Chương 460: THE LAST HURRAH
15 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, LUNCH
We ended music class late and by the time we showed Fluffy and EJ the cafeteria and everyone got their food, I was sure we wouldn't be able to get a bench at the picnic area where it was always spring.
But Marcus, and surprisingly Henry too, seemed determined to be good buddies and show Fluffy and EJ the best of Winderhill.
So it was inconceivably lucky that the moment we stepped onto the only warm and grassy space in the whole of Gold Packlands, and probably the rest of the continent, the kids who were eating at Henry's usual table immediately got up and left. Okay, no. It was nothing to do with luck. The kids vacated the prime picnic spot in the middle of their lunch because they obviously saw us.
We sat around the bench. The other students around did look at us now and then. I thought I heard a camera shutter go off, but that could just be me being paranoid now.
"It's like it's spring here." EJ was too surprised by the change in climate to notice the extra attention we were getting, "What kind of magic is this?"
"Probably warlock." Henry smirked because he was just so happy to be smarter than anyone else.
"Wow," EJ looked around in wonder, breathing in all the smells of spring, "This school is amazing. No wonder Alpha Sam comes all the way here to learn."
Henry smirked again.
Liam and Jasmine had gone for their own lunch together, Pearl was with Abigail at the cheerleader's table two tables down. They didn't allow Pearl to sit with them because she wasn't a cheerleader, so Pearl just stood behind Abigail to hang out.
So anyway, it was just Henry, Marcus, Fluffy, EJ, and me today.
"You were saying about a band, Hen?" Marcus prompted when we had all settled down to eat.
"Yeah, do you still want one?" Henry asked as he popped open his coke.
"That ship had sailed." Marcus grimaced, "I still can't find any decent musicians, and there's theatre practices going on every week now."
Opps, that was my bad, wasn't it?
"Anyway, we're all transferring out by the end of the term." Marcus sighed, "So..."
And then Marcus looked up suddenly at Henry, "Wait, why are you asking?"
Henry smirked. He was in a good mood, "So do you want a band or not?"
"Wait a minute..." Marcus needed time to think, "If you're asking me this... It's because you have a solution or something isn't it?"
Henry's smirk only got wider. He was almost smiling. Almost. But smiles from an Alpha were once in a blue moon affairs... Unless the Alpha was me. I was probably the most smiley Alpha in the continent.
"It's right in front of you." Henry said, "Your band...well partly."
"Wha-?" Marcus made a dropped jaw face, "Them?"
"Janice can play the keyboard." Henry added, "Liam plays the guitar."
"And me." Henry offered.
"You?" I'm not sure how, but Marcus' jaw dropped even lower.
"I don't think the bass will be hard to pick up." Henry said.
Marcus sighed and shook his head, "There's no time to start now, Henry. Plus Liam's guitar is just at a novice level. Can Janice play in a band 'play'? Or just play the piano 'play'?"
"I know it's not Battle of the Bands, but we've got these two now." Henry said.
They looked at Fluffy and EJ.
"Us?" EJ pointed at his own nose. Fluffy was still smiling so I couldn't tell if this pleased him or not.
"With them as our front men, the rest of the band only needs to keep the beat and stay in tune." Henry said, "Like Sam did."
What me?
"All she did just now was sing. As long as she could carry the tune, EJ could carry the rest of it." Henry explained.
So they didn't need highly skilled musicians. They just needed for the music to play and let Fluffy and EJ take center stage.
"It's still a lot of work." I said, "It's not easy playing together as a band."
I knew that much from hanging around my gang.
"What's a bit of work?" Henry brushed it off. Very out of character.
"Wha-, but why?" Marcus was still grappling with this sudden opportunity.
"Take it as a repayment of favors." Henry shrugged, "For all the things you've helped me with since school started."
Seriously? If Henry just wanted to do something nice for Marcus, he could just say so.
"Winderhill has a talent-time contest at the end of the term." Henry reminded Marcus.
"That's like in three weeks!" Marcus protested.
That would be our last hurrah." Henry said.
Our last hurrah. Henry made it sound so over.
"But we just got here!" EJ whined.
"Nothing lasts forever." Fluffy smiled.
EJ decided right then, "You're right, Fluffy! Let's go all out and enjoy the high school life!"
After that it was like all hell broke loose. Apparently, EJ's idea of going all out was making as many friends as possible.
EJ was very friendly and open, and instantly became the new "Liam" now that the real Liam was always with Jasmine and no longer playing football.
By the end of the day, EJ had girls coming from other classes to exchange phone numbers with him, "Highschool girls are the best."
Fluffy on the other hand, barely showed any interest in interacting with anyone else. He never took off his smiling mask, and was surprisingly studious. By the end of his school day, he had read all his new textbooks.
I had my own problems to deal with. Sometime after lunch, Krystal and the cool girls had brought to my attention that my dancing with Ben last night had indeed found it way to the news.
Not just that, there were also new photos of me from today - at lunchtime with the other guys. Krystal got peeved with me all over again for not inviting them.
I ended up spending Geography lesson monitoring the news on me. Not that it alarmed me or anything. It was just more interesting than whatever was happening in our geography textbook. To be honest, it was rather fascinating in a way.
None of the narratives made much sense. At first, it sort of just painted me as a wild child, but it sounded like they were saying that was expected since I was the Alpha Princess of the Barbarian Wolf Pack from the dark corners of the Green Packlands.
And then on observer noticed my clothes were the same and concluded that I went on a date with Mate after the school dance. The news posted an article just for this new revelation and my FAO kindly affirmed it with an official statement, "The Alpha Princess visited New Leaf Academy in her Packlands. To the delight of the students there, she gamely agreed to join in one of their Vday dance activities. She only finished her official duties late that night, but managed to enjoy a quiet evening with her Soul Mate and fiancé, the Young Alpha James Lorent III of the Lorent Pack." So the news had to post another article.
After a statement like that, they just ran out of further material on me. I mean there was only that much you could say about a single clip of somebody performing on stage at a school dance that she was supposed to be at. So they shifted their focus to the Lorent Pack's Young Alpha James Lorent III and his newly revealed engagement. I guess that tossed the ball into the Lorent's court.
Good job FAO.
If Leia had been my PR, I was sure my statement would have read quite differently, "3 men, 1 dress." And the resultant news narrative would have taken a quite different turn.
And then something completely unexpected happen. Luunie from LuvMuunMuun saw the video and the string of pointless news articles about me and got fed up. She called me out on a very cute but angry video rant that she posted on her channel. Unlike the LNC Green Packlands gossip pages, Yuunie's channel had like subscribers across the continent and beyond, immediately catapulting me into a new level of limelight.
"I'm so tired of LuvMuunMuun being mentioned whenever SHE appears in the news. I don't know what she's trying to be, fake goddess or wannabe Muunie, but she's just trying too hard. She's not that cute, so please stop saying she looks like a Muunie! She obvi can't sing or dance either. You can tell from the video that she's just copying the guy next to her. She's just so FAKE. I want to meet her in person and pull off her wig. I don't care if she calls herself an Alpha or a Princess or whatever. Someone needs to go down to the Green Packlands and tell her to GET REAL."
Now that was something the press could work with, and they immediately got to it. Within the hour, there were articles about "LuvMuunMuun calls out Green Packland's Alpha Princess" and "Real Muunie VS Fake Muunie."
Muunie was what LuvMuunMuun members and fans called themselves, btw. Just in case you didn't know because you lived in a totally different universe or something.
I waited for my FAO to do something about it, but nothing. As far as I could tell, their channels were busy with the usual reposts of weather forecasts and latest tips from THE LAST NIGHT LEAF BETA about how to remove snow from your car.
But in the second half of Geography, the FAO posted on the successful bake sale at Gate City's hospital on Saturday and how heartening to see wolves from all over the Green Packlands come together to support this worthy cause. The FAO is proud to be a largest sponsor for Gate City Hospital's medical outreach program this year. Founded and led by the Alpha Princess of the Green Packlands, the FAO is the newest and first inter-pack office representing the future generations of the Lorent, Night Leaf, and Morning Light packs. We look forward to many more such amazing opportunities to contribute to protecting the happiness and welfare of all Green Packland residents.
It was as if Yuunie didn't exist. Or maybe the FAO had better things to post - like inspiring world-changing initiatives, and had no time to respond to a petty challenge like that.
Wooo... Well played, FAO.
Yuunie went ballistic. Her post popped up on my feed (I decided to follow her because she was cute and funny to watch - I mean, even while watching her angry rant at me, I found myself smiling.)
The first post was just a typed out statement:
"FAO = FAKE ALPHA OFFICE!"
Seriously? Hahaha. That was a pretty good jibe.
And then a second post was a repost of me having lunch at our school's picnic spot with Henry, Marcus, Fluffy and EJ. She added a comment: Today is still winter, the picture says spring. FAKE.
Wait, was she playing online detective? Omo.
The third post was a repost of the FAO bake sale post with the comment: "FAKE AGAIN. Fact: the Lorent Pack biggest shareholder of the GC Hospital. Wat LIES!"
To which, I was pleased to report, that some of her fans commented that the FAO said they were a largest sponsor of the outreach program... Not the owner of the hospital. There were still people in the world who could pass Grade 5 comprehension.
The fourth post came at the final bell. It was another video rent. This time, Yuunie had her long blue hair up in two buns. She sat on her candied colored beanbag, rolled her eyes and fluttered her long lashes at the camera.
"I just have to say this - why is everyone making such a big deal about the Alpha Princess? Wolves run in packs, they don't have kings or princesses. And Alphas are grown men, not high school girls. I mean, come on! This whole Alpha Princess thing is FAKE. I mean, all we've got on her are SIGHTINGS. Its like Bigfoot and Aliens. Yeah. I rest my case. The Alpha Princess is FAKE. Stop spreading FAKE NEWS."
Oh the irony. Yuunie... The only reason why everyone is even noticing the Alpha Princess is because you keep featuring her in your channel to your gazillion followers. Naturally they got curious.
But the final bell had rung. I packed my things into my bag, slipping my phone in my pocket to continue reading on the way home. I wondered what my FAO was going to do now. Hahaha. Now I understood why it this stuff was called entertainment news. It was highly entertaining.
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