She discovered that placed a little in the back, next to the staircases on either end of the first floor, were two doors. The one on the end by the Office led to the cafeteria, where she would go after P.E. Her locker was close to the Nurse's Office and the Gymnasium doors. She wondered if perhaps she was expected to have gym cloths to change into, but no one had mentioned anything like that to her.

Walking through the gym doors, she paused, glancing around. It looked like any other normal gym. Sure, it was a lot bigger and taller than she was use to, but there were bleachers along the far back wall, fake-wood linoleum floors waxed to a reflective shine, and bleached walls. Slowly, she stepped farther in. A hand on her shoulder very nearly made her shriek in fright. Glancing over her shoulder, she had to quickly turn forward again. Slender was just too tall to try and look at with only a foot of distance between them. Turning completely, she took seven steps backwards, until she could look into his...face.

"U-um, yes?"

He had the whiteboard strung on a long, thick cord around his neck. What's up? Confused much? At her nod, he drew a smiling emoji. That's cool. I do that to people. Pause. No one else is here quite yet, but I'm sure they'll be in a few seconds. Pause. This is the only place I can stand completely straight...Ah...

"It must be really nice then," she smiled.

He nodded his blank head vigorously. Follow me to the bleachers. He started off, his abnormally long legs getting him clear across the room in only twenty steps. She followed behind at a much slower pace. He didn't sit down, standing at one end of the bleachers. After a second, she sat down, about fifteen feet away. He pulled out his board. I don't bite, Nisha Caldwell.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I'm still a little uneasy about this morning. Also, please call me Nisha. It's shorter and easier to say than tacking on my last name. Just like you said you don't need 'The' to be added to the beginning of you name."

His head tilted slightly. Alright. She heard the sound of more people coming closer. We have our P.E. with high school class 3-A. Pause. Be prepared. A laughing emoji now. Big Bro Frost is in 3-A.

Sighing, she nodded her head. "Thanks for the warning. Jacob doesn't really like me."

You're pretty. She blushed bright red at his words as the students poured in through the doors like a dam being broken open. You're also Jack's betrothed, not his. Pause. Of course he doesn't 'like' you. Pause. He's just jelly of Jack's good luck to be the one to inherit the Frost name.

She frowned at that, but a voice close by made her turn her head. One of her classmates was standing in front of her. She had to search for a second for his name. Ah, that was right. Trevor Jaris, the werewolf. His dark blue eyes watched her intently and she caught a gleam of lust in his eyes. "You may be a human, but I can dig your curves," he said bluntly.

Her jaw dropped. "E-excuse me?" she asked softly.

He leaned in close, lifting up a strand of her long brown hair, and pressing it against his nose, inhaling her scent deeply. "You smell surprisingly good as well. Not what I ever really expected a human to smell like. I know you're 'seeing' that pompous ass, Frost, officially. But have you guys done it yet?"

Her face flushed even more, speechless with mortification. Was this guy actually doing this, saying this, to her right now?

He leaned in slightly closer, his hot breath on her face. His voice was soft, just loud enough for her to hear. "I don't know if you know, but werewolves are renowned in bed. We use to be one of the most common lovers of humans, two centuries or so ago. I've never had the chance to try it out. What say you and me ditched this place and head to the woods out back?"

"No," she said in a voice that broke no argument.

He pulled back slightly, his eyes going wide in surprise. "What?" he asked uncertainly. He had a nervous smile on his lips, like he wasn't sure how to react. "Did you just tell me...no?"

She nodded firmly. Reaching up, she grabbed hold of his hand, uncurled his fingers from around her hair, and threw them away from her. "Yes I did. That's it. I'm sick of all of this bullshit. In less than a week I have been man-handled by three different guys on many occasions, threatened multiply times, nearly died several times, and generally felt like my life is no longer in my control. Even if some of the man-handling was meant with good intentions that does not excuse it. And even if none of this had happened to me, I still wouldn't want to go into the woods out back with you. What the hell is wrong with you that you even think it's okay to ask me a question like that? Are you such a player that you think any pretty girl is going to follow behind you like some helpless little puppy? Well, here's a wake up call, jackass. I won't."

By now she was standing up, in front of the bleachers. Trevor had taken several steps back. His eyes were wide in shock, amazement, and something else she couldn't place. He stared down at her, her head only reaching about to his chest. Sucking in a deep breath, she put all the force of her anger and distaste for him in her voice. "Now, turn around and move your furry ass somewhere I can't see it. You disgust me."

She was too focused on her anger and Trevor to realize that the rest of 2-B and 3-A had already arrived. All of them were standing near the other side of the gym, closer to the doors. Their eyes were wide in shock as well, but they remained silent.

The P.E. teacher, Mr. Lufus, another werewolf, grinned widely at her words. Oh man, the girl doesn't know what she just did...He tried to hold back his laughter. He had been planning to tell Trevor off when he heard what was going on, but she had handled it better than he ever could. Though the result would be the exact opposite of her wishes. Ah, to be that young again, he thought in bitter-sweet reminiscence. He was very curious about the human girl. Though he had been to the Human world and had a few of his own tussles with some human females in his younger years, he was very surprised one was enrolled at this academy.

Clearing his throat, he blew the whistle around his neck. All the students froze, turning to look at the teacher. "Okay, students. That's enough of that. Get into your groups. Caldwell!" he shouted out, his voice carrying all the way to the back of the gym, echoing off the walls. "Get with Epona, she'll help you out."

Coming down from the red of her outrage, Nisha slowly began to realize. Her angry, raised voice as she vented her feelings over all that was happening to her had made it very easy for the other students to hear. Raising a hand to cover her flaming face, she took in several deep breaths, trying to calm down. Her eyes closed and she tilted her head down to face the ground.

An airy, hyper voice close by made her slowly lower her hand. Peri Epona, the pegasus from her class was leaning forward. Her body was bent in a way that her waving hand would be the first thing Nisha would see upon opening her eyes. "Hi!" she greeted her excitedly. "Your first day just keeps getting crazier and crazier. Did you meet your doppelganger on the way here?"

"Um, what?"

"A doppelganger, a person who looks exactly like you, in every single way. Some humans see them as good luck, others as omens of death, or bad luck. In this case though, I'd say you got a heavy dose of bad luck this morning." She laughed brightly. "I haven't had this exciting of a start to a school year since I enrolled and I've been here my whole school life!"

"Well, I'm glad someone's enjoying my misery," Nisha sighed sarcastically.

"Come on, we should head to our group before Mr. Lufus yells at us." Nisha followed behind as Peri moved toward the other end of the gym from the others. All the girls had formed a group. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the guys on the opposite end, doing the same. Slender, she saw, was left to his own devices, away from everyone else. Peri started following the other girls as they worked on their stretches.

Sitting down, with her legs in a V-shape in front of her, Nisha began stretching out, loosing her muscles. Peri sat next to her, leaning in close. "You do realize what you did, right?"

Nisha glanced at her, wincing slightly as her stiff muscles protested from the activity. She went really slow though. She was still a little worried about what had happened earlier and the negative effects on her body. So far she appeared perfectly fine, but she didn't feel like putting her trust in magical abilities right now. She was still too pissed off about everything. The thought lent an edge of steel to her voice. "I scared that prick off," she answered confidently.

The other girl's head quickly shook. "Not in the least. In fact, if anything, you just earned yourself a new lover-boy. It's not even lunch yet and you've already got a harem. Jack, Alec, Trevor, and..." Peri twisted a little, glancing over her shoulder for her tall, pale classmate. "Uh...maybe Slender? I'm not really sure if he counts though. Besides...just, ew, no. I don't see that working out in the slightest."

Shaking her head, Nisha sighed heavily. "No. Please no. I have my hands full with Jack as it is. I can't handle anymore, so don't jinx me. Besides, Alec is just a childhood friend and Slender is...a potential friend. And Trevor," she said his name with disgust, "I couldn't care less about."

Laughing, Peri helped her to her feet so they could continue doing their stretches. Standing on one leg, they stretched out the other, pressing it against the side of their stationary leg. "Werewolves are...contrary assholes," Peri began to explain in a voice that mimicked an elderly teacher. "They think they are entitled to very nearly everything female in the world and try to take full advantage of this. It's not entirely their fault though. The changing minds of humans have sort of caused it."

When Nisha inclined her head to continue, Peri was quick to go on. "Sure they're violent, strong, and all wolf. But with all the recent craze of having werewolves be characters in those hot and heavy romance books, they've been affected. In the past thirty or so years, they've changed to fit the image of humans. They still have all their other problems, but now their sex drives have shot up by a really bad amount."

Blushing fiercely, Nisha's leg wobbled precariously. She lost her balance and it was only the shorter girl's quick reflexes that saved her. "H-how c-c-can you talk a-about t-this-s so calmly?" she hissed under her breath, mouth close to Peri's ear as she was still leaning into the other girl.

Pulling back, Peri grinned widely. "Hey, it's common knowledge and you should know about all of this." She waited until Nisha was steady before continuing as they moved into a different stretch. "So, now they're all hot and bothered and super sexy. But there's a bit of a problem. The majority of the heroines in the books like that are either helpless damsels-in-distress or wanna-be kick-ass bitches. Granted its not all of them, but its most of them. And I hate to admit it, but werewolves are known to be really good in bed. I mean, with that kind of stamina, they can last a long time."

"You talk like you know personally."

"Hell no. I just know tons of other girls who have gotten down-and-dirty with one. And Trevor, the dick, has it in his head that these are his own personal little sugar-hunting grounds."

Nisha felt overwhelmed at not only what she was being told, but also the way Peri talked. She was so bold and straight-forward, if not a little foul-mouthed as well. It left Nisha reeling a little.

"Anyway. Werewolves are use to the whole 'Oh no! Save me!' and 'Come over here and take me like a real man, big guy'. So when they come across a chick that will lay it into them and outright and undeniably say 'no', it's a super big turn on for them. I guess you could say they really like chicks that play hard-to-get on an almost...masochistic level?"

Falling back to lay out on the floor and begin doing crunches, Nisha let out a soft sound of denial. "No, no way! I wasn't playing hard-to-get. I was telling him no and meaning it!"

"Well, yeah, sure. Everyone else knows that. But werewolves are kind of...thick-headed. So now he's going to try all different kinds of ways to figure out how to get in your good graces. Well, once he recovers from his wounded pride. No idea how long that will take though. He's got a really bad case of that particular sin."

The girls were done with stretches now so they had to jog five laps around the entire gym. Peri and Nisha jogged close to each other so they could continue to talk. "So, essentially, you just slayed the proverbial dragon of the RoyalAcademy. Actually..." she mused in a diabolical little voice. "Speaking of dragons, maybe you should see if you can add Nathan from class in your little harem. If you can slay the actual dragon, I will be thoroughly impressed for the rest of my life. Draco's a stuck-up little prick who thinks because he's a dragon none of the girls here are worth his time and attention."

Peri, little troublemaker that she was, had waited until they were within earshot of the group of guys to bring up Nathan. Nisha stumbled slightly as his burning gold eyes seared her with a look that very clearly conveyed disgust. His eyes said I'd kill myself first!

"P-Peri!" she hissed in mortification. "I-I really don't think it's a good idea to keep trying to make the entire male population of the school hate me." As they passed, she noticed Alec laugh as he caught her words.

Her sort-of new friend shrugged. "I can't help that every one of them has at least some level of hearing above that of a human. If they weren't Others, none of them would have been able to catch that."

Nisha glared. "You know what you did."

Laughing, Peri reached out a hand to her arm. "Alright, alright. I'm sorry." Slender waved and Nisha did her best to wave back. "See? They either love you or hate you."

Sighing heavily, Nisha changed the subject, slightly. "Okay, enough talking about my love life. You said you don't know first hand a-about werewolves." Her cheeks flushed but she kept going. "So do you have a boyfriend or something?"

Her eyes which had been bright and laughing; suddenly dimmed. She was quiet for long enough that Nisha thought she wouldn't answer. But once they had completed the first lap, she finally did. "I'm in the same boat as you." She pointed to the group of guys. "See the long-haired brunette standing next to Jacob Frost?"

Twisting her head a little as they curved around, she did indeed. It was hard to tell anything about him from this distance though. All she could really catch was that he was really tall, had wavy brown hair down to his butt, and was standing next to Jacob. "Uh, yeah. I see him," she confirmed.

"Well...as soon as I turn eighteen, we're to be wed."

She turned her head to look at the other girl sharply. "Really?" They were silent for a few more seconds. "Do you lo...like him?"

Peri remained silent. They were within ear-shot of the guys. It wasn't until the coast was clear that she let out an annoyed groan. "Not at all! He's as bad as Draco! He barely acts like I exist, let alone that I'm...like I interest him..." Her voice trailed off into a tiny, hurt whisper.

Nisha observed her friend, debating. She wanted to confess all she had been feeling since arriving at this place. But she was still too fearful of what would happen if anyone besides Jack and her grandmother ever found out he was a stranger to her. Would she be called a bold-face liar? Would they laugh it off and act in that 'Oh, you', way? Or, most terrifying of all to her...Would they kick her and her grandmother out, cutting all ties?

If they did, the two of them would be all alone, abandoned, in a completely different world. A different world filled with things that could all very easily harm or kill them and most likely wouldn't even feel guilty about.

She shuddered, shaking her head slightly. No...She couldn't take the risk.

Despite how much she hated it, she would have to play the part of Jack's fiancé until she could find a way to return home.

Remembering herself, she placed a note of relief in her voice. "Well...that shouldn't be for another year or two, right? Maybe he'll come around. Despite what you might think, you are really great-looking, Peri. And, though I've really only gotten to know you in the past twenty minutes or so, I think you're a really good person. I'd like to count you as one of my friends."

The shorter girl threw her a 'what the hell are you talking about?' look. "Of course we're friends." Peri replied in a voice that questioned why Nisha would have even brought it up. But her expression and voice quickly soured, twisting into a look of half-fear and half-depression. "There isn't any time left. I had to redo my first year of high school. As such, he's already eighteen and I turn eighteen in two months..."

Nisha was speechless, not knowing what she could say. She sensed half-assed, flowery words wouldn't be welcomed and she couldn't blame Peri for that. Instead, she reached out and patted her shoulder briefly.

They were silent for another few minutes, lost in their individual thoughts. Peri was the first to break the quiet; her words letting Nisha know she was done talking about this particular subject. "Man, I can run just fine, you know, being a horse and all. But all this talking is hard to do at the same time."

"Yeah," Nisha nodded, giving in to the call for silence. "It's getting hard for me to breathe, jog, and talk. I think I'll just focus on two out of three for now." Across the way, Mr. Lufus' yelled at the boys to get their butts moving already and start jogging. Two seconds later, a dozen or so pairs of shoes scuffed over the waxed floor as the guys hurried to do as the teacher instructed. She could hear them quickly growing closer.

* * *

Still internally seething over this entire morning, Jack began to auto-pilot the stretches. Before today he hadn't actually had much of a 'Shit List'. But as of today, if no one else, Trevor Jaris was at the top of the thing. The piece of shit had actually bluntly asked Nisha to ditch class and run off into the woods for a tussle. Hell, he knew she was promised and still the bastard...

A laugh next to him pulled his mind back to the gym. He caught a flash of Nisha, next to that Epona chick. The two had their heads close together, and he was able to pick up on the very tail end of their conversation. Alec reached out and slapped his shoulder in a way that was meant to be all 'good-natured' and 'friendly'. Instead it just reminded Jack that he existed and that he had been holding onto Nisha, pressing her body close against his. His shoulder began to break out with frost.

Hissing softly at the abrupt cold, Alec sighed. "Hey, Icy. No offense, but chill."

Inhaling and exhaling deeply several times, Jack forced his mind and powers to do so. "Yeah, sorry."

"I was only about to say that you got lucky with Nisha."

Jack cut him a critical side-long glance. "Yes. Yes I did. But it wasn't luck. It was fate."

"Well...whatever you want to call it. She seems like a really great match for you. I hope the two of you are happy together."

Unable to help it, he turned his head to look at the darker guy full on. "Are you...do you not...?"

Alec laughed. "Oh, yeah. I find her hot and all that. I can't help it. I'm a guy, it just kind of happens automatically. But do I want to go after her, pursue her? Do I want to try my luck at stealing her away? Nah, I'm good. I can tell...I know just how much she means to you. I know when to bow out. But will I probably check her out every now and then?" He shrugged, stretching his arms over his head. "Yeah, definitely. I don't mean any offense or anything by it though. I know that won't help you not feel piss of and I don't expect it to. But I figure it's better to be upfront and honest then let it all sit on a back burner until it boils over and explodes."

Blinking, Jack slowly chuckled himself, if only a little. "Um...well, thanks...I guess?"

"And about earlier? I really wasn't trying to do anything but save her life. You went completely ballistic and she was already nearly dead in the few seconds it took me to reach her."

His breath came out in a low whoosh of pain. It took all his willpower to keep his body upright and not show any other reaction. After a minute he was able to find a mask of calm to hide behind. "Thank you," he murmured sincerely. "Thank you for your quick thinking, for saving Nisha. I'm truly sorry for getting angry at you about that. I just tend to be...overprotective when it comes to Nisha."

"You have every right to be." Alec suddenly grinned. "So...you can count me out of her little harem, alright?"

His spine stiffened and he could feel his temper flaring for half a second. "What? Harem?" he repeated in an icy voice. "Who the fuck said that?"

It was obvious that the other guy was trying to hold back his laughter. "Peri did. And I kind of have to agree. I also do wonder if Nisha could...c-could s-slay..." Unable to hold in his laughter, he pressed a hand to his mouth, muffling it. His shoulders shook hard with the force of his mirth, tears pricking his eyes.

Jack's mood hadn't improved in the slightest and he suddenly felt a dark, threatening presence beside him. His instincts kicked in, taking over. His hand reached out to grab hold of, strangle the life out of, freeze, and then shatter the intruder. But at the last second, he realized what he was about to do. His outstretched fingers curled into his palm and he slowly turned his head, dropping his hand. Slendie loomed over him.

"Ah, Slender. The mystery man of the harem."

Jack shot Alec a dark look. "Can you please stop saying that word?!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. So...do you have a crush on Nisha, like Peri thinks?"

Slender grabbed his clipboard. I walk over to say hi and that's the first thing you ask me? Pause. I don't have a crush on Nisha. Pause. Of course not. How could I? Pause. Having a crush would mean there would be a...Pause. At least a slight possibility of such feelings ever becoming mutual. Slowly, his arms lowered to his sides.

Swallowing, Jack sighed heavily. "Shit, Slendie. That got too real too fast. I'm sorry, man. I'm also sorry for how I acted this morning."

I apologize as well, Jack. Pause. I shouldn't have acted that way. Pause. But sometimes the...'nature' takes over.

"I get ya. Why do you think I go all crazy emotion-train most of the time? It's the same for me. I'm constantly forced to feel echoes of all the emotions humans feel about my winter, my snow and ice through out the entire Human world. And the entire time this is all going on I'm also trying to wade through my own damn feelings. Makes it real easy to get confused fast. And sometimes I really do just want to go over there and send them all freezing into another Ice Age. But I can't..."

"Hey! What are you kids doing? The girls have already run two laps, you slow-pokes! Stop flapping your jaws and start moving your butts! Get going now!" Mr. Lufus' voice broke through their conversation. Slender moved back to allow them room to leave before the guys took off.