Chapter 5: Setting Things Right
-Carmen Silvers POV-
Monday came and I could finally relax. We went hunting again Sunday afternoon, just to sure that when Monday come it would be as easy as we could make it when he was surrounded by humans. It took a long time but he finally gave in and found a squirrel and a rabbit. Of course he said that I tasted a million times better than they did.
Which made me laugh; I mean come on. I was a werewolf and I apparently smelled 'unappealing' to vampires yet I taste good? Kind of strange.
Anyways, even though I was a little more relaxed now that he was starting to get okay with feeding and that he came to school I hadn't seen him all morning and I was anxious as I walked into the cafeteria to see if he was there.
He wasn't.
I sighed and started towards my usual table when suddenly someone grabbed my arm. Out of instinct and reflex I whirled around, twisting my arm out of the person's grasp before I grabbed the arm and twisted it.
"Let go of me you crazy bitch!" a girl cried.
I let go of the familiar blonde girl and growled, "What do you want Caroline?"
"Where's Austin?" she hissed at me, rubbing her arm where I'd grabbed her.
I didn't feel bad for hurting her; it's her fault for sneaking up on me. Besides, I hated the girl so I was kind of happy about that.
"Like I know," I snorted before I continued to my table. I was just about to sit down at my table when she caught up again.
"Oh come on! I know you know! Friday night I saw him go and talk to you and then you both went outside," she snapped at me, "What did you do with my boyfriend and where has he been all last week and today? I know you know!"
"Carmen!" a voice said easily, an arm winding around my waist. My eyes popped as Austin grinned down at me before he looked up at Caroline, "Sorry for my unscheduled absence; I was sick. Stomach flu."
If looks could kill I'd be six feet under because of Caroline's glare at me. My Pack was just staring with their mouths hanging open in shock at his arm around my waist.
"I'm glad to see you look better now," she said, flashing him a million dollar smile, ignoring me, "Want to come eat at my table and then maybe go for a private walk outside? You can come over tonight; my parents are on vacation all week which means I have an empty house."
It took everything I had not to lunge at her; how dare she hit on my soul mate. Austin's arm tightened its hold, effectively holding me in place. Thank God for his super strength or there would be little bits of Caroline all over the cafeteria.
"Actually Caroline, I'm going to have to refuse. On all counts," Austin said easily, pulling me slightly closer, "I'm afraid that I'm not interested actually."
"Not...interested?" she said slowly.
"Sorry but no. I was...different before. I'm better now though and I realize you and I never would have worked out," he shrugged, "Sorry for wasting your time."
She let out an aggravated growl, "You're kidding me right?"
"Not at all," he shook his head, smiling apologetically, "I'm taking a break from relationships and stuff until things...calm down a bit."
"Yeah right, you just want to date her," she spat angrily, pointing a finger at me.
"She has nothing to do with it Caroline, I'm just not interested in you. That's it. Besides I said I'm not going to be in a relationship for a while...which means even if I wanted I wouldn't date Carmen" he said, giving her a 'duh' look.
"Of course not! No relationship there; you'll probably just bang her! Fuck buddies, I'm sure," she sneered.
Anger flared up, in both of us this time, and I jumped forward but Austin caught me around the waist tightly while I heard the chairs of my Pack mates screech as they all stood next to us, glaring at Caroline.
"Take it back," I growled at her, upper lip curling back.
Her brown eyes popped and everyone in the entire cafeteria fell silent at our exchange.
"Take it back now," I snarled, digging my fingers into Austin's arm.
"I-I-I I'm s-sorry," she stuttered, stumbling backwards before she turned tail and ran off. Austin waited another moment to make sure I was calm enough before he loosened his hold. As much as I hated to, I pushed his arm away and stepped away slightly. No reason to make my Pack suspicious.
"Shows over everyone," Lena said sternly, her voice carrying through the quiet cafeteria. After a long moment everyone cautiously returned back to chattering with their friends, mostly they were talking about what just happened but at least they weren't gawking...as much.
"Thank you...for that," I said to Austin, smiling, "You know...holding me back when I wanted to rip her throat out."
He shrugged, "No problem. I figured she'd say something stupid; it's kind of the way she is," he said, reaching a hand up to me before he let it drop awkwardly, "Um...do you by chance know where your sister is?" he asked.
"Why?" Matt butted in, "What do you have to do with Lily?"
Clearly, he didn't like Austin going anywhere near my sister...probably because he was afraid Austin would hurt her since she was human.
Which was stupid.
"Matt," I said firmly, "What he has to do with Lily is none of your business."
"No it's alright," Austin said quickly before he turned to Matt, "I just wanted to apologize to her for Caleb's behaviour...well my behaviour in her eyes. I'm trying to set right everything Caleb did; and he harassed Lily so I wanted to make sure she was okay after that."
"Oh," Matt said, deflating. He couldn't find anything wrong with that.
"Well I haven't seen her," I shrugged, scanning the cafeteria quickly, "But she could be in the library. I heard her talking about having a huge project to work on."
"Thanks, I'll head over there then," he said with a quick nod.
I winced, "I'll go with you. She's still...not over it."
It was hard to forget how angry she'd been about Austin; clearly she was not in the mood to talk to him and I can at least act as a buffer between the two.
He grimaced but nodded.
"I'll be back soon, okay?" I said to Matt before I gave him a quick hug and left with Austin, resisting the urge to take his hand or jump on his back or just to touch him in general.
I could see he was having the same problem, he had his hands stuffed in his pockets and he kept glancing up at me, pursing his lips as we walked through the empty halls to the library.
"So...when you say 'not over it' do you mean she hates me guts or she's just mildly upset?" he asked.
"The former," I said, forcing a smile, "But it'll be okay...I think."
"Caleb's an ass, I hope he went straight to Hell," he shook his head ruefully.
"You and me both," I sighed as we came to the library. We went inside and immediately went to the second floor where there were book cases up against the walls but mainly it was just tables for working and computers for easier/quicker research.
I found Lily sitting with a few other girls, looking like she was having a great with her project and friends. I was happy about that; I was slightly afraid that after Caleb killed Monika that Lily would have been left alone. But after she'd gotten over her grief she went out and made new friends. But I knew she was still sad about Monika; Lily was forever loyal.
"Hey Lily," I said quietly, coming to stand next to her.
"Oh hey Carmen," she smiled up at me, which eased my worries about not being forgiven for our fight about Austin . But then her gaze shifted behind me and she glared, "What's he doing here?"
I stepped out of his way and let him explain.
He crouched down next to her so they were at eye-level and all her friends gaped before they all started giggling and making 'ooh' noises and squeals.
Lily ignored them and glared at Austin with her icy blue eyes, "What?" she snapped.
"Look...the past month I've been a real ass. I know that and I'm very sorry for all the things I did to you; I didn't mean it and if I could have stopped it I would have," he said honestly, "And I understand if you hate my guts for those things but I wanted to try and do the right thing and apologize to you for being a jerk. So I'm very sorry."
I bit my lip while I waited for her to answer. Her friends were practically swooning, probably thinking he was going to ask her to be his girlfriend or something while Lily's face was still hard. But behind her cold mask I could see she was thinking his words through.
She looked up at me, as if looking for an answer and I could only give her a look that said 'its your choice' before she looked back down at Austin, studying him while her lips pursed, nose wrinkling like it always did when she was thinking hard.
"Okay fine, I forgive you," she said finally, rolling her eyes, "But make sure it doesn't happen again or I won't be nearly as forgiving."
"Trust me, I'm hoping it will never happen again," he said, still being honest. And I knew he meant the whole Caleb situation. I think everyone would agree with him.
"Well it shouldn't; you don't seem like a half bad guy. Besides, if my sister likes you I figure you must be pretty special; she doesn't take a liking to just anyone," Lily said matter-of-factly.
I blushed and Austin chuckled, "Yeah, I know. I'm lucky," he said as he straightened up and winked at me.
Now all of her friends, including Lily, went 'ooh' and started making kissy noises.
"Oh shush," I said, blushing even deeper, "It's not like that."
Oh yes it is, I thought happily.
"Uh-huh," Lily said, giving me a look that said she clearly didn't believe that, "We've heard the rumours."
"Yeah, rumours," I rolled my eyes.
"There's a little bit of truth to everything," Lily pointed out.
I grabbed Austin's hand and started tugging him away, "Well we should be going; you've got a project to do and we're keeping you from it! So have fun guys and I'll see you at home Lily!" I said as I dragged him down the stairs. They continued making kissy noises and stuff as we left and I was thankful when we got to the first floor where it was quiet.
We left the library hand in hand but then I remembered where we were and reluctantly let go, stuffing my hands in my pockets so I wouldn't be tempted.
"Well that wasn't so bad," Austin remarked.
I shrugged, "She's not usually that forgiving, but then again most people don't go on their knees and ask for forgiveness."
"What can I say? I'm special, remember?" he teased.
I waved a hand dismissively, "Yeah, yeah," I grinned, "Not special enough to bite me again though."
He sighed, "You're breaking my heart, Carmen." "You're heart doesn't even beat anymore," I pointed out, "Not much else I can do to it now."
"Metaphorically speaking," he said, poking my side.
"Carmen!" I heard Liam call before I was suddenly swept right off my feet and thrown over his shoulder.
"Liam you really have to stop doing that," I laughed as I punched his back.
He held me by the ankles and pushed me all the way over his shoulder so I was dangling upside down by my feet. But I was too short to reach the floor.
"Liam!" I whined, "I feel the blood rushing to my head already."
"So do I," I heard Austin crack.
"Fine," Liam sighed, "Bomb's away!" And then he dropped me. My hands shot out and slammed into the floor before I pushed off and twisted, landing on my feet in a crouch before I straightened up, hands on my hips.
"Liam you're so going to pay for that one day," I threatened as I hopped on his back, legs tight around his waist, "When you Change I'm seriously going to kick your butt from one side of the forest to the other."
"You keep saying that but I doubt it'll happen," he grinned, "You're too nice for something like fighting and hurting people."
I raised my eyebrows; I had told them about what happened with Caleb and Austin during the dance. I left out certain parts of course, like all the lovey parts they didn't need to hear.
I looked up at Austin and I'm sure he was thinking the same thing...or about this weekend and the fox.
Dakota turned to Austin, "So it's true...you did Change," she said, blinking as her nostrils flared.
I saw my Pack all stop and inhale, the same 'huh' kind of expression on their faces.
"What? Did you think I was lying when I told you what happened?" I pouted.
"No, it's just hard to believe," Liam shrugged, resting his hands on my legs to make sure I didn't fall even though I had more than enough strength to hold myself on his back.
"So...why were you gone last week anyways?" Lena asked carefully.
"I was..." he winced, "Struggling. With the Change."
"Why? Doesn't it happen quickly?" Lena asked, puzzled.
"Yes but the new...abilities were something I had to get used too," he said, eyes flicking to me.
"He had issues he had to work out too; just like me and Changing back from wolf to human," I shrugged as I slid from Liam's back and stood on his left side, between him and Austin.
"Really? Like changing into a bat?" Liam cracked.
Austin cracked a smile, "No; I can't do that. It was my...diet that I needed help with."
Understanding landed on all of their faces, and slight revulsion.
"Oh," Lena said, visibly paling.
"Yeah," Austin said, looking down.
"And how's that...coming along?" Liam asked awkwardly.
"Um...it's difficult," Austin said, cringing slightly and I put my hand on his arm, a small comfort, "That's why I stayed home all last week. I couldn't deal with all the...you know...especia lly since I had never drank any even after I Changed."
"But I guess you got...some...this weekend?" Matt asked, seeming even more awkward. It sounded like he was talking about sex, not blood.
I covered up my laughter by coughing while Austin seemed to be having a hard time keeping from grinning, "I got a little."
A little of both, I thought in amusement.
Everyone was giving us weird looks and I grinned, "I was there," I shrugged, "I was practicing Changing and we...ran into each other."
Not a complete lie; when he was hunting we had run into each other...but we had wanted to run into each other; it wasn't an accident.
"It was entertaining though," Austin said.
And it had been; Austin was not nearly as good at hunting as I was. Many times he ate dirt when he lunged for an animal because he gave away his position by making a noise or because the wind blew and alerted his prey.
"Entertaining for me; you can't hunt to save your life," I put a hand on my hip as I turned to my Pack to explain, "He chased the same rabbit for over an hour."
"Not fair; I haven't had practice," he protested.
"You're a million times faster then a rabbit and you missed like twenty times; I say that was a failure of epic proportions."
"Can you hunt?" Matt asked me, eyebrows shooting up.
"I can, much better than him," I jerked my thumb at Austin, "But I don't. I just usually chase animals around; I don't actually sink my teeth into them," I remembered how tempting the deer and animals were, "But sometimes I definitely wanted to and had to stop myself from doing that."
"You were going to eat an animal?" Kayla asked, a horrified look on her face that matched all of my Pack mates.
"You don't understand," I shook my head, "As a human it sounds disgusting, but when you're a wolf...you don't think the same. You think like a wolf and when you smell a deer or something instincts take over; you want to chase it, you want to hunt it, you want to eat it. But I catch myself before I do."
I wasn't disgusted by my temptations; hell I was curious about what a deer tasted like and stuff. But then the human part of me slammed on the brakes and says 'no way no way no way! You are human and humans don't eat deer!' But the human part of me is so much smaller than it used to be; I was acting more wolf like than ever. Lunging and growling at Caroline? Definitely wolf like, not human like.
My Pack looked slightly...shocked and even a little disgusted. I sighed; there was no point in arguing the point further. They wouldn't understand. Now I knew how Austin felt when he was freaking out last Monday and how he said I wouldn't understand.
"Never mind," I said as the bell rang, "We should get to class."
"Actually Carmen, I wanted to talk to you about something," Austin cut in, "We could talk about it on the way to Science if you don't mind?"
"I don't mind," I shrugged, "See you guys in Science," I waved to Matt and Lena, "And see you two tomorrow," I said to Liam and Lena.
Liam scooped me up again and gave me a bear hug before he set me down, ruffled my hair and jogged off with the rest of my Pack.
"What a goofball," I said as I flattened out my hair and started walking with Austin, "So what's up?"
"Well, as you so nicely pointed out I suck at hunting," he rolled his eyes, "So I figured since you're better at it...could you teach me?"
I raised an eyebrow, "I get to teach you something? Is the world ending?"
"Haha," he bumped me with his hip.
I bumped him back, "I suppose but I don't know how well that's going to work. Unless I stay human that's going to be very hard with a very large language barrier if you don't remember our last game of charades."
"You can always explain first, go Change and then demonstrate," he shrugged once we got to his locker. He spun the lock, opened the door, got his books and slammed it shut again, "Either way we can figure it out tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" I blinked.
He nodded, "My parents are coming back tonight from their trip finally."
I sighed, "Damn."
He chuckled as we started to my locker, "My sentiments exactly. But we'll still be able to go practice at night, maybe not as often since they'll get suspicious if I'm gone every night but still often enough."
"Still, that sucks," I made a face, "And I'm not just talking about the less practice time," I raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah I know, but it won't be that bad. Since the Change I've gotten mad sneaking out skills," he flashed me a wicked grin.
"Good; now let's hope you're mad skills will work as well as you say they will," I said, unable to keep the mocking tone out of my voice.
"Are you questioning my abilities?" he asked as I stopped at my locker and he leaned against the lockers next to it.
I put on an innocent face, "Of course not! Why would you ever think that?"
He rolled his eyes, "Just remember I'm a lot faster and stronger than you."
I snorted, "Hey Mr. Fast and Strong...who was the one who couldn't catch a bunny?" I snatched my science books from my shelf and held them against my hip as I closed my locker.
"I didn't know how to hunt," he sniffed, "I was perfectly justified."
"Even if you didn't know how to hunt catching a rabbit would be very easy especially since your so fast!" I gushed before I laughed, "I can outrun a rabbit in one second in wolf form, yet it can outsmart you."
"I never said I was smarter did I?" he grinned as we walked to science.
"True, we both know who has the brains between us two," I smirked.
"Oh excuse me smarty pants," he said, stopping outside of the science class door, "Brains before brawns," he smirked, gesturing for me to go in first."
"Are you calling me ugly?" I gaped.
"You said it, not me," he said cheerily.
"Someone clearly doesn't want to learn how to hunt," I said before I stepped into the classroom, Austin following close behind me.
"Now wait a minute," he said, catching up quickly, "That's not fair."
"Plenty fair," I shrugged as I sat down, "Why should I help you if you insult me?"
"Well then I'm very sorry and I'll make it up to you tomorrow night," he said quietly so no one would hear.
"Make it worth my while and I'll forgive you...until then you're in the proverbial doghouse," I said as the bell rang and Mrs. Stern took her place at the front of the class.
"Um excuse me, you're the dog not me," he elbowed my side.
I shook my head at him and put my hand on his thigh, sliding my hand up his leg.
He tensed up, turning his head to narrow his silver eyes at me. I kept my gaze glued to the front of the class as Mrs. Stern lectured everyone. I was bored out of my skull by the time class was almost over.
At the last five minutes of class she announced we had a project to do that was due in a few weeks. About teens being sexually active. The risks of it, forms of contraception, and whether we were for, against it or neutral. And we had to work with the person we sat with.
My cheeks heated and I bit my lip while Austin chuckled and patted my leg, "This is going to be fun," he said, grinning.
Oh great, discussing sex with Austin. Discussing if teenagers should or shouldn't have sex. This is going to get complicated. Now let's just hope I don't say the wrong thing to him about it or imply something or else I'll totally screw up our relationship.
I hate school.
___________________________________
Know doesn't everyone hate school ;) I didn't go to school today cause I thought what the hell I'm updating!!!!!
anyway guys it's been a while how are all of you guys <3 Luff u all
:)
So question " What do u guys think about the new title?"
And " Should Austin's mom walk in on Carmen and him (not when they go bam bam but making out haha) ?"
-Much Love
oh wait go read @LaurenMille12 Janoskians Story and all her books I'm in one and I absolutely love it <3 Goooo reeeaddddd emmmm