Shifting into a wolf after getting dunked into ice cold water was only a little less inconvenient than getting wet as a wolf. I wish I could magically dry off by shifting, but nope! The water sticks to me, and I end up with wet fur. By the time I had finished shaking off the excess, Nate was out of the river, and kneeling next to me.
“Let’s go to my house first, okay?” he asked, then kissed my nose.
I waited for him to shift and shake, then we made our way back to the neighborhood. I felt like one weight had lifted off my chest. Admitting to Nate how I felt went much better than I had thought, although I don’t think I’ll be making love in the dirt any time soon. Nate also seemed very happy with me. He kept nuzzling me, and trying to play on our way back. However, another concern entered my mind.&nb
Who would have thought that a little over a year ago, my life would be on a track so different than I had imagined. I thought maybe I’d graduate high school, because it’s the smarter thing to do, but graduating early? Nope. I would have asked if you were high.Yet, here I sit waiting for my name to be called a year ahead of schedule. Ma is in the audience with Aunt Nancy, Christine, and Chastity. The girls ended up moving in with Aunt Nancy when Jimmy and Saoirse left for Gayl in January. Jimmy and Saoirse were there, too. They flew in for the occasion.I glanced at my family sitting next to the Braedons. Sue also flew in to support Rose, and she sat next to Rayan and the rest of the Graycorts. I’m still a little shocked at how quickly they all became family to Ma and me.
“You said your elder siblings are arriving tomorrow?” Jimmy asked while we were playing games on his xbox.“Yeah,” I said as I maneuvered away from some enemy fire. “They called to say they left this morning and they’ll be spending the night at the usual motel.”Jimmy’s avatar was hit, and he had to respawn. “Fuck! Is Rina excited to see me again?”“Probably not. I’m pretty sure she loved being away from you this summer,” I deadpanned.“Probably,” he said. I could hear the grin in his voice.“I will kick your ass if you start stalking her, and not just in game.&r
I adored playing pool. Nate taught me the basics over the summer, and it was amazing! Physics in practice, a display of energy transference using spheres. I couldn’t help but see the impact of large asteroids on planets whenever I played. Of course, I don’t have to contend with an interfering gravitational pull when I hit one of the balls, but nothing is perfect.Leaving Aspen Falls for Gayl was probably one of the best choices I had made. Nobody cared about me here, and I didn’t have people whispering that I was a lying whore. Plus, I got to live with my best friend, and visit my sweet boyfriend whenever I wanted. Add in the benefit of learning how to grift and hustle, and Nate and I have paid for our textbooks with money from our marks.“Ready to make some money,” Nate whispered in my ear after we ente
The drive back was quiet. I sort of wanted to make Kam drive, since I had to deal with his company while I was in the back seat with Kimi on the way to the party, but the way things ended with the two morons Kimi and I hustled put me on edge.Kam and Kimi were both angry with the two guys, but probably for a different reason I was pissed at them. I knew Matty kept trying to annoy me in front of Kimi in hopes of her seeing me in a different light, but he failed to realize we’d been together long enough for her to see my jealous side.I drove everyone to my apartment. The girls spent the night there most days of the week, and I didn’t want them to try to sneak into their dorm so late. Their watchdog of a night receptionist is a massive bitch. They’d get reported, and fined. It doesn’t matter they’d p
Gamma Lambda Eta’s house was beautiful. It was a manor house with a turret and a wrap around porch. I loved it at first sight! I grabbed a box of Rina’s stuff, and followed her into the spacious building. “Over there’s the living room, kitchen is on the left and toward the back of the house, and my room is on the second floor,” she said.We followed her up a flight of stairs and to the end of a hallway. Her room was a little bigger than Ray’s room, but looked a lot like my dorm room. There were two beds against opposite walls, and two desks between them. There were closets at the base of each bed, and some shelves on the walls above the beds. It wasn’t bad, but nothing to write home about. “Who’s your roommate this year?” I asked.“I don’t have one, yet. Sophomor
Being back in the sorority house was a comfort. I miss my parents and Sue, but there’s a freedom at Gayl that I just don’t have at home. I may also live across the street from my brother’s frat house, but I barely see him at school. It’s great!“Riri, house meeting in five,” Julie poked her head into my room and said.“Okay!” I shouted after her, and moved to go down to the living room. Our house is a huge manor house with a turret and a wrap around porch. Our living room was bigger than my parents’ kitchen and living room combined. Well, it has to be since we host parties and it’s where we hold house meetings.Most of the girls were spread out about the room, and catching up from a summer away from each other
“Hey, Ray,” Dan said through my open bedroom door, “I just want to let you know that I’m heading out with Rina tonight, so please don’t kill me if I come back smelling like her.”I chuckled. My adorable sister who thinks she’s so sneaky. “She still hasn’t told me about you two,” I said with a grin.Dan grimaced. “I wish she would. I’d love to go out in public instead of just meeting her at the waterfall. She’s worried about telling you.”“I don’t blame her. She just sucks at keeping a secret when she’s trying to keep a secret.” I waved him goodbye, and wished him luck. I really can’t hold it against Rina for keeping everyone in the dark about Dan. Sue and I did t
“How is it a party without dancing?” Rose pouted as we finished searching the house for the source of music. When we found it, we were disappointed to find that the room was the dining room. Nothing but people milling around a table filled with chips, pretzels, and candy.“I don’t know, Rose. My guess is that our host is just not into dancing,” I shrugged.She put her head on my shoulder as we walked around. “We could always find out what happened with Kimi and Ray?”I looked around, and glanced at Rose. Her face was turned up to mine, and was searching it for an agreement or another idea. I didn’t have another idea. Well, I did, but it could wait until we were back at the apartment. Now that we were pretty much living to
“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