The lunchroom was already loud when we walked in\u2014metal chairs scraping, trays clattering, the low roar of a hundred half-finished conversations. But as soon as we stepped through the doorway, it was like someone dialed the volume down a notch. Not silence\u2014just\u2026 awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel and I didn\u2019t slow. We cut a direct line toward the far table in the back corner, the one with the best sightlines and the wall at our backs. No one ever sat there, not because they couldn\u2019t, but because it was prime territory and unspoken rules kept it open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, we claimed it without asking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I slid my tray onto the table, sat down facing the room. Gabriel dropped into the seat beside me, draping one arm over the back of his chair like he\u2019d been here his whole life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The jocks who\u2019d gone quiet in the hallway earlier were sitting three tables over. One of them risked a glance our way, but when our eyes met, he looked down so fast you\u2019d think he\u2019d remembered something urgent in his mashed potatoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two kids from the chess club gave us a cautious nod as they passed. Gabriel returned it without hesitation. Pack wasn\u2019t about labels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I peeled open my sandwich wrapper, but I wasn\u2019t really watching my food. I was watching the way the room kept bending around us\u2014how the usual troublemakers gave our corner a wide berth, how even the loudest voices dipped a little when we looked in their direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel leaned in, his voice low. \u201cFeels different in here today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause it is,\u201d I said. \u201cTerritory shifts when you take it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We ate like that for a while, quiet but aware, a bubble of calm in a place that usually chewed people up. And the whole time, I could feel the stares\u2014curious, wary, a few maybe even impressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time the bell rang, the message had sunk in: two wolves had walked into their territory, and no one had the teeth to push us out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The lunchroom was already loud when we walked in\u2014metal chairs scraping, trays clattering, the low roar of a hundred half-finished conversations. But as soon as we stepped through the doorway, it was like someone dialed the volume down a notch. Not silence\u2014just\u2026 awareness. Gabriel and I didn\u2019t slow. We cut a direct line toward 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-79","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79","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=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79\/revisions\/80"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}