Atticus slumped down in his seat, infinitely bored. How could numbers be so boring? And why were there suddenly letters too? “Maths is so weird,” he complained under his breath to no one in particular.

His desk mate hadn’t written down a single thing since the lesson began - at least Atticus was trying to pay attention; this guy straight-up didn’t care. He just sat there, on his phone, not even bothering to try and hide his device. The teacher apparently didn’t care either, or just hadn't noticed yet.

It was probably the former.

Atticus knew this school wasn’t very strict; Riya had told him, but she had a track record for skipping every other lesson so she could go stare at cute boys. It was whatever, now Atticus could join her in the staring. Ugh focus, dimwit, he chastised himself, rolling his eyes at his worksheet.

What are we even supposed to be doing again? Atticus slumped down even further into his seat. Oh well, so long as he wrote something in the answer space, he couldn’t be berated for not trying. Glancing at the first question, he typed something into his calculator - it made sense, so was probably kind of on the right lines?

The lesson finally ended, and Atticus won an award for the speediest exit in history as he powered towards his next class. The earlier he got there, the more time he’d have to text Riya about the hot guy from earlier. Together, they could gush over attractive men. “Ah, what a wonderful partnership,” Atticus giggled under his breath as he sat down.

This lesson he wasn’t as lucky as in maths. Immediately a broad-shouldered figure took the seat next to him. “Hey there Atticus, nice to see you on this fine morning,” a wolf sneered at him. “Yeah right, we literally get the same bus. Get over yourself, Daniel.”

Atticus knew he just bought a one-way ticket to a vicious beating, but he couldn’t help but talk back to the other guy - he was tired of Daniel’s shit and doing something was infinitely more satisfying than just letting the guy hit him anyway.

At least he’d be safe for another hour whilst they had class. After that, everyone had a break - he’d find Riya, he’d be safe with her. Perfect, it’s all gonna be A-OK, he thought to himself, knowing it definitely wasn’t going to be that easy.

Still, this class was history, which he actually enjoyed. Plus an upside was that there were no weird number/letter combinations - he just had to memorise facts. Atticus took extensive notes on the lesson’s contents, covering multiple pages of his notebook.

With only two minutes of the lesson left, Atticus’s muscles were coiled and ready to go as soon as the teacher stopped talking. “Dismissed” rang through the class and Atticus made a dash for it. Unfortunately, Daniel’s long arms sniped him before Atticus even had the chance to get out of his seat properly.

“Oh we have a lot to talk about, so you’ll be coming with me.” Atticus gulped, not a fan of the beating he was about to receive, but used to it enough at this point that it didn’t really bother him as much as it should. As Daniel dragged him outside, Atticus caught sight of piercing blue eyes, and for a moment, their gazes locked.

But then an increasingly tight grip on his arm tugged him back to reality, and Atticus was pulled behind the building, and the eyes were gone. Still, Atticus mused as he was shoved up against the red-brick wall, the corners of the bricks poking him in the back. I saw him twice in one day, that’s a good sign. Maybe I’ll get to see Mr Eye-Candy more often.

The first hit was the same as it always was - right in the solar plexus. It hurt like a proper bitch, but Atticus’s pain threshold was high after years of similar treatment at the hands of Daniel and his friends.

Atticus wasn’t really listening to what Daniel or his friends were saying - it was probably just the usual stuff about how worthless he was and what a waste of space he would always be, and how he should just die.

Not anything new, and Atticus was used to it.

Eventually the bell rung again, and Daniel and his lackeys dutifully went to their next lessons. Atticus couldn’t move just yet. No amount of beating would make the pain lessen, it just helped him disassociate whilst the beating was actually happening, and learn strategies to ease the pain after.

Atticus knew by now that he had to just lie down and let it wash over him - not like he could move now anyway, he was pretty sure Daniel had broken his leg. The pain was bad, but at least it would heal quickly. Broken bones took longer, so he’d be limping for a few days, but it could be worse.

It had been worse.

At least this was something that could heal with time.

Laying his head down on the soft grass, Atticus blinked up at the sky. A monumental blue expanse was revealed before him, and he couldn’t move his eyes from it. Atticus loved looking at the sky - it was so empty and infinite, stretching on and on forever.

Plus it was pretty and he liked the colour blue.

Talking of blue…he thought with a little smile. He and that guy had had eye contact twice in one day. That meant they were like, practically married already, right?

Atticus laughed at his own thoughts before letting out a whine of pain at the motion. “Shitttt,” he whimpered, frustrated that he was actually shedding tears over his pain. “I should check my phone, I bet Riya’s worried I didn’t show up at break.”

Riya would probably put two and two together, and realise he’d had a run in with Daniel and co. He’d never had to tell her what was going on, he hadn’t needed to: she’d witnessed it. They hadn’t been friends at that point, but he was fairly famous within the pack. She knew who he was.

Ever since, she’d been fiercely protective over him, and didn’t understand how he wasn’t permanently terrified of Daniel. It wasn’t that strange to Atticus, however. He’d simply become used to Daniel after all the years, and knew that no matter what he did, he could never truly harm the alpha’s son.