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[right][sub][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOhXwIn2vBM]Bitch I'm Nice[/url][/sub][/right]
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[center][color=E46018][i]The first time I felt blood between my nails was better than the first time I had an orgasm.[/i][/color] 

In the assembly hall as Headmaster Lightwood was giving the same caliber of speech he had been giving every year, the students were seated and most were half listening and half sharing stories of sordid summer sorties and soirees, some being about swapping spit as they always were. But near the back of the hall, not sitting and certainly not listening, was the woman whose name meant queen, Ochanya, arms crossed so tight that the impressive bulge of her biceps seemed to make the short sleeve of her shirt look dangerously close to ripping off from her muscles climbing over each other to remove the binding restraint of clothing. Some first years kept looking back towards her and Ochanya's ears twitched every time she heard them suggest she was a 'gym teacher' or a 'bodyguard' though she wasn't sure which one was more offensive. A bodyguard was probably closer. If she were a gym teacher, especially at this place, she might have wished for a silver bullet. 

Ochanya didn't even want to be here, listening to the world's most boring hype man try to fill the first years with some sense of awe and wonder as if they weren't young enough to be too old to be swayed by adults promising magic and mystique. But the current alpha had told her she had to make an appearance as much as the idea made her roll her eyes and want to wring his scrawny neck. He was the alpha. He gave an order and she followed it. For now. The headmaster of Hawthorne had made strides of modernization and that was a massive change. Change was good. Change was coming. Ochanya was sure of it. The only first years she cared about were the ones who would be joining the pack but she couldn't say that out loud. She had to play the long game. If she could she would just challenge the alpha to a fight, but that wasn't how things were done. Sure, she was confident she would win that fight - she was confident she would win [i]any[/i] fight - but she needed influence. She needed followers. She needed to play the game. For now. 

[color=E46018][i]Both times had me come to the realization that the things I could do with my own hands were better than things people could do for me. Or to me.[/i][/color] 

Earlier, before the assembly, Ochanya ran a five mile after dropping her bags off in the same space she lived in the past years she had been here and after christening the room with sweat in the form of pushups. She had to stay active. If she didn't, she would be no better than the lazy blood suckers who took life at a snail's pace because they could afford to. [color=E46018][i]My therapist, mandatory for anger management, told me to 'avoid triggers'.[/i][/color] Ochanya wrote in her diary after her pushups, before doing her run, sweat already dripping onto the parchment margins. [color=E46018][i]That's why I'm going for a run. The blood suckers mostly scoff at anything that might cause them to exert effort, but it's not them that causes me the most stress. Causes me to be mad. To want to feel the blood under my nails.[/i][/color]

Before the speech had finished, Ochanya was outside, having left in the middle of it. She made an appearance. She fulfilled her obligation. The air was breezy but not cold, an autumnal brisk that matched the almost constant dreary, overcast campus. Ochanya hated that cloudy haze that made Hawthorne feel like its own separate world. Her first year she tried to convince the staff to do away with the overcast sky but she was denied. The students preferred it like that. Not all of them, Ochanya said under her breath and she swore she heard someone say the ones that matter did. Her second year she tried again. She wouldn't try this year. The requests of students like her didn't matter. But that's why change was so necessary. 

[color=E46018][i]Being back here. At Hawthorne.[/i][/color] While the assembly was still going on, Ochanya was sitting beneath a tree, scribbling her chicken scratch in her diary as an insect landed on her knuckle. The same knuckle that was reddened from when she punched a wall after the alpha told her she couldn't ditch the assembly. She held back. It didn't serve anyone to cause property damage before the term officially started. The insect fluttered its wings and as quickly as it landed it was gone and all Ochanya could see was the markings of her temper. [color=E46018][i]Being back here is a constant trigger.[/i][/color] 

On the opposite page of her written words, Ochanya tried her hand at expressing her artistic ability. A puffy cloud with raindrops dripping onto a [url=https://i.imgur.com/ehU5K1m.png]not so amazing drawing of what was likely a wolf[/url] under which she wrote a simple [color=E46018][i]FEELIN UNDER THE WEATHER[/i][/color]. Art was not her strong suit but the pages and margins were filled with various attempts at drawing her feelings rather than writing about them. On a separate page was a masculine figure standing on the first place pedestal with sounds of cheering and hearts around him while off to the side was a figure with her hair kicking a rock while looking back at the pedestal. 

[color=E46018][i]I have an idea. I haven't run it by anyone and it might not even work. But if I'm supposed to work on my anger then I can't just dwell on how badly I want to be the alpha. On how I should be. On how I would be a better one. This place...if I'm stuck here then I need to do what every politician does come campaign season. Make friends. Make promises. But if my plan doesn't work...[/i][/color]

Ochanya looked up as she heard the doors open and with it the chaos of people swarming out of the assembly hall and promptly closed her diary, depositing it into her pocket as she stood up. Callen was given the task of showing the new cubs around, a task that Ochanya would have preferred but she was suspecting that the alpha, knowing Ochanya's motives, purposely didn't give her that task. But maybe if he had, she wouldn't have been able to come up with her plan. 

While people were heading to the dorms or off doing whatever it is they did, Ochanya also made her way towards Hemlock Hall, sprinting there so as to be one of the first to arrive post-assembly. In her room she grabbed a large backpack and returned to the common room before the first years and the returning dorm citizens made their way back in droves. From the backpack she pulled out a tablecloth which she draped over a large table in the back and on top of the cloth she began placing snacks. Chips. Pretzels. Candy. Soda. Water. Popcorn. And above that, with help of standing on a different table, Ochanya hung up a sign with a simple phrase. 

[color=E46018][B]WELCOME HEMLOCK HALLERS![/b][/color] 

Ochanya stood in the common room as people began arriving. Politicking started early and what better way to endear herself to the people than by giving them a warm welcome, snacks, and ice breakers. 

[color=E46018]"I thought I should be the first to welcome people to Hawthorne, or welcome them back if they're returning."[/color] Ochanya explained to people who arrived in the common room. [color=E46018]"Plenty of snacks to go around. Feel free to mingle. Residents of Hemlock are family now, so let's get along and get to know each other. For you first years, I'm Ochanya Tijani and I'm something of a den mother, so don't be afraid to come to me for anything, okay? Door's always open."[/color] Ochanya hoped the alpha was listening. It was for his benefit as much as it was hers. 

[color=E46018]"Welcome, everyone, welcome."[/color] Ochanya repeated the message as people kept coming to the dorm. Whether or not they would appreciate the gesture was anyone's guess, but it didn't matter. She had gone above the heads of everyone for what she hoped was beneficial gains. 

It was likely not to be the last time. Change was coming. She could feel it. 

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