"Here, have more, Isabelle," aunt Karen said when I had finished my first waffle and I reluctantly nodded. She smiled kindly at me and placed another waffle on my plate.
I smiled at her and started eating but I couldn't possibly eat fast enough.
After we were done with breakfast, we all sat down in the living room to watch movies and it was then that I learnt they had movie morning every Saturday.
We watched movies and ate popcorn which looked nothing like corn but I still found it delicious.
In the afternoon, at around 2:30, Bennett and me decided to take Leah to her job. More like Bennett ordered and I followed.
"Bye, Leah! Don't get eaten by a snake while you work!" Bennett said and Leah gave him a stink eye while I just waved as she disappeared into the hustle bustle of the restaurant.
"Hah, so, where should we go?" Bennett said as he started walking ahead of me and I looked around as we walked.
The street was narrow and the stalls that littered the side just made it harder to move. I could barely keep up as Bennett just kept walking like it was no big deal. It probably was.
As I gradually lost sight of Bennett in the sea of people, getting pushed around like a rag doll, I started hyperventilating.
I squeezed my slippery hands together and just kept walking. Beads of sweat gathered on my forehead but I ignored them. I needed to find Bennett.
I just started moving with the flow of people, my mind a hazy mess and finally, got pushed to the side, in front of a stall.
The man who was at the stall asked me something but I rudely ignored him and let my eyes dart everywhere.
Finally, after some searching, I spotted a head with dirty blond hair and I quickly started to follow that person. That surely was Bennett.
"B-Bennett!" I called out to him, when he finally turned around, his eyes moved from one side to the other until he saw me in the sea of people.
He pushed his way towards me and took my hand in his, much bigger one, and led us towards a diner on the left side of the street.
When we entered, he first led me to an empty booth and then let go of my hand. Surprisingly, I didn't have any flashbacks and I felt better.
Not to mention, the diner felt quiet and peaceful with everyone minding their own business. The waiters and waitresses walked around and the people talked among themselves.
It was just my type.
That was probably because I was having a panic attack and didn't really care about anything but getting out of that herd of people, alive.
He motioned for me to take a seat which I did while he sat opposite me and just as we did so, a waitress arrived at our table.
She handed us each a menu and told us she will be back to take our orders.
I stared down at my hands and looked around as Bennett gulped down the water a waitress just placed in front of us.
"Hey, um..." he started, fidgeting in his seat as he glanced at me every now and then.
"I, uh, Iamsorry," he got out, his ears gaining color and he looked down at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"I-It's o-ok, Bennett," I replied, my eyes going towards my shaking hands.
"No, it's not ok. I should've stayed with you at all times and should've been the good cousin that I am. Oh, and don't call me Bennett. It's Ben," he said, all in one go before finally inhaling a large amount of air.
"I-It's r-really ok, B-Benne-Ben," I said again so he would stop blaming himself but instead of stopping, he slowly started shaking his head.
"No, it's not," he said with a firm face and I felt myself straighten up.
"Y-Yes, i-it is," I stated as I raised my eyes and locked with his.
"It's not," he said as he now placed his hands on the table and leaned forward.
"I-It is," I also continued and placed my hands on the table, too, leaning forward.
"It's not,"
"I-It is,"
"It's not,"
Then, the waitress who gave us the menus came back and smiled at us both.
"So, what would you guys like?" she said and I seriously felt sort of angry at Benne-Ben.
I awkwardly sat there as Benne-Ben placed his order before they both turned to me. My face lit up as I stared at Bennett.
"She would have the same as me," he said to the waitress and she nodded before disappearing.
Even after her leaving, I couldn't calm down. I felt like a little child who always looked for trouble and got scolded in the end.
"Sorry, I didn't really let you read the menu and ordered for you. I hope that's ok," Bennett said after a short pause and I glanced up at him.
"Y-Yeah, i-it's completely f-fine. I-I didn't know what t-to o-order, anyway," I said with a nervous laugh and sipped some water.
'Nice one, Iz. You're getting good at socializing,' I heard Liz's voice and almost jumped up out of my seat.
'Liz! Are you feeling better?'
'Don't remind me of what you did with mate. I want to forget it, although I know that the pain will never end, it will only get worse from here,'
I wanted to yell at her. I wanted to tell her that she should be thankful for what we have. We had lived our entire lives getting beaten up by males, how could she be sure that our mate won't do the same?
I heard a throat being cleared and looked up at Bennett who was staring at me. He looked like he was about to burst out laughing at any second.
That made my cheeks heat up for being the one that the laugh was directed at.
"Did you really just start talking with your wolf in the middle of our conversation?" he said as his eyes searched my face.
"S-Sorry, i-it's that I-I h-haven't talked t-to h-her since I-I f-found you g-guys," I said and bit my lip. It was so weird that I just started talking with a guy who looked quite scary.
Was I just this easy? I mean, I hadn't talked to anyone for ages and I didn't really think that I had social skills even equal to the size of a grain. This felt weird but I liked it.
Bennett took his lip ring into his mouth and continued to stare at me as the conversation got dark. He looked so serious and didn't speak for a little while.
Just as our food arrived, he became his normal self again and stuffed his face with the burger.
***
"Guys, let's watch the new movie that just came out," Leah said as she entered the kitchen where Ben was sitting, doing his assignment which was due two days ago and I was helping myself to some ice cream.
"S-Sure, what's it a-about?" I asked as I sat down at one end of the kitchen island and started eating.
The ice cream melted in my mouth and left an amazing, chocolatey taste on my tongue. Its coldness cooled me down on a hot summer evening.
"You will see, you just need to watch it with me," she said as she made her bottom lip quiver and her eyes widen.
"F-Fine by me," I didn't see a point in arguing and besides, I didn't have work tomorrow.
"Ben?" Leah said as we turned our attention to a focused Ben. It looked unreal as he scribbled in his notebook.
"Sorry, I can't," he replied without even looking at us and his voice devoid of Ben-ly emotions.
"But you need to, Ben! We can't watch it without you!" Leah yelled, obnoxiously stomping her feet.
"Oh shit, here we go again," he said under his breathe as he raised his eyes from his book.
"You did this last time too, Leah. This assignment was due two days ago! I need to finish it today or I will get detention for a whole week," he finished with an odd expression.
"Since when have you started caring about detention, huh, Ben?" she asked while I just watched. Besides, it was more fun to watch than to get involved and say something wrong.
Ben mumbled something, his ears turning red and with the face Leah was making, none of us heard what he just said.
"W-What did you s-say?" I asked, my eyebrows creased together and my spoon midway from my mouth.
"I said, 'Since I found my mate'," just as those words left his mouth, Leah gasped before a gigantic smile took its place on her lips.
My heart felt heavy and I felt like there was a hole right in the middle of my chest and no matter what I did, I couldn't fill it. Only one person could do that...
Leah hugged Ben with all her might and smiled like a maniac. While Ben grinned, he grinned, with his cheeks getting redder by the second.
Did I really think that these two wouldn't find their mates and we would be able to relate to each other and live like this forever?
No matter what I told myself, I didn't want them to find their mates. I knew it was selfish of me, but I wanted to be happy with them, mateless.
'This wouldn't have happened if you had just gone with him,' Liz spat and I was shocked for a second at the venom on her words.
'Weren't you happy that we escaped? Didn't you wanna keep that freedom?' I asked, my patience wearing thin.
'Whatever,' she said and disappeared. Brainless dog.
"C-C-Congrats, B-Ben! So, what's t-the name of t-the lucky girl?" I said, pretending to be as happy and interested as I could.
"She's not the one whose lucky, it's me who is," his words pierced my heart as I remembered a brunette, tall guy with a charming smile.
"Damn, Ben, you've gotten quite cheesy," Leah teased with a huge smile that looked like it could split her face into two.
"Her name's Madelyn Edwin," that was it, I excused myself and went to the washroom to wash my face.
I willed myself to forget about my mate and be happy for my cousin.
When I went back, they were settled in the living room and chatting away. They looked so close and again, I felt like an intruder.
This reminded me of when I had just come here, I was so timid and shy, now, dare I say, I had gotten better. Way better.
"I don't know how to talk to her because whenever I approach anybody, they try to get away from me. Although, I don't understand what is there in me that they would be scared of," Ben asked like he actually didn't know.
He didn't have a brain, I think.
"Have you never thought that people might not talk to you because you're kinda, sad and depressing. And not to mention, scary?" Leah said to him and he looked at her with his head tilted to the side.
'He really doesn't know,' Liz said with a scoff and I inwardly grinned.
"Um, no...?" He said and scratched his head, "I mean, what part of me is scary, sad and depressing?"
'I can't believe he just asked that!' Liz said and I nodded in agreement.
"I can't believe you just asked that!" Leah yelled and looked at him with wide eyes and open mouth.
She gained her composure with a sigh and extended her hand towards me. I took two tissues and placed them in her hand.
She wiped her nose before glaring down her unbelievably dumb brother.
"Haven't you noticed your lip ring, your chain bracelet and necklace and not to mention, your clothes?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and he gulped.
"Yeah, so? That doesn't tell people my personality!"
Was he serious? Really, how dumb could he possibly get?
"That is the one of the only things that do, you loser!" She yelled again and crossed her arms with a sniffle.
"Ugh, whatever, let's just watch the movie," her mood swings really surprise me everytime and Ben, even after living with her his entire life, still looked weirded out.
"P-Pass me the p-popcorn," I said as we sat down and Ben started the movie. Leah handed me the popcorn after taking a handful for herself.
I myself took a handful and passed the rest to Ben who then passed it back to me. This cycle continued till we were out of popcorn.
I needed to act normal and I think I did good. Not thinking about it helped lots.