^ Picture of Gabriel Atkin

"But I'm a creep. I'm a weirdo. What the hell am I doing here? I don't belong here."
~Radiohead, 'Creep'

~~~

*Sawyer's POV*

"Are you looking forward to your birthday?" Gabriel asks as we walk down the halls of the school. Out of all of the wolves my parents forced me to be around, Gabriel is the only one I can even remotely stand. He's sweet and quiet; much different than the trio of Alphas.

Plus, he's an Omega. If anyone understands what it's like to be an outsider in your own pack, it's him.

We were both also ditched by our birth parents without an explanation. Another thing that pack of idiots wouldn't understand.

"Not particularly," I answer flatly, leaning back against my locker. "There's not much to look forward to."

Gabriel's eyes widen. "You could meet your mate. Aren't you excited about that?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Knowing my luck, my mate would see that I'm a hybrid and turn in the opposite direction."

"That's not true," he argues softly. "Our mates are designed to be perfect for us. There's no way your mate would reject you. You're amazing."

Scoffing, I open my mouth to refute that when my eyes catch the one person who would always insist I am anything but amazing.

Remi's puppy eyes lock on mine, so innocent yet so fiery. It triggers an unknown emotion deep inside of me, and I feel my eyes flashing uncontrollably. He's walking with Asher and Stone, the other two Alphas that attend our school, but my focus stays on him.

Goddess, I hate him so much.

Asher leans over and whispers something to Remi, causing the latter to tear his gaze away from mine as they pass by. I roll my eyes, turning back to say something to Gabriel, but the Omega seems quite distracted.

Gabriel's eyes not-so-discreetly follow after the Alphas, but I have an inkling as to who has captured his attention. I narrow my eyes in annoyance, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Don't bother," I tell him, making Gabriel blink at me in surprise. "He's not going to be your mate."

His cheeks flush bright pink. "You don't know that," he murmurs shyly, ducking his head down. "All of us have two dads. Well, except for Stone."

"We won't," I state firmly. "We're going to have female mates that we can have children with. We're different enough as it is, Gabriel. We don't need another reason to stand out."

Gabriel falls silent at that, looking down at the ground. I sigh, reaching over to pat his head.

"Don't be sad. When you find your mate, I promise you'll love her," I reassure, catching the way he flinches at the word 'her'. "Your birthday is still two months away. You shouldn't worry about it right now."

"You're right," Gabriel agrees, nodding his head. "Besides, your birthday is a lot closer. And I have a good feeling that you're going to find your mate. Who knows? Maybe she's in your pack and will be at your party."

'No one would want to be around a hybrid freak.'

"I'm not getting my hopes up," I say through clenched teeth, the memory of those taunts from four years ago still ringing in my ears.

The bell rings before Gabriel has a chance to argue with me further, and I quickly head to my next class. The rest of the day goes by in a blur, like it usually does whenever I tune out the idiocy that these people spew. Why do I even have to go to school? I'm probably smarter than most of my teachers anyway.

By the time the last bell rings, I already have my daily homework completed. Since most of the content we cover in class is useless and boring, I'm able to work on my assignments so I don't have to once I'm at home. It leaves me in a fairly good mood.

Although, that's completely ruined the moment I see Remi standing by the front doors with his arms crossed.

"Ready?" He questions dryly. Rude.

Without answering, I push past him and head towards the parking lot. The worst part about being in the same pack isn't the fact that we live close to each other. No, because it's easy to stay in my room and avoid him once we're on pack grounds. The worst part is the fact that our dads force us to carpool to school. They seem to think that, because they are lifelong friends, Remi and I should be too. They've forced us to hang out with each other since we were children, and it's only gotten worse since our falling out four years ago.

Not that I would ever admit to my dads how much pain their meddling causes me.

I climb into the passenger seat of Remi's car and stare out the window. I sense Remi hesitate, most likely wanting to say something stupid, but he decides against it and pulls out of the parking lot.

"Your birthday is Saturday," Remi comments, disturbing the enjoyable silence.

"Is it? I hadn't noticed," I respond with dry sarcasm.

"You don't have to act like such a dick," he snaps at me.

I chuckle humorlessly. "I see your language is as vulgar as ever."

"You bring it out in me," Remi grumbles, turning his attention back to the road. I sneak a peek over to him; my lips twitching up at how far his seat is scooted towards the wheel so his short legs can reach the pedals. "I was only trying to make conversation."

"Why bother?" I sigh. "It's a wasted effort and you know it."

"What the hell, Sawyer? We used to be friends, and now I can't even talk about your birthday?"

'He's only hanging out with you because he feels sorry for you. A wolf of his status shouldn't be seen with a lowly hybrid.'

"No," I respond curtly, inwardly flinching at the memory. "You can't."

Luckily for me, the rest of the drive to the pack is silent. Once we're in front of my house, I nearly kick the door open in my desperation to get as far from Remi as possible. I speed walk to my house, ignoring Remi's sarcastic remarks about not receiving a thanks for the ride.

"Hey, Sawyer," my dad, Caleb, greets from the kitchen. "It's just us for now. Your father is still at the pack house for a meeting. Being the Beta is quite the busy job. Anyway, how was school?"

"Fine," I answer gruffly, walking towards the stairs.

"Wait!" He calls after me. "I haven't seen you all day. Why don't you tell me about your day?"

"I said it was fine," I grit out, and my dad falters slightly.

"Okay... how about we talk about your birthday? The Alphas said we could use the pack house since it's bigger. Is there anything in particular you want at the party?"

"Why don't you decide? You and father decide everything anyway."

The way my dad's shoulder slump makes me turn around and run up the stairs. I hate when he looks like that. When he looks sad because of something I said.

I appreciate them, I do. If they hadn't taken me in, I probably would've bounced around from foster home to foster home. No one else would have wanted the witch-wolf hybrid with anger issues. But even if I do appreciate all they've done for me... I can't shake the reminder that they're not my real parents. My real parents are still out there, happily living their own lives after abandoning me.

Because no one wants to be around the hybrid freak.

~~~

oof

Insight into the thoughts of Sawyer

Predictions? Who do you think said those horrible things to Sawyer?

See you next time, Gumballs!
-Gumbie