My roommate looked over me. I stood, in my t-shirt and sweatpants, in my fuzzy socks and slip-on shoes, holding a red backpack in one hand and dragging a suitcase with the other. Just standing.

We were both confused, me with why she's throwing around greek letters, and her with why I wasn't afraid, I think.

"You mean you actually don't know?"

I nodded.

"Okay, what rock must have you been living under for this to have happened..."

My roommate looked closer at me. She even smelled me. "Huh. Now that I think about it, you're no beta at all..."

"Hey," I interjected. "If it isn't too much of you, can you tell me what you mean by alphas and betas?"

"Uh..."

"Also, you never gave me your name."

"Okay..." my roommate responded. "It's Lydia."

Having gotten over my confusion, I smiled. "Nice to meet you!" I spoke as I shook her hand. "I'm Kiara."

"So, Kiara," my roommate-Lydia-sighed. "How do I start?"

"Okay, so I'm an alpha. Alphas are the top of the world and stuff, and we are very strong and brave, I guess. Alphas have a mark," (she pointed to the reddish diamond), "And these marks are connected to our families. For instance, my brother is also an Alpha and he has a more orange diamond mark."

"Uh huh..." I nodded. I took a spare notebook out of my bag and started jotting down everything Lydia said. "...Top of the world... strong and brave... mark... got it."

"Alright. Betas are the common wolves. They look like, like you kinda, but they don't have black eye pupils. Their eye pupils are colored. They look up to us alphas and look down on omegas."

"...common... colored pupils... look up to alphas and down on, omegas?"

"Yeah, omegas. They are the rarest wolves. They're pretty weak, but also pretty smart. Alphas can basically only have kids with omegas, so they're pretty valuable to us. In fact, alphas can smell omegas super well and vice versa!"

"Got it. Anyway, does that mean I'm a beta thing?"

For the first time in a while, Lydia paused. "Uh... for some reason, I don't think that you're anything. You don't have any marks, so not an alpha; your eye pupils are pure black, so not a beta; and I could smell an omega a mile away, so not an omega. Plus, your tail is completely different. Honestly, I don't know..."

"Okay, so you're saying I'm nothing..."

"No, you're not nothing!" Lydia panicked. I felt she was treating me better because I was no longer a 'mere beta'. "Can we- can we just not talk about this? The other alphas are going to assume you're a beta anyways, so just..."

"Alright... it's almost time for bed anyways. You prefer top or bottom bunk?"

"Eh, I'll go with the bottom bunk."

That night, I kept thinking about what Lydia told me. How society works is different from how my society works. Maybe that's why no one left my hometown for so long. Society here is so strange. I mean, it's almost like segregation, but down to who you have kids with? Lydia said alphas and omegas can only have children with each other, and betas can only have children amongst themselves. However, does this mean a lot of sex crime occurs? Man, we may be on the same planet, but we're living in different worlds. Eventually, I drifted into a dreamless sleep.

...

I woke up in a cold sweat. I didn't remember my dream, but I'm pretty sure it involved monsters.

"Morning Lydia..."

I climbed down the bunk ladder. Because I kept overthinking, I slept late last night. I managed to get some sleep, but I was still groggy. At least I wasn't as tired as I could have been.

"Morning," Lydia responded. "You smell like sweat. Like really, really weird sweat."

I grabbed a towel in the dorm bathroom to wipe my face. "Yeah, I sweat when I have nightmares. I don't remember it though- wait. What do you mean by weird sweat?"

"I didn't notice before, but your scent's kinda off. It smells like rotten cashews or something."

"Alright, more 'evidence' I'm not anything?"

"Hey! I thought we weren't gonna discuss this!"

"Fine..." I responded.

Pulling my uniform out of the closet (I had finished unpacking yesterday), I started putting it on. White collared shirt, long black socks, etc. Right before putting on the crimson skirt, I decided with a smirk on my face to wear a pair of shorts under the skirt. Even though I tried not to think about it, I was still paranoid about the strange alpha-beta-omega thing.

I eventually decided on a modified "sunday go to meeting tie", which looks like a little bow... kinda. It's not a bow tie though.

After putting on the brown blazer and grabbing my backpack, I noticed Lydia fumbling with her tie. She was muttering to herself and looping the tie in a nonsensical way. Eventually, she just ended with the tie looped around her neck like a scarf.

The distance between the dorm rooms and the main school buildings was pretty short, and Lydia and I walked together at the beginning.

"Hey, Kiara," Lydia said suddenly.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"You ok with being called a beta? Everyone's gonna think you're one."

"Eh, I'm fine. As long as no one bullies me."

I caught Lydia's side glance. She then said, "Well, you see, some alphas like asserting their power onto betas and omegas..."

"Asserting their power? As in..."

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Just avoid any alphas who look like they can and will punch a hole in a wall, or your head, or"

"Okay, I get it! It's weird though."

"What's weird?" Lydia asked.

I responded, "It's just, I don't understand why everyone is so misogynistic. Back home, no one was this divided. Maybe it's just because of what my mom taught me."

"Taught you?"

However, at that point, we had reached the main hallway. Lydia turned to the right as I was turning left."

"Lydia," I said, "My math class is that way, so, see you later?"

Lydia turned around. "Yeah, later."

We set off in different directions.

...

Alright. First period: Math 2. Even though I was a freshman, I was a year ahead in math back in Nocturne. Keeping the piece of paper with my schedule and number clutched in my hand, I sat down at a random desk, which just so happened to be in the front row. I opened my backpack and pulled out a new notebook. Then... I wasn't sure. With 5 minutes left before class, I looked around the classroom. It looked a lot like my middle school math classes, with different posters about geometry and algebra, and a whiteboard-projector in the front. There were about 40 desks and 20 students, but not everyone was here yet.

Looking at my peers, I remembered what Lydia told me yesterday, and I saw how divided we were. A group of about 3 "alphas" were sitting on some desks near the windows. Each of their "marks" was a different shape and color. Looking closely, I saw they were older than me, maybe juniors, (and this is a Math "2" class, were they held back?) and their disregard and rebelliousness (one was etching something into the desk), but I also saw how they held themselves. They were the dominant wolves, and they knew it. Luckily, this group of "delinquent alphas" weren't the only alphas. The other alphas I could see were sitting at their desks normally. They were closer to my age, freshman or sophomore. However, if I know anything from TV shows, it's that anyone and everyone can be dangerous. Like Lydia said, any of these guys could probably punch a hole in the wall, or my head.

Several (non-alpha) wolves who were sitting in different desks were talking to each other.

There were several other groups of wolves scattered around the classroom. However, I couldn't identify them before..."Welcome students! I'm Mrs. Ariasta and I'm your Math 2 teacher."... the five minutes were up.By now, there were almost 30 students in the classroom. I stopped thinking about this alpha-beta-omega thing, and started focusing on math.

...