The day had been dull up until last period. We were on our way out of the building, heading toward the bus line, when I noticed three guys hanging near the double doors \u2014 the same crowd that had been needling Gabriel since the start of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They saw us coming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, well,\u201d the ringleader said as we got closer, stepping into the middle of the doorway. \u201cIf it isn\u2019t the music nerd and his\u2026 bodyguard.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel didn\u2019t slow down. \u201cMove.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The guy laughed. \u201cOr what? Your boyfriend here gonna break my arm?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took a step forward, but Gabriel\u2019s arm came up slightly \u2014 not touching me, just a quick flick of the wrist that said, I\u2019ve got this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The ringleader smirked. \u201cWhat, you think you\u2019re tough now just \u2018cause the big guy\u2019s been hovering over you? Newsflash, guitar boy \u2014 without him, you\u2019re nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel\u2019s tone was calm, almost casual. \u201cYou really think that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPretty sure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He stepped closer until they were just inches apart. Gabriel\u2019s voice dropped low, but carried enough weight that I could hear every word. \u201cYou\u2019re right. I\u2019m not the strongest guy in the room.\u201d He tilted his head slightly toward me. \u201cBut I don\u2019t need to be. You\u2019re gonna move, because you don\u2019t want to find out what happens if you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guy\u2019s smirk faltered. He looked past Gabriel \u2014 at me \u2014 and his Adam\u2019s apple bobbed once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYour move,\u201d Gabriel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a second, it could have gone either way. Then the ringleader stepped aside, muttering something about being late for practice. His friends followed, and the doorway cleared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we walked through, I kept my voice low. \u201cNot bad.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He gave a small shrug, but I could see the faint grin he was trying to hide. \u201cI just\u2026 knew he\u2019d back off. Like I could see it in his face before it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s instinct,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s waking up in you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He glanced over at me. \u201cFeels good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt should,\u201d I told him. \u201cBut this was the easy part. Next time, you might have to prove it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gabriel\u2019s grin widened, and for a moment, he looked every bit the wolf I knew was buried under his skin. \u201cThen I guess you\u2019ll have to show me how.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOh,\u201d I said with a faint smirk. \u201cI was counting on it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The day had been dull up until last period. We were on our way out of the building, heading toward the bus line, when I noticed three guys hanging near the double doors \u2014 the same crowd that had been needling Gabriel since the start of the year. They saw us coming. \u201cWell, well,\u201d the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47\/revisions\/48"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}