A/N: CAUTION this was written on my phone, so sorry if it looks weird. Vote please!
Chapter Twenty-Six
Too Rare To Freak
with that song. Comment your fave bands below! Mine is The
Neighbourhood! ;) of course!
**Hoodlum***
Okay, lol. Done interrupting the story.
Peyton's P.O.V
I took off after her as fast as I possibly could, not waiting
around for Raphael. I didn't know what was running through
Emily-Rose's mind right now after seeing a wolf turn into Raphael.
The boundaries of magic have been pushed.
My feet pounded into the dirt as I called after her breathlessy.
She didn't stop, but to my surprise she didn't run straight into our
cabin. She ran...under a tree.
Panting for breath, I leaned on my knees for a second before
approaching her cautiously. I had to be careful about this. She was
like a deer caught in the headlights; any sudden movement could
startle her away. Emily-Rose's chest heaved up and down under the
cherry tree as she stared at me with narrowed eyelids.
"Emily...wait. Please. Just-just give me a chance to explain.." I
started, within inches of her now. I felt sort of silly, like a
predator or something. She shook her head slowly at me, in disbelief.
"I can't believe you kept this to yourself all this damn time. How
long have you known?" She spat at me in disgust. I froze for a second,
confused. Wait; what?
"I swear; it's not as messed up as it looked..." I tried again,
eyes wide. She scoffed.
"You total bitch. How long have you known werewolves existed?" She
spat, attitude dripping from her words as she folded her arms in front
of her chest. My jaw dropped. It was safe to say that I was shocked
beyond comprehension. I blinked twice.
"Wait-what?" I stuttered stupidly. She scoffed again, before
freeing her arms.
"I knew it. I knew werewolves and vampires existed-I mean,
Stephanie Meyer couldn't have came up with that story all by herself,
right? It was too freaking awesome!" She sputtered excitedly.
"I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! You know, I suspected it, but I
wasn't really sure. I know I'd spotted you coming out of the woods
creepily after dusk sometimes-like what was up with that? So today, I
finally decided to follow my hunches-and I got proof! I can't believe
it!" She squealed, while I stood stock-still.
Oh. My. God.
My best-friend was certifiably insane.
"Shh! Emily-Rose-listen to me very carefully. You can't tell
anyone what you just saw. If you did, you could put-not only Raphael
and I, but a whole lot of other werewolves into some very, deep
trouble. Do you understand me?" I instructed her sternly. She blinked
once at me, coming out of her reverie. She smirked.
"Of course. But on one condition." She said, eyes sparkling. I
prepared myself, warily.
"And what would that be?" I asked.
"In exchange for keeping my mouth shut, I want more information about
werewolves. I wanna know everything, Peyton Clarke. Everything."
*****************
I went in search of Raphael, leaving Emily-Rose to shower. I
promised I would explain everything to her at lunch-once she hadn't
spilled the beans before then. Not that anyone would believe her, I
told myself.
I walked swiftly along the camp grounds, eyes searching for
Raphael. I could have sworn that he'd followed me. Speaking of which,
why didn't he? Had he assumed that I on my own could keep Emily-Rose's
mouth shut?
I was walking rapidly, ignoring the slowly shining beat of sun on
my skin, when suddenly, a certain raven-haired beauty made goosebumps
rise on my skin. I spotted her exiting the male counsellor's cabin,
skin pretty but flourished, wearing nothing but a pink tank, short
jeans and uggs.
Ugh. It was Aleara.
Her eyes narrowed as she spotted me, and I noticed that she
diverted from her original path to my direction. I continued walking,
knowing she was going to speak to me, but determined to beat her to
it.
Just as soon as we'd reached speaking proximity, I opened up my big mouth.
"Hey, have you seen Raphael?" I asked smoothly, trying to hold in
my malice. She flinched at the mention of his name, but covered it up
quickly.
"Yes. I just finished speaking with him. Can I help you with
something?" She asked me off-handedly, like I was just some stupid
camper.
"You can tell me where he is, since I need to speak with him." I
replied, voice sharp and clear. Condecension slowly drifted into her
almond-shaped eyes.
"I'm second-in-command at camp Lakewood; if there's anything so
important you need to discuss, you can discuss it with me, instead of
my boyfriend." She shot back icily, and this time, I was the one to
flinch.
"Excuse me?" I gasped in shock. Since when were the two of them a
couple?! She smirked at me.
"You heard me Peyton. Raphael is my boyfriend. I'd sincerely
appreciate it, if you kept your claws off him." She hissed; and I
froze as she leaned to whisper in my ear :
"Or I'll have to do it for you." And with that, she sashayed away,
leaving me in distress. Don't listen to her! I commanded myself.
Raphael was mine, and only mine. Or at least; that was what I thought.
But what did he think?
Hot tears welled in my eyes, and I swiftly wiped them away. I
couldn't let her get to me. I mean, all that talk about her and
Raphael being soulmates, well, guess what. Raphael chose me over her.
.at least, I thought he did. Briefly, a phrase from my favourite song
wavered in my mind.
Love is not a choice.
I knocked loudly on the male counsellors' cabin, with the wind
bustling on my neck. By now there was movement on the camp
grounds-little, as it was only just after six am in the morning, but
substantial enough. I hoped to effectively evade Matt for the day.
Really; he was still suspicious about my incident the other day; the
boy was like a hawk.
The doork creaked open widely to reveal a sleepy-eyed Carlos. He eyed
me suspiciously in his boxer-shorts before suddenly grinning widely.
"Peyton! Babe!" He exclaimed happily, before wrapping me in a bear
hug that lifted me off the ground. I laughed at his enthusiasm, before
begging him to release me from his death-grip. I endured the warmth of
his heated abdomen for about five seconds more, before he placed me on
my feet. I grinned feebly.
"Thanks," I squeaked out, as he chuckled warmly, before allowing me
entrance into their cabin. Inside was warm, as usual, and reminded me
of a cosy cottage. The first few windows were open, allowing streaks
of silver sunlight to film though.
I shifted awkwardly from foot to foot as I took in the
testosterone-filled scene around. Shirtless boys-everywhere, scattered
about the room. Every girl's dream right? Funnily enough, the only abs
I wanted to drool over were Raphael's.
Dylan and Cameron surprisingly acknowledged my presence, which was
warm but strange, considering that they were the ones that didn't
really like me. Luckily for me however, Carlos soon came to my rescue,
his adorable puppy's eyes sparkling with joy.
"So, Pey, what can I do for you? Unfortunately, we don't offer free
eye-candy." He told me smirking. My face flushed at this.
"Don't you have a girlfriend Carlos?" I shot back jokingly. He rose
an eyebrow.
"You thought I was flirting with you? Naw, bae. That's Raph's job,"
he chortled, and before I could get a chance to reply he strutted away
from me, into the back room.
"Raph! Your girlfriend's here!" He called, before turning to wink
at me. I turned even redder; I was sure of it. Sitting on a bed in
front of me, Cameron looked up from his laptop to snicker at me. I
rolled my eyes at him.
Cameron had not spoken to me much-he seemed to the blonde, but
brooding type. Not long after he'd called, Raphael came out of the
back rooms to greet me, wearing clothes fortunately. However, he
seemed to have just gotten out of a shower, as he was running a towel
through his hair.
"Did you talk to her?" He asked desperately, and I nodded yes, with a sigh.
"She doesn't seem that freaked out by it, but she wants me tell
her everything about werewolves this afternoon." I replied, only to
cause sudden silence in the room. Cameron cleared his throat.
"What are you guys talking about, exactly?" He asked suspiciously.
My skin prickled at having to tell them.
"Well. Today...my friend sort of saw...Raphael shift back from a
wolf." I mumbled, but with their super-hearing, they heard me very
clearly. I winced as they exploded into incomprehensible sounds of
disbelief.
"Shut UP, guys! She's not going to do anything. Peyton and I are
going to speak to her at lunch, today...and you three will carry on
like nothing happened. I do not want the girls knowing about this.
Especially Aleara." Raphael instructed them firmly, when they became
silent again. It was amusing how they easily they subjected to him.
After a minute, he turned to me apologetically.
"I'd like for you to stick with her for the rest of day. I can't
have any of this leaking out." He told me, and I nodded of course.
"Okay. Meet me in our cabin at lunch, then." I told him, before
turning to go. I really hoped that Raphael was right...and that he
would help me out. I was still shocked by Emily-Rose's reaction to
this. I mean-when I first found out, I was totally freaked out, right?
That was when I remembered.
Emily-Rose was a Twilight fanatic. I sighed in amusement, before
walking across the grass to my cabin. The things writers could do.
Approaching the medium-sized, but cute wooden building, I noticed that
a few windows were open. Which meant that the other girls were up...my
stomach slowly sunk. Which meant that I would have to face Angela. A
wave of nausea suddenly washed over me at the idea of this.
I wasn't ready to face her. I mean, what could I say? 'Sorry,
Angela, but I was not thinking clearly that night I almost choked you
because I'm an unblossomed werewolf going through something called The
Heat?'
Something told me that wouldn't have gone over well.
Speaking of the heat, its symptoms seemed to have numbed ever
since Faye spoke to me about it. Really, I sort of understood why it
was called The Heat. I had begun to notice an underlying burning at
the back of my throat...not like, chilli pepper hot, but boiling water
hot. I closed my eyes for a second, praying it would be over soon.
I finally reached the cabin, before climbing nervously up the
steps, into the patio. I gripped the wooden bannister, and It felt
damp to the touch. With my heart beating wildly in my chest, I brushed
my clammy hands on the back of my jeans, before raising my hand to the
doorknob.
Here we go, I sighed.
As expected, as soon as I had stepped inside, everyone turned
quiet. Frozen in the motions of blow-drying their hair, dressing,
applying make-up(I had no idea why) and basically chatting, as soon as
I had stepped foot into the cabin everyone immediately stopped to
stare at me.
I pulled the door in behind me, before shifting my foor awkwardly.
I cleared my throat.
"Um. Hey guys," I greeted, at an attempt at cheerfulness. They
seemed to realise that they were staring, and small blushes crept on
some people's faces, before they muttered back 'hello' and tried to go
back to what they were doing before. Only now, they were whispering.
My ears burned. Of course. I should have expected this.
Involuntarily, my eyes landed on Angela's wide baby blues. She was
still staring at me; seemingly frozen in shock. I approached her
cautiously, causing everyone to whisper some more. When I was standing
right in front of her, she blinked once, expectantly. I cleared my
throat.
"Hi, Angela." I offered. Her eyes narrowed.
"Um. Hi." She replied tersely. I winced. After a few more awkward
seconds, I decided to grow a pair. Not. Literally. I swallowed a gulp.
"So, um, I just wanted to say...that despite the fact that you
locked me in the bathroom, I'm really sorry for what I did to you.
It...isn't something I'd normally do, and for that I want to
apologise. My reaction was...a bit extreme." I admitted, trying to
avoid sounding too sappy. Her face paled, but she smiled a little.
"It's okay. I-I'm really sorry for locking you in the bathroom,
too. I-I don't know...I guess, we've just been enemies for so long,
that I-any chance I had at having a one-over you...I took it." She
admitted, and her honesty shocked me. She sighed.
"It was stupid, and I realise that you could have been seriously
hurt. I'm sorry." She finished, saying the last part much softer. She
avoided my eyes. I smiled, forgiving her. It was more than I'd
expected from her.
When she stuck out her hand to shake it with mine, I think I surprised
us both, by pulling her into a hug.
We both managed a laugh, as the other girls erupted into cheers. Ah.
What a beautiful moment.
*************************************
A few hours later
My mind raced at what to tell Emily-Rose. Lunch had arrived, and
I picked at my fries nervously, awaiting her and Raphael's presence in
the girl's cabin. None of the other girls bothered to eat lunch in
here, so we were good. It was much too hot.
Fanning myself nervously, I was startled, as the door-knob
suddenly rattled and opened to reveal: not only Emily-Rose and
Raphael...but...my jaw slowly dropped, as I watched a familiar
sandy-haired guy waltz through the door in a white t-shirt.
Before I could say anything, he attacked me with a staggering hug.
I gasped in shock, before looking inbetween the faces of Raphael and
Emily-Rose. Emily smiled sheepishly at me, still excited, while
Raphael seemed very calm. I glared at Matt, as he shoved me around on
my own bed, before he starting eating my fries.
"Emily-(crunch, crunch)-fold me evhrything. *swallow* don't get me
wrong, I don't for one minute, believe her crazy-ass
story-(crunch)-but I couldn't resist a trip to the girl's cabin.
Oh-and to visit you of course." He so nonchalantly informed me, whilst
greedily eating my lunch. I turned my glare on Emily. I couldn't
believe she'd told Matt! Who else had she told?!
"Come on!" She sputtered, throwing up her hands. "He's your
best-friend; he deserves to know you're dating a werewolf." She
argued, eyes pleading. Matt froze mid-crunch to stare at us all like
we belonged in a mad house.
"Uh, for the record...I personally think this needs to be said.
Um. How can I break this to you guys? I don't know what crazy
fan-fictions you've been reading but...werewolves don't exist." He
sputtered slowly, like we were all mentally retarded. I sighed. If
only, Matt. If only. My eyes shifted to Raphael's, pleading for help.
He ran a hand through his thick hair, before coming closer.
"Watch this." He breathed, extending his fingers. We watched
mesmerised as long, pale-yellowed talons emerged from his fingertips,
growing up to at least five inches. I froze on the bed, in
astonishment.
"I actually didn't know...you could do that." I breathed. Raphael
met eyes with me, before he drew them back in. I turned to Matt, heart
beating fast in fear. I didn't want to lose my best-friend. His
eyebrows were scrunched up in confusion, and his lips were parted in
confusion. He began to shake his head slowly in disbelief, face
turning paler by the second. He scoffed, as I eagerly placed my palm
on his shoulder.
"What was that?" He exclaimed, shooting daggers into my eyes. I
shoved my hand away.
"Am I supposed to believe he's a werewolf, because of that little
trick? What has he been doing to you Pey?" He asked in disbelief. My
chest panged, as I fought back a sob in my throat.
"I wanted to tell you guys everything...but I-I couldn't. I
couldn't endanger your lives..." I stammered. Emily-Rose ran over to
me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I smiled gratefully at her.
"Show him the tattoos." She urged me. I met eyes with Raphael for
a split-second, before I swiftly pulled my shirt over my head. Matt
looked even more confused than ever. I turned my back to him, and
heard him gasp in astonishment.
"What-the-when did you get these?" He stuttered. I pulled back on
my shirt before turning to both him and Emily-Rose. I sighed, looking
them both sternly in the eyes.
"Before I tell you the story...I need you to promise me
something. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Ever." I
implored them, and hesitantly, they nodded. Raphael shuffled behind
me, folding his arms. I knew he felt uncomfortable about this...but
there was no going back now. I sighed.
"It all began that day at the waterfall....you remember. The day I
almost drowned."
******************************************
A/N: Please vote if you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks guys!