through loopholes. Alphas marched right through the main entrance.

{Or die trying.}

Shut up, Boo.

It's not just my friends at school, even my own wolf was seriously underestimating my capabilities!

I sulked. But unlike before, I didn't wish they'd respect me more. I would have, but since experiencing the unquestioning respect of the underground army, I've since realised how that could be troublesome in its own way too.

I wondered if there was such a thing as a comfortable balance between respectful obedience and intelligent interaction?

Harvey's blue Porsche pulled up at this moment, and the moment it did, four dark blue motorbikes pulled into position to flank it. This was followed closely by Henry's red car and his red ant motorbike escorts. I think the bike escort was going to be a permanent thing for the young alpha now. All the engine noises and shiny cars and bikes under the afternoon winter sun. It was kind of in everyone's faces.

"Oop, Your rides are here, alphas." Marcus informed us. He put away his phone, and like any good Beta, stood up to guide us to our cars, because you know, Alphas with alpha-level hunting skills would have no idea how to find their way to their cars without assistance.

But at times like these, I was kind of glad that Henry was with me. Then I wouldn't be the only one being stared at.

We said our goodbyes and headed to the open porch. While I pretended everyone was staring at Henry and I was just an innocent passer by walking next to him, Henry had other things on his mind.

"Tell your dogs to practice. We're a week before the concert and we sound like crap." Henry told me as we stepped out to the porch.

I took a moment to figure out that Henry was talking about The Last Hurrah. Was their gig not going as planned?