Bad Storm (6 page)

The bitterness in his voice took me by surprise. For some
reason, I guess because it seemed (with the exception of Trent and Lola’s
drama) that they were pretty well-adjusted to being werewolves. I had forgotten
that this was a curse.

And I suddenly became hyper-aware that I was a part of it.

‘
No wonder Trent feels
so guilty
,’ I thought.

“The big concern,” Mac said, looking over at each of us, “is
why she’s meddling with you. And her warning. It’s just cryptic enough to make
me wonder if she’s actually on orders
not
to say anything, rather than
to warn you.”

“She’s trying to stir up trouble,” Trent spoke up beside me,
his lips in a terse, thin line.

“Probably,” Mac nodded. “But that doesn’t mean we should
dismiss her. She most likely wants to get a rise out of us, but only because
she’s very impatient. There may be some trouble coming our way,” he said, and
then looked at me.

“Bailey, from what I hear, you have some sort of
relationship with the Veisi boy, from the Neo-Knights of Cyrus?”

“Well,” I avoided looking at Trent. The word ‘relationship’
felt heavy, incriminating even. “I know him, yes. But I didn’t know who he was
when I met him. Or about any of this,” I said quickly.

“Well, we may need to be careful. I’m sure Nick told you
already but they don’t take kindly to wolf packs. It would be just like Lark to
associate with them out of boredom.”

I took another sip of the tea, again having a hard time
paying attention to the warmth or flavor. The information was spinning through my
mind once again, and I was having a hard time trying to make sense of the cloud
of strange knowledge I had accumulated recently.

“So I can’t just tell them to leave you alone?” I could
hardly force my voice above a whisper. I already knew the answer.

Mac shook his head. “I don’t think talking to that fella
would be a good idea right now. You’re just going to have to be on your toes.
We’ll have to stay in this general area, and I’m going to have to ask you don’t
go leaving town for any reason. That way, if trouble comes up one of us can
help you out. Like we did just now.”

“That was insane,” I said, recalling how they showed up in
such great timing. “I don’t even remember calling any of you…did you…transform
or something?”

“We can just run that fast,” Allison said quietly, looking
up at me through her bangs for the first time since we sat down.

“A lot of our supernatural strength is just a part of our
daily lives. We have to work hard to keep it a secret though, so don’t go
shouting about the little things,” Mac teased and winked. “We can’t go zipping
down the street just cause there’s a spider in your drain.”

“I’ll make a mental note.” I was glad to smile for the first
time in what felt like days, even if it had only been a few hours.

Just then, the front door slammed open, and I heard heavy,
thundering footsteps.

And I could feel it. The feeling of lightening in my bones
that I only identified just then—it was Lola.

“She’s here,” she hissed from the hallway, before even
seeing my face. I wondered if she could sense me like I could sense her, or if
she could smell me or sense me in some other way.

 
I stood up,
placing my mug on the coffee table and trying to appear calm as she appeared in
the doorway. She looked wild-eyed and crazy, her white blonde hair tousled in
all directions and her shirt torn up and covered in mud, like she had thought
last minute to throw it off as she transformed. She was wearing thick, black
combat boots that were dragging mud into the sitting room.

“Really, Lola? How trashy,” Brandon snapped, a look of
disgust on his face as he stared down at her feet, dragging in dirt and weeds.

“Shut up,” she growled. “You’re dead to me.”

Mac got to his feet, his face absolutely livid. I got a
feeling he wasn’t about to pop off on the mess, either. “You transformed in
broad daylight?! Where the hell were you?!” he bellowed.

Lola shrugged, impudently staring him straight in the eyes.
“Where ever the hell I wanted, that’s where.”

Before I could blink, a blur of yellow and green shot across
the living room and knocked Lola to the ground. Allison had jumped up and
zoomed across the room, smacking her sister down and slapping her across the
face with such force that she lay above her, panting wildly. Lola growled and
tossed her little sister off of her, rolling over a raising a hand to strike
her across the face.

Trent raced over and grabbed her wrist. Everyone was moving
so fast that I thought I could feel my head spinning.

Lola pulled her hand away and jumped up to her feet,
screaming like a banshee before she turned on her heel and stormed out the
front door, shaking the whole house as she slammed it behind her.

“Maybe I should go,” I said, breaking the heavy silence that
surrounded her departure. Trent grimaced and Brandon rolled his eyes.

“Ugh this is so like her. To just come in here and ruin
everything.”

As he went on about how much he disliked her, though, I
could see Allison looking visibly hurt.

“Brandon, maybe you should—“ I started, but before I
could say anything else, Allison rose to her feet and fled the room.

“Oh shit, was that my fault?” Brandon said earnestly,
gritting his teeth in awkward embarrassment.

“She’s been on edge for a while now.” Mac picked up the mugs
and placed them on the tray. “Since I asked Lola to consider leaving the pack.
Just give her some space, she’s going through a lot, you know?”

Hearing that made me feel beyond awful. Like someone had
ripped the floor out from beneath me. I was the reason her sister was being
insane and was being asked to leave. I was breaking up the pack.

I suddenly felt really sick inside.

“I’m going to go,” I whispered to Trent.

“I’ll go with you, just in case.”

I smiled at him, and said my goodbyes to Mac and Brandon.

“Hey, try not to feel too bad,” Brandon whispered in my ear
as I hugged him. “Remember, you can’t hide your feelings from me anymore.”

I smiled nervously. Though he meant it in a cute way, it
only served to make me feel uncomfortable on top of guilty.

On the way home I had to force myself to not be distracted.
I knew I was being a dangerous driver, with my scatter-brained thoughts, but I
could hardly help it. The sun was setting, and traffic was getting heavier in
the small, beach town as people who commuted were coming home.

It took longer than it normally would to get home, and by
the time we did I felt physically and emotionally drained. Trent could feel it,
and he held my hand as we walked up the stairs, stroking it comfortingly with
the back of his thumb.

“At least it isn’t raining,” he said, his goofy, half-smile
returning to him. I smiled in back. I missed his sense of humor—he had
been so hot-headed and serious lately, and while I was coming to realize and
accept that it came with the territory of a werewolf beaux (at that point I
couldn’t dare to think the loaded word
boyfriend
), I missed the
light-hearted nature of being friends.

Inside I noticed that Sierra’s keys weren’t hung up. “She’s
still not back,” I said, slightly disappointed and nervous.

“She’ll be okay. If you think I have strength, Nick’s is of
a completely different order. Like, literally,” he smirked. I was taking off my
coat, distracted with thoughts of Sierra, when I felt him reach for my
shoulder.

“Hey,” he muttered, before spinning me around to face him
and staring lovingly into my eyes. I lost my breath for a moment, rendered
dizzy and speechless, the jacket slipping from my hand to the floor.

“You look gorgeous when you’re hair is wet,” he said before
pressing his perfect lips onto mine.

And yeah, I died a little.

He pulled away from the kiss and I almost moaned out in
disappointment. He grinned at me, sheepishly and adoringly, and I laughed back,
biting my lip in anticipation as he scanned my face for a moment.

“I don’t wanna go…” he sighed.

“Then don’t,” I breathed, bringing my hands up around the
wet skin of his neck.

 
“I have to go
take care of a few things…you know, make sure shit doesn’t get out of control,”
he sighed, exhaling in slight annoyance.

“I get it,” I replied, knowing that it was only a matter of
minutes before Lola went pouncing around in a park or something as a vicious
wolf. “Do you want me to drop you off?”

“Nah, you know I like walking in the rain.” His thick lips
curled upwards and he moved towards me one more time, stealing my breath away
as he kissed me passionately, his large, thick hands holding my face gingerly,
igniting my skin with licks of fire.

This time I completely forgot how to be. I was enraptured by
heat and touch, and every moment I had ever been in love with him, every
flutter of my heart, every time my stomach fell through my body.

It was stupid awesome.

Finally, reluctantly, he pulled away, petting my hair and
giving me a goofy smile, with his eyes half-closed.

“I want to do something special for you,” he murmured,
 
catching his fingers in my messy, wet
locks.

“You do enough by being you,” I said, touching my hand to
his cheek. He closed his eyes like he was relishing the feeling of my skin
against his.

“That’s not true. I have to do something to make up for all
that lost time.” He opened his eyes and held his hand over mine, trapping it
between his palm and his face. “Tomorrow night, around eight, can I come pick
you up?”

“I can drive over myself.” I felt slightly embarrassed.

“Hey, let me have this,” he teased, pulling our hands down
to our sides and weaving his fingers between mine.

“Okay.” A flutter of excitement burst in my stomach at the
thought of what in the world the surprise could be. I walked him to the door of
my apartment, and he brought my hand up to his lips, giving it a sweet kiss. I
laughed a little, unable to fight it. I just wasn’t used to seeing him act so
chivalrous.

“What?” Trent said, grinning and blushing a little. I know
he wasn’t used to being this way, but it was endearing. It was wonderful.

It was my dream coming true.

“Nothing. You’re perfect,” I said, unable to fight back the
giant goofball grin on my face.

“No, you are.” He gave me one final kiss before leaving, and
I could hardly do anything but breath as I collapsed on the couch, playing back
the perfect kiss with all of those strange, beautiful emotional flashbacks,
over and over again.

I couldn’t figure out how my life had gotten to this moment,
and while there were so many parts that were easy to regret, I couldn’t
actually will myself to want anything to go away.

I fell asleep on the couch for what couldn’t be more than a
matter of minutes, when Sierra came home. The creaking of the front door woke
me, and I opened my eyes slowly, disgruntled by the incandescent light of the
single living room lamp.

“Sierra?” I groaned.

“Hey sleepy head,” I heard her reply. I sat up to take her
in, and realized she looked a wreck. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her hair was
disheveled and frizzy, as if she had walked around in the humid Floridian,
post-rain air to dry out her wet locks.

“Hey, what’s up?” I asked, quickly scooting over on the
couch and patting down the spot next to me. She shut the front door behind her
and took off a thick cargo coat I had never seen her wear before. She dropped
her petite frame in the space next to mine, and then turned to give me a terse
smile, her eyes fixed on the space between our laps.

I suddenly remembered how she went off with Nick and
wondered how much she knew about all of weirdness that was going on. Or how
much she even believed. I should have been relieved, happy even, that I might
not have to keep any secrets from her any more, but I couldn’t help but feel
strangely upset and worried. I could tell she was freaked out and scared.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, lifting her gaze so that her
hazel green eyes met mine.

“What…What did Nick tell you?” I asked slowly.

“Honestly…I know the first thing I should want to do is talk
all of this out with you and stuff. And normally, that’s what I want to do when
weird shit happens. But…I’m exhausted. And I don’t know…can we just watch those
movies finally?” she asked, giving me a small, sad smile.

“Yeah, of course.” I opened my arms and pulled her into a
big hug, kissing her ginger hair and she sighed into my shoulder. We put on one
of our favorite movies, Never Been Kissed, and snuggled up with some blankets
and popcorn.

At first we were both too weary and distracted to eat the
little butter puffs in the big bowl on the coffee table, and all our laughs
were just based off of cues since we had seen the film so many times. But eventually,
right around the Josie Grossie scene, we eased back into our old ways,
inhabiting the skins of the people we were only a few days ago, who knew none
of the scary and horrifying things about the world.

It was almost natural.

The next morning I
went to Cafe Doomsday and said hi to my old co-workers, ordered a vanilla
cappuccino and fixed my resume while I waited for my old boss, Dan, to finish
up some paperwork in his office. I was trying really hard to erase what I had
seen on the news this morning from my mind—another wolf spotting, on the
fringes of a popular nature walk by the beach.

Clearly, Lola
wasn’t going to stop transforming in public any time soon. Thankfully Dan
interrupted my nervous thoughts and plopped in the chair across from me,
casually dropping an elbow on the table.

“So, the tour
thing didn’t work out, huh?” he said, trying to act sympathetic even though I
knew that he was happy to have a barista back.

“Not really. So I
guess I’m back here sooner than I thought I’d be.”

“Well, we’d be
glad to have you back. How’s you’re availability?” he asked me, pulling out a
tablet and tapping into it.

“Open. I’m
completely free of obligations.” I forced a smile even though I felt terrible
inside, having to acknowledge how the tour failed and our dreams fell apart.

“Ok, we have the
schedule made up for this week but I’ll let Jenny know you’re back,” he said,
referring to our shift manager who made the work schedules. “We should be able
to put you to work by next week. By the way, is Bad Moon still together? An
opening band just bailed on Jim and he’s kind of desperate to find a group for
his show this Saturday.”

Jim was Dan’s twin
brother who owned Deston Beach’s only rock venue, The Nightshift.
 
I nodded enthusiastically, realizing
Brandon’s surprise party could be taken to a whole new level—a surprise
show!

“Absolutely. Just
send him my info and tell him we’d love to.”

We chatted
afterwards for a bit, but whatever small talk we made was negligible. My mind
was stuck on the upcoming show and how great it would be for Bad Moon to play
again. I was itching to get back to my apartment and draft out a set list.

As I was getting
my stuff packed up to leave, I heard a familiar voice blare over the speakers.
I looked up, as if expecting someone to be as shocked as I was, but of course,
everyone just continued on their usual business, the customers sipping at their
lattes and the baristas bustling around behind the counter.

“Sierra,” I
hissed, hoping over to her while stuffing my laptop into my messenger bag.

“What?” she looked
over to me from the espresso machine for a moment. “Are you getting your job
back?”

“Yeah, but that’s
not why I’m bugging you. This song, who is it?”

The pounding
guitar rhythm was familiar, and yet different. Lighter, but the vocals were
eerily familiar. I could recognize that crooning sexy voice anywhere…

“That’s Fun Aim,”
she said casually as she pulled the wand out of the latte and grabbed the
caramel bottle to squeeze out a design on top of the foam. “They’re like, this
new top forty band. I really like this song, haven’t heard their album though.
Not sure if it’s out.”

“What?!” I nearly
screamed. I couldn’t even care if I disturbed everyone in the shop. I was about
to loose my mind. “But it can’t be…I didn’t even think they were signed yet…”

“Bailey, calm
down,” Sierra hissed, eyeing the customer behind me. She loved when I freaked
out in public, but when she was at work she was always conflicted about my
outbursts. No matter how hip Dan tried to be, he was definitely not cool with
us disturbing the elderly clientele of Cafe Doomsday.

“Sierra, Aamir is
the lead singer of Fun Aim.” Her mouth dropped open and if I hadn’t caught her
wrist, she would have kept dripping the caramel on the drink until their would
have been a strange, disgusting blob of gold goo in the middle of the cloudy
white foam.

“Are you
serious
?”

“Yeah, I’m
serious. I mean, I knew they were getting big but Jeez, I didn’t know they were
top forty!”

“They totally
are!” Sierra squealed. “Everyone is getting excited about their music video. Apparently
it’s still in post-production, but stills of it keep being released and people
are going nuts on blogs and stuff.”

I shook my head in
disbelief. “Am I really this out of the loop?”

“Apparently,”
Sierra laughed, snapping the white lid over the paper cup. I always wondered
why we had to bother with fancy designs on hot drinks when we just covered them
up anyway, but Dan insisted that customers could taste our hard work. Yeah,
whatever.

“Monica?” Sierra
called out, and I moved out of the way as she smiled and politely slid the cup
across the counter towards an elderly woman. The woman gave me a suspicious
look, clearly disturbed by my outbreak, but I couldn’t even pretend to care.

Once she left I
rushed back to the counter. “I know Dan’s going to yell at me so I’ll quit
pestering you in a minute. But what else do you know?” I asked.

“Um…I mean, not
too much, the single was just released not too long ago. I think they have some
EP on their website people really like that’s free. It has a bunch of different
indie rock bands on it.”

“Dammit!” I slammed
my fist on the counter. The older woman harrumphed in annoyance. “We were
almost on that E.P. Sierra! Bad Moon! But then I had to go ruining everything
by sleeping around…ergh!!!”

Sierra giggled. “I
mean, also isn’t he potentially really dangerous or something?”

“Right, I forgot
you’re in the loop now,” I sighed.

“Yeah, we’ll have
to talk about that later. But for now…” she nodded her head behind me and I
turned to see a disgruntled looking man in scrubs with his arms folded across
his chest.

“Sorry,” I mumbled
before scurrying out of Cafe Doomsday and to my purple moped in the parking
lot. I hurried home so that I could look them up on the computer, and sure
enough, I found a wealth of promotional pictures. Fun Aim was dressed up in
matching black and white clothing and had chains hanging from their pants, in a
mainstream kind of new-punk way.

There was an
interview too. I must have watched it like three times in a row, my heart
pounding furiously. I felt pretty guilty, because we had a shot to record with
them. This could have been Bad Moon—they could have made it.

‘
Stop thinking like that
,’ I scolded
myself and forced my laptop shut, deciding after what must have been an hour of
being a creepy internet stalker that I needed to stop. Bad Moon could still
make it their way. And it looked like Fun Aim was selling out a little. Not the
worst thing that could happen, since their music was still really good, but I
knew it wasn’t Bad Moon. They liked things a little bit raw, and that’s how
they should be.

I made some lunch,
a turkey sandwich on rye and potato chips, and set to work drafting up a set
list, even though I hadn’t confirmed a booking. Thirty minutes later, however,
I got an email from Jim inviting Bad Moon to play. I did a little happy dance
in the living room before responding.

I was nearly finished
updating the website and all social media by Sierra got home and reminded me of
my date with Trent.

“Shit!” I yelled,
checking the time and my phone. He had sent me a text about twenty minutes
prior stating he was on his way.

“Let’s get you
dressed,” Sierra said, shaking her head and giggling at me. “We got to get you
in something
hot
.”

“If I have
anything,” I grumbled, wondering what on earth I could wear that Trent hadn’t
seen already.

“What about that
black dress your mom bought you as a graduation present?”

I laughed,
imagining the shimmery, tight little number. “I never even tried that thing on,
I’m sure it would make me look like a shiny sausage.”

“You don’t know
until you try,” Sierra smirked. I laughed, put at ease by her silly smile.
There was so much still unspoken between us, with the pack and my brother. But
we’d get to it another time. For now, she’d just be my best friend/roommate
dressing me up for a hot date.

“Fine, but you
can’t take a picture with your phone when I come out looking like the Weiner Mobile!”
I chided, ribbing her with my elbow as I walked passed her towards my room.

 
I pulled the tight fabric over my body
and was surprised to find that the thing actually fit. As I tied the halter
around my neck I couldn’t help but notice that the black shimmering fabric had
a fun hint of purple, my absolute favorite color. I looked over myself in the
mirror and gasped.

“Whoa,” I
muttered, checking out how well the garment emphasized my hips and breasts, in
a way that made them look voluptuous, not too big.

“Let me seeee!”
Sierra begged, pounding on the door. “How does it look?”

I didn’t say
anything for a while, and just grinned mischievously as I let the silence speak
for itself.

 
“Is it really that bad?” she sounded
disappointed. I threw open the door and she gasped. I couldn’t help but laugh
at her reaction.

“You jerk! You
look incredible!” her eyes widened as she scanned me head to toe. “Turn around!”
I complied, a huge grin on my face as I twirled around in a circle, my hands on
my hips as I sashayed with sass.

“Oh my God you
have
to let me take a picture of this
for my instagram!” she demanded, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

“Go for it,” I
laughed, hamming up a ridiculous pose for her.

“I know you’re
trying to be silly right now, but you just look hot,” she said as she snapped
the picture, the flash momentarily blinding me.

“Pleeease let me
do your make-up!” she begged.

“Alright,” I
agreed, knowing Sierra was really the person to go to for that kind of stuff.
As we rushed over to the bathroom she checked her phone and shrieked.

“Ten likes! And
Brandon says your look so hot you’re going to turn him.”

I laughed and sat
on the toilet, feeling nervous and giddy as she pulled make-up bags out from
underneath the sink. I hadn’t prepared for a date in over a year, and I
couldn’t help but feel super girly and excited.

“Oh my god…you
won’t believe this, but Jason liked it.”

“Ew,” I said,
wrinkling my nose. “Put that stupid phone away and do my make-up. I don’t want
to think about that loser.”

She laughed and
placed her phone on the sink, turning a bottle of concealer over on a triangular
white sponge. “Okay, close your eyes. This is going to take five minutes, I
swear.”

“Okay, it better
because Trent is going to be here in like two minutes,” I mumbled, shutting my
eyes. I shivered as she spread the cool goop over my face, and then dusted it
over with powder. I didn’t get to open my eyes until she needed to put on
mascara.

She was just about
finished when there was a knock at the door. “Ugh, hold on,” she muttered, and
my stomach burst with butterflies. He was there, at the door. I suddenly grew
self-conscious about how hard I was trying. What if he didn’t like it, if he
thought I was trying to be some club girl or something I wasn’t?

“Shut up,” I told
myself, closing my eyes and imaging what I looked like in that dress. I looked
fabulous and I knew it. I wasn’t going to let my shitty self-esteem get in the
way of what could be a tremendous night.

I heard Trent’s
low voice and Sierra’s giggling, and I felt my nerves turn into excited
anticipation. She returned and finished up the mascara, caking me one more time
with the powder before beaming ecstatically.

“You look like a
freakin’ goddess. It’s not even fair.”

“Oh yeah right,” I
laughed, getting to my feet. But when I turned around to see myself in the
mirror I couldn’t help but gasp and bring a hand to my mouth.

It was me, but it
was the most beautiful version of myself I had ever seen. My skin looked
radiant and flushed in the right places, and my eyes popped and matched my
brown hair. For the first time, I thought the color was lovely instead of
boring. Even my lips were a shade darker, and more lively than normal, popping
from my face in a full, graceful bow.

“I look
incredible,” I gasped. Sierra pulled my hair out of its ponytail and let it
fall down my shoulders in elegant waves.

“Yeah you do.
Here, I brought your heels. Go out there and show him you’re a diva!”

I rolled my eyes
and giggled. Sierra was prone to saying ridiculous things like that, but she
was right. I looked and felt like a queen. I slipped on my silver heels and she
handed me my black purse. I stepped out into the hall and then the living room,
where Trent was standing in a gray shirt and dark jeans.

For once he looked
well-rested, and his hair was neat and flattened with a shiny pomade. He still
had a line of stubble though. I grinned as he caught sight of me, his eyes
growing twice the size of his head.

“Sorry, I guess I
must have over-dressed…”

“No,” he said
quickly and forcefully, taking several long strides in my direction. “You look
amazing. Don’t apologize.”