Xavier and the Wolf (Legends of Pinewood 1)

2. You were very wrong

"—and then he shredded the paper and walked away. I swear I'm not making this up because you can't make this shit up."

Iris' wispy blonde hair danced in the wind as she threw her head back laughing. "Oh wow," she said. "And this guy is seventeen years old?"

"Allegedly," I replied with a snort. "I'd say about two years old mentally. He didn't say a single word to me either. I can sympathise with moving to a small town being hard. But who does that?"

Iris shrugged. "Aquila, apparently."

"Right."

I purposely stepped into a pile of yellowish red leaves on the road, which made a satisfying crunching sound below my foot. Staying at Pinewood school as a tutor for a year longer meant I didn't have to give up on my lunch break walks in the nearby forest with Iris. She was a grade below me, but since our school was small, we used to take many classes together until I graduated.

"Still, I kind of like him. Aquila." Iris grinned impishly at me. "Did you know he totally ignored Mrs. Bennet when she introduced him to the class? I kinda wish I had the gall to just walk away from things I didn't like. That would mean I also had the gall to tell my parents there's no way in hell I'm going to take over their supermarket when I graduate. Instead, I'll be taking the first flight to NYC, or really, anywhere but here."

I sighed and looked up at the cloudless sky through the leaves. "Yeah."

I didn't share Iris' sentiments. I actually liked Pinewood town, its people, and its calming nature very much, but I didn't feel like arguing. Besides, a girl like Iris would certainly thrive in a place like NYC. She was a city girl through and through, despite being born in a desolate small town. The stork must've gotten lost and delivered her at the wrong address. It meant to fly to The Big Apple, but accidentally delivered her to the big Apple supermarket instead, where Margaret and Rick Apple hoped the apple of their eye and only child, Iris, would take over.

In my opinion, you had to really try hard to miss the fact that Iris was only interested in fashion. Even on a simple school day, she was donned in a fancy silk top underneath a blazer. Pretty beaded, dangly earrings hung from her earlobes, and she had even found stylish-looking flat boots.

"Maybe I'll sign up for your tutoring too, Xav..."

Iris had her lips pursed when I turned to her with a raised brow.

"Why?" I asked. "Your grades are already great."

"Yeah, that's true." Iris sighed. "Not as great as yours, but I suppose even better grades won't help me. They're worthless if Pinewood school doesn't even exist to the outside world. The only thing worse than a bad reputation is no reputation at all."

I shrugged. "I don't know a lot about the fashion world, but isn't it way more important that you can sew, draw, and design? You're already doing all of that. You made the uniforms for Apple's supermarket, and you gave so many people in our school makeovers. What do they have left to teach you at college? You've already learned through experience."

"Yeah, you clearly don't know anything about that world," Iris replied with a lopsided smile. "I need to meet people. It's all about contacts! How will anyone know what I'm capable of if I'm stuck here? I need to be in an inspiring environment." Iris made an exasperated sound. "I can't wait until I can start applying for college. Don't get me wrong, Xavier, I'm glad you're staying here for a year longer, but I can't imagine delaying leaving."

"I won't rush into a decision when I'm not sure where I want to go," I defended myself.

I really didn't want to get into my college story, so I quickly scanned my surroundings for a distraction—something else I could talk about, even if it was a silly thing like a squirrel in the tree.