After days of not seeing or hearing from the Haltermans, my stress levels were at an all-time high. I missed both Everett and Lawrence. I even wished that Annie might cave and talk to me, but it had been complete silence from the entire family so far. My only sense of relief came from the fact that they hadn't disappeared. At first, I'd expected them to, and it had taken me days to relax, realizing they weren't going to disappear in the night.
Returning home from my morning run, I noticed Everett getting into his car in his driveway. Obviously hearing my footsteps, he paused and glanced over his shoulder, his Caribbean eyes shining even from this distance. My feet froze me to stop in the middle of the road. It was the first time I'd caught a glimpse of him since Sara ran her mouth. I had even returned to school in hopes of catching a chance to talk to one of the others. I had seen Lawrence, Cal, and Lizzie at school, but none of them would so much as make eye contact with me. So, this stare with Everett seemed like an improvement, at least.
Anxiously holding my breath, I took a step in his direction. His eyes followed my move cautiously, but his face showed no emotion. It was completely blank, and my only comfort was that I didn't see any of the hate or hostility I'd seen from the others. He didn't seem any more distant than he had been since he'd found out I was dating Lawrence.
Feeling my hope rise, I took another step in his direction, but he subtly shook his head and got in his car, making me realize that he might be a little more distant after all. When he reached the street, I had a split-second urge to step in front of the car and force him to come to a stop. He'd have to listen to me then, right? Luckily for my pride, I hadn't reached that level of desperation... yet. I felt myself slipping closer and closer to it with each passing day, though. I knew it was only a matter of time before I did something stupid to force one of them to listen to me.
In the end, I just stood in the street as his car drove past me without stopping. I stood there staring, long after it was out of sight.
Eventually, I snapped out of it and sighed, my shoulders slumping as I made my way home. Attempting to avoid both Sara and River like I had been for days, I slipped into the house as quietly as I could manage and headed upstairs to get ready for school. I hadn't spoken to either of them since that day because I wasn't sure if I could control my temper around Sara yet, and I wasn't anywhere near the right frame of mind to deal with River.
A couple hours later, I entered first period before any of the other students and attempted to make eye contact with Cal while he sat silently behind his desk. I had made sure that I was early for that very purpose. Apparently, the papers in front of him were too interesting, and he didn't raise his eyes from them at all. It was obviously an act. I had no doubt that he knew the second I stepped through the door, and he was purposely avoiding looking at me.
Well, I wasn't going to take it anymore. He might be able to avoid my eyes, but he couldn't exactly close his ears. I opened my mouth, planning to talk whether he wanted to listen or not, but I never got the chance.
"Hey, Ari," Hazel said from behind me.
Sighing, I tried to push my aggravation down so it wouldn't show on my face before turning to respond. None of it was Hazel's fault. The girl had no idea anything was going on. Would probably run screaming from the building if she found out she was standing in the classroom with the most powerful witch in the world and a vampire.
"Hey, Hazel," I responded as friendly as I could manage.
"You okay?" Hazel asked. "You've been acting a little off since you came back to school, and do you ever plan to tell any of us what happened with you and Lawrence?"
I winced slightly and shook my head in response. All of my friends had noticed something was wrong immediately upon my return to school. How could they not? Before I disappeared for a few days, Lawrence and I were basically inseparable at school. Now he never even looked in my direction. So far, I hadn't given any of them any answers, though. I wasn't sure what to tell them.
I'd paid closer attention to my friends since my return as well. Sara told me that three people in the truck that night had been werewolves. The only people in the truck besides myself and Lawrence had been Micah, Oliver, Emily, and Hazel. I knew Micah and Emily had to be two of them since they're siblings. If one was, the other had to be. After watching them for a few days, I concluded that Oliver must be the other one. Meaning Hazel was probably just a normal human teenage girl. Lucky her.
I knew that I needed to talk to Micah, Oliver, and Emily at some point, but I wasn't ready yet. I wanted to wait as long as I could. The Haltermans had acted the way they had because they're vampires, and my family had a long history of killing them. I wanted to believe my friends' reaction wouldn't be as strong as theirs, but I wasn't ready to take that chance. I was already so close to losing it, and I couldn't risk becoming anymore upset and losing control of my emotions any more than I already was.
When other students started filing into the room, my eyes locked on the door, waiting to see the one person I hoped would finally look my way. He squeezed through the door just as Cal was closing it while the sound of the bell blared through the school. This had been Lawrence's routine lately. He would appear just as class was starting, leaving no time for me to try to approach him. I had tried to catch him between classes, but he always seemed to disappear. I had no idea where he would hide, but it didn't stop me from looking every day.
I sank lower into my chair with a sigh of resignation when he dropped into his desk and faced forwards, once again not casting a single glance in my direction. Every single class, every single day, felt like yet another rejection.
Hazel's voice pulled me from my melancholy thoughts. "Are we still having a bonfire at your house tonight?"
I automatically began to nod before pausing. I remembered the scene with Sara and Lawrence, and anxiety crept up my spine. I sat there, chewing my lip. After a moment of thought, I shook my head in denial and whispered back. "No. We're doing it at Lucien's."
"You mean Mr. Villette?"
I nodded. I hadn't asked him since the idea had just occurred to me, but I was mostly positive that he wouldn't really care. He had been trying to cheer me up for days, and he would probably see this as an excellent opportunity to do so.
Even though I had been excited about this bonfire when we originally made the plans, I wasn't looking forward to it anymore. I just felt like moping around my floor and being left alone. However, I knew it wasn't a healthy response to my current problems. So, I would give this a shot and hope it provided a distraction from everything.
After not retaining a single bit of information throughout the entire class, I eventually gave up and laid my head down on my desk. I knew Cal wouldn't say anything to me about it. That would require him to speak to me. When the bell rang, signaling the end of first period, I glanced up and saw Lawrence's back already leaving the room. Sighing, I kicked the desk next to me in aggravation.
Slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I made my way out of the school and tossed it into the passenger seat of my car. Smacking the steering wheel in frustration, I left the school, shooting a quick text to Lucien to let him know. I just didn't feel like spending the rest of the day continuing to hope and continuing to be ignored. I needed a break from it all... again.
I spent the rest of the morning killing time on my floor. Hours passed while I laid on the couch, reading a new book I had gotten from the Book Nook. I had apologized to Abi and James for disappearing from work for a couple days without notice. I felt horrible about it, but luckily for me, they didn't seem to mind. They just asked me to call next time. I had a feeling Micah had something to do with them not being more upset about the situation. They had even let me take the afternoon for the bonfire. I had invited them as a thank you, but they'd declined.
When the time for the bonfire neared, I tossed my book aside and made my way across the street to Lucien's. I didn't even bother knocking this time and just let myself in. He was sitting on the couch in the living room, flipping through a car magazine. He heard me enter and tossed the magazine on the coffee table, and leaned back into the couch.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked, interlacing his fingers behind his head and propping his feet on the coffee table.
"Remember that bonfire I'm having with my friends? We relocated it over here to avoid Sara," I said while dropping onto the couch next to him.
"So nice of you to ask," he retorted with a smirk.
"Do you care?" I asked.
He shook his head immediately. "As long as the wolves don't have any problems, I don't either."
I released a small groan, hoping that everyone in my life could just get along. I doubted my friends would actually cause problems since they never had before, and they'd been around Lucien, Lawrence, and Everett. While they hadn't been overly friendly, they were at least civil.
"Do you really not have any questions about vampires and werewolves?" He asked with a curious tilt of his head.
"Only about a million, but I'm not ready yet," I replied.
He nodded along. "I know you like to bury your head in the sand and pretend complicated things aren't happening, but you're going to have to face it eventually."
With that, he let the subject drop, and I was grateful. I really did have questions. I was curious about a lot of things, but Lucien was right. I wasn't ready to let go of my denial yet. I wasn't prepared to learn about the diets of Lucien, Lawrence, and Everett. I planned to avoid that knowledge as long as possible, unsure how I would feel about it once I knew.
The anxiety caused by just thinking about it had that familiar pulsing under my skin- my powers fighting to come out. I squeezed my eyes shut with a grunt. It had only happened out of anger in the past, but ever since the scene at the Haltermans front door, it had started happening more often. I had been living in a constant state of aggravation, and my feelings were beyond hurt.
I couldn't believe both Lawrence and Everett could turn their backs on me so easily. I didn't understand it. It wasn't so simple for me. I couldn't just forget them and move on with my life without some type of closure.
I managed to get ahold of my magic before anything happened, but Lucien's keen eye still caught it. After so many years, I couldn't get anything past him.
"What was that about?" He asked cautiously.
I stood up from the couch with a shrug and headed towards the backyard to prepare for the bonfire. He stayed in his position on the couch, but I saw him studying me closely my whole way out of the room.
It didn't take long for me to get some wood piled up in the fire pit behind Lucien's house or to get a fire going. My friends walked around the side of the house a few minutes later to find me sitting in a chair beside the fire, staring into the dancing flames while music played from a Bluetooth speaker I'd borrowed from Lucien.
None of them had missed my somber mood as of late, and Oliver immediately jumped in to try to cheer me up as soon as he neared me.
"Are you a parking ticket?" He asked with a smirk, dropping into the chair next to me. "Because you've got fine written all over you."
I noticed Oliver shoot a worried look towards Micah when the only response he got from me was a twitch of my lips.
"You and Lawrence break up or something?" Oliver asked gently.
"Something like that," I responded quietly, picking at the label on my coke bottle with my fingernails.
"I think you're better with Everett anyway," Hazel chimed in, dropping into another chair across the fire from me.
A strange choking sound came from my throat when my laughter got caught somewhere. I'd completely forgotten to tell them about that.
"Everett isn't an option," I admitted softly.
Micah glanced my way with surprise evident on his face. "He seemed mighty interested when we went ice skating. What makes you think he isn't an option?"
"The fact that he told me he's not."
"I'm going to need more than that," Emily spoke up from where she'd chosen to sit on the ground, playing with grass rather than sitting in a chair like the rest of us.
"Everett is Lawrence's older brother," I mumbled, glancing around at their reactions. I almost wished I'd been prepared to snap a picture when I saw the hilarious level of shock covering all their faces.
Micah choked on his drink before chuckling quietly. "So, basically what you're saying is, since Lawrence saw you first, he got dibs." I had to resist the urge to throw my coke bottle at his head when his laughter got louder.
"In a nutshell, yeah. He said it would tear his family apart with everyone taking sides." I shrugged, trying to brush it off. "He's avoided me ever since we found out."
"How did you find out?" Oliver asked curiously.
I turned to face Micah, already anticipating his reaction. "My uncle invited Lawrence's family over to meet them, and Everett showed up."
I watched as Micah bit his lip, trying not to laugh, and I narrowed my eyes at him in warning. I didn't find the situation funny at all. Especially since the entire family had turned their backs on me. I didn't think Micah would laugh if he knew the whole story, but I couldn't exactly tell him with Hazel sitting there listening to the entire conversation.
"Hey, Ari."
I glanced over my shoulder towards the voice and saw Julian walking towards where Emily sat on the ground. River was standing at the corner of the house, awkwardly pulling at the bottom of the thick sweater she was wearing. I looked her up and down before raising a brow in question.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked, looking nervous and hesitant for probably the first time in her life. Glancing around, I saw everyone staring at her, and I understood why she was being more timid than usual.
I hesitated, staring at my sister and trying to decipher what she could want. "I'm really not in the mood if you're here to argue, River."
"I need to talk to you about something," she insisted, staring into my eyes pleadingly.
Puffing out a breath, I sat my drink on the ground and walked to the edge of the woods, gesturing for River to follow. Leaning back against a tree, I crossed my arms over my chest defensively, ready for whatever argument it would be this time. I wasn't sure how good werewolf hearing was, but I figured this was far enough with the help of the music drowning out our voices.
"What is it?"
River kept her eyes downcast, watching her foot kick at the dirt like it was the most exciting thing in the world. "I really want to go to the coven, Ari."
I took a deep breath, massaging my temples tiredly. The stress of everything was getting to me more than I wanted to admit.
"How much has she told you about the coven?"
She shrugged, eyes still on the ground. "Nothing, really. Just that it's basically our family. That's where Mom grew up. It's kind of home."
"It's also where Mom chose to leave," I said as gently as possible.
"Yeah, because of you," she said snottily, her head shooting up to glare at me.
My head jerked back in surprise at the sudden change in her demeanor. "What does that mean?"
"Gran said that Mom left the coven because of you."
"You shouldn't believe everything the hateful old woman tells you," I responded. When I noticed her gearing up to pull out her usual attitude, I held up a hand to stop her. "There's a lot more going on here than you know about, River. I just found out about most of it myself. We will talk about it soon. Me, you, and Julian, but it won't be tonight. I'm really not in the mood. I'm still trying to come to terms with it all myself. So, just drop it for now, okay? Please?"
I gave her a look, making it clear that I wasn't really asking, and walked back over to my friends. The rest of the night went relatively well. Our group of unlikely friends sat around talking and enjoying the heat radiating from the fire. At one point, Lucien made an appearance with a stack of pizza boxes, and my friends seemed to forget to be distant with him for the time being. I couldn't help but smile a little. The night turned out to be a good distraction from the chaos in my life. We all had fun, laughed, and danced around to the music playing.
When the Chris Daughtry song 'I'll fight' began to play from the speakers, the weight of everything lifted off my shoulders, and my smile grew wider. My eyes shot to Lucien's to find him already watching me with a matching grin on his face. We had danced and sang this song many times in the years since we'd first heard it. It was kind of our thing. Lucien grabbed my hand and spun me around while singing the lyrics loudly. I couldn't help but join in with a laugh.
I heard my friends chuckling as they watched us, but I ignored them all and got lost in the much-needed moment of peace. It was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits- the reminder that no matter what happened and who else in the world might turn their backs on me, Lucien never would. He had proven that he would be there each and every time I needed him. Knowing that I wasn't alone in this was enough to help me feel strong enough to deal with it all.
When the night was over, I felt more relaxed than I had in a while. I was still upset by the Haltermans' reaction to who I was, but I knew I could get through it, no matter how much it hurt.
When my friends started to leave, I noticed Micah hanging back from the group. He walked up behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders, squeezing gently. Leaning down, he murmured quietly in my ear, "If you decide you want to talk about whatever is going on, you've got my number. No judgment."
I glanced over my shoulder and met his bright blue eyes, and suddenly I believed him. I believed that he really wouldn't judge me based on who my family was alone. Without thought, I stood up and wrapped my arms around his waist, deeply thankful for a friend like him.