At this point, I guess it was safe to say that I had royally messed up. Name just about every stupid thing in the book and I had done it. Starting way back on my first day when I had shifted form after being told very clearly not to and finishing with throwing my obnoxious, controlling date through a wall and then subsequently fleeing the scene of the crime.
I had to set things right, once and for all. I had to stop with the impulsive, irrational decisions and start thinking before I acted.
My animal side would be absolutely no help in this matter. It no more understood the concept of thinking before acting than it understood the concept of long division. Maybe that was the whole reason I was being so impulsive in the first place.
But, from now on, I would listen to my human brain. My rational brain. The one that made reasonable, logical decisions.
The first step would be getting rid of Lucas. Basically, my plans for that involved blowing off the date I had never agreed to in the first place, avoiding him whenever possible and, if our paths happened to cross, making my feelings toward him abundantly clear. He was bound to get the message at some point.
The second step, the one I was dreading the most, involved telling my friends what an idiot I had been before all the secrets spiraled out of control.
And step three: keep my head down and stay the hell out of trouble from now on.
Easy, right?
After breakfast, Reza went off to spend a little quality time with his girlfriend (I tried to ignore the pang of jealousy that struck harder and harder every time that girl was mentioned). This left me, Danielle and Jewel with a full day of complete freedom ahead of us.
“I think we should go to the beach,” Jewel said, as we made out way out of the courtyard. “I don’t think Eve’s been there yet.”
“Is it safe?” I asked. “What if some…” I cast around for the right term “… normal people see us?”
“Highly unlikely,” Danielle said. “It’s part of the ‘restricted military zone,’” she added air quotations to the phrase. “No one ever goes there.”
“Actually, some guy did wash up from a ship-wreck or something a few years back,” Jewel said. “Luckily, he was completely delirious. He assumed the huge wolf that transformed into a woman right in front of his eyes was just a crazy hallucination.”
Danielle grinned. “Oh right, I forgot about that. Kerry went berserk. She wanted to have his memory erased.”
“Like that’s even possible,” Jewel rolled her eyes. “So, what do you say, Eve? We like to shift into cat-form and chase the seagulls.”
I hesitated. It sounded fun, but going to the beach would mean changing out of my baggy hoody and putting on some proper beach attire. There was no way to hide the bruises on my arm in a bikini. I was prepared to tell them about my problems with Lucas. I was not prepared to admit that he had gotten physical with me. That somehow felt like it would create more problems than it would solve.
We stepped out into the morning sunlight. The heat struck me like a wall. Beads of sweat quickly formed on my body and rolled down my skin. Then again, if I didn’t get out of this sweater I was likely to get heat stroke or something.
“How about shopping first?” Danielle suggested, as if she had read my mind. “Some of us aren’t exactly dressed for going to the beach.”
Jewel looked me up and down. “Good point.”
“Guys,” I said. “I appreciate the thought, but I’m fine. Really.”
“Eve, you can’t possibly be comfortable in that sweatshirt.”
“I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve got all day.”
With no more excuses, I fell silent with a twinge of uneasiness. My wildcat—always so restless these days—sensed my nerves and tossed its head back like an angry horse. I ignored it. I had enough to worry about right now.
We headed down the main street. The village was beautiful in the morning. Leaves blazed greenish gold in the new light. Trees sparked with moisture. People wandered back and forth in pairs and small groups. No one seemed to be in any particular hurry.
Despite my continued protests, Jewel and Danielle dragged me into a random store filled from top to bottom with colourful beachwear. The second we got inside, they split up and went on a mission to find me some new clothes. They scoured the racks and came running back to me carrying bikini’s and short shorts and sleeveless tops. My brain scrambled to come up with reasons to reject them all, which was difficult when most of the stuff they picked out was pretty nice.
Eventually, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I dove into the racks of clothing and came out with a long-sleeved shirt that was made of a light, cool fabric. Something that would cover up the bruises without giving me heat stroke at the same time.
It wasn’t really my style. The sleeves were all frilly and lacy and it was pure white, which pretty much guaranteed that it would end up stained within a few days, a week tops. But, it would have to do.
“I’m trying this one on, guys!” I yelled back over my shoulder, heading for the change room.
When I came back out, Jewel and Danielle were both waiting for me, their arms still piled high with clothes. Danielle smiled. “Looks nice on you.”
“Thanks,” I said.
But Jewel was frowning. “Eve, what the heck is that on your arm?”
My stomach tightened. I looked down. The sleeves on the shirt were much more sheer than I had thought. The bruises left by Lucas were clearly visible though the fabric. They looked worse than I remembered. All black and blue and impossible to miss. I didn’t even recall Lucas grabbing me that hard. Had my adrenaline numbed the pain?
“Oh, that?” I forced a smile and dismissive laugh. “That’s nothing. My lessons with Isaac can get a bit rough. No big deal.”
“You’re telling me Isaac did that?”
“Yeah. We were umm… we were sparring and… you know we got a bit carried away. It happens.”
Jewel studied me quietly for a moment. Her small face looked intense. She wasn’t buying a word of this. “Eve, how long are you going to keep lying to us?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. My eyes flickered to Danielle, but she didn’t say a thing.
“You’ve been hiding something since yesterday,” Jewel added, when I didn’t speak. “You’ve been acting all weird and distracted. You skipped the meeting last night, then disappeared for hours, then pretended to be asleep when I came back in the room.”
“Wait, you knew I was faking?”
“You were still in your regular clothes and you were lying there like a dead body with rigor mortis. Yeah, I know you were faking.”
A blush crept onto my face. If I ever needed confirmation that I was an all-around terribly liar, this was it right here.
“And then you came down to breakfast still acting all weird and wearing that big, baggy sweatshirt, which I assume was supposed to hide those bruises on your arm. Which you would not be doing if—like you said—it was no big deal because you just got them sparring with Isaac.”
“Well… see the thing with that is…”
“Enough with the excuses, Eve. Just tell us what’s going on.”
My mouth moved soundlessly for another moment or two. “Okay, look, I was going to tell you guys, all right? I was just waiting for the right time.”
“Why would you lie in the first place, Eve?” Danielle appeared less annoyed than Jewel and more concerned. “You can tell us anything. We’re you’re friends. That’s what we’re here for.”
“Even if I did something really stupid?”
“Especially if you did something really stupid,” Jewel said.
I took a deep breath. Little miniature tremors ran through every muscle in my body. I was sweating in spite of my recent change of clothes.
“I went on a date with Lucas.”
Jewel was on her feet almost before I had finished the sentence. “You did what?"
“Listen, he’s the one who asked me.” I added quickly, as if that would make it any better. “I didn’t have much choice. He gave me a day and a time and then he just walked away. He didn’t even give me a chance to say ‘no’. And I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t want me to go, and I didn’t realize what he was really like, and I know it was stupid, and I know you warned me about him, but I couldn’t figure out what else to do and… are you mad? You’re not mad, are you?”
Jewel said nothing. Danielle said nothing. The silence stretched painfully between us.
Finally, Jewel decisively tossed her pile of clothes off to one side and took a few steps closer to me. Her eyes were narrowed, her face set and determined.
Suddenly, her hand shot out and smacked me in the back of the head. “Eve, you freaking idiot!”
“Ow, hey!” I protested.
“What were you thinking! Are you completely nuts? Lucas? Of all the guys in the whole damn school, you decided to got one a date with Lucas?” She gave me another smack.
“Ow! Okay, that’s not helping!”
Jewel ignored me and pointed to the bruises on my arm. “Was this him? Did he do this?” She didn’t even bother to wait for an answer. “Oh, that’s it! That is it! He’s going down! I’m going to turn that jerk into mincemeat!”
“She didn’t actually say it was him, Jewel,” Danielle pointed out calmly.
“Why else would she hide it, Danielle? Besides, that creep did the same thing to you, remember?” She rounded back on me. “Didn’t I warn you about him? Why didn’t you listen to me? I told you he was dangerous, and you agreed to go out with him anyway? And, on top of that, you thought it would be a good idea to lie about it?”
I was beginning to feel a little defensive. “I told you he didn’t give me a whole lot of time to think.”
“What’s to think about? The answer should have been ‘no!’”
“Well, I wanted to give him a fair chance. You never actually told me what he was really like, Jewel.”
“What are you talking about? You don’t recall our conversation on your first day here?”
I clenched my fists. My human side was simply upset, but the stupid wildcat was getting agitated and angry. All this emotional turmoil was doing absolutely nothing for my self-control. The more stressful and complicated my life got, the more volatile the animal seemed to become.
“Jewel, all you told me was that he’s a jerk. That could have meant anything! You didn’t say he was a psychotic, obsessive stalker. You never told me he was physically violent, or that he followed Danielle around for two months straight.”
“That wasn’t for me to tell. You didn’t even know Danielle back then. I don’t make a habit of blabbering about my friends personal life to complete strangers.”
“Couldn’t you at least have been a little more specific?”
“Couldn’t you have just trusted me?”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what else to say. I already regretted turning this into an argument. It was obvious that Jewel was only angry because she was worried about me. She had already seen one friend being mistreated by Lucas. I doubted she was eager to repeat the experience.
“I need some air.” Jewel muttered. She walked out the door, letting it bang shut behind her.
I dropped into a nearby chair, staring at my feet. “Crap.”
Danielle sat next to me. “You okay?”
“She’s mad. I knew she was gonna be mad.”
“She’ll cool off. Give her some time. Lucas really gets to her. I’m not sure why. She’s always hated him. Even before he started giving me problems.”
“Good instincts?” I suggested.
Danielle chuckled. “Maybe.”
I managed a small smile.
“Do you feel like telling me what happened last night?”
“Basically, I was really stupid.”
“Couldn’t possibly be as stupid as Lucas. What did you do?”
“I lost my temper and shoved him through a wall.”
Danielle was quiet for a moment. “Wait through a wall. Like in a movie? Right through to the other side?”
“Umm… yeah. Like I said, stupid right?”
“Well, I can’t say it was particularly well thought out,” Danielle admitted. “But, hey, on the positive side, you probably couldn’t have made things much worse.”
“And then I ran.”
“I stand corrected.”
My mouth twitched just the tiniest bit at the corners.
“We’ll figure this out, Eve,” Danielle said. “Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with Lucas before. I can do it again.”
I nodded, feeling slightly better. Okay, so I had lousy judgment when it came to romantic partners, but no one could argue that I had chosen my friends well.