I open my eyes halfway. I can't think of a valid reason why, so I shut them. It's Thursday, which means I have school today. I wonder why my alarm hasn't gone off yet. A thought occurs. Did I sleep through it?
I groggily get up, not bothering to check the time, and go see if my mom has left for work yet.
I find her wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the couch eating Fruit Loops from the box. "Uh, mom?"
She looks at me. "Oh, hey honey. You're up early. School doesn't start for another two hours."
Oh shit, no wonder my alarm didn't go off. Curse my luck. "Well, you're up early then too. Why are you eating Fruit Loops at 5:30 in the morning?"
"I uh, couldn't sleep because I was hungry."
I stare at her. "Why Fruit Loops? And we have bowls."
"I don't know. I'm just tired I guess."
Yeah, me too. Maybe I'm dreaming. "I'm going back to bed," I say and walk lazily back to my room.
***
"Wait. Why did you even get up two hours earlier than you needed to?"
"I told you Savannah, I just woke up."
"So instead of going back to sleep you decided to-"
"Yes, I decided to go check on my mom. Wanna repeat the story a third time?"
She crinkles her nose at me. "I think you needed that extra hour of sleep."
I roll my eyes. "Whatever. Have you seen Zay yet? I want to see him before class."
"Nope. Yep, right there." I follow her gaze to his locker. He looks at me the exact second I do. "I'll catch up with you two. At lunch," she says and goes to find Ethan.
"Hello, my angel," he says with a bright smile when I reach him. I respond by giving him the tightest hug I can muster.
His warmth surrounds me and I feel complete again. A whole day away from him was too much.
I feel him hum against my chest. "I missed you too," he mumbles in my hair.
I smile up at him, glad that I'm able to see him. "I missed you more."
He touches our noses together. "That's not possible." He then kisses me fully on the lips.
I pull away, noticing we have viewers. The couple of people who stopped to watch us continue walking. I roll my eyes at them. Weirdos.
We start walking to class. "So how was this day off of yours? Do anything fun?"
He half smiles. "Well, I caught up with some of my friends."
"You have other friends?" I blurt out before thinking. He looks at me, his face feigning hurt. "I didn't mean it like that it's just, you don't..."
"I know what you meant. They're like me."
I look around for possible eavesdroppers. "Werewolves?"
"Yeah. I've known them for forever. But ever since I started high school, I've only got to see them during the summer."
"Oh. What are their names?"
"There's Cameron, Levi, my best friend Matthew, and Adam who's a bit younger than us."
We reach our classroom and sit down at our normal spots, near the window. "So what else did you do? At this mysterious wolf place?"
"I uh, found out some bad news."
My breath catches. "What?"
"Apparently Ryder formed an evil pack of his own. We haven't figured out what to do if it's true."
An evil pack? That makes him ten times more powerful an scary. "So, what does this mean?"
He grabs my hand and slowly glides his thumb across it. "I'm not sure. But I hope it means you'll consider moving in with me again?"
I take a deep breath. "Trust me, I've reconsidered it many times. But even if I did, I don't see how I'm going to pull off moving in with my boyfriend who happens to live next door to me. My mom's gonna notice."
"Then just tell her you're spending the night, with Savannah. She likes her, right?"
"Yeah, but that's a lot to risk..."
"For me? Would you risk it for me?" he begs.
It must be a trick question, because I would do anything for him. But him using that against me, that's sneaky. I reluctantly cave in.
"Fine. For how long?"
A satisfied smile appears on his face. "Until I know for sure you're safe."
"So when Ryder is gone," I say.
"Yeah. Until then."
I smile and look at our teacher who just walked in. Time for another boring lecture.
***
"You're on the prom committee?" Max asks, flabbergasted.
"Uh, duh. I've been waiting for this day my whole life," Savannah says.
"You know, I don't think that you can be Prom Queen if you're the one taking in the votes," I point out.
She is silent for a moment. "Oh shit, you're right. I'm backing out of the program."
"If you're going to be queen, I'll be king," Ethan says to her.
"We'll make sure to vote for you both, right Zay?"
Zay looks at me glumly. "Do I have to vote for him?"
"Yes, you do," I say.
"Fine, sure."
"Listen up! Everyone! Everybody listen!" a high pitched voice calls in the cafeteria.
Lola Henderson, aka the hottest richest girl in school, is standing in the middle of the room. It falls quiet and people stop to listen to her.
"Hello student body. I am Lola Henderson, as you already know. I just have to inform you that I'm running for Prom Queen. So make sure you like, vote for me! Thank you everyone!" she says, flipping her dark brown hair.
A couple of guys whistle and some girls clap to cheer her on. Our table, on the other hand, groans. "She's really pathetic," Ethan says.
"Yeah, I know! I really hate her guts right now. She thinks she's all that but she's not. She'll probably pay people to vote for her," Savannah says.
"Don't worry Savannah, I'm sure you'll win."
The bell rings, ending our conversation. I say bye to Savannah and Ethan. I throw away my trash and Zay follows me out of the lunch room.
"Are you going to run for Prom Queen?" Zay asks me as he walks me to class.
"No."
"Why not? You could totally win. I'd even run so we both could."
"Zay, even if we did have a chance at winning, I wouldn't want to take that away from Savannah. Literally, her only dream is to win Prom Queen," I explain.
"Ok, but I know we could win," he says.
I smile. "And besides, since when do you want to go to a social event? I haven't seen you at anything the past three years."
"Well, with you it'd be different. I could endure all of those humans if it meant I was with you."
"Yeah, I think I could endure all of those humans too. If I was going to prom with you."
He laughs, taking my hint. He scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, I gotta stop assuming things. Will you go to prom with me, my angel?"
When I don't answer right away, he starts apologizing. "I'm sorry that I didn't ask you in a more memorable way with signs and stuff like all the jocks are doing. I'm just not good with that kind of stuff."
"Hey, don't worry. I wouldn't go with anyone else. Of course I'll be your date to prom," I say assuringly.
"Good. I'll see you in last period?" he asks as we near my classroom.
"Yeah. Buh bye," I say, kissing him on the cheek.
He smiles and grabs me, giving me another kiss, this time on the lips. "Buh bye."
***
Zay waited in class for me again; I feel so very special. Now we are walking home together discussing what I will tell my mom for the fifth time.
"So you pack, wait for your mom to get home and you tell her what?"
"Mom, me and Savannah are doing a project together and she needs me to spend the night for a while. Is that okay with you?"
Zay stops at his driveway. "Okay, but are to sure that's believable? Say it again."
"No."
"Please? I love the sound of your voice."
I roll my eyes while blushing. "No, get ready to take my bags after I pack."
"Why can't I come in to pack with you?" he complains.
"Just in case she comes home early for some reason. Now go," I shoo him away.
"Kay, don't be too long," he says, walking to his back door. "And don't forget to text Savannah about it," he adds.
I smile and walk to my front door pulling out my phone. I text Savannah, ready to attempt perhaps the biggest lie I've ever had to tell my mom.