Joel:“Come on Lyla, JUMP!” Mark shouted.“I’m scared!” Lyla shouted back.“Don’t be such a wuss!”“I’m not a wuss! I just don’t trust you!”“That’s a load of bull, now JUMP!”“Ok, I’m doing it…..oh god, I’m doing it…….AAARRRGGHHH!”ThudOn hearing the noise, I finally looked up from the pile of stones I was lazily stacking into a sort of pyramid.The rope swing had predictably not been able to take Lyla’s weight and had snapped, plummeting Lyla into the small dried up stream bed. Not that Lyla was heavy. No, Mark was just that bad at making rope swings.“Ooowwww,” Lyla moaned while moving slowly to check her limbs were still attached.Mark slowly started backing away, a guilty look on his face.I smirked and went back to my pyramid.This was typical behaviour for these two. They were always getting into scrapes together. Saying that, I was usually right there with them, but I just hadn’t been in the mood recently.“MARK! GET YOUR ARSE BACK HERE NOW!!!” Lyla screamed, making me
Casper:The wedding was tomorrow. Tomorrow!!And I still hadn’t talked to Joel.I’d been putting it off, and putting it off, knowing that it was probably going to be one of the hardest conversations of my life.I was regretting putting it off though. To be honest things had gotten a little easier over the last couple of weeks. Well, since I told Emily really.I still hadn’t talked to, or even seen Joel, and that was definitely helping. I thought about him a lot less now. And I was even sleeping better at night.It’s not like I didn’t think about him at all, but it was probably only about once every hour, rather that once every 5 minutes.And of course, now I needed to see him again. And I had a sneaky suspicion that it was going to put me right back to square one.But it needed to be done, and at least I had a huge distraction tomorrow! And the day after the wedding we were flying out of the country for our honeymoon, so that should also help.I gave my bedroom a final glance o
Joel:I’d spent most of the day in the kitchen prepping food for tomorrow. My hands were sore from constantly being in and out of water, and I had one of those sexy blue plasters on my finger from where I’d cut it, instead of a carrot.My shift was finally over though. And I could go home and sleep.Duncan, the star that he was, had actually given me tomorrow off. Even though they had drafted in loads of extra staff, many from the Huntley’s household, he still insisted I stayed away from the manor for the wedding.I felt bad, but I also appreciated the gesture. I was going to go in bright and early the day after the wedding to tidy up from the big day.I stuck my head into my uncle’s office.“I’m off now.” I said, “Good luck for tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll all go smoothly.”Duncan looked up and smiled at me. He hid it well, but I could see how tired this whole event had made him. My mum kept telling me that he should think about retiring. She was probably right, but I couldn’t hel
Casper:“Stay with me tonight.”I don’t know why I said it. I didn’t even know I was going to say it, until I heard my own voice saying it.Joel didn’t move. His eyes, still locked into mine.Maybe he didn’t want to stay. Maybe it was stupid of me to ask. But all I knew was that I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Not yet. Not right now.Joel still said nothing.“Please?” I said, even though I knew it was probably selfish of me to ask.This seemed to have the desired effect though, as Joel finally snapped out of his transe.“Whoa! Is the mighty Casper Bournville pleading with me to spend the night with him? Because there is absolutely no need. I already said yes about a thousand times. Ok, I’m guessing it must have been in my head, but I definitely meant it!”I smiled and shook my head at him. It amazed me how he could always make me smile in the most awkward of situations.“Great then,” I said going to sit back down.“Umm, so where am I going to sleep?” he asked.“Sleep?”“Yes, t
Joel:I slowly drifted back into consciousness, feeling a bright light burning my closed eyelids.I moaned. Why did I always forget to shut my curtains?I made a move to roll over, then realised that I couldn’t.My arm was stuck under something warm.I opened my eyes and blinked a few times while they adjusted to the light.I was not prepared for what I saw.“FUCK!!!”My shout made Casper’s eyes fly open and I watched the exact second his eyes told me he’d just seen what I had.My arm was pinned under Casper’s face.And my sleeve had rolled up in the night. And although Casper probably couldn’t tell yet, I could feel that I was also no longer wearing my glove.“SHIT,” he yelled, jumping out of the bed, like it was on fire.We both stared at my uncovered arm and hand.“What the fuck Joel! Where’s your glove? And why was your pissing arm under my head!”My heart was pounding. It felt like I’d just been woken up by having a bucket of ice cold water dumped over my head. “I don’t kn
Duncan:It was 7:20 am and I had already been at work for an hour.I’d barely slept last night and I knew I’d be lucky if the stress of the day didn’t land me in hospital.Maybe my sister was right. Maybe it was time I retired.My phone started ringing, and I picked it up quickly.“Hello?”“Duncan, is Joel with you?”It was my sister and she sounded worried.“No, I’ve given him today off why?”“Well, when I went to check on him this morning he wasn’t there. He’s not been here all night.”“Well, maybe he’s at one of his friend’s,” I said, eyeing the ‘to do’ list I’d made for myself. I really could do without having this phone call right now.“He could be, but there was a note on his bed. From Casper.”Suddenly my sister had my full attention. “What did it say?” I asked, as a pit of dread settled in my stomach.“It asked him to go his room at 8pm last night.”I felt the colour drain out of my face. “Oh god no!” I said, lowering my head onto the table and banging it lightly.“Dunc
Joel:The sun had started to set. The sky was burning with vibrant hues of red and amber.It had been a beautiful day. Perfect for a wedding.I hoped it had gone well and to plan. I hoped Duncan had survived through any last minute hiccups.I chuckled to myself. Of course he would have survived. He’d planned everything with military precision.I took in some deep breaths and stood up ready to make my way back home. My stomach growled loudly, reminding myself I’d not eaten all day.As I made my way through the woods, I realised that I felt surprisingly calm. Today had not panned out at all like I expected. I had been so distracted with what happened with Casper this morning, that I had hardly even thought about the wedding at all. In fact, I didn’t even feel sorry that he would now be married.Maybe that was because I knew that we were not mates. I think that the thought that we might have been was overshadowing all my thoughts and feelings about him.Now, the whole idea seeme
ColeI pulled my hood over my head as I walked down the road, the tips of my messy blond hair sticking out, covering part of my face. My hands were shoved in my pockets, my shoulders hunched. I looked like the stereotypical teen boy up to no good.I arrived at my destination and glanced around.A lady and her small child were walking up the other side of the road, so I carried on walking, not breaking my stride.After another few seconds, I stopped and bent over, pretending to tie my shoelace. My shoelace actually was loose, but rather than tie it, I just tucked it back down the side of my trainer.Before I stood back up, I looked around again. The lady was already 50 or so yards down the road, and there was no one else in sight.I stood back up, hitched my backpack back onto my shoulder, and started walking back the way I came.I slowed down as I reached where I needed to be, and once again, I glanced around. Seeing the coast was clear, I walked over to the big iron gate that led
EmilyCole was avoiding me.He somehow managed to completely disappear on Saturday, despite me spending the best part of an hour looking for him.I had a sneaky feeling Annabell was helping him, as I saw her a couple of times with a mischievous grin on her face as she watched me walk by.From the little I had seen of him though, he looked like he was doing better. The black circles under his eyes had gone, and his smile looked real instead of forced, like it was last week.I just hoped that he was finally moving on.It wasn’t until Thursday that I realised I was missing something, when Casper asked,“How was Cole on Saturday?”I found the question odd, as Casper made it clear he didn’t want to be involved when I asked him to speak to Nathan last week.Casper was not one to pry into other people’s business. He was a very private person himself and so he didn’t enjoy those sort of conversations, and avoided them at all costs.“He was doing better, why do you ask?” I said, carefully ob
NathanI ran down the stairs taking two at a time.It wasn’t that I was in a rush, it was just that I felt like I had so much energy to burn.I rounded the corner and nearly bumped straight into Emily.“Woah there tiger!” she said, holding her arms up in anticipation of an impact.I managed to holt just centimeters away from her hands.“Oops, sorry,” I said with a smile before stepping to the side to go around her.“Hang on a second,” she said, and I turned back to see a confused frown on her face.I raised my eyebrows slightly waiting for her to continue.She walked over and paced around me in a full circle, her eyes roving over me as if she was trying to work something out.I just watched her in amusement.“What’s got you in such a good mood?” she said, stopping in front of me, her head tipped slightly to one side.“The sun is shining, it’s a beautiful day, why wouldn’t I be in a good mood?” I replied, as I again stepped around her and headed into the kitchen to grab something to ea
ColeI made my way slowly to Highfield Hall. It had been 8 weeks since I had seen Nathan.I thought that over time, the pain of the rejection would go away, that it would hurt less. I was wrong. Every Saturday it seemed to be getting harder and harder to motivate myself to walk the short distance to the Hall.Sure, once I was there, I usually managed to lose myself in what I was there to do. But just going to the place, physically putting one foot in front of the other to go to the place that I first saw Nathan required so much effort that once I got there I was already exhausted.It didn’t help that I hadn’t slept properly in weeks.I walked in through the front gate, something I still managed to chuckle about, despite my mood, and walked over to where I saw James and Emily looking over our latest plans.“Hey Cole, how’s thi….woah you look rough, are you feeling ok?” Emily said, coming over to me and giving me the once over, before settling for looking directly into my eyes.“I’m
NathanIt had been exactly 6 weeks since I’d seen Cole. 6 long torturous weeks.It was Saturday again which meant only one thing. Cole would be coming to Highfield Hall later today.I hated Saturdays. I hated them so much. I basically spent the whole day pacing around my room, desperate to go out, desperate to be anywhere but staring at these four walls.But I couldn’t. Because I didn’t trust myself not to sneak a peek at him. You know, just to see if he was alright.But of course he was alright. There was barely a day that went by without someone mentioning his name. You see he turned out to be a bit of a whizz at this ecology stuff, and well, he sort of became James the gardener’s right hand man. And of course Annabell just worshiped the ground he walked on. Every sentence she said seemed to start with, ‘do you know what Cole said….’ or ‘do you know what me and Cole did…..’”It was torture. Pure torture. And to make it worse, I think they knew exactly what they were doing
ColeI felt…….I don’t know.I suppose the only way to describe it would be numb.Did that really just happen? There was so much to think about that I didn't know what to start with.Maybe I should start with the fact that there are such things as werewolves!!That was…..amazing. I probably should be freaking out about that, but to be honest it was the only thing about tonight that made me feel in the least bit happy.For one, it made me realise that I wasn’t going mad. I knew there was something up with those dogs at the Hall, and I knew that I’d seen something odd when Percy bit that guy.But knowing that, knowing that they were werewolves made them…..well it made them less scary.I know that sounds stupid, but it really wasn’t in my mind. It made them different. It made them secretive, and less sure around people. It made them hide from the spotlight, and hide from being who they really wanted to be. It made them…..human?It made them more like me.I could feel the damp of t
NathanI banged angrily on the horn on my steering wheel.“FUCKING MOVE!!” I shouted at the taxi that had just decided to stop in the middle of the road.Some drunken tart with a skirt up her arse and heels the size of tower blocks tottered over to the taxi, throwing a middle finger in my direction before getting in.I drew in a deep breath through my nose. I couldn’t lose my temper. It might cause me to be delayed further.I still couldn’t believe it took me so long to see the text from Cole. I always had my phone on me, yet tonight for some reason i’d left it in my bedroom.On the one night he needed me.As I drove like a maniac down the road I tried to rationalise with my thoughtsWhat if he’s badly hurt?That’s unlikely. He did manage to send a text.Yes but what if something happened after he sent that text, afterall, it took you long enough to read it.He’s bound to be fine. And then I can yell at him for texting me when I specifically told him to only text about the project
ColeOne second Percy was next to me, the next he was gone, and the only clue I had as to where he had gone were the screams now coming from behind me.I slowly turned round and gaped at what I saw. In just a few seconds the whole room seemed to be full of brawling bodies. I saw fists flying, and heard glass smashing, and everywhere I looked I could see bruises and cuts appearing on people’s faces.I wanted to run. I needed to run. But something kept me rooted to the spot. I needed to know that Natalie and Percy were alright.I couldn’t see either of them in the chaos in front of me, but I knew I would have to move if I wanted to find them.Slowly I edged my way into the mass of bodies. Ducking a flying chair and leaping over a pair wrestling on the floor, I eventually spotted Natalie cowering behind an armchair.I quickly dove behind the chair next to her.“Come one, we need to get out of here,” I said.I turned to look at Natalie and I could see the tears beginning to fall down
Cole“P to the A to the R T Y - It’s PARTY TIME! Whoop Whooop!”I swear there was something medically wrong with her sometimes.“My god girl, you’ve not even had a drink yet!” I said to Natalie as we walked up the street where the party was being held.“That’s what you think,” she said with an overly exaggerated wink.“Oh man, I’m going to be carrying you out of here tonight, aren’t I?” I said with a groan.“Hey, just think of it as payback for last time,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye.Ah, I guess she had a point there.I looked up at the house that was now infront of us. It was a large detached stone house, with a huge drive, lined by immaculately pruned conifer trees. I could never quite get my head around how people managed to have parties in homes like these. Where were the parents? Surely they couldn’t know what was going on. The damage alone from a party like this would probably cost hundreds if not thousands to put right.As if someone could read my mind, th
NathanI didn’t want to be here. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to leave.Well, actually, that wasn’t quite true. My heart was screaming for me to stay, but every other part of me just wanted to get as far away as possible.I hated Ronan and his big idea. I knew Cole would be here. I just knew it. Why wouldn’t he listen to me?!The moment I entered into the lecture theatre I could sense him in the room. And before long, I caught his scent. That was the thing about mates. You became highly attuned to their scent meaning you could pick it out easily among a group of people, and from a distance too.God he smelled good. Like the forest just after a heavy downpour.I forced myself to breathe through my mouth to not be drawn in by it any further.I needed to look at the silver lining here. Ronan had said that if Cole got involved, I could pass the project onto someone else. And it’s not like I wanted to do this in the first place. Why would I want to have to make conve