Chapter 32
Sunday 20th September, 2020 (Continued)
Star’s POV
“No, twinkle-twinkle-little-star, she’s not!” Said Brink.
“She’s so innocent!” Commented Chester. “What’s she doing with you?”
“Getting corrupted,” said River.
They laughed but Harper didn’t. He surprised me. He spoke to them in another language I didn’t quite recognise. They all clearly understood him and stopped laughing. They didn’t make anymore suggestive jokes with me but they remained friendly and lighthearted for which I was grateful.
The show started. The Principal, Eric Sanderson, schmoozed during his introductory address, mentioning several prominent families, name-dropping a few famous past pupils and acknowledging that our future alphas were with us and that the pack’s alphas have always attended this Academy since its inception.
The Vice Principal, Miss Megan Hitch aka Mega b***h stood to his left and was as intimidating as ever. She sneered at a few overly loud students when they cheered too much. She caught sight of me standing in the wings and raised her heavily penciled eyebrows at me. She turned away from me with a huff. Her black pantsuit with its sizeable
Molly Summers, our young Dean and Principal Eric’s alleged daughter, was all smiles, flipping her hair and waving at each student who hailed her out. Dean Summers looked amazing honestly in a fitted turquoise turtleneck and micro-mini matching skirt. She could pull off anything.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“On a sombre note, the faculty and pupils alike were so saddened by the untimely passing of our very own Mr Damocles,” said Eric, sighing into the mike. “We’d like to have a moment of silence in his honour now.”
I saw Angie in the opposite wing of the stage, folding her arms, looking sad at the mention of Damocles. She had been one of his favourites. I felt sorry for her. It must have been even more awful for her having the premonition dream of his death as she cared for him. She caught me looking at her and made a face as though horrified that I was there. I sighed and looked away.
After the moment of silence, there were a few more introductory remarks and some more buttering up of people who had donated funds to the Academy. Finally, Madison Fong came back to announce the first act.
“This next girl and her squad put the sass in sassafras!” Said Madison.
Excuse me, what?!
“Give it up for the Viper Moon Cheerleaders!” Cheered Madison.
The cheerleaders were up first! I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. I watched from backstage. They were good! Angie was good. I had to admit it. They danced to two different upbeat pop songs in their tiny sparkly green, black and white uniforms. They were called the Viper Moon Squad after the pack and the Academy. I could see VMA for Viper Moon Academy emblazoned on the front of their crop tops while their names were on the back. The crowd went wild for them especially the guys. Some of the male students were howling like wolves and wolf-whistling. I peaked out a little, trying to see Jonah’s face. I spotted him looking down at his phone smiling. What was he smiling at? He didn’t have a third girl around did he?
(Author’s Note: I picture Angie and her squad dancing to these two K-Pop songs that I love, doing basically a cheerleader version of the same dances in the music videos: Get It by Pristin V and Me by CLC.)
The cheerleaders ended their dance on a high note, posing and freezing like that while the audience cheered. Many of the guys gave them a standing ovation along with a few catcalls. The girls seemed thrilled. They strutted off the stage. Brink was standing behind me. He and the smoking cheerleader made eyes at each other. He lit another cigarette for her now that she was finished performing. She puffed it and walked away slowly.
“Maybe if you like her a lot, you should encourage her to quit?” I asked hopefully.
Brink snorted with laughter. I flushed. That was such a dorky thing for me to say! I really didn’t like smoking though. My grandmother’s human friend had died of cancer all the while refusing to quit. She was honestly a kick-a*s granny to the end but I wished she would have just quit. Werewolves thought they were invincible though so they were even less likely to curb any bad habits. I felt a pang when I recalled that my “grandmother” wasn’t actually my grandmother. I would deal with that later. I wanted to see Harper perform first.
“Star is Smoky the Bear!” Chortled Brink.
“Only you can prevent forest fires!” Exclaimed Chester, coming up behind us.
I rolled my eyes but made sure they didn’t see.
“Star is just concerned. She’s sweet,” said River.
I smiled at him and he winked.
“Star is trying to salvage the backstage at least cause we’re about to burn down the main stage!” Said Harper.
His bandmates cheered. A few groupies squealed nearby. How were they allowed backstage? Angie had made a big deal about me being here. Maybe they were the other guys’ Muses.
After the cheerleaders, there was a break-dancing group. They span on their heads and did some cool tricks. I was amazed at all the talent at school. I usually didn’t come to the talent show or any show put on by the school. It was always more trouble than it was worth and I had been more afraid of Angie and her reign of terror back then.
There was a ballerina next. Zaya seemed really impressed by this routine which made my she-wolf snarl. As the ballerina neared me while she came off stage, I recognised her as one of the hot tub girls from Angie’s party with the Quads. I glared at her which was unlike me but I couldn’t help it. There was something fierce arising within me. A stage-light above us sparked suddenly. A few sparks fell on the ballerina, singeing her tutu. The girl jumped, startled and scurried off.
“Whoa! Star’s right! Fire is dangerous guys!” Said Chester.