Change of Plans (10 page)

Bored to death, I ended up
jamming out to the Black Keys and Cage the Elephant for three hours. I loved
their songs, but there were only so many songs a girl could handle. The songs
were a mix of rock and pop that always got me in a good mood. In the moment, I
humiliatingly picked up my hairbrush to use as a microphone while listening to
Lonely
Boy
, one of my favorites.

I'm a lonely boy.

Oh, oh-oh I got a love
that keeps me waiting.

Well your mama kept
you but your daddy left you,

And I should've done
you just the same.

But I came to love
you,

And I want to flee.

Any old time you keep
me waiting,

Waiting, waiting

I was bent at the knees,
flipping my hair in dizzying circles when a laugh came from the doorway. I
whipped around, embarrassed to be caught singing and dancing. I expected Brody
to be there but he wasn’t.

“Caleb!”

Chapter Twenty

Friday
Night Lights

Caleb

Coach
Watkins took pity on me when I told him my girlfriend was at home sick.
He told/spit that I could leave but not before asking who my
girlfriend was.

“Allie
Underwood,” I told him proudly.

“Oh,
Coach Betty told me she’s quite the runner. Tell her I expect to see her at
track tryouts in the spring,” he spat, already turning back to field to watch
practice.

“Yes,
sir.” Anxious to get home, I hurried to my car. I promised Allie I would be
back for lunch but Mrs.
Vertan
, my awful history
teacher, told me to come see her during then so I couldn’t. I sent Brody, so
hopefully she wouldn’t be too mad.

When
I walked through the wooden front door- I never knocked anymore- I heard the
bass from a song blaring upstairs. I recognized it as the Black Keys and knew
it was Allie. I’m glad she loved this band so much, because I just got front
row tickets to their concert in the Richmond next month for us as a birthday
present. Brody didn’t like them, his loss. I climbed the stairs, music getting
louder as I got closer. My eardrums were ready to burst. I’m surprised that the
neighbors haven't called in a noise complaint.

Allie’s
bedroom door was open and she zipped by. I walked faster to the doorway,
curious to see what was going on. And
there
running
around dancing and singing into a hairbrush was my pair.

I
leaned up against the doorframe and watched as she continued to sing and dance
her adorable butt off. I couldn’t contain my laughs when she bent at the knees,
doing hair flips that made me dizzy just by watching. She whipped around and
yelled my name before she ran to me, throwing her arms around my neck and
hugging me close. She’s changed so much in the last few days, but I didn’t
mind. Especially when she was feeling the need to hug me.

She
lifted her head to look up at me, “I thought you weren’t coming back before
your game.”

“Yeah,
I wasn’t planning on it, but Coach Watkins took pity on my sick girlfriend. He
also expects you to do track this spring.”

She
groaned, “No way on earth I’m doing track. I would rather throw on those barely
there
pieces of fabric they call skirts and become a
cheerleader. Go Timberwolves!” she said with fake zeal.

Now
that she mentions it, cheerleading wouldn’t be that bad. “I don’t know, you in
a tiny, little skirt and
pom
poms
could really make my day,” I grinned suggestively down at her.

“You
have a one-track mind. And don’t hold your breath on that.” I could still hope
and imagine. I ducked my head and quickly kissed her, but she pulled my head in
and kissed me longer. When she pulled away, she had a big smile on her face.

“So,
what do you want to do for the next two and a half hours?”

“I
can think of a few things,” she said suggestively and tugged at my shirt to
pull me closer to her again. I groaned and grabbed her hand. She looked up at
me with wide, blue eyes that made me want to give in. Yeah, and I was the one
with the one-tracked mind. Although I really wanted to, making out with her was
probably a very bad idea. Her emotions were everywhere with the shift coming up
in a week, and there was a big chance that things could carried away too fast.

“How
about a movie? Yeah, a movie sounds good. I’ll go grab some snacks and drinks,”
I said, needing a distraction from where Allie was looking at me with puppy-
excuse me,
wolfy
- eyes. I turned on my heel to head
downstairs while she put in a movie. I just hoped she didn’t make me watch
another chick
flick, that
was awful.

Downstairs,
there were more groceries, which meant Allie went shopping even though I told
her to stay in the house. I dug through the cabinets and grabbed Cheetos,
popcorn, skittles, and drinks. When I went back to her room, she was lounging
on her bed, remote in hand. I plopped down next to her, spilling some popcorn.

“So
what movie is it this time?” I asked.

“No
chick flicks, I promise. You’ll like this one.”

I
honestly didn’t care about the
movie,
Allie would
probably distract me through the entire thing anyway. Her short denim shorts
already were. As the opening credits rolled, she scooted closer to me until her
side was firmly against mine. She grinned when I shifted.

Her
tiny hand drew lazy circles on my chest, driving me crazy, as we watched some
lame comedy. Her suggestion was still in my mind and her cuddled up to my side
wasn’t helping me resist it. Every now and then, she would shift, pulling my
attention from the movie to her again. She knew exactly what she was doing and
the effect it had on me.

Toward
the end, she turned in head completely away from the movie, tucking it under my
neck. I groaned as her lips brushed the sensitive skin under my ear, and I
could feel her grin against me. I was just about to give in when I noticed the
time from her alarm clock.

“Shit!”
I cursed, and jumped up. Allie looked at me, confused at my sudden outburst. I
was going to be late and Coach was going to kill me. “I got to go, I have to be
there in two minutes,” I told Allie.

She
sat up. “Okay, what time should I come?”

“Seven
works, and after are you alright to go catch dinner with the boys?”

“Yeah,
sounds good. Good luck!”

“Thanks,
see you later,” I kissed her quickly and dashed out the door. The traffic to
the stadium was crazy and I’ve never used my car horn more than I did in the
ten minute drive there. When I finally pulled in the parking lot, I dashed out
of my car before the engine was fully off.

No
one was in the locker room, which meant they were all on the field already. I
went to my locker as quickly as I could, fumbling with the lock. Within two
minutes, I was suited up and sprinting to the field. Matt gave me a slight nod
when he noticed me, and Coach half yelled, half spit at me to hurry up.

Tonight
we played the Bristol Bearcats, our rivals and only competition for state.
Usually I would have been worried about beating them, but two new pack members
shifted since we last played them and we had the advantage.

Some
Wolves felt it was wrong to play sports, since we were much stronger, faster
and had better reflects. One of them being Brody, but all’s fair in love and
war.
By the time Coach finished his pre game talk
,
the crowd was going wild
. Bristol was on one side, fully in
red, while we were on the home side, fully in blue and silver. Cheerleaders,
bands, line dancers, mascots, the whole chi-bang, lined the stadium, pumping up
the crowds. I tried to look for Allie but she was lost in the enormous crowd.

By
halftime we were beating them 38-17, and the crowd was going roaring. Sierra
was on the field cheering with a big smile and small skirt that caught
everyone’s attention. Well, everyone’s but mine. I was still imaging Allie in
one of those.

While
Coach was talking, I finally saw Allie and Brody near the exit of the stadium.
She was bundled up in jeans, a sweater and a scarf. She was looking my way,
smiling and lifted her hand in a small wave. I waved back only to get smacked
in the helmet by Matt, who was now trying to talk to the whole team. He could
be such a pain in the ass sometimes, but he was pretty cool. After all, he
didn’t run out of the house screaming when Allie told him that we could shift
into wolves. When the buzzer blared, signaling that halftime was over, the
cheerleaders scampered off the field and were replaced by the teams.

We
won the game easily, finishing with a 55-17. We probably could have won by
more, but we have to give the Bearcats some chance. When the final buzzer blew,
the band, cheerleaders, and students flooded the entire field as always. Allie
found me through the crowd and jumped to give me a large hug.

“You
played great! Ugh, but you smell awful!” Her little nose scrunched up and I
laughed, her senses were kicking up and she probably smelled it a lot worse
than it was. There were some downsides to being a werewolf and I bet it sucked
with a ton of sweaty football players. I learned to block it out a long time
ago, but Allie’s still not there yet.

“Yeah,
I think that might have something to do with the football game I just played
in, but you never know,” I said teasingly. I pulled her to the sideline where
my bag was and handed her my keys, “Why don’t you go wait in my car and I’ll
take a quick shower and meet you there?”

“Okay,”
she said as she leaned in to kiss me and then disappeared through the crowd.

I
quickly showered and had just finished changing when someone tapped my
shoulder. I turned to find Mike with his hands jammed in the back pockets of
his jeans. He rocked back on his heels and asked, “So you and Allie Underwood?
How did you manage to pull that off? That chick shut me down more times than I
can remember.”

I
had to laugh at that. Allie would shut someone down again and again. Before me,
she didn’t date. Her plans were to get out of this town right after graduation
and a boyfriend would have held her back. Well, I guess everything changes when
you’re a werewolf.

“Yeah,
well some things are meant to be,” I responded.

“Is
she going to the Grill with everyone tonight?”

“Yeah,
that’s the plan.”

“Awesome,
see you there.” Mark was cool, but was totally FTG (for the girls). He just
broke up with his recent girlfriend, Katie, and was looking for a new one. If
he even tried to make a move on Allie tonight, I was going to punch him. I
nodded to him and walked toward the exit, passing Matt who gave me a slight
nod.

Allie
was in my car with the heat on full blast. “Jesus Al, are you trying to burn me
to death?”

“Sorry,
I’m freezing,” her teeth were chattering and she was curled up in a ball in her
seat. I recently put on the doors and roof to my Jeep, but I guess that wasn’t
enough.

“Yeah,
side effect of the transition. I would just make sure to wear lots of layers to
take on and off for the next week. It should calm down in a couple of days
though. Are you still good to go to the grill?”

“Yes!
I’m starving. I could probably eat a whole cow right now.”
If
she only knew.
I went through at least twenty pounds of meat the day
before my transition. I reached over to grab her hand, trying to rub some
warmth in her and headed toward the town square where The Grill was.

The
town square held City Hall, the police station, and tons of restaurants and
shops surrounding a small park. The trees had white, twinkling lights strung
around them and people were always milling around. On one of the corners sat
The Grill. The food was decent, music was loud, and you were guaranteed to run
into someone you knew.

Allie
passed me as I held the door open for her. Yes, I did have some manners. When
we headed toward the side of the restaurant were all the high school kids hung
out, the party was in full swing. The corner was filled with mostly leather
couches with coffee tables in between and a fireplace with a pool table nearby.
Nearly the entire football team and their girlfriends were there along with the
cheerleading squad. In all there were eight werewolves- Allie, Brody, Sierra,
Chloe, Samantha, Luke, Craig, and
me
. Sierra was
looking longingly at Brody who was obviously trying to ignore her. Looks like
the tables had turned, Sierra wanted Brody, but he didn’t want her. I didn’t
really care about their drama, as long as Sierra was leaving me and Allie
alone, I was good. But knowing Sierra’s mom, this break wasn’t going to last
long.

Standing by Sierra was Chloe and Samantha in
their cheerleading outfits talking to their pairs, Luke and Craig. When the
team noticed me, they turned and cheered, no shocker. I technically won the
game for them, not bragging or anything. I dragged Allie behind me toward a
couch in the middle of the crowd. The couch was the only one open and was right
across from Mike, the last person I wanted to be around Allie, but it was close
to the fireplace, which would help warm Allie up.