Gabriel\u2019s room smelled faintly of old wood and guitar polish, a mix I was starting to associate with him. I was leaning back in his desk chair, stretching my legs out, when the door cracked open. Nathan stuck his head in, took one look at me, and froze like a deer that had just realized the shadow in the bushes had teeth. He didn\u2019t say a word\u2014just pulled the door shut again in one fluid retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was it. Gabriel and I both burst out laughing. Mine was low and rough; his was brighter, spilling over like he couldn\u2019t help it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGod, you\u2019ve got him trained,\u201d Gabriel said, shaking his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I shrugged. \u201cGuess he just knows when to leave a room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The laughter lingered for a beat, then Gabriel\u2019s expression shifted. That sharp, curious light in his eyes returned\u2014blue like mine, but without the dark wolf-ring circling the iris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI need to ask you something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShoot,\u201d I replied, still half-smirking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He leaned forward on the edge of his bed, elbows on his knees. \u201cWhat was<\/em> that today? In the hallway. I\u2019ve never seen anyone move that fast. You weren\u2019t even looking at him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked away, staring at the scuffed floorboards. \u201cYou don\u2019t want to know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes, I do,\u201d he said, voice firm now. \u201cYou\u2019ve been stepping in for me since the first week I met you. And today\u2026 you didn\u2019t just stop that guy. You knew exactly what was coming. That\u2019s not normal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hesitated. I\u2019d spent years keeping this locked down, avoiding even a whiff of the truth. But his voice\u2014steady, unafraid\u2014cut through the part of me that wanted to dodge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGabriel\u2026\u201d I sighed, leaning forward so my forearms rested on my thighs. \u201cWhen I was younger, my parents decided I wasn\u2019t\u2026 normal. They didn\u2019t mean quirky or weird\u2014they meant dangerous. Or broken. Take your pick. They sent me to a place. A \u2018hospital.\u2019\u201d I made the word sound like something rotten in my mouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His brows drew together. \u201cLike\u2026 therapy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTherapy doesn\u2019t strap you to a bed or lock you in a room for days at a time,\u201d I said, my tone sharpening despite myself. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t pump you full of drugs that make you forget your own name. It doesn\u2019t tell you you\u2019re a monster until you start to believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The room went very still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked at him, and for a moment, I saw the question in his eyes\u2014whether I was exaggerating. But the answer must\u2019ve been written all over my face, because he didn\u2019t ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey called it treatment,\u201d I continued, softer now. \u201cMy parents called it necessary. I called it hell. And when I finally got out, I made sure they\u2019d never have a reason to put me back in. Which meant hiding\u2026 all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll of what<\/em>?\u201d Gabriel pressed, but his voice had lost its edge\u2014it was gentler now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I shook my head. \u201cNot yet. You think you want the full story, but once you hear it, you can\u2019t unhear it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He studied me for a long moment, then leaned back slightly. \u201cYou\u2019re wrong about one thing,\u201d he said. \u201cI do<\/em> want the full story. And I\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something in my chest loosened, just a fraction. I almost smiled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCareful what you wish for,\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Gabriel\u2019s room smelled faintly of old wood and guitar polish, a mix I was starting to associate with him. I was leaning back in his desk chair, stretching my legs out, when the door cracked open. Nathan stuck his head in, took one look at me, and froze like a deer that had just realized […]<\/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-53","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53","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=53"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53\/revisions\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}