Jennifer woke me at quarter to six with a tray of sandwiches and sweet tea. It wouldn’t be polite to gobble all the party food like I was starving, and I hadn’t eaten since lunch.But my head was fuzzy from sleep, and I wasn’t the least bit hungry. I took a shower to wake up. The warm water felt good as it washed away the cobwebs from my mind.Afterward, I munched on the sandwiches while Jennifer dried my hair and arranged it in a messy bun that looked great.My teeth were brushed, and my makeup was perfect when it was time to slip on my new sage green cocktail dress. I loved the way the pearl sequins across the skirt caught the light.With the matching kitten heel sandals on my feet, I was ready to go.Victor arrived on time, and we left for the party about a mile away.I spotted Mr. Gray’s pickup truck before I got out of the Lamborghini. The old truck stuck out at a party full of Aston Martins, Mercedes, and Ferraris.But I didn’t see Amy anywhere. “Amy,” I called. “We’re going ins
By the time I got out the Foster’s front door, Amy was almost to her dad’s truck.“Amy, wait,” I yelled as I ran toward her. “Please, I need to talk to you.”Amy struggled to unlock the truck door, but her hands shook so badly that she dropped the keys. “I don’t want to talk to you, Daisy.” She bent over and picked up the truck keys from the asphalt. “Leave me alone.”Making it to her side, I realized I was shaking just as much as Amy. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think they would do that to you.”“Is it your first day dealing with Alphas?” Amy asked, her eyes wide and glistening with tears. “You knew some of them would bully me if they had the chance, and you gave them that chance.”Amy’s lips quivered as she spoke. “I didn’t want to come to this stupid party. But I came for you,” she sobbed. “They called me horrible names that I … I can’t repeat.”Her sobs tore at my soul. I moved to put my arms around her, but she backed away.“I saw you watching.” She wiped away her tears with the back of
William called after I was home to tell me Amy was okay. He saw the truck parked behind Gray’s, and he saw her going in the back door to her family’s apartment above the restaurant.But when he called Amy’s name, she hurried inside and closed the door.I was relieved Amy was safe, but I mourned the loss of my friend. There had to be a way to win back her trust and make her see I really did care about her.I stayed home the rest of the weekend, spending time with Alex and going for runs with Diana.“Be patient and give Amy some space,” she told me on our Sunday evening run. “Eventually, she will forgive you, and you can rebuild your bond with her.”“I hope so,” I said. “I miss her already.”When I arrived at school Monday morning, my eyes immediately zeroed in on the bench under the tree where we always met each morning.It was empty.I walked over and sat down anyway, hoping Amy was running late. In my mind, I could see her hurrying toward me and plopping down on the bench while compl
Victor drained his coffee cup. “I have an errand to run near here. I’ll be back by five to take you home or maybe out to do something fun since you hid at home all weekend.”I glanced at the clock. “That sounds good. I have a meeting in ten minutes, but it should be wrapped up in a half hour.”I didn’t tell Victor any details about this meeting because I wanted him to be surprised when I pulled off a great deal for the company. I found someone in need of an investor for a profitable venture.“See you soon,” Victor said as he headed for the elevators.Soon after he left, a young Alpha named Ronald Shoup arrived. The receptionist showed him into my office and brought us coffee and water before returning to her desk.Ronald and I at a party a few weeks ago when he made me the offer, and he followed up with a meeting last week here in my office.“Did you have the contract drawn up?” I asked. I didn’t want to sound overly eager, but closing my first big deal was exciting.I wanted to exami
I wanted to run forever.Running through the high grasses or tracking small creatures in the woods kept me from thinking about Amy and my near humiliation at the hands of the parasite.For hours, Victor and I and our wolves enjoyed each other’s company and the joy of being a part of nature without any conversation to distract us.It was well after dark when we raced one last time around the field before leaping into the pagoda pond to cool off.Victor's wolf followed me into the water, and we paddled around until Victor suddenly shifted human.“What time is it?” he asked. “I’m starving.”When I didn’t answer, he swam closer, and I shifted too.“Daisy, don’t feel bad about what happened with the parasite,” Victor said. “But you need to trust your instincts more. Stop doubting yourself and start doubting strangers instead.”“I won’t be trusting anybody again,” I assured him. “Ronald cured me of that.”“There are plenty of people you can trust in this world,” Victor assured me. “Don’t le
When Amy wasn’t sitting on our bench again the following morning, I went looking for her.I walked down the front of the building, checking for her in each group of students standing around, talking and laughing as they prepared themselves for the school day.Next, I went inside and checked the cafeteria and the library. When I had no luck in either place, I went to her locker. But she wasn’t there either.I found her sitting in her homeroom with her head on the desk, cradled in her arms.I wanted to go into the room and talk to her, but the teacher was there, and he didn’t tolerate students talking in his classroom unless he called upon them.It was the perfect place for Amy to avoid talking to me.Still, I wasn’t going to give up. I knew enough about Amy’s school day to find a place to talk to her.Amy beat me to math class, and the teacher scolded me when I didn’t take my seat immediately. But I was ready after the bell rang, and I followed her out the door, through the hallway, an
A few days later, I had six tickets to the progressive dinner in my hand. When Joe picked me up in the limo to take me home, I had him swing by Gray’s restaurant.Amy was alone in the kitchen, cleaning the floor. When she saw me, she turned her back and leaned on the mop. I hated how her shoulders slumped like she had lost all hope.“Amy, the progressive dinner is next Friday night,” I said. “It was your idea, and you should be there.”She didn’t move or answer me. She seemed to be barely breathing.“I brought tickets for you and your Dad.” I held the tickets over her shoulder so she could see them.But she wouldn’t take them from me.Instead, she turned around and looked at me with pain in her eyes. I realized then that she missed me as much as I missed her.But her expression told me it wasn’t enough to bring us back together.“Why would I want to go to a dinner to be humiliated by Alphas again?” she asked. Her voice was calm, but her eyes told a different story.“I would never let
The reporter was astounded by my revelation and struggled to think of her next question. “I heard you tell people it wasn’t your idea, but were you serious? A friend really gave you the idea for this progressive dinner?”“Yes, my best friend since we were very young,” I confirmed. “Her name is Amy.”“Is Amy here tonight?” the reporter asked as the restaurant went silent. “We would love to talk to her about how she got the idea for the dinner.”“No. She wouldn’t come. She was afraid to attend the dinner because of an incident at a party a short time ago,” I revealed.The reporter leaned closer. “Will you tell us about the incident? What made your friend afraid to attend this remarkable dinner that was her idea?”I looked into the camera. “Since my life has changed and has become more complicated, we couldn’t see each other as much as we would have liked.”I hoped I was doing the right thing and continued. I needed everyone to know the truth about the situation and what happened to Amy.