WHO GETS THE LAST SLAP

WHO GETS THE LAST SLAP

16 FEBRUARY, TUESDAY, EARLY MORNING

Thankful feelings dissipated when I saw the four motorbikers waiting with Harvey and the blue Porsche on my porch. It's not that I wasn't happy to see them, but weren't they supposed to be in school?

I poked Fluffy who was standing nearest to me, "Why aren't you in school yet?"

Fluffy smiled beautifully at me, "I slept in."

Liar.  I didn't bother to ask EJ, "Next time, just meet me in school. Your education is important."

Eh? Your education is important? I'm beginning to sound like Dad...  meanwhile, the two guys responded like the highly trained warriors I've come to know at the Underground, "Yes, Alpha."

Harvey smiled wryly in amusement, so naturally my wolf wouldn't let him off, "And what was your excuse, good beta?"

"I took the morning off for work." Harvey replied calmly, "I usually handle beta affairs on Tuesdays."

Oh. Humph. Fine, I'll let you off this time.

We got into the car, and Harvey went through the day's schedule... It was like just another day all over again, except with the sunlight streaming into the car.

Routine could be deceptive like that, I almost fell for it, almost believed that today was going to be just a normal school day...until we neared the school and had to slow due to the traffic.

Our motor bike escorts changed gear, and suddenly each bike was flashing red and blue lights. Fluffy and EJ pulled up from the rear to flank us tightly. It was kind of dangerous, the road was crowded as it was, and I worried when they looked too close to the white lines marking the lanes.

But maybe it was the flashing lights, or simply the blue demon warrior uniforms and bikes, but the other cars gave us wide berth.

Neil and Jax was still riding in front of us, but Neil took centre front now, while Jax sped up ahead, winding among the traffic, at times even signaling for cars to give way.

Was that seriously necessary?

We finally got to road up Winderhill where I discovered the source of the jam. News vans and other cars, lining up one lane just outside the school. There was a barricade set up to keep out the reporters and paparazzi.

And my warriors were here. My warriors in blue, their motorbikes parked to form make shift side barricades where the official orange and white plastic fences didn't cover.

The warriors ran out to remove the barricade for us to enter. We drove up the road, noticing that there were cars and vans lined along one side, taking up a whole lane. Jax and Neil led our car on the wrong side of the road, just to get us to school.

But what was weird was the moment our car came by, people started coming out of the vans and cars, or windows started rolling down, and long camera lenses popped out, and bright flashes, bright even in the light of the morning, were shot off repeatedly.

Next thing I knew, our car was being followed by a trail of mismatched vehicles and people on foot.

Fluffy and EJ continued their position flanking us, and I realized why now. They were physically blocking the cameras from getting a clear shot of the people in the car. AKA me, I think.

Ahead, someone ran out of a truck and stood right in the middle of the road. Jax rode ahead and waved him off... and it wasn't a friendly wave either. Jax shouted something and although I didn't hear it from inside the car, I was sure from the expression of the man, it wasn't anything about the nice weather.

Or the man could have ran because just at that moment, another car suddenly swerved out of its waiting space in the line of vehicles. The car nearly crashed Jax, bike and all, but Jax had stuck out a leg to kick the car. He kicked it so hard, there was a dent on the car door.

The car didn't stop, so Jax had to veer to the side. Harvey didn't stop driving, he kept a calm and steady foot on the gas. Neil sped up to help Jax.

I was quite sure the car was going to mow down Neil and Jax, but no... In its second attempt, it tried to blockage us by turning and stopping right in front of us.

By now Neil and Jax had gotten off their bikes. The cameras were going off  around us, like the sunlight glittering on the sea kind of going off.

And then Neil and Jax shifted, they were proper warrior sized wolves, strong and muscled. Charging towards the car, their rammed it back onto the otherside of the road. And then they turned to the cars and people behind us, fangs and claws all out.

Oh boy. Now the cameras were going off at the wild wolves "attacking" other reporters. It was crazy. Mostly because the reporters were really over dramatizing it. Neil wasn't even a foot away from them, and they would fail their arms and fall over onto the road.

EJ repositioned his bike to be riding up front now, while Fluffy had dropped back behind us.

"Ki's going to have another PR emergency once Neil and Jax's wolf attack on the reporters get out." I told Harvey.

Harvey, was as usual, calm throughout the entire drive. He smirked a little, "Well, it was his idea for them to do that."

What?

Harvey chuckled, "Looks like it worked. We made it through."

The school gate was shut and guarded by my warriors too. Naturally they opened the gate for us.

More than one of them had to rush forward to stop whoever managed to get past Neil and Jax.

I watched as our warriors tackled down the paparazzi who tried to run in. It was a bit like watching a football match, except the football was the camera.

"Now the news is going to have a field day about how dangerous and barbaric our pack is!" I wasn't sure if this was worth it.

Harvey merely shrugged, "We'd just apologize. Our warriors are very protective of our Alpha Princess. In the future, reporters and paparazzi should be more aware from endangering your person. In the meantime, we'll pay the damages and medical bills."

Medical bills?

Now I'm even more worried.

"Don't worry, princess." Harvey assured me, "You are perfectly safe."

I wasn't particularly worried about my own safety. More like, wth was Ki thinking to let Neil and Jax loose in another Packland?

All this just to get into the school?

If I had known it would be like this, I would have just stayed home today.

I got to school in time for gym, so Fluffy and EJ and I went straight to the gym lockers to meet our class. I had to admit it was kind of nice not to the only one late. Unfortunately, I also realized belatedly that it was a bad idea to walk around the school hallways at period change with two blue demon warriors at heel, because the kids pretty much scrammed to the sides at our appearance. Now I knew what a bully might feel like when he walked the school hallways. I didn't like the feeling.

So I was pretty relieved to see Fluffy and EJ reappear in front of our class in the gym hall in their gym uniforms and trainers. We were supposed to be trying out for basketball today. Coach Williams had a Coach Kay around. Someone said Coach Kay was the basketball coach or something. He wanted to see what we got. Unlike at New Leaf Academy, basketball isn't a thing here at Winderhill, I hadn't even known we had a team till today.

Anyway, we were supposed to play, but I think Coach Kay was looking for more members for the boy's team, because he pretty much left us girls on the bench. Which was fine with me, my head wouldn't be in the game. I was really tired from the journey to school - all I had to do was to sit tight. I wasn't even the one driving, much less kicking cars from a motorbike, but I felt a little like I ran here. 

Meanwhile, the cool girls and Jasmine were talking about how they got to school today, then they swapped stories about how much worse it was for someone else. Apparently, it was bad for everyone. The one who got it worst was probably Arlene. According to Krystal, Arlene had come by bus, and on the way to school, a drunk man had vomited on her in the bus. She had to take off her coat when she got off. And while walking here, in the cold, without a coat, she was accosted by paparazzi who recognized her uniform, all asking if she knew the Alpha Princess.  

"And the stupid girl said yes." Krystal rolled her eyes.

One of the reporters offered to buy Arlene a hot drink at a nearby cafe.

"And the stupid girl said yes, again." Krystal face palmed.

Zara faced palmed too, "She should have asked for something more expensive, like breakfast at McDonald's."

"Then you're stupid too!" Leia chidded her friend. 

"Yes, at times like these, you should walk away. Don't answer unless they offer you cold hard cash." Krystal said, and then she felt obliged to inform me, "'Don't worry Zammi, I'll only say good things about you."

Yeah, thanks.

After that, Krystal gave her own PR briefing to the cool girls and Jasmine about how to act cool and not answer the reporters till they offer the right amount of cash. I pretended to look at my phone so I didn't have to contribute to the conversation.

This was probably all Yuunie's fault. Yeah. I checked my social media, just to make sure she was still there. Yup, she was. And today, she issued a fresh video about what else was fake about me. I couldn't watch it aloud since we were in the middle of gym, neglected on the benches yes, but I was sure if I played the video post, one of the Coaches would be down on my case like a duck to pond bread.

Anyway, I scrolled down the comments to get a clue. From what I read, it looked like Yuunie spent last night trolling me online. She decided to reveal to the world who the real me was. A quarter of the comments felt she had to be right. A quarter felt it can't be that simple. A few comments insisted that the Alpha Princess was real. The majority of the comments was just a lot of unrelated words of love from her fans and emojis.

Yuunie had replied one of the comments personally.

ZEECHIC says

I live in Green PLs. Alpha Princess visits our school. She real. I have friends who hang out wi her. Pls dun say bad abt her. PS. I luv ur Vday Special Album. THE BEST. Heart heart heart.

YUUNIE says

Don't believe everything u c. All tat glitter not gold. I onli say truth! PS. Awwww... I luv u 2. U THE BEST! Heart heart heart. PPS. IF ALPHA PRINCESS REAL, WHY DON'T SHE RESPOND 2 ANYTHING HERSELF? DON'T SHE HAVE SOCIAL MEDIA? OR IS TAT 2 COMMON 4 HER HIGHNESS? DOES SHE TINK SHE CAN HIDE IN FOREST? I WANNA GO DOWN 2 GREEN PL N SLAP OFF HER FAKE HAIR! 

I don't know... maybe it was how I kind of blamed her for sending the paparazzi to our school gates this morning. I know, I know, she was just another teen at heart, that was her social media account, she was allowed to say what she wanted on it. But did she not realize that her incredible fame and influence was indirectly sending unnecessary trouble for me and my wolves? 

Or maybe I felt she attacked me personally when she involved my hair? I can't help the way my hair was!

Or maybe it was just the way she wrote everything in caps that ticked me off. 

Or it could just be the terrible online spelling that made me have to decipher it word by word as if it were some Ancient Lycan glyph that annoyed me.

Or maybe I was still feeling a little sensitive about the fact that I wasn't allowed to have my own social media unlike everyone else my age.

I can't really explain what got over me... let's just blame it on Boo. 

{Again.}

Yes, its all Boo's fault.

The moment I read Yuunie's comment, I went to the settings of my ALPHA PRINCESS profile and changed the security settings. Then I tapped on the reply tab on Yuunie's comment. And I posted my very first post:

ALPHA PRINCESS says

COME. (@NL FAO - we have guest)

Yeah. Take that. You wanna meet my fake hair? I'll show you my fake hair. We'll see who gets slapped.