The Protective Wolf

The next time, I'd seen Lukas and his followers- and couldn't avoid speaking to them- was exactly two weeks into the fall semester. If you're counting, that would mean we'd been aware of each other's existences for a good two weeks and three days. All the other times in those two weeks whenever we would notice the guys coming near, either Molly or I would make a signal and we would start trucking. Drop everything and just go. I still felt weird being around them, but this time they were unavoidable.

Shelby was with them.

We couldn't avoid that loud mouthed blonde. I have gained a definitely friendly bond with the girl these past two weeks, but I didn't like her very much that the moment.

"Molly! Reagan," she shouted from a cross the courtyard Molly and I had been studying in casually, "I haven't seen you guys all day. Where have you been?" I began opening my mouth, but Molly answered before I had a chance to. I also hesitated by seeing Lukas's body tense up visibly as well as his eyebrow slightly lift as if he too had an interest in the matter.

"We've been here," Molly smiled up at the blonde, a hand perched against her forehead to block out the blinding sun of shining down into her eyes, "studying and such." The courtyard was technically a place where people went to just hang out, but today no one seemed to be there so we took the opportunity. The grass was a little longer and green as can be, but it was definitely a nice spot to study. That and the few trees which we were sitting around really helped with the sun on this humid day. I rolled up my long sleeves, feeling the impact of the heat hit me even harder suddenly. "How about you?"

Shelby continued to grin at us, taking a seat facing us. She turned slightly to look back at the clearly uncomfortable bulky boys, gesturing for them to sit with her. The group obeyed, crowding around her like kids crowded a teacher at story time. "I was going to eat lunch and ran into these fellas. We just ate, then we saw you guys." I stared down intently at my flip-flop clad feet, frowning a bit. The union was no where near this courtyard, which conveniently would mean it was always no where near food as the only spots to get food are in the union. "Whatcha studying?"

"Chemistry," Molly answered, lifting her textbook off her lap before settling it back down.

"Twain," I added, lifting my tore up copy of Huckleberry Finn. What can I say? I really enjoy reading Mark Twain, call me what you may, but the book is solid writing. I lifted up the ends of my mouth slightly as if to say oh well, but all that I got returned back to me was a hand reaching out to carefully steal away my paperback. I whined, unable to hold it back in time, before pulling my eyes up to meet the thief's: Markus. "Can I have that back please?" Damn, I didn't sound nearly as sweet as I had intended to.

"You like Mark Twain?" Markus asked, ignoring my request completely as he eyed the book up for what it was worth and shifted it in his hands. I felt my eyes flicker over to Lukas briefly, but he was just staring off into space, looking a tad pained. I furrowed my eyebrows before I pulled my gaze back onto the opposite twin. "I have some of his work in my room, if you'd like to read something else."

"Uh, thanks for the offer, but I have quite a few of his in my own room," I answered, smiling at him to counteract the fact that I sounded like a complete bitch. Markus's eyes flashed up to me as he gently gave me a smile, handing back my poor paperback. I silently thanked him for keep my page since I was the type of reader to just dog-ear a page and not have an actual bookmark. "You read Mark Twain?"

"A lot actually," Markus replied sheepishly, "I like to reread them, except Huckleberry, that one I have only read one time." He shrugged as if to apologize to me, but I just returned the gesture. It didn't offend me; I wasn't the poor man who spent his time writing the book only to have this boy decide it wasn't good enough for a few more reads. Hudson and Jackson moved their legs to lay out in front of them, stretching to almost reach the other two boys who sat a ways away from them.

"Are you an English major, Reagan?" Jackson inquired, running a hand through his short blond hair and narrowing his blue eyes at me in question. I nodded, bending down the corner of the page I was on carefully before resting the closed book in my lap, leaving a hand protectively over it just in case one of the other guys decided to get sticky fingers as well. "Interesting," he commented, and I swear his eyes shifted over to Lukas for a moment, "and you Molly?"

"Chemistry," she replied, monotoned. I broke out into a small smile, but my eyes continued to watch Lukas who sat quietly, watching all the people pass by on their way to their classes. His face completely lacked any form of emotion as he observed the people, but I think I saw his jaw tense a bit, but even then he didn't turn my way. I once again furrowed my eyebrows, biting my bottom lip carefully and eyeing my paperback in my hands. I had no clue why it bothered me so much that he didn't seem to care about this conversation. I mean I ignored the guy for two solid weeks, I shouldn't expect anything less than the cold shoulder. "How about you guys," Molly asked, suddenly perking up a bit.

"I'm majoring in History," Hudson answered with a friendly smile, "and Jackson is doing Political Science, Markus is studying Chemistry like you are, and Lukas," the green eyed boy paused for a bit, looking over his out of it friend before continuing, "Lukas is a double major: Art and Business."

"Really?" Shelby asked, turning to Lukas with excited eyes and a dropped jaw. The guy turned her with wide eyes, either shocked by why the attention was suddenly on him or because the girl before him looked genuinely astonished from hearing this news. I felt my lips curve up at the kind of adorable sight, but I quickly hide it by rubbing my nose softly. "That's impressive; I'm a theater major."

Everyone seemed to calm down a bit after she continued to speak and calm herself down. I watched, amused, at the group of guy's nodded in sync with one another. Molly slid a sheet of paper to mark her reading in her textbook before she closed the book and moved in onto the grass beside her legs. She sat like the guys did, with her legs completely straight out. Shelby and I sat with crossed legs.

"Are you okay, Lukas?" Shelby asked, turning to look at the guy who had turned back to watching people as they walked by. Her hand found its place on his sneaker clad foot. Lukas shifted his attention to her before he gave her a smile like a pro.

"I'm fine," he answered, "just watching the people."

"Creep," Jackson coughed, rubbing the back of his neck as if it hid his comment. Lukas narrowed his brown eyes his friend, and if he was close enough, I'm sure a hand would have swiftly collided with the back of Jackson's blond head.

"Well, me and Reags haven't eaten lunch yet, so if you'll excuse us," Molly replied, breaking the silence that had fallen over our group. She slid her textbook into her backpack before standing up and slinging it over her shoulder. I watched her for a moment, wondering how I possibly could have ignored my rumbling stomach this entire time. It sounded like a it was eating itself. I slid my small paperback into my own backpack before grabbing the hands she extended down to me and standing onto my own two feet.

"Yeah, I have class soon," Shelby agreed, standing up off the grass and brushing off the butt of her blue jeans absentmindedly. It was then that I'd noticed her baby pink backpack hanging off her shoulders and resting against her back. The four guys stood up without a word before Hudson turned to Molly and me.

"We have nothing to do for a half hour," he replied, "would it be okay if we just walked with you instead of walking all the way back to the dorms?"

"Lazy," Molly commented, "but sure, why not." She shrugged, adjusting her backpack straps before she flashed her eyes over to me with a sympathetic look dancing in them. I smiled to her, grabbing onto the straps of my backpack. No one said another word as we parted ways with Shelby and instead walked the opposite direction to the union. "So," Molly spoke up once we entered a building, "do you all have the same class or what?"

"Yeah," Markus answered, looking over at Molly who walked beside her, "we all have math together because we all suck at math and like to suffer as a unit." I watched the back of my best friend's head bob up and down in a nod. I walked behind her, Lukas awkwardly beside me, and Hudson and Jackson behind us. I glanced over to the quiet brunette who was obviously trying not to make eye contact with me.

"Hi Luke," I whispered, grabbing onto his arm carefully before telling the other two guys to walk in front of us. They smiled down at me and did as I suggested without a word. I pulled my hand from Lukas, having now noticed that he was staring at it with interest. "What's going on?"

"Um, we're walking to get you guys food?"

I rolled my eyes, "No shit, I mean why aren't you talking? Why aren't you acting like you did those other days when we'd first met?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. Why?" His brown eyes watched me intently with something flashing in them, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. I bit my lip, turning to face forward. I had absolutely no answer to that question now that he'd asked it. I don't even know why it bothered me so much to begin with, but it did. That's all I'm sure of at this moment: it bothered me he wasn't talking to me, and it only for a moment bothered me that he wasn't as close as he had been the other days. Kind of made me feel like I smelled or something stupid like that.

"I don't know," I answered awkwardly, tracing the shape of Jackson's head with my eyes. Lukas continued to stare at me with a curious look on his face. "I really don't," I added, honestly. It did not good for the situation though; it only made the moment that much more awkward. Lukas ran a hand through his short brown hair.

"Um, Reagan," his voice sounded timid and nervous, "would you like to do something later? I can even bring you to see Markus's Twain collection," I felt my face scrunch up in confusion, so he had been listening then, "I know it would mean a lot to him if you looked at it. He's pretty proud of the collection; it's actually kind of cool. He has a lot of books." I felt something in my stomach start to bubble with joy, and I had no clue way. I just bit back down on my lip nervously and gave him a little nod.

"Sure, why not," I smiled. Mostly at the fact that I was mimicking what Molly had said earlier. A smile broke out on Lukas's face as he watched me to turn look back up at him. I never noticed how much taller he was then me, at least a good three inches or more. Maybe more cause I am a horrible mathematician.

"I'll come back your room around like 6 then," he suggested, earning him a nod from me, "and we can get something to eat then. I can show you Markus's books and then we can do something else. Something that won't inflate my brother's ego." I laughed softly at his comment, but continued to nod nonetheless. For some reason, I was fine ending my time of avoidance. I mean I lasted a good two weeks and Lukas did seem to be acting more like a normal human being.

I'll take the risk, I decided, bumping my shoulder into Lukas's arm, since I couldn't reach his shoulder. He laughed at me, holding up the door to the union so I could walk in. Molly jumped over to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward like a little kid showing their mom the coolest toy in the shop. The room echoed with the laughter of the four guys and my own.

Definitely, taking the risk.