Chapter 22: Never Again
True to her word, Elle dragged Starlight straight to the infirmary the moment the assembly was over, insisting that the injury on her forehead needed proper treatment. According to her, whoever had wrapped the original bandage had done a terrible job and clearly had no idea what they were doing. Chloe and Ariel had little choice but to follow along, especially once Elle declared that a responsible manager could not allow her client to walk around looking like a wounded soldier. To Starlight’s surprise, the examination turned out to be far less dramatic than she had expected. After carefully removing the bandage, the nurse revealed that while there had indeed been an open wound, it was nowhere near severe enough to require stitches. In fact, the woman seemed more confused by the size of the bandage than concerned by the injury itself.
According to her, the wound only needed a small medicated dressing to protect it for a few more days. The massive wrap around Starlight’s head was removed and replaced with a much smaller adhesive bandage, leaving only a narrow strip across her forehead. The entire thing left her staring at her reflection in disbelief. Based on the pain she had experienced earlier, she had genuinely expected something far worse.
At one point she had been convinced she might need stitches, or at the very least be left with some horrifying injury. Yet the nurse had treated the matter as though it were little more than an inconvenience. Thinking back on it, the pain had gradually dulled throughout the day until she barely noticed it anymore unless she touched the area. Still, she couldn’t help feeling slightly cheated. After all the fuss everyone had made, it turned out the injury wasn’t nearly as catastrophic as she had imagined. Elle, on the other hand, looked thoroughly satisfied with herself and spent several minutes admiring the nurse’s handiwork as though she were personally responsible for changing Starlight’s bandage.
"There," Elle declared proudly once they left the infirmary. "Good as new."
Starlight highly doubted that was medically accurate, but she didn’t bother arguing.
"Now," Elle continued, clapping her hands together, "let’s go put some well-prepared food into your system before you collapse."
Before Starlight could protest, Elle had already looped her arm through Starlight’s and was tugging her toward the dining hall. Chloe and Ariel exchanged amused looks before following behind. At this point, both of them seemed to have accepted that once Elle decided something, resisting her was usually more exhausting than simply going along with it. As they made their way toward the dining hall, Elle never stopped talking. Not once.
She talked about the academy, about the food she wanted to try, about the students she had already decided she disliked despite having seen them for less than an hour in the Central Assembly Hall, and somehow managed to circle back to her duties as Starlight’s self-appointed manager at least three separate times. Chloe occasionally interrupted to argue with her, while Ariel laughed and added comments of her own, but none of it slowed Elle down in the slightest. If anything, it only seemed to encourage her.
For Starlight, the experience was exhausting.
She had always preferred silence. Not because she disliked people, but because she found quiet comforting. Growing up in a noisy district had taught her to appreciate the rare moments when nobody was talking and she could simply enjoy her own thoughts. Endless chatter had never been something she enjoyed. In fact, too much of it tended to irritate her after a while. Yet despite that, she found herself enduring it without complaint.
The main reason was that Elle genuinely meant well. For all her energy and nonstop talking, she had been nothing but kind since they met. She had helped her settle into the dorm, dragged her to the infirmary out of concern for her injury, and now seemed determined to make sure she didn’t miss a meal. Starlight couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed at someone whose intentions were so obviously good. So instead, she listened quietly, occasionally nodding when appropriate, while secretly counting the minutes until she could sit down somewhere peaceful. If enduring a little noise was the price of having people who cared, then she supposed it wasn’t the worst bargain in the world. Elle was so busy talking that she barely paid attention to where she was going.
At some point, she had turned around completely so she could continue arguing with Chloe while walking backward.
"I’m telling you, a manager has responsibilities," Elle said, waving her hands dramatically. "You can’t just wake up one day and decide you’re qualified for the position. It requires talent, dedication, intelligence, leadership—"
"And a whole lot of common sense," Chloe interrupted. "Which should immediately disqualify you."
Ariel chortled.
Elle gasped in outrage. "You see? This is exactly the kind of disrespect I have to end—"
Still facing them instead of the path ahead, she took another step backward and collided with someone. The impact wasn’t even particularly hard. "Oh, sorry—"
The apology never finished leaving her mouth when a resounding slap echoed loudly through the corridor. Everyone froze as Elle staggered sideways, a hand flying to her cheek while she stared at the person in front of her in complete shock.
For a moment, nobody spoke. Standing before them was Beatrice, a very familiar girl Starlight had not expected to meet again so soon. The very same girl who had bumped into her earlier and somehow demanded an apology despite being the one at fault.
Her expression was twisted with irritation. "Watch where you’re going, human," she snapped in disgust.
Shock flashed across Chloe’s and Ariel’s faces. Even Elle looked stunned.
The slap hadn’t actually injured her, but everyone present understood exactly what had happened. Beatrice was a werewolf. Elle was human. For a split second, anger flashed across Elle’s face before she visibly forced herself to calm down. Her fingers curled into fists at her sides. Fighting back against a werewolf was practically a suicide mission. She swallowed whatever response she wanted to give and took a slow breath.
Starlight, on the other hand, was seething with anger. What exactly was this girl’s problem? Did she enjoy going around causing trouble for people?
"You humans really need to learn your place," Beatrice continued arrogantly. "Are you too stupid to watch where you’re walking? Do they not teach you anything before letting you into this aca—?"
Before she could finish her sentence, Starlight stepped forward and placed herself between Elle and Beatrice.
SMACK!
"Hoh!" Shocked gasps erupted from every direction as students stared in disbelief at what had just happened.
The sound was even louder than the slap that had been given to Elle, the force of it snapping Beatrice’s head to the side.
If there was one thing Starlight had learned from her old school, it was that ignoring or showing submission to werewolves like Beatrice never made them stop. Teachers always said to be the bigger person, to walk away, to report it, to avoid trouble, but in her experience, that rarely changed anything. The moment they realized you wouldn’t fight back, they simply became bolder, taking pleasure in humiliating people because they believed nobody would ever stand up to them. One insult became two. One act of humiliation became an everyday occurrence.
She had learned that lesson the hard way. After everything she had endured in the past, she had made herself a promise. Never again.
Never again would she stand there and let those beasts walk all over her. Never again would she quietly accept being treated as though she was worth less simply because they believed themselves superior. And neither would she stand by and watch someone else be mistreated by them while she did nothing. She had only known Elle for few hours, yet the girl had done nothing but go out of her way to help her, make her feel welcome in an academy she hadn’t even wanted to attend, and constantly look out for her even when she had no obligation to do so. As far as Starlight was concerned, that was more than enough.
Beatrice stood frozen for several seconds, too stunned to process what had just happened. Then her eyes widened. Slowly, she raised a hand to her mouth. When she pulled it away, a smear of blood stained her fingertips. Her split lip throbbed painfully. She stared at the blood in disbelief, shock giving way to fury. A mere human had slapped her hard enough to draw blood. Her entire body trembled with rage.
"How dare you!" she shrieked. The surrounding students immediately scattered backward as Beatrice lunged forward in a blind fit of anger, her eyes locked on Starlight.
"What the hell is going on here?" The cold voice cut through the corridor like a blade.
Beatrice froze mid-step. The entire hallway seemed to fall silent. Dozens of students instinctively turned toward the source of the voice, their expressions changing almost immediately. Excitement. Shock. Disbelief.
The crowd parted on its own, revealing two familiar figures standing several meters away. The Alpha Twins had arrived.