Kiera found me crying in the hallway as she made her up to her room. She quickly rushed to my side.
"Baleigh! Oh my gosh! What happened?"
I couldn't speak without bursting into more tears. Kiera sat there with me, her arm around my shoulders.
"Why don't we go in the bathroom and get your cleaned up. Is that okay with you?"
I nodded. Anything was better than sitting in the middle of a hallway crying.
Kiera helped me up and walked me to the nearest bathroom which happened to be a small half bath in the middle of the hallway. I walked in and slumped on the close toilet seat. That goodness Trinity knew to put the seat down. Kiera closed the door and knelt down close to me. She handed me a box of tissues that sat on a shelf. I took them but didn't use them. I felt too upset and weak to do anything.
"Baleigh, what's wrong? You can tell me."
I wanted to tell her, but it was like my strength had been taken from the fight. Things had gotten better before Collin had to jump into things. And I didn't make it any better by snapping at him.
"Is this about Collin?" Kiera asked.
I looked at her. "You know?" I croaked. My voice sounded hoarse from all the crying.
"Trinity told me. Said you and Collin got into a fight and the two of who had gone upstairs to fix it. I thought maybe you guys had sided your differences but-" Kiera looked at my red, puffy eyes and wet face. "Guess it didn't work."
"No. It didn't." I wanted to cry some more but I had cried all my fluids out. I'm not sure if you can really do that, but that's what I felt like.
"I can take you to my room. We can talk there. And get you something new to wear."
"Why do I need something new to wear?" I asked. "What's wrong with jeans and a t-shirt?"
Kiera sat up and put her hand out to me. "The best way to let out your problems is to look and feel comfortable."
I couldn't help out laugh just a little. I took her hand and sat up. The two of us walked to Kiera and Nate's room. The room was originally Nate's until Kiera moved in after high school. You could tell Kiera has taken over on the decorating when she moved it because the room looked so cute and cozy. Before, it had only two things hanging on the wall: a photo of Nate's family and a plaque from his football season his senior year.
"Where's Paisley?" I asked as Kiera went through her drawers.
"Evelyn is watching her. I just got back from the woods."
"But I thought you didn't go. You said that you wanted to stay with Paisley."
"Yeah, But I couldn't just stand there and hope that he would come back. I had to do something. But I couldn't find him. His scent had disappeared." Kiera pulled out a button-up pajama shirt and matching bottoms. It was a light grey with white polka dots. It actually looked super cute.
"When did you get this?" I asked as I took the pajamas from her hand.
"I've had them for years but I never wore them. They're still super soft."
I rubbed my fingers in the fabric. It was like holding a piece of heaven! They felt so soft!
I quickly disappeared in the bathroom and shut the door. I quickly changed into the soft pajamas. Once they were on, I turned and looked in the mirror. My eyes were red from crying. My face looked wet from the tears. My hair was sticking up in funny places. I looked absolutely terrible.
I opened the door and grabbed my clothes. Kiera told me to drop them in her laundry basket. I placed them there and then sat on the bed. The bed was perfectly made. It was a cream-colored comforter with a light grey blanket folded across the edge of the bed. Pillows from large to small were perfectly distributed at the top of the bed by the headrest. The pillows were cream-colored like the comforter and grey like the blanket. The grey pillows had silver dots in a rectangle design. There was one cirle pillow that sat in the middle of the perfect pillow display. I wish I had the time and energy to make my bed.
Kiera had changed into a pair of navy workout pants and a white tank top. She sat down on the bed and pulled out a box from her nightstand drawer. She opened the box. Inside was makeup wipes, nail polish, nail polish remover, small chocolate candies, and any makeup products you could imagine.
"Where did you get all this stuff?" I asked in awe.
"It's my emergency box," Kiera said excitedly. "I add anything that would be good for any emergency like this." She pulled out a makeup wipe and handed it to me.
"But I'm wearing makeup," I said.
"Yeah, but it helps." I took the makeup wipe from Kiera and wiped my face. It felt really good. I could almost feel the dried tears pull off and onto the wipe.
I threw the wipe away and I began to eat the chocolate candies. Kiera pulled out her nail polish bottles and began to organize them in the box.
"So," she started. "Tell me everything. I need to know all of it."
"Didn't Trinity tell you?" I said as a popped a Hershey's Kiss in my mouth.
"Yeah, but going to get fro-yo was not the reason you started to cry."
I chuckled. "That's true."
"So," Kiera adjusted her sitting position. "Tell me everything."
I began to explain what happened when Trinity and I got home. Kiera listened without talking. I was quite shocked that she didn't talk through the whole thing. She couldn't go five minutes without saying a word.
I explained how Collin had kissed me and then tried to mark me. That was when the tears came again. Kiera quickly grabbed a tissue box from her nightstand. She literally had everything. I took a tissue and continued to talk. I didn't cry as much but I did feel tears starting to fall from my face. I could feel my head pounding. All the crying had given me a splitting headache.
I finally finished. Kiera sat there for a few seconds before she started to talk. I guess she couldn't take it anymore having to be quiet.
"I'm so sorry Baleigh! I can't believe this had to happen!" She placed her hand on my arm.
"It's okay," I said.
"No! It's not! It's not okay! He didn't ask for your permission! I mean, if it were me, I would have let him. I wanted to be marked the second I started dating Nate. I couldn't contain my excitement when he did! I almost messed it up because I had jumped up from my seat in joy. You know how exciting it is to finally be marked by your mate? It's the best thing ever! Well, besides having a kid, but being marked it the next best thing!"
"Kiera!" I said loudly. She stopped talking.
"What?"
"I don't want to be marked. At least, not yet."
"Oh." She slumped a little. "Sorry. I got excited."
"I could tell." I rubbed my forehead, hoping it would help the headache.
"Oh my stars! You need some Aspirin!" Kiera smacked her own forehead. "Why didn't I think of that!" She rummaged through her box and found a small bottle of Aspirin. She pulled out two pills and handed them to me. "This will help."
"Thanks," I said. I was about to swallow the pills when Kiera stopped me.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"You need water!" She jumped up from the bed and ran into the bathroom. I heard her open the cabinet door and heard water pour out from the faucet. I wanted to tell her I didn't need any water, but she seemed like she wanted to help me. She came running back in the room with a glass cup full of water.
"This will help." She handed the glass to me and sat back down. I put the Aspirin in my mouth and took a long sip of water. The water felt really good. I really needed that water.
"Okay! You had your water! Now, let's get back to business. What were you saying?"
"I was saying that I don't want to be marked yet. I'm not ready to jump ahead so fast."
"But Baleigh. You and Collin have been dating for two years! Shouldn't you guys move things a bit faster?"
"But I don't want that! I don't want kids at 19! I want kids at 25! I want to have a wedding! An actual wedding with cake and a fancy dress and white flowers! I want to go to college and have a career! I don't want to just stay here and make babies! I want to get out in the world!"
"Wow. I didn't know this." Kiera stopped sorting her nail polish bottles.
"I know you guys grew up eloping and then having kids at 19. But that's not me. I don't want that. I'm not gonna rush a relationship like this!"
Kiera seemed shocked at what I was saying. I guess she didn't realize that I wasn't like all the other werewolves. I was a normal human. I was a regular person like everyone else in the world. If people found out that Kiera and Nate had a kid right after high school and they didn't know they were werewolves, they would flip out. I would too if I hadn't been living with wolves for two years.
"I'm sorry Baleigh. I guess we should have told you before all of this happened."
I looked down. I guess they didn't tell me, but I didn't want to put the blame on them.
"I think I should talk to Trinity about taking that vacation," I finally said. I opened a small chocolate bar but I didn't eat it.
"What vacation?" Kiera asked. It was as if her ears had perked up the way Kato does when someone mentions food.
"Trinity offered to take the both of us on a vacation to clear our heads."
Kiera looked excited already.
"I told her I didn't need a vacation. I thought I could fix all of this. But now," I looked at my chocolate bar. "I think I do need the vacation. I haven't been on any trip since my dad took me to Lake Tahoe when I was a freshman."
"I love vacations! I would totally go!" Kiers squealed. "What? When did you go to Lake Tahoe? I thought you never went anywhere since your mom died."
"Yeah, but my dad met this girl named Jenny who happened to work at this summer camp down by the lake. We went to visit her in the winter to help her close up the camp. They dated for about a year. I could never figure out why they broke up. They seemed happy."
"Maybe she found out about the drugs David has made you dad take," Kiera suggested.
"Yeah," I sighed. "Maybe."
I thought about how Dad had felt when Jenny suddenly left. He was absolutely heartbroken. After that, Dad always had a girl with him. I always hated it seeing him with someone else all the time. I guess he was just trying to cope with the loss of my mom and Jenny.
Thinking about Dad losing Jenny made me think about losing Collin. Would this vacation cause my relationship with him to fall apart? Would our fighting continue? I suddenly got worried. I didn't want to lose him. He was my mate, as the werewolves put it. We were destined to be together. I didn't want to be the one who ended it all.
"I'm so excited for this vacation!" Kiera said. Her voice brought me back out from my trance.
"We should go to a beach! Like LA! I love it here! It's so pretty! All the beaches and cute stores! And the places there are so nice! Oh my stars! I'm getting so excited!" Kiera jumped up from her bed. She ran into her closet and pulled out a suitcase.
"Wait!" I said. I couldn't help but laugh. "We need to tell Trinity first."
"Oh. You're right." Kiera stopped for a second, then she continued to pack. So many summer clothes flew into her suitcase.
"What about Paisley?" I asked. "And Nate. If you leave, he won't know. And Paisley needs someone to watch her."
Kiers finally stopped. She thought for a second, a sad look on her face. "Evelyn can watch her. I know she loves taking care of her."
"And Nate?" I asked again.
"It's his fault for leaving. And someone will tell him when we leave." Kiera continued to pack. She looked sadder but that didn't stop her from pulling out all her swimsuits and new summer dresses.
I sat up from the bed. I placed my trash in the trash can and headed to the door.
"I'll go tell Trinity," I said.
"Ok," Kiera replied. I could tell she wanted to sound happy but it made her voice crack a little.
I placed my hand on the doorknob and turned. Standing at the door, his hand in the air, was Nate.
"Hey Baleigh. I need to talk to Kiera, if that's okay with you."