Pack

Chapter One

Hello! Thanks for checking out Pack. I hope you enjoy it.

"Well." I stood up from the couch and stretched. "Once again, great movie choice, Carly. I am officially scared of men wearing ski masks and carrying knives."

She threw one of the decorative couch pillows at me. I caught it and grinned. "You know I can't watch scary movies alone." She frowned. "I have nightmares for like a week after."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't know how I'll ever make it home."

She glanced at the clock sitting on the wooden table beside her. "It is pretty late, Avery. If you don't want to walk home alone, you can always crash here." She began to smile. "Wouldn't want you to run into any crazies in the woods."

"That's insulting," I scoffed. "I know my way through those woods better than any psychopath with a knife. Besides-" I pulled my fingers into a fist and raised them up to protect my face. "Our self-defense classes in phys-ed are really paying off. I think I may be able to gouge an attacker's eyes out or stomp on his in-step."

"As if you need classes." She smirked. "You've been beating people up since I've known you."

"I like to think of it more as looking out for the little guy." I grabbed my phone off her coffee table, noticing it was after ten. "Crap, I better go." I headed toward the front door. "I gotta work early tomorrow. I'm helping to demo a kitchen before school."

"Don't forget we have to plan your birthday," she sang out in a sickly sweet tone.

Ugh. Carly and her parties. Bending down, I slipped on my running shoes in an attempt to pretend I hadn't heard her. Maybe she'd take the hint and put a kibosh on the whole party.

"We need to find a venue, decide on a guest list, food, decorations," she rambled on.

Yikes, no such luck, the party planning wheels were already turning in her head. "Let's skip it." I stood and faced her. "How about you come over to my house? Mom's making her famous lasagna." I wiggled my eyebrows and gave her a big grin.

"Alright." She laughed. "I'll come over."

Carly never could resist Mom's lasagna. Smiling, I opened the front door.

The stars twinkled in the black sky, like little silver beacons. Gray clouds drifted across the moon, causing patches of light and dark to streak down to the ground at my feet. A breeze fluttered my long blond hair, blowing it across my face. I pulled a hair elastic out of the front pocket of my jeans and tied it back into a ponytail. After tucking my hands into the front of my hooded sweatshirt, I stepped outside.

"But we're still having a party," Carly added as she held the door open for me.

"Come on. Do we have to?" My voice climbed close to a whiny octave, but she knew I hated being the center of attention. There was nothing worse than a bunch of people staring at you while they sang the birthday song - off key - at the top of their lungs.

"Yes." She put her hands on her tiny waist. "We graduate in a few months and then everyone will head off to college. This is one of the last chances we'll all be together." She cocked a hip to the side. "Plus, you're turning eighteen."

"Who cares? It's not that big a deal."

"It is a big deal. Come on, Avery, it'll be fun." Her lips curled up into her, this-is-why-everybody-loves-me, and-I-always-get-my-way smile.

I sighed in defeat. I guess I would enjoy hanging out with everyone before we all grew up and went our separate ways. Not that I intended to grow up. Or separate, for that matter. I'd decided to go to a local trade school. Working at my dad's renovation business since I was fifteen taught me that I had a natural knack for manual labour. Something about the chaos of tearing things apart and the accuracy of putting them back together appealed to me.