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The clock read 10:24. Who knew one minute could take so long? The teacher was using up every minute in class talking about... something related to English. Zane didn't know what exactly. He didn't really care. He never really payed attention, not like he needed to. He was smart enough as it was.
Zane's eyes burned into the clock, just anticipating for the minute to pass and to hear that sweet, sweet ringing of the bell that signified it was time for lunch.
He blinked. Clenched and unclenched his fists. And— oh! The minute has finally passed, accompanied by the bell ringing. Zane wasted no time jumping out of his chair and throwing his bag over his shoulder, bolting out of the class and briskly walking down the hallways.
Lunch. The only time he could truly be alone in this hellhole. He always ate— well, spent the duration of lunch —behind the stands out in the field. A place you'd think more people would hang out at, but for some unexplained reason nobody ever does. At most they'll linger for about five minutes. Maybe the presence of an Emo Freak scares them away. But, like, not that Zane is upset about being alone or anything. He totally embraces it.
He exits the main building and makes his way towards the stands. He speeds up his pace when he gets there and turns the corner.
There's another guy there. A werewolf, Zane notes. Whatever. Nobody ever stays here or, Irene forbid, talks to him. So he sits down on the cold concrete and pulls out his phone.
Every now and then for about four minutes he would glance up at the werewolf. He was just pacing back and forth slowly, seemingly lost in thought as he stared at the ground. He had a bright blue streak in his hair, with his ears and tail being tipped with the same colour. He also had an earring in one of his ears. Zane had to admit— to himself and nobody else —he looked kinda cool.
At some point the guy stopped pacing. Zane looked up from his phone, and the werewolf looked back at him. Eye contact, oh no.
The dude was just staring at him. Unblinking. Zane just looked back down at his phone. Nope, he thought. No awkward interactions today. Not now. He continued to busy himself with endless Tumblr posts and— OH IRENE IS HE COMING OVER HERE NO—
"Hi," the werewolf said casually. Zane gave him a glare and he didn't react at all. Could he not tell that Zane didn't want to talk?
"What are you doing?" The guy asked.
"...What do you care?" Zane replied and after a short pause added on, "I'm just listening to music."
The werewolf blinked. "What music?"
"Nothing. Can you, like, go now? Or something?"
The guy flicked his ear and stared. "No."
"Ugh," Zane turned back to his phone. He should've just left to get away from this guy, but he liked sitting here for lunch. This was his spot.
"I'm the Alpha, y'know?" The werewolf blurted. "I'm the Alpha of the werewolves.'
"Okay. I don't care." He did not know why the werewolf had to lie about that. He was sure this guy was not the Alpha. Even though he literally pays no attention to anything around him in school, he still, like, vaguely knows who is Alpha because of how big of a deal it's made out to be.
Zane exited out of Tumblr for a few seconds just to change the song that was playing— he never liked Children of the Korn all that much —and after he skipped to the next song on the album the werewolf crouched down next to him.
"You like Korn? You like nu metal?" The werewolf questioned with excitement evident in just his eyes.
Zane shuffled away slightly. "...Yes."
"Oh. Oh, that's so cool," he gave Zane a grin, a slightly yellow, sharp-toothed grin. "What's your name?"
Zane hesitated before replying. He didn't really plan on having a conversation today, so he really wasn't prepared for any communication. Plus, should he even trust this random guy with his name?
Well. He does look cool. Doesn't appear to have any bad intentions. Has a good music taste. Didn't call me emo and start insulting me immediately.
"Zane."
"Nice. My name is Ein." His grin got wider for a second before just turning into a kind smile. What was he so happy for?
"What?" Zane questioned vaguely.
Ein's expression morphed into confusion. "What?" He repeated back.
"What do you look so happy about?"
"Nothing. What do you mean?"
Zane just let out a small sigh in response to that. "Well, it was nice talking to you. I guess."
"Who said we're done talking? There's still so much time left of lunch."
"I said we're done talking," Zane glared daggers at Ein.
The werewolf's expression was blank. Zane could almost see the cogs in his head turning as he figured out a response.
"Okay. See you tomorrow, Zane," and he got up and slipped away.
Zane was almost confused as he watched Ein disappear.
Zane was almost hoping he'd stay. Zane would totally deny that he was lonely, but in the deepest depths of his mind sat a singular rational braincell that wouldn't deny that he was lonely. Because he was. Also, finding someone with the same music taste? That's, like, awesome.
But he almost hoped. Now he gets to go back on his phone and blast music in his earbuds, which is certainly better than a conversation with some random guy.
***
The next day came. Zane was doing his daily routine of not listening to his teachers— or anything around him for that matter —and watching the minutes pass by slowly on the clock.
Right before lunch he felt something like nervousness. Or excitement. Whatever it was, it didn't make his stomach feel good.
He didn't feel the usual amount of relief that came with the bell that signaled it was lunch— of course he felt relief for him to get out of class and do nothing for thirty minutes and for the school day to pass on —but instead of he just felt less of it, the relief being overshadowed by the nervous-excitement-mixture-thing in his stomach.
Zane slung his bag over his shoulder and sped away out of class like usual, his speed fueled by the mysterious anxiety as he made his way to his typical lunch spot.
And there Ein was again, except this time not pacing. It seems as if he already knew Zane was coming— Werewolf thing, Zane assumed —and was standing there. Waiting.
Irene, Zane's stomach hurt.
"Hi," Ein greeted with a polite smile.
"Hi," Zane replied emotionlessly, going to sit down on the ground.
Ein scuttled his way over to him, sitting right next to him. Like, right next to him. Zane shuffled away slightly, not needing his personal space invaded. Especially when he feels like he could probably vomit.
After a few heartbeats Ein blurted, "Are you gonna talk? Er— are we gonna talk?" When Zane's reaction to that was simply a stare, Ein continued on, "I'm the Alpha. More people than just the werewolves will have to obey me."
Zane huffed a small laugh, "No you're not."
Ein shrugged, smile tugging at his lips, "I will be. I'm getting used to saying it early."
Zane smiled a little under his mask, amused. "Yeah? How do you know that?"
"I have a plan." The werewolf replied, his smile turning into a tiny grin.
"Okay. Sure. Tell me when that plan works."
"You'll know when it works," and with that followed about a minute of silence as Zane pulled out his phone to scroll through. The weird stomach feelings were starting to fade.
"What were you doing pacing out here yesterday?" Zane mumbled, as if his thoughts just slipped out of his mouth, still scrolling through his phone.
Ein seemed to have heard him just fine, though. "Just thinking," a normal response, but his eyebrows furrowed for a split second and he glanced to Zane quickly, as if he got caught.
Okay. Whatever. Wasn't Zane's problem... Even if he was kind of curious about what that was.
"What were you doing out here?" Ein questioned.
"I spend my time at lunch here. Every day. This is my spot."
"Ah. Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'? It's quiet out here, unlike everywhere else. Nobody really comes here. Except you now, I guess."
Ein smiled, "Yeah. Yeah, it's nice out here."
"Is it? I mean, it's quiet, but c'mon. It's a little shitty— see those wrappers? The cigarettes, too."
Ein had his 'emotionless thinking face' on again, but this time there was just a hint of awkwardness in his features.
"Yes. It's nice here," he repeated while closing the short distance between him and Zane, "It's also cool here. Nice shade from the heat."
Zane raised an eyebrow. "Also? You never said any other reason before that," he wasn't stupid— that's what he tries to tell himself, anyways —but he just wanted to really know what Ein was talking about...
But Ein just gave him a smirk. It only lasted a few seconds.
A few seconds. Enough time to make his fading stomach pains hit back at full force. He's probably just a flirt, he thought. But... Ugh. Irene damnit.
"Okay. Erm, do you have, like, a favorite artist...?"
Ein beamed and was quite animated as he replied, "Oh, I fucking love Limp Bizkit!" Suddenly and sharply he stiffened up visibly, body language completely changed to almost looking uneasy. Why was he doing that again?
The corners of Zane's mouth turned upward, though, it was still hidden by his mask. But his eyes must've revealed his smile, because Ein's body appeared to relax and he returned the smile.
Zane's stomach didn't quite hurt anymore. It just... fluttered.
"That's cool. Limp Bizkit is really good," Ein butt in with a small but enthusiastic 'yeah!' here, "Uh, my favorite band is definitely..."