WAKING THE HUMANS

17 FEBRUARY, WEDNESDAY, A MOMENT LATER

There was a knock on the computer lab door and one of Henry's guard announced, "Luna Laura and company."

"Enter." Henry answered automatically to his men.

For a moment, it felt like Henry was a real alpha. And then I realized he was still just Henry.

Madam Principal had returned with her own reinforcements - Matt and Coach Williams.

Our Discipline Mistress was a human woman, so Coach Williams undertook all un-human disciplinary cases. He was too late though, Maria had gone home ages ago. (Although I'm not sure what he would have done in the face of a vampire in her dark cycle.)

Madam Principal took a look at the two rows of humans, "Oh good, they're still here."

I'm not sure where she imagined they would be, but I took it to mean that everything was in order, and the fact that my classmates were all still in suspended animation was the expected outcome.

"Let me see now, Lord Kosan said they would awake with two sharp claps..." Principal Laura considered the humans' situation, then she looked at us, "Is everyone alright here?"

"Yeah. More or less." Henry shrugged. When he said "less" he gave me a pointed look.

What? It was a joke! 

And then EJ laughed, "Do it again alpha! Make your ears do that again."

Eh? My ears? OMO my ears!

I grabbed at them with both hands. They were still big, and warm, and furry! I probably looked like a rabbit? I couldn't say for sure though, because there wasn't a mirror. Omo.

I had forgotten all about them... What should I do?

The others laughed. Easy for them to laugh! They weren't caught in an embarrassing half shift!

"Just let her keep them on. They're cute." Jax suggested, "They even move like real ears." 

"That's because they are real ears!" Neil reminded his friend.

I felt my ears twitch with irritation. Eh? My ears... they were not listening. They drooped when I turned to Ki, "What should I do? They won't shift back."

"Awww...." Jax said. He reached out his hand... was he going to touch my ears?!?

Luckily Ki swatted his hand away immediately. 

"Try to calm down, goddess." Ki smiled.

"I am calm! I'M PERFECTLY CALM!" My hair flared now. 

"Your mouth says you're calm, but your ears say otherwise." Jax piped in. Neil hit him, "Just shut up, Jax."

I'm not sure how Jax survived as long as he did at the Lorents. Maybe he always had Neil to tell him when to shut up. 

I was close to whimpering. My ears won't shift back, and they also moved all on their own. I was told when I was a little girl that a wolf always listened with his heart, because his ears were connected directly to his heartstrings, and in the same way, every move his heart made, pulled on the strings to move his ears. 

So you could tell a lot about how a wolf is feeling from his ears alone - whether it was pointed forward aggressively, flattened back, or open and pointing towards whatever piqued his interest. Right now, my ears were drooping down from dismay. 

"Oh dear. What should we do?" Principal Laura consulted with Ki, who I supposed was the closest "adult" responsible for me, "Poor child. Should I call her father?"

NO! Now my ears popped up in alarm. I could see Henry and Marcus smirking from the side. 

"I've mindlinked her mate. Alpha James is on his way over." Ki assured Principal Laura. 

I frowned, at first wondering why Alpha James would come here - and then realized he was referring to Rebel, and flared all over again. I grabbed my ears to hide is panic, but it was a futile effort. 

"Maybe we can go to the girls washroom and wait it out." Jasmine suggested. 

Everyone looked relieved so I guess it was the right suggestion to follow. I pouted, "Fine. I'm going."

I guess I was just in the way. Its not like they could wake up the humans with me in this state. I slunk to the girls washroom feeling quite sure I was missing something interesting.

"Sam!" Jasmine chased up from behind me, "Wait for me."

Why? She had no ears. 

We got to the girl's washroom. It was completely empty. I guess everyone's gone home by now - or at least they wouldn't be on this floor or even in this building. 

Grrrr....

"I'm sure we're missing something fun." I complained to Jasmine. 

"I'm not sure about fun." Jasmine confided, "It's all kind of scary to me."

There was an alarmingly loud rumbling and crashing sound. The ground trembled. Jasmine grabbed my arm. My hair flared and formed a pair of metalic wing like shields around us. Then BOOM! Like BOOOM! I'm sure EJ would have given a better sound effect, but you get the idea. It was BOOM, and the building shook like an old rickety bridge. Omo was Lord Kosan prophetic or something?

When the vibrations stopped, my shields parted, but I was still on alert. What just happened? 

I made a move towards the door, but Jasmine tightened her grip on my arm, "Wait, Sam... your ears... and urm... your hair too..."

Oh right. Grrr... I shifted my hair back. But my ears were still there. The mirrors in front of us showed them standing up on the alert. I was sure they were wolf ears, but they were a little big on my human head. I supposed they looked kind of like bunny ears, or donkey ears... sigh. 

BUT unlike Uncle Andre, they were just ears. LIGHTBULB! As in I had an idea. All I needed to do was to cover my ears! 

"Jasmine, can you tie my hair to cover my ears?"

Of course, Jasmine could. She was a wiz with hair. If script writing didn't work out for her, maybe she could be a hair stylist. 

Jasmine plaited my hair in multiple braids, then she turned twisted it up into two cones around my ears. It was quite a rad hairstyle, but my ears were effectively covered, and maybe the radness of my hairstyle would distract anyone from noticing that I had no ears on the side of my head.

Oh well, it would have to do.

I headed back to the computer lab to investigate. Jasmine decided after a moment's hesitation that she would be safer following me than hanging out in the washroom alone. Smart girl.

My warriors were gone from their line on one side of the hall. Henry's guards were no longer in front of the computer lab. I poked my head into the lab. The two rows of humans were still just standing there. Oh good, I didn't miss EVERYTHING.

Our stuff was all gathered around the only unbroken table now, INCLUDING the big black duffle bag Fluffy took out for me to shower after I played rogue this morning! Yes! I immediately unzipped it. Jasmine watched nervously, "Sam? Isn't that Fluffy's bag?"

I pointed to my name on the label, "Nope, it's mine. See? Now let's check out what's inside."

To be honest, I knew exactly what I was looking for. I'd give you a clue: It's blue, it'll hide my ears, it's sealed in a zipper bag, and it stinks like rogue. But I found something a hundred times better - another jacket. This one was a waterproof windbreaker. It wasn't very think, in white, had a hood - and smelled like lemon oil. Yes! I was such a lucky dog!

I put it on, knowing without a doubt that it would be exactly my size. Jasmine had relaxed a bit more now. She was still unnerved by the two rows of unblinking humans standing across the room from us, but the fact that I was not digging around someone else's bag was of great comfort to her. 

There was a rush of footsteps outside. Jasmine was about to freak out again. 

"It's alright." I told her, "They're with us."

Jasmine look at me uncertain. Why? Didn't she sense them too? But apparently not. I guess an internal wolf radar wasn't standard equip. 

Matt opened the door for Principal Laura to enter. She rushed in and went straight to the humans, "Oh good. They're okay."

"Alpha Henry is here." Beta Peter intoned when his Alpha stepped in. 

They were followed by Ki and my wolves and then Coach Williams who was looking decidedly grey. This was quite a contrast given that my wolves were looking particularly pleased with themselves. 

"Oh good, you're back, Sam." Henry said. He was smirking, "Your wolves are crazy."

"Yeah, man." Marcus shook his head.

What happened? I knew I was missing something fun!

"That was quite the sinkhole." Madam Principal said.

"What sinkhole?" I asked. I felt quite glad for the hood now, my ears quirked inquisitively and I could feel the braids loosening.

"Neil turned into THE HULK and smashed a sinkhole on the first floor." Jax informed me.

Neil turned into the what?

EJ growled and stomped and roared and thumped his chest to show me, but he only looked ridiculous. I laughed, which was apparently the reaction EJ was hoping for. He beamed at me, "Hoi hoi Alpha, you should have seen it! Neil was like a Sumo wrestler that hated the floor!"

Which made me laugh again. For most part, my wolves seemed to have gotten over their VIS (Vampire Incident Stress), which was a palpable relief for me. 

"For the moment, I thought the whole building was going to collapse." Marcus said.

"It would definitely take care of the insurance claim." Henry nodded his satisfaction. 

"I still can't believe one man could do that much damage." Marcus was still taking it in.

Coach Williams face looked pale.

"Is coach okay?" I asked.

"Just a bit of shock." Ki smiled, "Neil surprised him."

Why? Did Neil turn green? I looked at Coach again. I'd say if anyone was a little green, it would be Coach.

"Alright now, here goes nothing." Madam Principal took a deep breath and poised to clap her hands together. She looked a little like Mary Poppins about to do a magic trick. But I did want to see this, so I walked over for a better view. 

Ki and my wolves immediately followed at heel. I didn't have to look at them to know they were on "guard" position. Overprotective male wolves! Okay, maybe they were just bodyguards doing their jobs, but aside from their guard positions, they didn't give off the vibe.

"Those humans are so creepy, they're giving me goosebumps." Jax muttered.

"Are you sure they can't hear or see us?" Neil asked.

"Very sure." Fluffy smiled. 

EJ shook his butt and stuck out his tongue, after the brief dance interlude he declared, "If any of them remember this, I'll do it all over again naked!"

"Oh?" Jax grinned, "You're the one who said it! You better keep your word!"

At this point, I realized something. 

My wolves were really noisy. 

Did you notice how the other wolves around us, e.g. Henry's guards, did not chit-chat in front of their Alpha? My guards were quick to be in their guard positions, but their mouths just didn't stop. Neither did other people's warriors ham it up or laughed or made weird noises... which EJ was currently doing right now with his mouth. 

It was quite impressive, he could make a rather loud and distracting pop sound. It was also quite random.

Even the beta wolves like Beta Peter and Matt did not dare to fool around. 

"Are you all ready?" Madam Principal asked.

I quickly shushed my wolves so their noise won't interfere with the two sharp claps that Principal Laura needed to produce. They quietened immediately, but Principal Laura didn't clap. Her hands were still held up in mid air, and she looked over at Matt, "Did we forget anything? Oh dear..."

Matt nodded encouragingly, "Everything has been prepared, Luna."

"Alright " Madam Principal steeled herself, and then she clapped.

Immediately the room was filled with panicked screams and the humans collapsed and stumbled out of their two neat rows. I almost preferred them standing in stasis. 

"OMG! What was that?" One girl squealed

"IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!" Terrence took a nose dive to the ground, "Hit the dirt!"

We watched them in shock. I would say we were probably just as shocked by their reaction as they were about the "Earthquake."

"Calm down, everyone calm down! I SAID CALM DOWN!" Our computer lab teacher squawked and waved, and then she noticed the computer parts shrewn about the floor, "Óh my god. OH MY GOD. OH MY GOD."

She sounded increasingly hysterical. I pressed my sensitive wolf ears down under the hood to protect it from the sharp sounds. If a sound could be used as a knife, this would be the right pitch.

And then as if on cue, Madam Principal raised her voice and called out, "Are you alright? Is anyone hurt?" 

She even made a show of walking into the computer lab, "Thank goodness everyone is alright. Ms Seinfeld, please calm down. Everything is going to be alright."

Wow, now here's someone else who would have had great success in theater. I dropped back and sat down on a stray chair to enjoy the show.