Who Is She?*On Hold*

13.

|13|

Two years ago everything had been fine for Alex and Alec. They had a complete family, a caring father, a loving mother, an annoying sister and the best part, they had each other. Their top priority was football and to protect their x-box from Alexa whenever they refused to play spies-spies or ninja with her. They had almost nothing to worry about. Even if something was to happen, they would always have each others back. No matter what they would always look out for each other, it was as if nothing could come in between their brotherly love but it was that horrible night that changed everything. Two years ago Alec would have laughed at even the mere thought of distancing himself from Alex but now, as he stared at the back of the head of his brother, he realized time could change a lot of things. Even though it still seemed as if they were adhered to each other, Alec knew better.

Alec sat quietly on the bleachers with Alex, Alexa and the rest of his friends as they watched the football practice, waiting for the practice to get over so that later, they could all go to the mall to hang out. Everyone excluding Blaze were here. She had decided to stay in the school's library rather than watch the practice. Alec suddenly regretted staying here. He too should have stayed in the library, he was no book fan but it was better than watching the practice which was a disappointment to his expectations. He had tried to be enthusiastic and optimistic so that nobody else got bored but 10 minutes into the cheering, Alex had coldly told him to shut up which shut him up real quick. Since then, he was sitting with a gloomy, bored expression like everyone else.

"Hey, you okay?" Alexa nudged Alec, not used to a quiet Alec. Alec peeked a small glance at Alex which was enough for Alexa to remember how hostile Alex had been towards his brother.

"Ignore him, you know how cranky he gets sometimes."

"Yeah, it must be his time of the month." Alec grinned at Alexa who returned the gesture.

"It's a full moon!" Alexa fake gasped and pointed at the sky. The moon was nowhere in sight but both of them pretended as if i was there." That must mean-"

"He's a werewolf!" Both of them whisper-yelled, their eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Hey, Alex." Alexa tapped Alex on his back. He turned to look at her, annoyance clear on his face, "What?" He snapped.

"We know what you are." Alexa and Alec shared a look, both at the verge of bursting into laughter.

"Huh?" Alex asked, genuinely confused.

"You're cranky at the time of full moon."

"You're possessive."

"You have an 'L' in your name which stands for 'Lupin'. Coincidence? I don't think so."

"Say it , Alexa, say it out loud." Alec said in a deep voice.

"You're a..." Alexa whispered and paused for impact." werewolf on heat." Unable to control their laughter, both of them loudly burst into laughter. Alexa couldn't help but fall in Alec's lap, laughing so hard that her stomach was hurting. Alec on the other hand was continuously smacking his hand on the empty seat next to him, tears running down his face and his laughter only increased as time went by, Alex's confused face revolving in his mind.

"Idiots." Alex muttered sourly, turning to look straight ahead.

~

"When will the practice end? I'm so bored that a lesson from Mrs. Trooper sounds tempting." Alexa groaned as she leaned in her seat.

"Yeah. Even a trip to the library sounds like a trip to Disneyland." Alec groaned, moving restlessly in his seat.

"Remembering from library, Blaze asked me to call her when the practices are over. It's about time. I'm going to come. Would you guys like to come?" Ryder asked them, standing up in the process.

Alexa and Alec looked at each other then shrugged and decided to go with Ryder. What really surprised them was that this was the longest Ryder had spoken to anyone in the group. He would occasionally lowly talk to Blaze and answer shortly when someone asked him something but never this long. Overtime, Blaze had warmed up to them but Ryder still seemed like a stranger. In hopes of developing a friendship both stood up, ready to go to the library.

~

Blaze wasn't in the library nor was she picking up her phone. This had them worried. All of them split up to cover more ground. She wasn't in any of the classrooms, the female bathrooms were empty, the female locker room contained Natalie and some of her friends who were giggling and talking in hushed voices. Alexa knew they would hardly have any information and even if they had, it wasn't like they were going to tell so questioning them was useless. Alexa also checked the club rooms in the school's attic but they were locked so there was no possibility Blaze was in there.

After a while of the search, they finally found her. It was Alec had found her in the male bathrooms on the third floor.

"What happened?" Alexa softly asked Blaze who had her back towards them. Alexa was totally confused, so many questions running through her mind.

"Are you okay?" Alexa slowly stepped forward having no idea on how thin the ice she was walking on was.

A sob escaped Blaze. Slowly, she turned.

"Who did this?" Ryder asked furiously, stepping forward and embracing her from the side.

"Natalie and her friends." Blaze sobbed, wiping her endless tears. She had a bruise around her eye, a few scratches here and there and a human male gonad drawn on her forehead. "They drew this from a permanent marker." She pointed at her forehead. "How am I going to hide this?"

"Don't worry, we can remove it from nail polish remover but we have to do something about Natalie." Alexa said, trying to be helpful.

"I swear if it weren't for her friends, I would have taken her down!!" Blaze pushed herself away from Ryder, a sudden fierceness enveloping her.

"Can't we report this to the principal?"

"No use, Ryder. The school office sees Natalie as a star, they're somehow going to put the blame on Blaze only." Alec answered, his mind deep in thought. He couldn't let Natalie continue with her bullying, they had to do something.

"I agree. We can't do anything unless I secretly slash her-" Alexa began but was cut off by Alec.

"You control you aggressive self while I think about a solution to handle that flourless ravioli." Alec said, cursing Natalie in his own language.