The Wolf In Me- Based on Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

"where to?"

" ah .... I don't know."

"hey it was your idea to ditch..... You should pick where to go."

"fine your house. We can order pizza."

"sounds perfect"

Ben had his own apartment but I was over there so much it was never awkward. Soon we were pulling into his designated spot and running up the stairs two by two laughing all the way. I couldn't help but feel that thing inside me, tugging at my soul. The chilly weather was raising goosebumps on my arms. Ben saw and unlocked the door and let me in first. His one room apartment was quaint. Small but quaint. I plopped down on his bed and reached for the remote while he dialed the number of the pizza place down the street.

I heard a guy pick up on the other end and say the usual 'hello thank you for calling pizza shack what can I get for you?' to that Ben replied

" one large cheese please, for delivery."

Then he hung up the phone and said it should be here soon. Good thing too. I was starving. We sat on his bed watching some stupid reality tv show about bratty teens having their dream sixteenth birthday party. I remembered my sixteenth birthday. Me, Ben, a box of pizza, and a cupcake with a candle. I knew in my heart it was better than any of these snotty rich kids birthday parties. Even though I had been in shorts  and a tank, and not a three hundred dollar dress.

Suddenly ben said "i feel so comfortable around you Hayle, but I feel like it's all about to change."

"what do you mean?"

"just... I know it sounds stupid, but i have this guy feeling. I don't know...."

I looked into his soft brown eyes. He looked so sincere and innocent when he said that. And just so vulnerable. But I felt it too. The thing, whatever it was that was inside me was insisting with the colder weather to come out. Whatever happened to me when the wolf bit me. The wolf from the car, the one with the glittering green eyes, was bad, and it was going to change everything. I felt a little tug at my heart and a small tear trickled down my cheek.

"Isabel? You alright?"

He scooted closer and I leaned into him. He put his arm around me like we had done so many times before. But this was different. It almost felt intimate. I let another tear fall, then another, then another. I knew that night it was going to happen, whatever was supposed to happen. It was going to happen tonight.

And I was right.

Ben drove me to my house late. Really late. Almost one in the morning. It was tugging at me so hard it almost hurt. This invisible pull. I turned up the heat as high as I could that beads of sweat were forming on bens face, but I was still freezing. I was shivering. When we pulled in the driveway I knew if I went outside of the car the thing inside me was going to explode. So I started to cry. And then I told Ben everything.

"Isabel hon why are you crying? Are you alright? Are you sick what's wrong? Please talk to me."

His face was so full of pain.

"I ...... Three weeks ago. When me And my dad got into a fight I  left and ran to that little diner about a mile from my house. It got dark and so while I was running home I decided to take the back way. Plus it took longer and I wanted to make sure my dad was completely ..... Lost in whatever girl he had home that night. So i ran on the path bordering the woods. I stopped to catch my breath when I saw these green eyes staring at me through the dark. And...." I started to choke on my words because even the memory hurt, "the wolf.... It leaped from the woods and tackled me. I landed on the ground and .... Ben I thought I was going to die. But instead it just scratched me up a bit and bit my shoulder . But it burned Ben. It burned. Like someone had injected me with poison. All I remember is lying there with those green eyes starting at me. I'm not even sure how i got home. But i woke up in my bed. My shoulder throbbing, and this, " I pulled up my sleeve to show him a scare in the shape of a moon," and ever since then. This thing has been pulling at me from the inside. Every time Im outside in the cold it tugs at me. Harder and harder. It hurts."