Chasing the Moon

Chapter 3

Three Years Later

            Despite Eve's resolve that morning in the locker room, she could not keep herself away from Tristan long. At first she tried pushing him away completely, but it hurt her so much that she only lasted two days. Then she thought she could hi to him in the halls or class and be content enough with that. But Tristan always wanted to hold a conversation with her, effortlessly drawing her in and making her crave his presence more. In the end, just as Mia said, Eve chose to at least have Tristan as her friend, finding that it was less painful than living without him.

            Those last three years were just as bad for Tristan as they had been for Eve. Every time he saw her, he felt a desperate need to be with her. And when he was with her, the time was never long enough. Being around Eve made that empty part of him feel whole and was the only thing besides running that ever felt natural to him. He still got that feeling sometimes that he couldn't explain, but managed to think around it when he was with her. Tristan had asked her out a couple of times but she said she couldn't because her family had strict rules about dating, so he said that was fine. He decided he could deal with being just friends until high school was done and then he would try again.

            What Tristan didn't know was that yesterday afternoon at their graduation when Eve said she would keep in touch, she lied. So long as they were in high school together, she could justify their friendship as her being nice to avoid questions of why she was so distant from others. But now that they graduated and were moving on, she had no acceptable reason for keeping in contact with him and it already pained her more than she could bare.

            “Are you okay?” Mia asked, sitting on the porch next to Eve. They were in the Alpha's backyard for their graduation party, all of their friends and family celebrating around them. Eve had tried to celebrate with everyone when she first arrived but the more she thought of graduation, the more she thought of Tristan and how she couldn't have him. She had wanted to hug him goodbye but then Jay showed up with the Alpha, using his congratulations as a reason to put his arms around her.

            “Not really,” Eve answered. “But I'll find a way to deal.”

            “Is it about...?” Mia trailed off suggestively and Eve nodded.

            “I never thought it would be this bad after only a day,” Eve said quietly. “I mean, it wasn't like this during the other summers. Why now?”

            “I don't know,” Mia said. “Maybe because before you always knew you would see him again. And now that school's done for us, you don't have that guarantee anymore.”

            “Ugh,” Eve groaned. “I hate this. I hate feeling like this! Why couldn't I have someone acceptable? Why make me suffer?”

            “Because we don't choose who we fall for,” Mia said. “It just happens. Look at me and Chris, one day we're arguing over everything possible and the next we were all each other could see. It's something that chooses us, not something that we choose.”

            “Well, why couldn't something less painful choose me?” Eve said. “I don't get what I did deserve so much pain in my life.”

            “You're looking at it wrong,” Mia said. “Don't see your situation as a punishment; think of it as a challenge. If you can find you're way through this back to him, then you can get through anything. You just have to hold on to hope.”

            “I would, except Jay has been making things miserable lately,” Eve said, glaring at his back from across the yard. “I think he convinced his dad I'm supposed to be his mate because I haven't found anyone yet. If only he knew.”