(Don't) Take Me Over

Chapter Two

Chapter Two 

“You nervous?” Todd startled me and I slammed my locker shut and slapped him. “Ow!” he wailed. 

“Stop being a baby! And don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry, Belly,” he groaned. 

“Whatever. What were you babbling about?” 

“Dinner tonight. You nervous?” 

“What on Earth are you talking about?” I asked, shaking my head as we walked to English 12 AP. 

He stopped in his tracks and stared at me with two hurt eyes. “Dinner with my parents. Tonight? Remember?”

I bit my lip as guilt flooded. Shit. I was the worst girlfriend ever. 

“Dammit, Belly. I’ve been reminding you and you still forget. What the hell? This is important to me,” he mutely yelled. 

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. Look, I’ll be there at...um-”

“Seven,” he grunted. 

“Right! Seven. And, uh, it’s not like I haven’t met them before. I grew up with them. So, no I guess I’m not nervous.” I shrugged, trying to recover his good mood. We reached the door of Mr. Andrews’ classroom and I grabbed his arm to bring him to a halt. “I love you?” 

He sighed, shook his head, then smiled. “I can’t stay mad at you. And look at those puppy dog eyes.” 

I giggled. 

“Speaking of puppy dog eyes...you better wolf down before someone wonders why your eyes are suddenly crystal blue,” he told me. 

“So, I’m forgiven?” I asked as I concentrated on making my eyes copper and blue-flecked again. 

“As always.” He took my hand and kissed my knuckles before leading me into first period. 

Whew! Got out of that one pretty easily.

                                                                                ❖❖❖❖❖

I slipped on my strappy gold heels and glanced at my reflection in the mirror. My dress was cute, short, and dark purple. It had a steep v-neck and cute little sleeves resting on my shoulders. My raven black hair was hanging loose and wavy around my shoulders. I looked pretty good. I picked up my purse and walked to Sphinx’s room. She was practicing her make-up for whatever reason. I shook my head and she glanced at me, mascara brush frozen in the air. 

“You look hot. Going to Todd’s house?” she asked. 

“Oh, come on! Even you remember?” 

She grinned. “I am the better sister.”

“Shut up,” I picked up a white sweater that was sitting on the lamp next to her door and threw it at her. “I’m leaving.” 

Todd’s house was only two blocks away-walking distance. I whistled as I walked down our quiet, small street. My street was only lined with houses on one side and the other was pure acres of forest. The same forest lined all of the backyards. It seemed as though our houses interrupted the forest other than vise versa like it was in so many places today. Either way it was extremely convenient being a werewolf and what not. The wolves in our rogue clan all lived on this street. We weren’t a pack, but we were all wolves who no longer belonged to one and starved companionship with our own kind. It kept us from going crazy as most rogues are. Wolves are meant to be in a pack and when you take away that variable it leaves all too much room for insanity. So, a rogue is usually one of two things: crazy or irrevocably cruel. There are six wolves in our pack. There used to nine of us. In that fight against the pack my parents died and Old Mrs. Smith’s son. Soon Mrs. Smith would die, too. I’m not even sure if she’s turning anymore. As wolves we need to turn every now and then, but at a certain age we loose the ability. Our bones become too brittle to go through the shift. Some old wolves find that they can’t turn into a wolf and wait for death in the comfort of their home, and some find out they can’t turn back into a human and wait in the woods somewhere. Either way seems pretty lonely to me. I’m only eighteen though and I’m graduating in two months; I’ve got time. If she’s not turning then she’ll probably die Saturday on the full moon. That was the one time we had no choice in turning and it was the only time that it is painful to turn. I shivered. Evidently turning with your mate on a full moon made it better. I continued down the street in silence and my eyes skimmed the forest I thought of how much I loved it. It was the one place I found complete comfort. There was a certain tree that my parents had engraved their names in. I would always go and lay down under it to think or get away from things. No one knew about it. Not even Todd or Sphinx. I came to Todd’s door and tentatively knocked.