Chapter six
The next morning, I woke up feeling upset again. After yesterday's incident, I didn't want to go back to school. I was back in the woods at the spot where I first saw my mate and cried for a little while. Then, I returned to school because I didn't want to be marked as absent. My parents would question me about it and I didn't really feel like making up another lie again.
For the whole day, I avoided everybody. Well, more like everybody avoided me. People pointed at me and I could hear their questioning whispers. I didn't like the attention going on.
The only person who talked to me was Dean. He was sort of upset that Lily decided to ditch us and was really concerned about me. Being me, I shrugged it off like it didn't affect me but it really did bother me. In lunch, he probably sat with me out of pity. I know how much he wanted to sit with the popular group, the group Lily, Luke, and Jason were at. He kept glancing back at the table.
I didn't really start a conversation with him, seeing as I was too upset to so I probably bore him. Well, he did kind of admit he had a crush on me a few days ago so that could be another reason why he's sitting with me.
Lily probably knew what happened to me this morning and she glanced at me a few times at lunch, probably dying to know what really happened.
Gossip flies by very fast. Most that were spread weren't really true. I had heard from a girl with my wolf hearing about how Ryder was about to shift and kill me because I was being mean and jealous of him. Why on earth would I be jealous of my own mate? Another was that I was about to shift and kill him because he stole my pencil and I was being irrational. It wasn't even about the pencil I was fighting about. It was mainly about his stupid ego, so I wouldn't say it was irrational.
But, that didn't really matter. What matters now is how I'm going to face Jason this morning and who's going to drive me to school.
Jason tried to talk to me yesterday but I ignored him. It's his fault that he didn't even want to hear my side of the story. Even if he is my brother, there's no way I'd forgive him so easily for that.
I decided to try to look nice again today. Because of my crying, my makeup got smudged yesterday so me looking like Frankenstein's wife is probably the reason why I was getting so much attention. I'll put waterproof makeup this time, not that it would matter.
I went downstairs to find my parents leaving the house.
"Where are you guys going?" I ask them.
"Emergency pack meeting," Mom says with an edgy tone. "Jason has to drive you to school and make sure you don't head outside without him, okay Grace?"
I groaned. This is just my luck. I'm getting forced to ride with the guy who I'm supposed to ignore.
"This is serious, Grace," Dad says in a warning tone. "Don't go to the woods anymore. Somebody went out to the woods yesterday and the rogues smelled that person. I think they're going to plan on attacking soon because of them."
Whoa, what? I was out there yesterday, though. Please don't tell me I was the only one that was there. I don't want it to be my fault.
I tried not to look guilty and nodded. "I guess I'll go with him then."
Mom nods and smiles at me. "You look nice today again. I never even knew I bought that."
"Uh, thanks." I say.
"Well, today is your lucky day," she continues, "Jason decided to cook some breakfast for you. Isn't that sweet?"
Oh great, he's going to bribe me with his food now. I can almost guess his whole plan. "Oh okay," I say. "Well, you guys should get going now."
They said goodbye and left the house. Now, all I need to do is find a way to get to school without having to ride with Jason. I could use my bike, but there are rogues out there and I wouldn't want to get killed. I would call Dean but I don't have his number. Lily is probably too in love to care.
I sighed and marched off into the kitchen. I might as well eat. I sit down on the stool and ignore Jason's stare.
"Morning," He greets.
"Morning," I mumbled and eat the food on the plate.
"I'm having a friend drive us to school, okay?"
"What happened to your car?" I mumble again.
"Dad's car broke down so he's borrowing mine," He said, seemingly annoyed at me for no reason. Now why the hell is he so annoyed all of the sudden? I'm the one who should be annoyed!
"Okay," I say. I really could care less about who will be driving us to school. At least, that he'll be too distracted talking to his friend rather than me.
"He's going to be having breakfast with us too."
I put my fork down. Oh, so that's what this whole breakfast was for? He didn't do it to make me cheer up but for his friend? I knew I shouldn't keep my hopes up too high.
I felt tears threatening to come out again. He would care more about his friends than me.
I got off the stool suddenly and started to walk to the bathroom. I really hate my emotions sometimes.
"Grace?" He calls my name while I march to the bathroom.
I got inside and locked the door. I slumped down against the door and buried my face with my hands. I was overthinking again and I knew it, but it didn't matter. I was hurt. I was hurt at how everybody was treating me. I tried my best not to cry because then, I would look like a mess and we were about to leave soon.
So I sucked up the feeling and flushed the toilet to make it seem like I was actually doing something in the bathroom.
When I got out, I was accompanied by a familiar smell and when I got inside the kitchen, my whole body became tense. Ryder was sitting there on the stool, eating some breakfast.
Jason was looking at me with concern and let out a breath of relief when he saw that I was alright.
I decided to finish breakfast and cautiously move towards Ryder. I threw a glare at him to make it seem like I wasn't affected hormonally by his presence. He stared back in nondescript.
I couldn't eat next to him so I moved my plate and milk to the table instead of the counter where the stools were.
'You know, this could be the perfect time to brush up along him,' my wolf purrs.
'Oh shut it, I'm still mad at how he treated us.'
'Your grudge won't last too long, though. I know you Grace.'
'Obviously,' I say in sarcasm. 'You are me after all.'
I decided to cut off the little debate in my head with my wolf and eat my breakfast.
I glanced at Jason to see what he was doing when I finished my breakfast. I sighed when I saw that he left, probably to go to his room and change. Now, I'm left here with my mate who doesn't even know I'm his mate.
"I'm sorry," I hear Ryder apologize when I put my plate in the dishwasher.
I looked at him in surprise. He doesn't look like the one who would apologize. Suddenly, I understood why Jason had Ryder come over. He probably asked him to so I could forgive him easier than I would with Ryder. Well, I could be right. There's only one way to find out.
"Did he ask you to say that?" I say coldly.
His green eyes masked with confusion. "What do you-"
"Did Jason tell you to apologize?" I cut him off and explained further.
His eyes widened and I saw some pity in them. What the hell did he pity me for? "No," He says softly. "He didn't."
I didn't want to believe him, but seeing as he is my mate, I had to.
"Well, just so you know, I don't accept your apology," I say and grab my backpack to march off to his car. My wolf growled in frustration at how stubborn I was being.
I hear him get up and follow me to the door without even cleaning his plate. Of course he wouldn't put his own plate away.
"Jason, hurry up," I yell so he can hear me, "We're leaving."
"Okay, I'll be down soon!" He yells back.
"Why won't you forgive me?" Ryder asks me while we exit the house.
"You don't deserve it," I say back and hurried down to his car, trying to avoid his touch.
"Look, I'm sorry okay?" He says irritatingly. "Your words just got to me. They remind me of what my dad tells me all the time and it just... upset me. He puts me down like that all the time. I didn't mean to say all those stuff to you."
When I got to the car, I stopped and looked at him. His eyes filled with desperation and I knew that was a secret he wouldn't share just to anyone.
"If he puts you down like that, then why do you do even more bad stuff like the magazines claim?" I say, not believing him.
He looked hesitant about something but then speaks. "I used to be a little good boy and tried to make him proud and he still would put me down. I decided that it isn't worth it and that I'd still be put down even if I was good or bad."
I stare at him for any lie and surprisingly, I couldn't find any. I wanted to pity him, but if I were in his position, I wouldn't want anybody to pity me at all.
I decided to cut him some slack.
"Fine," I say. "I'll forgive you." I would give him some advice on his situation but I still want to façade as the girl who's still mad at him.
He smiled at me. My heart fluttered when I see that.
"Thanks," He says and holds out his hand, "Friends?"
I stared at his hand. Was I going to shake it? If I do, then he'll find out I'm his mate. I should probably use my acting skills now. I should probably get know who he is before I go and tell him I'm his mate. That way, I can get some good information about him.
"Just because I forgave you, doesn't mean we can be friends that quick," I say icily. "You have to earn your way through that." Seriously, my acting has gotten way better. Maybe the coldness in my voice will tell him to back off and I can have more time to think about my decision. My wolf growled at me again and I can only tell her to shut the hell up.
He looked surprised at first and then nodded determinedly, "Alright."
So he was really going to stick through this? I never even knew he could actually be friendly. Well, I guess I have to decide whether he is or not.
He unlocks his car door and I get in the back seat. When he gets in the driver's seat, the car filled with an awkward silence. Jason gets in the passenger seat five minutes later.
"You couldn't have taken any longer?" I say sarcastically at him. Usually, I wouldn't say anything to him at all, but since I'm still kind of mad at him, I will be rude.
"I don't need any of your snarky comments," He says. "I just got into a fight over the phone."
"With who? Your one night stands?"
I see him grin through his mirror, "Something like that."
I rolled my eyes and stared out the window while we drove to school. Jason suddenly looked unusually happy at something and Ryder looked indifferent. If I could stare at him all day, I would, but that would make me look like a freak and I can't have him getting the wrong idea about me.
Suddenly, I thought about how dangerous this could get when people see me coming out of the same car with Jason AND Ryder. Some people don't even know that I'm Jason's sister. I would definitely get lots of attention and glares today. Hell, I'd probably get confronted by the so-called 'Miss Perfects' of our school.
Don't get me wrong, some of them can be sickly sweet sometimes and I even get along with one of those girls from the 'perfect' group, but some of them are so mean and would kill to be in my spot right now. I can't imagine the dreaded horror of what they'll do to me. I heard one time, a girl named Cynthia thought Luke was her mate and one of the 'perfects' of the group got so angry that she got suspended and Cynthia never came to this school again.
Well, that's the rumor I heard. Judging on how most of the group acts, I would say that the rumor would be true. Just like every high school drama, the 'perfects' were the girls who every guy wanted to date. They had nice bodies, pretty hair, a pretty face, and a swarm of girls who envied them. I happened to be one of those girls. If I put my time into doing my hair and makeup and getting all social, I probably would've been part of them. But since I'm antisocial and hate attention, I really don't bother. Plus, I wouldn't really think that Jason would like me wearing the clothes they wear. Most of the 'perfects' were sluts and I actually feel bad for whoever is mated to them.
I'm the one to talk though. I was mated to a guy who is a badass, sexy player. If anybody were to be thinking about Ryder's mate, they would feel bad for me. Now, I won't self-pity myself because I have no idea who Ryder really is inside. Who knows? Maybe he's one of those guys who are bad boys but is a total sweetheart inside. I mean, he just apologized to me earlier and he told me that little secret. That would mean something right? Unless if he tells that to everyone. I can't get my hopes up to high though. This is reality, not some cheesy romance novel, although it would be nice if it were.
Having a mate sounds like the most perfect thing right now and I can only hope that Ryder would be faithful to me.
I snapped out of my thinking moments when we pulled into a parking space of the school. I gulped as the two boys, who were chatting while I was thinking, got out of the car.
I stepped outside and braced myself of what stares I was going to get and the hell that was going to happen. I can only anticipate it.
--
A/N: Okay it's been like three years since I've written this chapter (so I wrote this when I was 14) and it makes me cringe a lot and I've gotten all sorts of comments on it so I just want to say that my views are completely different now and I don't slut shame anymore and I'm like 100% feminist and yikes I'm sorry for my 14 year old self I'm pretty ashamed