Chapter 8
-Farley-
I didn't understand why he kept running away. Nor could I help the small frown from appearing on my face. The only reason it wasn't a smile was the worry which was holding me down. Pax seemed to be enjoying the conversation. I had actually convinced him to talk to me. He smiled at me slightly as we were talking. He had a wandering and curious look in his eyes, which still never focused on anything. He looked at me a few times, but never directly.
"Help," Clementine shouted from the living room as soon as I entered the door. I raised an eyebrow and turned my head in that direction. The short woman was standing on a three-legged stool, holding onto the wall. I put a hand over my mouth to stop the laughter. Rowan was standing with a bucket in his hands, blue paint splotches all over him. Iris was standing calmly beside the two, her hair in a ponytail and overalls looking 'aesthetically messy'. "Farley, help."
I shook my head and looked to the wall, a wet coat of paint glistening against the light. "How could I help?" I took my bag off my back and threw it onto the settee. "Think you'd prefer Caspian's help."
"Oh, shut it," Clementine flicked the brush at me, "Just be there so I don't fall." I stood behind her with my arms hovering at her side.
"The stain remover worked too well," Iris told me with a guilty look. "It completely tore through the paint."
"Well, you did say it'd be brand new." Rowan snorted at my words. I reached over and straightened the can so that he didn't spell any onto his arms. "Wouldn't it be easier if I swapped places with Rowan?"
"Yes."
"No," Rowan and Clementine said at the same time. "I am not getting covered in paint, I've managed to go paint free thus far."
"You'd look good in blue though," Rowan whined.
"You would." I turned my head towards Caspian, who was standing with his head ducked in the doorway. "I came to ask if I could talk to Farley, but you seem pretty occupied."
"I'm not." I picked my bag back up. "Iris, I trust you and Clementine would have a wonderful romantic adventure if she were to fall clumsily into your arms."
I ducked out of the way, so a shower of blue was sent my way. "The carpet," Iris exclaimed with slumped shoulders. Rowan started to snigger, causing paint to leak over the edge.
"You're gonna need a new living room at this rate," I told Caspian as he opened the door to his room.
"I've been anticipating it since the three of you came here." I huffed and sat on the chair which Clementine occupied when I was last here. "You went to the forest again," he stated with a look of disapproval.
"Yes." There was no point in denying it. "I talked to him again, it seems like he's never been out of the forest."
He opened his mouth to speak but then it soon became a frown. "I know packs who do that. It's not uncommon."
"But they know about the world. He didn't even know what a bus was, or what you learned about in school." My volume was increasing with every word. I didn't know why I felt so passionate about Pax knowing these things, he wouldn't have to if he lived in the woods his whole life. "He said he'd get into trouble for just speaking to me."
"The same way I told you to be careful?" He raised an eyebrow at me. I bit my lip and nodded, looking down. It didn't matter how long I had been there; Caspian was in charge. That meant I had to listen to what he said, or rather, respect it. "When I say something, I do it for a reason."
"I know," I said with a sigh. "But what is the reason?" I raised my eyes to meet his. "He's just a person, we had a chance of meeting in the forest. What could be so bad about that?"
"He's from another pack," Caspian said slowly and seriously. "We don't know anything about him. We can't afford to get into trouble with a bigger pack."
"We're just talking, that couldn't cause trouble." Caspian laughed humourlessly at my words before stepping forward and crossing his arms.
"Farley, we're territorial beings who don't take well to strangers. Even being in the forest might've been crossing a line to them."
"But then how are we supposed to know?" I asked quickly. My hands were curled into fists by my sides. "If they're not going to let others know they're there, or their rules, how're we meant to stay away?"
"We aren't exactly a social pack." Caspian's words were true. This pack was incredibly new. This type of pack had only started to surface over the past ten years, we're far smaller and more secluded than other packs. That meant we could be more a part of human society.
"So, we're not in the wrong," I tried to explain. Caspian just shook his head. "I want to keep seeing him. Can't we work something out?"
"Not that I know, unless you're prepared to approach his alpha?"
My eyes widened and I frantically shook my hands around. "No, not at all. You're the only alpha I've ever spoken directly to." Caspian was the only one kind enough to schedule a meeting before I decided to move in. The other alphas relied on their reputation and other members to convince me to choose them.
"That still surprises me whenever I hear it." He ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I can't do anything about this. The only way that anything would be done is if you approach them independently. Or he comes to us."
"He won't come," I said. "He's ran away from me twice."
He chuckled. "Well, I guess it's up to you then. Let me know if you think of a way I can help." He ran a hand down his face and shook his head. "Right, we best make sure the living room has not turned into an underwater theme instead of a cloudy sky." He waved his hands around slightly, making fun of Clementine.
I was surprised the meeting was over already, I guess we both got our points across. "I wouldn't be surprised."
The rest of the night was spent cleaning up, having tea, and playing some board games. Iris won most of them, of course, but it was still a fun tradition we had on the nights before we had school. Since Iris and Rowan weren't old enough to work yet, they had school everyday. I wasn't sure if I preferred that or not, it lessened the blow of my school days. It was a lot less stressful when I could stretch all my studies out over the entire week.
The next morning, I got out of bed and headed straight for my chest of drawers, pulling out some jeans and a red T-shirt. Then I headed to the bathroom. My clock read 6:21, not too bad. Rowan was still snoring, the prospect of being around to see Caspian or Clementine get him out of bed made me grin. Their attempts are getting much more creative. I wasn't too pleased one morning to see my bed soaked through, but it was very amusing to see Rowan trudge through the house in his pyjamas.
"Good morning," I said to Iris. She was sitting in the same position as she had yesterday, she was even still staring at the blue wall with a frown. She was not happy with the way it turned out,
"Good morning," she replied. She jumped slightly and turned to me. "School today?" A grin was starting to grow on her face.
"I've got two hours to completely forget about it." I nodded and shifted into the kitchen; she could probably still hear me. "What do you have today?"
"History, English, math," Iris listed. I couldn't see her expression, but I could imagine her face turning into a frown. She wasn't the best at math. "What about you?"
I groaned and closed the breadbin a little louder than necessary as I put the bread back in after taking two slices. "History, science, business, lit..." I trailed off. I was missing one. "It'll come back to me." I got the homemade jam out of the cabinet, waiting for the bread to be toasted.
"Don't you have psychology today?" I lifted the knife to my chin absentmindedly. "Put that down." I hadn't even realised that she'd entered the kitchen.
"It's not hurting anyone," I pointed out. I turned around as the toast popped up. "But yes, psychology. I'm not too looking forward to it."
"At least you won't have to deal with Row today," Iris said in an attempt at comfort. "He's got training most of the afternoon."
I shook my head. "Caspian's not going to be happy about that."
"Oh he's going to run my brother into the ground." She folded her arms and rested between the sink and the counter. She had a mason jar in hand, something she used for a water bottle. I never understood why people used jars for drinking when there are perfectly good glasses and bottles. "Caspian's about at the end of his tether."
"You see, we're the good ones." I pointed towards her whilst putting a piece of strawberry jam covered toast into my mouth. I waited until I swallowed the food to add, "We get up and do work on time, we are careful and clean up after ourselves, we listen to the rules."
"Sure, you do," Clementine said from the doorway. Her white dressing gown was covering most of her being, making her look like a marshmallow. "Do you follow rules? Do you work hard? I'm sure you're coming up with your own responses." She shuffled to the fridge and pulled out her iced coffee. Once again, a mason jar. "But the answer is, more than Rowan."
"How'd it go?" Iris asked Clementine. I had no clue what they were talking about. The two of them shared a look I often associated with secrets, the darting of eyes and the slight jerking of heads.
"I'll let you two discuss whatever secrets you're hiding." I waved behind me as I took my plate back into the living room. I'll make a cup of tea later, after the girls are done spilling theirs.
My laptop, which was about as old as my high-school career, started to make beeping noises. I groaned and pulled it closer to me. It was a reminder. I had to close several advertisements which infected my laptop every time I turned it on before actually seeing what it was.
My heart dropped and I took in a sharp inhale. It was the day that my exams would've started if I were still in traditional school. I bit my lip as my cursor hovered over the '+' icon at the top of the screen. I shook my head and closed its lid. I would be wishing everyone good luck right now, I would be very stressed, but I wouldn't be going through them alone. They were only mock exams, but they still gave me a lot of stress when I was in school. My classmates wouldn't appreciate me wishing them good luck now, they'd probably think I was mocking them.
HAPPY HALLOWEEEEEEN! I hope you all have a great and spooky day!
Question of the day- are you dressing up? If so, what are you dressing up as?
I'm dressing up as my OC Lucy Everson dressing up as a half-blood...because she's a half-blood witch and I'm punny