“Happy Birthday!” Rose screeched as she ran across our front yards to our car. I held out my arms expecting the big birthday hug that I get every year, but she breezed past me and threw herself onto Kam. Bitch.
“Wow. Seventeen years of friendship and being the first to get your birthday hugs, and I’m reduced to second string.” Nope, I wasn’t bitter at all.
She and Kam just laughed, and Rose came over to hug me. “I’m sorry, Kimi. Forgive me?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I’m not going to forgive this.” Of course I was going to forgive her. She’s my best friend who’s in love with my brother.
Rose just grinned. “I got you a prese
“Holy shit! You didn’t have to do this!” Kam said when we pulled into the hotel parking lot. I chuckled. They hadn’t even seen the best part yet. I had word that Ray and Rina were already inside one of the king suites, and that Sue’s flight gets here in about an hour.The hotel was located about ten minutes away from the airport, and we’d booked four rooms. I may have told Mr. and Mrs. Graycort that we only had one king sized room. I needed their help to make sure Kimi and Kam had their swimsuits.“Well,” I chuckled, “my cousins and I couldn’t stand the thought of you three celebrating your birthday in a boring way. You know, sitting at home, watching movies, doing the same thing we do every weekend.”
I danced from one foot to the other while I waited for Rose to answer the door to her suite. Hell, I’d take Kam answering the door if Rose was too out of it. I just needed someone to talk to, and I couldn’t talk to Nate. I’d just left him asleep on the bed after sex, and I’m not sure I did the right thing.“Come on. Come on,” I whispered. “Finally!” The door opened, and Kam’s tired face peered out at me. “I need Rose,” I told him before rushing in and locking him out of their bedroom. I breathed a sigh of relief that I was away from all males, and with my best friend who might have an inkling about my discordant thoughts.The air in the room still smelled of Rose and Kam sex, and I was positive that Rose was still naked on the bed. I didn’t care. I ra
I woke up relaxed, and in an empty bed, save for me. The smell of Kimi was everywhere, and I smiled at the memory of all that we did last night. To say it was great would be an under exaggeration. I would say it was the best sex of my life. Fuck. I was in love with her.I took a few moments to revel in this revelation. I was in love. Me! Nathaniel Donald Mactire was in love with Kimia Yuka Graycort. Then it hit me that she wasn’t with me. I was confused. Shouldn’t I have woken up cuddling with her? Seducing her?I got out of bed, and pulled on some pants. I went to the door and found it unlocked. She must have woken before me, and left. Why did she leave? I opened the door and found almost everyone in the kitchenette, including Kimi. I breathed a sigh of relief and joined the party.
“I know all of you are looking forward to our annual masquerade ball,” the principal’s voice blared through the school’s speaker, “and have been thinking about ordering your costumes. I just wanted to remind everyone to keep their costumes school appropriate. This means no weapons, real or fake, and the dress code is the same as if you are in school. So, Adam and Eve, you need to be wearing at least a bodysuit under your fig leaves. I also do not wish to have a repeat of three years ago when some gentlemen came dressed as prophylactics. So make sure your costumes are not sexual in nature. I’d hate to have people turned away at the door. That said, I look forward to seeing what you all come up with. Have a great day!”I couldn’t help but giggle at the announcement. My brother was one of the gentlemen who attempted to come to the ball as a condom.
“I’m telling you, Doc, it sucks!” I told Dr. Thorne on our weekly online meeting. “I can’t get over her. I see her every day at school, and I just wish I could be with her.”“So you’ve told me,” Dr. Thorne said.“I just wish she would have given us a chance. She just wants to be friends. How the fuck can I be a good friend to her when I am head over heels in love with her?”“Well,” he started, but I interrupted him.“I can’t! Not until I’m over her, and I can’t get over her if I’m seeing her everyday!”“Nate,” Dr. Thorne interr
It was the day of the masquerade ball, and I was standing at the edge of the gym watching all the couples dancing. Kam and Rose looked great in their Zelda and Link costumes, and I knew I looked fantastic in my dress. I managed to curl my hair and pin it up in a mockery of the wigs from the eighteenth century.I scanned the room for Nate. I don’t think I consciously did it, but I did. I saw a few of the girls he had flirted with the last few weeks, but not him. I decided to sniff the room, but I didn’t smell him anywhere. Maybe he decided not to come?I saw Jen dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. I’ve avoided looking at her since I saw her give Nate a kiss ages ago, but she looked beautiful in her yellow gown. I looked for her Beast, but didn’t see anyone who would fit that description. Then I sa
I got home from the ball and found Ma crying at the kitchen table. “Ma?” I stopped at the door, and took my pirate jacket off. “What happened?”She sniffed, and held her hand out to me. I went over to grab it, and pulled her into a hug. “Cassie.”Fuck.We were on a plane for Boston the next day. Aunt Lulu and the girls met us at the airport. Ma, ran to my cousins, and grabbed both of them into a hug. “My girls! I love you so much! As long as Lulu and I are alive, you will always have someone to love and talk to.” I was left with our baggage. Chrissy and Chassy had grown in the last year. They’re two years apart, and both have long straw blonde hair. They could almost pass as twins.
I hadn't seen Nate in almost a week. I’d been obsessed with what he’d told me at the ball. He loves me. He’s in love with me, and I may have blown my chance with him. When I’d asked Jimmy and Saoirse about him after he wasn’t in school for two days, they’d told me he’d gone back to Boston for his aunt’s funeral. My heart broke for him.I was running some of the trails as a wolf, and retracing some of the paths Nate and I had taken those few months before school had started. The weather was turning cold, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay out as long as I had been.Eventually, I ended up close to Nate’s house, and I could smell his scent. It was fresh! He was home! There was also another scent that I didn’t recognize. A female wolf. I followed both scents
“Fuck,” I swore as Ray kicked my ass at Mario Kart. Ray chuckled with both hands in the air. “Suck it, pup! I finally won for the first time since you were ten!”I tossed the controller and ran my hands over my face. Game nights at the frat house and losing to my brother were the least of my worries. Rose had been officially charged with manslaughter, and bailed out until her trial in a few weeks. At the advice of her lawyer, Rose and her mom signed a temporary lease at another apartment complex. Something about not sleeping with the victim’s family.“You are off your game, bro,” one of my frat brother’s slurred. “Nobody beats Kamron the Machine.”Ray bumped my shoulder. “He’s right. You’re stressing more than usual.”“Maybe because Rose has been avoiding me,” I sighed. Garrett, a sophomore, shook his head. “You must be reading too much into it. That girl is head over heels for you. She’s probably just overwhelmed with her trial and shit.”I shook my head. “I’ve known her my whole l
“Come on back, and we’ll have you give us a urine sample, then Rina will draw some blood samples to make sure your baby is okay,” Deb’s voice filtered through the office to my station. It’d been a little busier this month, but that was to be expected a few weeks after Spring Break. Lots of little surprises.“R-rina?” a familiar voice stammered. “Rina works here?” Elli and Deb rounded the corner to my space, and I had the sample cup ready with the alcohol wipes.“I sure do, Ellie,” I replied. “Congratulations. The bathroom is right through that door, and I’ll be here ready to draw your samples when you’re done.” I pointed to the door of the restroom where our expecting mothers give their samples every time they come in.Deb looked between us. “You two know each other?” I shrugged. “Small school, and we spent Spring Break together in Mexico.”Elli was pale and shaking a little as she grabbed the cup she was supposed to pee into, then made a b-line for the bathroom. Deb leaned over to m
“Now, Kimi,” Dr. Mayfeld started on our bi-monthly telesessino, “have you and Nate talked about finding a couples therapist to help the two of you transition into parenthood?”I shook my head. “Not yet. We will, but between school and my cousin’s demise, we haven’t exactly made it a priority.”“I understand,” she nodded. “I hate to say it, but you and your friends have gone through one hell of a year. Are you sure you aren’t cursed?”I laughed. “If I believed in curses, I might think that too. I mean, it is possible that Kirsten cursed us when she went to prison.”“Seriously,” she calmed down, but still smiled, &ldq
My parents knocked on our apartment door a few hours after we’d come home from the station. I really appreciated Kimi telling off Kam for me. It was the weirdest feeling. I was almost out of my body for most of the afternoon. It was a little surreal. I also both wanted to be hugged and cuddled, but I also wanted to be left alone.I kept thinking that it was my fault a person was dead. Yes, Matty was a horrible person who attacked me, but I didn’t want him dead! Call me optimistic, but I hoped for him to pay for his crimes, then come out a better person who had learned to respect others.I’d spent most of my time in my room, and barely registered when my mom walked in and sat on my bed. “Oh, my sweet Rose,” she sighed and pushed my curls out of my face. “I am so sorry you have to go thro
“Shit hit the fan, and I’m at my sister’s for a few days,” I explained to Elli over the phone.“I can’t believe all that has happened,” Elli replied. “Is Rose okay?”I sunk into my sister’s couch and sighed. “I honestly don’t know. They hadn’t returned by the time I cleared out. I hope her parents don’t find my room disgusting.”“Why wouldn’t they just get a hotel?” Elli asked.The question confused me. “I’m sure they could, but their daughter just killed a guy in self defense. She kinda needs all her family around her now.” Then a thought occurred to me. “Were you thinking about
“I want to see my fiance. I need to know she’s okay,” I shouted at the officer at the front desk of the police station.Kimi put a hand on my shoulder. “Kam, calm down. They have to go through the hoops. Besides, Officer West sounded like someone who is fair.”I spun to face my sister. “My fiance and your best friend is back there by herself, probably scared to death, and the only people available to her are people in our uncle’s pocket. I’m not going to calm down until I know she’s safe!”“Kam, you making a scene isn’t going to get her out here faster,” Nate tried to reason. He turned to the officer. “Is there someone who can come out and tell us what happened?”
Blake finally managed to push the door to the men’s room open. He broke the lock in the process, but the screaming he heard terrified him. He regretted not being faster when he observed the scene.A man was lying under a broken urinal with eye wide open, and unfocused. His jaw was slack, and a shocking amount of blood was pooled under his head. He looked back out into the hall, and grabbed a random student. “Call 911, and get someone here, now!”The student glanced into the bathroom. “Holy shit!”Blake carefully walked around the body to the woman shuddering in a ball against the wall of the open stall. “Hey,” he said gently. “Are you okay?” He reached a hand to her shoulder, and she flinched.
“Welcome back, everyone,” Professor Anderson greeted the class when she walked into the room. “I hope everyone had a fun, safe spring break? I see we’re still missing a few people. Hopefully they return before the next class. In the meantime, please go to the class webpage.”I already had it up, so I just scanned the page looking for what I expected her to click. I found it under the assessments tab. “I would hope you all are intelligent enough to find what I’d like you to do today, but in case you’re hung over, or not up to your best mental state, find the assessments tab, and click on the test titled, ‘Post Spring Break Quiz.’“The password is capital ‘I’ underscore, paid, underscore, too, with two ‘o’s, underscore, much, underscor
The apartment in Gayl was becoming more and more like home to me. Walking through the apartment door Sunday before school started felt like a weight was lifting off my shoulders. Granted, Kimi and I still needed to finish the nursery for our little girl, and we still had school, but we were happiest here. At least I was, anyway.I guess Kimi wasn’t as happy. She waddled into our room, and fell onto the bed on her back. “Ugh,” she grunted, “would you be offended if I said I miss the bed in Boston?”I chuckled. “Not at all. It was a damn comfortable bed..”“Much bigger than this full size one,” she said and rolled over so she could sit up. “I swear if this little girl gets much bigger, we’ll need a bigger bed.&r