In Our Blood

Chapter Nine

        "It was the Saturday before Rhydian showed up. I was at Callie's, right? And then my brain said, 'why not try and kiss the girl I've known since I can remember?' And now she hates me and also likes me and I don't know what to do."
        Maddy nodded after Beca finished explaining her and Callie's current status in a hushed tone. They were on the bus driving to Lindisfarne, with the whole class on board. Rhydian was sitting across from them, stretched out on a seat and sleeping. How he could possibly be sleeping when the full moon was tonight was beyond them.
        When he woke up, they had just reached the island and Beca felt as though she were going to burst out of their skin. While Jeffries started droning on about the history of the island, she raced off of the bus with Maddy and Rhydian on her tail. She jumped up and into the tree near where they had parked and hung from a branch as Rhydian tried to pull her back down. Their laughter rang out across the almost abandoned island.
        "Maddy, Rhydian! Beca! Come on, how old are you?" Jeffries barked as Beca dropped from the branch and landed on her feet, a stupid smile on her face. She knew Callie was watching her with wary eyes, but it didn't register enough to bother her. At least, not today.
        Following the herd of teenagers towards the castle, Rhydian's eyes grew playful. "Race ya!"
        Beca took of running with Rhydian behind her. He grabbed her arm and used her to push himself in front, making her more determined to beat him. Maddy was gaining speed and jumped on Beca's back, making her fall onto the ground. The two fell in a pile, laughing.
        Throughout the tour of the castle, the three were continuously joking around. At one point Maddy had run up to the roof, the two making an excuse to follow her. The closed space had been too much for her today.
        Everything was great until Jeffries split them up for a group activity. Tom, Shannon, Rhydian, Maddy, Beca, and Callie were all in a group. And when Maddy, Beca, and Rhydian suggested they split, Shannon suggested they might as well do groups of two in order to cover more ground. And two of the three groups formed without a problem, until Callie and Beca were the only two left.
        "Um, I don't think this is a great idea," Beca tried, shooting Maddy a "help me" look.
        Shannon shrugged. "I thought you'd want to spend time with your best friend," she said, giving Beca a look. She was still heckling her to hang out more with Callie, unaware of their current... issues.
        Unable to come up with a logical answer, Beca shot the other two Wolfbloods a strict glare and walked off with an awkward air surrounding the two girls. It wasn't until they reached a clearly open piece of land that the full moon hit Beca again, and she started running, yelling back at Callie to catch up.
        "Aren't you at least going to try and help me?" Callie asked stiffly when she finally caught up.
        Beca shook her head, black curls falling down her back. "What does it matter?"
        "This is extra credit," she pointed out.
        "So?"
        Callie sighed and grabbed Beca's arm to stop her from moving any further. "Aren't you failing Jeffries' class?"
        "Maybe."
        A smile reluctantly graced Callie's lips, then she furrowed her brow. "How can you just be like this?"
        Beca leaned up against the stone wall of the castle behind her. "Because I know as soon as we get back on that bus and back home, nothing's going to have changed. We're going to be awkward and probably never talk to each other again. So why sulk now?"
        When she received no answer, Beca stood up straight and started to walk away again with a bounce in her step that made her curls catch all of the light they could.
        "You don't get it!" The desperation in Callie's voice made Beca turn back around, confused. Callie shook her head and ran a hand through her brown hair that was straightened to perfection. Her green eyes held unshed tears. "I don't want to never talk again, Beca."
        Beca's emotions changed so quickly that she couldn't even follow herself. "Then what do you want?" She snapped angrily. "Because you make it seem like you never want to see me again!"
        "How am I supposed to react to my best friend admitting her feeling for me?" Callie shot back.
        "By not pushing her away and acting like you wish you never met her!" Beca shook her head and sighed. "I'm no good for you, anyway. And I don't feel the same anymore."
        "Bull," Callie said.
        "It's been a month. Things change."
        She rolled her green eyes. "Yeah, I'd believe it if you weren't hurt by the fact that I pushed you away."
        Beca's face fell flat and she raised an unamused eyebrow. "I wasn't."
        "You can't honestly expect me to believe that."
        "You don't have to. All you have to believe is that I'm done with us. I'm done with trying."
        Callie walked closer until she had closed the distance between them, her eyes narrowing skeptically. "Really? Because you have this spark in your eyes that says you would be extremely happy if I were to just... lean in a little more."
        Beca tried to stop herself as she felt the warm breath of the girl in front of her on her lips, but her eyes darted down to the pink flesh. Even if it was just a quick glance, Callie noticed it and a small smirk grew on her face. Still, the wolf inside of her wanted to make this a game. "Try me," she said.
        In tune with one another, their lips met, reminding Beca of just how many nerves existed on a person's lips. It was just on the lips, but it lasted longer than a simple peck should've. She could've pulled away, she kept telling herself that how good this felt was probably just because of the moon. She told herself over and over that this was her best friend, that she shouldn't be kissing her, but still her lips stayed.
        She opened her eyes momentarily and noticed her hands had somehow made their way up to Callie's cheeks, holding her against her lips. Then she noticed the veins creeping up her wrists and pulled back. She saw Callie opening her eyes and panicked, running away at an inhumanely fast pace. She couldn't let this go on any longer. Not if she didn't want to lie to Callie.