Chapter 64
Tomorrow After School
I watched Chris out of the corner of my eyes as I waited in front of the school during lunch. He had just pulled into the parking lot and was joking around with his friends. For weeks, everyone had told me to drop the issue, move on. Chris was leaving me alone, and Titus assured me no one had entered pack territory since the accident. I didn't care, though. I had been friends with Chris since kindergarten. He was smart, and my gut told me he was planning something. Yes, I was going to keep my distance, but I was still keeping an eye on him.
"Watch it, you idiot," yelled Chris, when one of his friends climbed out of his truck and a bag dropped onto the floor. He shoved it back inside.
"Why do you have all this junk back here?"
Chris slammed the door and locked the vehicle. "I've been busy and haven't had time to clean it out."
"Get Katy to do it for you," laughed Andrew.
"Yeah right," he replied, shaking his head.
Their voices died down to the point I couldn't hear them. Titus was right, I was becoming obsessed. Grabbing my bag, I went inside. I stopped to grab the books I would need for my next class. I jumped when a locker slammed shut next to me. I glanced over at Katy, who was standing with all her friends around her.
"I've had it," she hissed. "I'm so sick of this."
"You should just break up with him."
Katy folded her arms. "I honestly thinking about it. It's not like he ever wants to do anything with me anyways."
Closing my locker, I hurried off toward my next class. The bell rang as I walked in the door. I sat quietly in the back for everyone else to get there. My anxiety levels were still high. Groaning, I rested my head on the desk. I couldn't let it go. Yelling came from the hall, and I recognized the voice. I stood and went to the door.
The students stared at Katy and Chris as they passed.
"We're done," she snapped. "I'm tired of this. If you're just going to ignore me then there's no point for us to be together."
Chris just stood there with a blank expression on his face. I smiled to myself. The school perfect couple was finally falling apart. Served Chris right.
"You're not even going to say anything," she said annoyed, cocking her hip to the side. "Typical," she turned sharply. "I should have done this months ago. We're over." She marched off with her friends right behind her.
Everyone was moving timidly around Chris, who just stood there, glaring at the spot where Katy had been standing. His head slowly turned toward me. I gave him a smirk. I didn't feel bad at all for him, and the public embarrassment made it that much better.
The corner of his mouth pulled back into a grin. "You can have her back Aden," he said loudly. "Since you're single, well soon to be, at least." With a shrug, he walked off, and the hallway returned to normal.
I slipped back into the room and returned to my seat. My nerves were getting to me again. I was going to find out what Chris was planning and stop it.
***
"Mom," I yelled. "I'm going for a walk be back later." I grabbed my coat and put it on.
She walked out of her room with Demon in her arms. "Where too?"
I shrugged. "Just around the neighborhood."
She raised an eyebrow. "Aden Perri, you've never been one for walks, especially this early." She held up the dog. "Just ask him."
Reaching over, I petted the Demon's head. "I'm tired of sitting in my room."
"Oh," my mom smiled, "so boredom has finally set in. I bet you're counting down the days until graduation."
"Basically," I sighed.
"Mind taking a little someone with you." She bounded Demon in her arms.
I groaned. "Fine. Put his leash on. I'm not chasing after him."
My mom did so and hand the end to me. "Thank you, sweetheart." She patted my cheek and went into the living room.
"Come on." I opened the door and tug on the leash.
The little shih tzu darted outside, nearly strangling himself in the process.
"Calm down." I stepped outside and shut the door.
We walked along the road. Demon was running circles around me smelling everything in sight. I leaned against the Harper's fence and let him explore the area for a bit. I took in a deep breath of fresh air. It was nice being outside. It calmed my nerves somewhat. I was clearly over thinking the situation, and I just needed to relax.
A vehicle was coming down the road. I pulled Demon back to me and picked him up. He licked at my face.
"Alright, alright, that's enough."
He started barking at the truck as it approached. It was Chris. I watched confused as he passed. Katy and Chris broke up, though. There was no point for him to be coming this way. I put Demon down, and we started back to the house. Maybe he needed to drop off some stuff at her house, but I remember him telling ex-girlfriend plenty of times that they could either come get it themselves, or he was throwing it out.
I glanced behind me, but his truck had already disappeared. They did date for almost a year, though.
Arriving back at the house, I took Demon inside and shut the door before releasing him.
"Thank you, Aden," called my mom, as the dog ran over to her and jumped into her lap.
"No problem." I headed upstairs and went to my room.
There was no reason for him to be going this way. I sat down on my bed and chewed on my nail. Northern Ridge, I took out my phone. The fastest way to the mountains was passed here. I pressed on Titus's name and waited. He didn't answer the first or second time, but I kept calling.
The fourth time someone picked up.
"Hey, Aden," said Titus. "Sorry, I just got back from hunting. What's up?"
"Nothing," I said softly. "Just want to call and talk to you."
"You're missing me that badly," he teased.
"Boredom actually."
He laughed. "Thanks, you're too sweet."
I picked at the comforter on my bed. "So are you doing anything else today?"
"No, might go swimming with Darius at this falls above the cave, but that's about it."
Above the cave, that was further away from public ground. "Sounds like fun."
"I'll take you one day."
"You better," I replied. "I want to see all these werewolf hideaways you're always talking about."
"Don't worries I will, I promise."
I heard voices in the background, and Titus yelled something.
"They need my help hauling in the catch, I'll call you tonight."
"'kay bye."
"Bye."
The line went dead. Let out a deep breath, I forced myself to stop worrying. Titus was fine. Everything was going to be fine.
***
Everything was not fine. For the last few days, I had watched closely for Chris's truck and all weekend and every day after school he drove by. I couldn't take it anymore. Nothing had happened Titus, so I had come to the conclusion, Chris was messing with me and that stopped today.
I spotted him at lunch and marched down the halls. He was with his regular group, but I was done putting up with his shit. Being expelled would just mean I could marry Titus sooner anyways. I stopped in front of him. His friends shot me confused glances. Chris was flat out ignoring me. I wasn't leaving, though.
With a sigh, Chris turned to me. "What?"
"We need to talk."
"Can't, the principal said so."
"I mean it Chris. I not here to fight; I just want to talk."
"What this about," muttered Andrew.
Chris shrugged. "Femboy PMS, I don't know."
"Chris," I snapped. "Now."
He faced me. "I'm not getting expelled because of you, and I honestly have nothing to say." Turning sharply, he left with his friends right behind him.
I was furious. Playing like he was innocent, it made me sick. I marched to the bathroom and threw some water on my face. Driving around my house like some lunatic just to get a reaction out of me. Well, he got one. I dried off my face with a paper towel.
I just wanted to be done with this. If this continued on until graduation, I was going to go insane. My phone buzzed in my pocket. I took it out to see a random number calling me. Pressing ignore, I left the bathroom. My phone started ringing again. It was the same number. I answered it.
"Hello?"
"You want to talk," said Chris.
"Yes," I stated.
"After school tomorrow met me in the parking lot."
"Why can't we just do it at school?"
"The principal called me in, after our last fight. He made it very clear. I mess with you again, and he was going to expel me. Clearing your guilty conscious isn't worth not graduating."
"You know why I want to talk," I shot back. "It has nothing to do with apologizing to you."
"I'm well aware," he laughed. "After school tomorrow, I'll take you to my house, and you can walk home from there. Fine with you?"
"I don't know."
"Look it either then or never. So yes or no. I'm not waiting around for you, if you're not planning on showing up."
"Alright, tomorrow. Just know if you try anything, Titus knows exactly where to look."
He chuckled. "I knew it. Your little break up act was horrible," he let out a deep breath. "Don't worry, Aden. I promise not to piss off your boyfriend. He is a werewolf after all."
The called ended. I took a deep breath and ran my hand through my hair. It was stupid, but if meeting with Chris ended all of this, than it was worth it.