A/N: CHAPTER TWENTY, WOOHOO! We've made the second big number. Going well so far? The story has hardly started yet, so hold on tight ;-)
-Sophia, xoxo
°°°°
My eyes fly open when I hit something cold and hard on my stomach, face planting onto what I guess to be the damned wooden floor.
"Shit!" I exclaim when sharp pain throbs from my lower stomach, rolling onto my back to gaze up at the barren ceiling with zombie-like groans. I hear shuffling of sheets and my eyes narrow into slits when Asher's messy bed hair pops into view as he leans over the edge of my side of the mattress with a lazy dimpled smile on his face. Seeing my current distress that expression quickly morphs into an annoying smirk.
"'Morning sunshine."
"What happened to buttercup?" I hiss and he chuckles.
"You just happen to look especially radiant this lovely morning."
"Shut up idiot. You kicked me out of bed and you know it."
"I'm not denying it."
"Arsehole."
"Touché." I groan at his chirpy tone and rise to my feet groggily, watching with satisfaction as a little glimpse of worry flashes behind Asher's arrogant smirk. A master plan forms in my mind as I collapse to my knees and hold onto my stomach, wheezing out with what I hope looks like monstrous pain. He's by my side in a flash. I don't really have time to admire his naked sculpted torso with those delicious abs, because I'm on a mission right now.
"Cami? Camilla? Buttercup, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He rubs my back and when he leans down closer to my face to inspect my expression I let out a hysteric laugh.
"Oh-m-my-G-God, Asher!" I cry out between wheezes, and I let out a squeal when I'm flipped onto my back and a heavy body filled with lean muscle straddles me and pins me mercilessly to the ground.
"Buttercup? Who's the best?" He whispers in my ear, and for a moment I just stare at his eyes before my gaze drops to his kissable lips, catching us in a moment of pure passion. I don't even fully comprehend his words before he starts attacking me with horrible tickles in my sides.
"Asher! NO! STOP IT!" I scream between fits of laughter which mix with his own, and he continues his merciless assault before I finally crack."Y-YOU'RE TH-THE BEST ASH-ASHER!" He suddenly stops and flashes me a satisfied grin with a kiss on my cheek, before rolling off of me and onto his back beside me. I immediately miss our close proximity.
"Well that was fun."
"Shut up you idiot. Couldn't you just have woken me up like a normal person?"
"I did wake you up, and I'm far from normal baby."
"I meant with a freaking alarm clock dumbass."
"But that wouldn't have been fun now would it?"
"By the way," I tilt my head to look up at him sideways with a frown and an annoyed tone to match my expression, "What the hell were you doing in the bed?" He laughs and shakes his head.
"You don't trust me buttercup?"
"Answer the question."
"I slept on the floor, but my little stunt wouldn't have been possible down there would it?"
"Shut up shitface." Ooh, a new insult, how beautiful.
"The insults are really making me sad buttercup," he replies, his words dripping with sarcasm.
"And you're extremely annoying," I finish for him, standing up and striding over to the pile of clothes that Emma had come by to lend me yesterday, after Aiyana's ehmm - intervention.
I pick the pile up from the chair and send a glare in Asher's direction before slamming the bathroom door shut and locking it with a click.
°°°°
I step out of History class, my last class of the morning, and head over to my locker. Approaching, I raise an eyebrow at a foreign guy leaning against the adjoining locker next to mine, but without saying anything I stack some books into the half-filled space and click the lock in place. I still don't utter a word when I glance in his direction, briefly taking in his reddish hair and hazel eyes, before making my way towards the cafeteria.
"Hey! Wait up!" I must be walking faster than I thought because he has to jog to catch up with me. He throws a lazy smile in my direction and falls into a comfortable pace beside me. I look at him and tighten my lips together, forcing myself not to be rude. I've been working on that lately. Not counting my little altercation with Asher this morning.
Asher.
The simple thought of his name makes me envy the future me that I'll see him - hopefully soon - again.
"Camilla right?" He chirps happily, and I nod curtly, taking in his pale complexion and the splattered freckles. He's actually really cute, not that I'm looking or anything.
"That would be me."
"Cool. I'm Stephen by the way."
"So?"
"Huh?" He looks at me goofily and annoyance creeps in. I let out a sigh and pick up the pace, noticing the stream of students rushing into the cafeteria to be first in line.
"What do you want, Stephen?"
"Oh yeah. We're having a party tomorrow night, wanna join?"
"We?"
"Some other pack members our age." I stop in my tracks and turn to face him. Seeing my surprise confuses him for a moment but he shrugs it off. The brief flicker of gold in his eyes confirms his words and I inspect his expression.
"A party? On a Tuesday night?"
"Come on, it'll be cool to get to know the pack right? Being future Luna and all..." He looks down at his feet and glances back up at me sheepishly. Me, however, I had no idea that everyone knew.
Already.
"Does everyone know?" I utter quietly, noticing some recognisable students watching us before disappearing into the cafeteria. I suspect them to be werewolves too then. He nods quietly and gestures towards the open doors. I sigh and fall into step with him, both of us being engulfed in the stream of hungry people. At the mere thought of food, my stomach grumbles.
"Hungry?" He says with a newfound happiness. I nod in respond and he grins at me, slowly walking backwards towards a table filled with students regarding us curiously. "I'll leave you to it then. But don't forget about tomorrow. You should come, seriously." And with that he leaves me to file in line, watching the food displayed and thinking over his words. As he mentioned, it could be a good opportunity for me to meet the pack, but just the thought of that turns nervousness into anxiety. What if they don't like me? What if I'm not good enough?
She can't fight back. She won't be able to protect herself, or the pack.
Aiyana's words follow me around as I gather the food on a tray, and it's only now that I fully see the truth in them. I can't fight. At least not anything close to being a werewolf. I'm still deep in thought when I approach the table, tray in hand and a cloudy look in my eyes.
"What's up Cami?" Jack chirps from the side, and I roll my eyes, snapping out of thought and sitting down next to him.
"The sky."
"Nice to see you too."
"I know right? My presence instantly makes everything better."
"Your sarcasm is seriously getting on my nerves," Jasper grumbles across for me, and I shoot him a dark look.
"Did I ask for your opinion?"
"Look," He starts, instant guilt replacing his bad mood, "I'm sorry Cami. I really am, I don't know why, but I snap sometimes. Forgive me?"
I unconsciously find the spot at the back of my head where he'd slammed me into the lockers.
"Sure, I forgive you," I let out half-heartedly. He relaxes and leans back, offering me a small appreciative smile before picking at the concoction of unknown food on his plate.
"So, now that all of that is cleared, did you hear what we got for the project?" Jack joins in, diverting my attention efficiently to him.
"No? What did we get then?"
"A*!" He exclaims with much more enthusiasm than needed, attracting a couple of odd looks to us. Emma groans beside me and places her head in her hands.
"Ugh, you're so lucky to have had Jack. I was with some weird guy who didn't do shit, and I'm pretty sure we failed."
"Is his absence getting to you?" I ask Emma softly, feeling a little guilty over my decision. I'd promptly asked - more like demanded - that Zander and Damien stop coming to school just to watch over me, because I was starting to feel like some vulnerable piece of glass who needed body guards to go to the toilet.
Okay, that was exaggerated, but you get it.
"No, it's fine, really," she adds, seeing my doubtful expression. "Besides, I see Zander all the time, it's nice to have some space to breathe now and then, as much as I love him," she finishes softly, eyes regarding the outside scenery playing by from the big windows. I focus on her expression - momentarily wishing that I could read her thoughts - for a few more seconds, but when she gives nothing away I continue shoving my food around in the plate without any hunger left. Any cravings for food that I'd had moments before have disappeared.
"We should do something sometime yeah? It's been a while," I ask lightly, glancing sideways to check on her. She just closes her eyes and nods slowly, letting out a sigh and standing up. She picks up her tray and leaves without a word.
"Well, that was interesting," Jack muses light-heartedly, being all happiness and fluffy unicorns. But I know that he's watching me for a reaction. I sigh and give him a tight-lipped smile, standing up as well.
"I'm gonna go, I'll see you later," I say curtly, before turning around and practically sprinting out of the cafeteria. Emma's nowhere to be seen, and I feel myself getting more anxious as seconds pass. Did I make a mistake? Is the mate bond hurting her? I let out a groan and march over to my locker again to have something to do before the bell rings again.
This is going to be the longest afternoon of my life.
°°°°
"I'm home!" I shout, dropping my bag by the door and proceeding to the open spaced kitchen/living area. A tray of snacks is already displayed in front of me on the island, and I greedily reach for a stick piled with strawberries.
"Ccaaaaammmmiiiiii!!" Mary comes tumbling across the floor and knocks right into me so that I bend down on one knee and hug her with the stick in the other hand. She snatches a strawberry from it before I can protest and pops it in her mouth.
"You little devil." I giggle along with her and she gives me a wide grin with her cheeks stuffed with strawberry. I stand up again and eat another snack. "How was your Monday Maryberry?"
-I loveeee Mondays! I see all of my fwiends, and we play lowts of gwames!" She exclaims happily, accepting a tortilla chip gratefully from me.
I stare at her in disbelief.
My sister? She likes Mondays? I can't wrap my head around that...
"Hello Camilla, how was school?" Mum's voice rings from behind me, and I gulp, slowly turning around to face her.
I've got a lot of explaining to do.
"Umm, it was fine."
"Great, we'll talk at dinner," she says curtly, before disappearing down the hall.
Oh no. Mum's mad? That's so not a good sign.
"Why is Mummy angwy?" Mary asks, pure curiosity shining through her angelic features. I sigh and kiss her cheeks, taking the stairs and whispering mischievously from over my shoulder.
"We'll have to find out later..." Mary giggles and I smile, disappearing up the stairs. But my stomach is churning and I feel anything but excited.
°°°°
All four of us are seated at the extravagant dinner table, nicely made up with candelabras and detailed napkins, silverware and intricate glasses. I know that Mum did this to make it seem like everything was perfectly fine - before the big blow of course.
I stare at my plate filled with golden potatoes and a juicy beef, then over at Mary who's shoving it all into her little mouth with delight. Dad is also watching her with a bemused expression, but when we catch eye contact, he quickly diverts his attention.
Great, he also knows what Mum is about to lecture me on.
"So Cami, did you spend a nice weekend?" Mum asks from her plate, watching me over the table with a stern stare. I swallow nervously and take a bite of one of the delicious potatoes, just to delay it all. She knows what I'm doing, though, because she clears her throat forcefully and regards me harshly.
"Camilla."
"Yes," I pipe up, surprised at my own chirpy voice. "It was great."
Mum looks taken aback for a second and meets Dad's eyes for a second, before looking back at me.
"Where were you?
"Why does it matter?"
"Excuse me?" She snaps.
Oopsie daisy...
"I- umm, I was with Emma."
Lies.
"No you weren't."
Shit!
"Huh?" I whisper, and Mum lets out an exasperated sigh.
"Don't play dumb with me Camilla Wilson! I called Ms Abbot and she informed me that Emma was home and sick. Only her boyfriend has seen her this weekend."
Sick? Emma's sick? Is that why she's been acting so weird?
"You didn't come back after school on Friday," Mum continues, "and you never called us once! Now, when we tried to reach you, the line went dead, every. Time."
"I'm sorry Mum, I didn't mean to worry-"
"NO!" We all jump back at her outburst as she pushes back from the table and rises from her seat. Her eyes are wild and frantic, and she's shaking as she fights to control her tears.
Where's the lecture? What's going on?
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUST APOLOGISE AND EXPECT IMMEDIATE FORGIVENESS! YOU LEFT US FOR TWO WHOLE DAYS WITHOUT CALLING US ONCE! WE WERE WORRIED SICK!" She yells, and I see Mary shrink into her seat with fear. None of us has ever seen her this agitated. Dad stands up and pulls her into his embrace, leading her away as I just stare at the spot she'd been standing, mouth hanging open.
Moments later Dad returns and slumps down into his chair, offering a small smile to Mary who takes it as a good sign and proceeds to eat. I just fix him warily, and his eyes tell me a whole other story: she's not okay.
"Dad?"
"She's just been worried about you Camilla. You know, after you had that dark period of time when you isolated yourself from everyone? She's been holding on to this new positive side of you and she's scared that you're slipping away from her again. Things have happened to her before Camilla, but I can't be the one to tell you. You have to have that conversation with her."
Silence hangs over our heads as I take in all of this new information. More secrets, more confusion. But this time, I refuse to plunge into darkness. This time, I will figure it out without falling deep.
Because if I do, I don't know if I'll have the strength to find my way up again.
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PHEW, that was intense. Hope you liked it guys <3