Change of Plans (5 page)

Chapter Eleven

Just Friends

Allie

 
Math was uneventful as always. I sat, took notes, and finished
homework.
When the bell rang, signaling the end of the day
and I started heading to my car to wait for Matt.
As I passed the field,
I saw a lone runner on the track. As I was putting my bag in the back seat of
my car, Debbie Singer, the sophomore from study hall, approached me.

“Is Matt okay?” she sounded
really worried.

What?
“Okay? Why wouldn’t he be?”

“Everyone is talking about
how Matt and Caleb got in a fight at football practice, I thought you had
already heard.”

Oh, you have got to be
kidding me. This day couldn’t get any worse. First, my temper is shooting
through the roof and my hormones were going nuts. Thanks to my hormones I
almost kissed Caleb today. Not once, but twice. I think I need to go to the
doctor because something was definitely wrong.

Second, Caleb has to pick a
fight with Matt. He probably did it just to make me mad. If he put a scratch on
him, I was going to kill him.

When I saw my car across the
parking lot, Matt was already standing there acting as if he hadn’t just got in
a fistfight. When I approached, he gave me his usual smile and a sup nod. I
crossed my arms and glared, “Oh no, don’t you dare sup nod me, Matt Peterson.
What on earth were you thinking? A fistfight?
With Caleb of
all people?
You know he just wants to get under your skin.”

“Yeah, well he succeeded. He
shouldn’t be around you; I can’t stand him and neither can you! He’s just some
jerk who thinks he is better than everyone.” He stood by the passenger door
with his arms crossed over his chest, not budging. I knew we were attracting an
audience with all of our yelling and so did he because he said in a much
quieter voice, “Maybe this is a conversation to have in private.”

I agreed with a silent nod,
still mad, and walked around to the other side of the car. The car ride back to
my house was silent, only the purr of the engine humming quietly in the
background. Based off what he said, it sounded like Matt picked the fight, but
I still didn’t understand why Matt had to pick a fight with him. Caleb was a
jerk, and we both knew that so what happened that he couldn’t let go? Even
though Matt said Caleb shouldn’t be around me, it’s not like they fought
because Caleb talked to me.  

When I pulled into my
driveway, I turned off the engine and sat there quietly. I turned to face Matt,
but when I glanced his way he was already exiting the car with his backpack. I
watched as he walked up the pathway and through the front door, leaving it open
behind him. I sat for a minute, contemplating what to do. Coming up
blank-minded, I got my bag and went inside.

I could hear sounds from
upstairs, which meant Matt was already in my room watching a movie. I climbed
the stairs and turned toward the long hallway where my room was at the end.
Brody didn’t appear to be home yet, or he locked himself in his room.

The door to my room was open
and I walked right in. My room was large considering it was just for one
person. A queen-sized bed took up most of the space. It was held by a
four-poster metal bed frame that was painted white and intertwined with sparkly
Christmas lights I put up a couple of years ago. The bedspread was silver with
purple designs and had enough matching pillows to cover a quarter of the bed. Opposite
of the bed was a dresser with the television above it playing a comedy movie.
On one side the wall was filled with a mass array of pictures, some black and
white while others in colors, all of them taken by me. Under the pictures was
my desk and the other side of the room had doors leading to my closet and
bathroom. And there on my bed, eating a bag of
chips,
was Matt.

I set my bag in the chair by
the door and joined Matt, stealing the bag of chips in the process. They were
Cheetos. Doritos were his thing, but Cheetos were all mine. He didn’t say
anything to me, only continued to watch the movie. We settled into our normal
routine of watching and eating, but eventually my questions seemed to be eating
at me more than I was eating the Cheetos.

“Why did you do it?” I
needed to know, because if Caleb was rude to him, he was going to have to deal
with me.

“I already told you.” He
didn’t take his eyes off the screen.

“Well, tell me again.”

His attention was finally
off Kevin Hart and on me, “Is it not obvious? I can’t stand to see Caleb around
you. Everywhere you go he’s always one step behind you, treating you like
you're his world. And it’s not that you don’t deserve to be someone’s world,
you do, but not Caleb’s,” he set the bag of chips down and looked me in the
eyes sincerely. “He doesn’t know you, not like I do. He doesn’t know that you
aren’t ticklish anywhere but under your ribs. He doesn’t know that Cheetos are
you favorite snack food, or that chocolate always cheers you up. He doesn’t
know that you won’t drink Coke, but will drink Diet Coke because you think
regular is too sweet. He doesn’t know anything about you. He doesn’t love you,
at least not like I do.” He meant love as a friend, right? There was no way he
loved
loved
me; we have been friends forever. I needed a
friend, not a boyfriend.

I sat in stunned silence,
staring at him. No matter how much I didn’t want to admit it, I knew he meant
that he loved me, like really loved me. I guess he took my silence as good
because the next thing I know, his lips are on mine. His lips were warm and
pressed gently against mine. The kiss was sweet and short, but it said enough.
He pulled away slightly and looked at me so deeply it felt more as if he was
looking through me.

“
Matt…,”
I whispered.

“Yeah, I know. You just want to get out of this town, and you
don’t need a boyfriend holding you back, but you should at least be happy. And
you know I could make you happy, a lot more than Caleb can,” his lips were
still close enough that I could feel his breath on my lips. Before I could
respond, he left
, leaving
me speechless. That’s what
the fight was about, he was jealous because he thought I wanted to be with
Caleb? It was at least ten minutes of just sitting there dumbfounded before I
realized something. I just had my first kiss.

Chapter Twelve

Milkshakes & Moods

Caleb

When I got back from
football practice, I was hoping my father wasn’t home. I didn’t need another
lecture from him. Not today. My father was a daily reminder of how I would
never be good enough to run the pack. He made sure that I knew that I was an
embarrassment to him and that if he had another option, he wouldn’t hand down
the alpha rank to me. I was becoming the age where I could probably fight him
for the alpha rank, but in my world, you fight to kill. I hated him, but I
wouldn’t kill him. I couldn’t.

My father wasn’t that cruel
to the pack, just not fair. He didn’t care about them, only the power. I looked
stunningly like him, black hair; his sprinkled with gray, green piercing eyes
and tall, but I didn’t give off the evil demeanor like he did. It wasn’t always
like that though. He is the first in our family to be an alpha; the alpha blood
runs through family so the oldest will be the next alpha unless challenged and
beaten. Before my father, the
Winters
bloodline were
the betas, the second ranked in the pack. The
Underwoods
were alphas.

A long time ago, Allie and
Brody’s dad, Jim, fell in love with a human. He was one of the rare few to not
get a pair. He could have found someone from another pack, but instead he fell
in love with Amber, Allie’s mom.

Werewolves usually aren’t
strict, except the one major rule- don’t expose us, but falling for a human was
frowned upon. My dad used this as an advantage and claimed that Jim was unfit
to lead the pack and that he should either leave Amber or leave the Wolf Creek
Pack. Jim easily gave up his place as alpha to stay with Amber, and I didn’t
blame him, he loved her. That was one thing my father could never understand,
love. He was with my mom because she was his pair, nothing else. He cared for
my younger sister and me because that was expected of him, not because he loved
us, although he had a soft spot for Rebecca. I am left to think that he is
unable of loving anyone other than himself.

When Brody and Allie were
born, it was expected that they wouldn’t turn. Their mother was full human, and
their dad was half Wolf-half human, leaving Allie and Brody a quarter Wolf.
Little did we know that the werewolf gene was dominant, and they would be like
any other werewolf, full strength and
abilities.
Sierra loved to use this fact to prove that Allie is an abomination, and I
shouldn’t be with her, but I thought a human mother topped out a
social-climbing mother any day.

Luckily, when I walked
through the door, it appeared as if I was alone. I walked through the house,
which was probably the largest in Wolf Creek, to my room. My room was sleek
with black wood and blue touches. I had a huge 62’ screen television, hooked up
with all my gaming consoles, along with a couch, a desk, and my favorite part,
a king sized bed. I plopped my bag down and turned on my X-box. I had barely
made it through a round when Rebecca came bouncing through the door. She must
have gotten a ride from a friend, because I didn’t hear Mom leave her room.

Rebecca was seven and
probably my favorite person on earth, along with Allie. She looked a lot more
like my mom than my dad, with blonde hair and green eyes. I practically raised
her; my father wasn’t an option and Mom locked herself in her room most days. I
didn’t mind though; she was great. She bounced everywhere she went and gave off
more energy than the sun. She was sweet and innocent, and more than anything, I
wanted to protect her from everything bad in the world. I paused my game and gave
her my full attention.

“Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice
cream!” Her little voice squealed. She jumped on the couch and continued to
bounce until I got up. I should have
know
; she always
wanted ice cream. I laughed and told her to go jump in my car, and I would meet
her there. She was so excited; she nearly sprinted out the door.

I met her in my car, where
she was jumping up and down in her seat, most likely to keep warm than
anything. I owned a black Jeep Wrangler, which I loved, and currently the doors
and roof were detached, exposing us to the crisp October air. I probably needed
to put those back on soon, but first, ice cream.

I drove Rebecca to the
Purple Cow Diner blaring music, not my music, only her pop music of course. The
dinner had decent food and really good milkshakes. I ordered two burgers and
two milkshakes…. for myself. What can I say? A boy
gotta
eat. Rebecca got a grilled cheese and a small,
vanilla milkshake. Werewolves eat about triple of what a normal person would
of, our metabolism burns food faster and shifting burns a ton of calories.
Literally,
two-thousand
.

While we waited for our food
to arrive I asked Rebecca about her day. She said it was average, but Mark, who
we suspected was her pair (you never knew until the shift approaches), kept bothering
her all day, but she didn’t really mind. Ah, only if Allie wouldn’t mind if I
bothered her all day.

Think of the devil and their
sibling appears. Brody walked in and went to the classic-looking bar. He picked
up a big brown bag and three milkshakes. When he turned around and noticed us,
he walked our way, stopping at the end of our table. Rebecca looked up from her
milkshake and saw him; she squealed and jumped up to hug him. She loved Brody,
and he loved her, I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. Rebecca was mine,
but I couldn’t really be talking. He stole my sister, and I was trying to steal
his.

“Hey man, what’s up?” I
asked.

“Nothing much, something
happened that got Allie in a twist but she won’t tell me. When I came home she
was in a mood. I’m hoping a milkshake and fries will help lighten the mood. I
thought she was hanging out with Matt today, but I guess that got canceled.”

Please don’t let it be
because we fought, “Can I go see her?”

He looked a little hesitant,
“Eh, I don’t know. I would just sit this one out man.” I gave him a challenging
stare. He paused for a minute, “Look, she’s in the car. You can go give it a
shot, but I wouldn’t be counting on anything.”

A shot was all I need. I
jumped up and asked Brody if we could switch cars, and he could drive Rebecca
home and I would meet him later at my house. His eyes narrowed, but he
eventually agreed. I handed him my keys, grabbed Allie’s chocolate milkshake,
said goodbye to Rebecca, and left toward Brody’s truck.  

I could see her through the
window of her car and she looked like a mess. Too much
of
a mess to just be caused by the fight Matt and I had. Her feet sat on the
dashboard of the truck, and her gaze was down at her hands that were twisting
in her lap. She didn’t exactly look sad, just confused. She didn’t look up when
I opened the door and hopped in.

Assuming I was Brody, she
mumbled, “Did you get me chocolate?”

I picked up her milkshake a
took a sip, “
Mmm
, yeah, that’s chocolate.”

She groaned when she
recognized my voice, “Get out, Caleb. I don’t want to have to deal with you
today, too.”

“Well, too bad,” I smiled
and turned up the radio to The Black Keys. She mumbled something under her
breath. I turned down the volume dial and turned to her, “What?”

She looked back at me, “I was
just thinking that at least you had a good taste in music.” I smiled. She liked
The Black Keys too? Now that I had her talking, hopefully I could get something
out of her.

I pulled out onto the main
street. “So what’s got you in a mood?” I questioned.

“I’m not in a mood,” she
snapped. I turned toward her and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, fine maybe I am, but
it’s none of your business.” She reached for her shake and I reached out and
put my hand on hers. Before she pulled away, I tried to take away some of her
emotions. I’d never done it before. It was something only pairs could do,
people said it just came naturally. It shocked both
me and
Allie
. Literally, it felt like an electric current was running through
me.

She snatched her hand back,
“What did you just do?”  

I didn’t need her getting
suspicious, “Nothing. It was probably just static electricity. Sorry.” She
didn’t look convinced, but didn’t question me.

The rest of the ride to her
house was in silence, the only noise between us being The Black Keys. When I
pulled into her driveway, I turned off the engine and sat there quietly. Her
legs were crisscrossed in her seat and she was looking everywhere but me. I
spoke tentatively, “I know you don’t want to talk about it, but I just have to
know. Am I the reason you’re upset?”

She sighed, “Surprisingly,
for once, you’re not the reason.” My shoulders sagged in relief. At least it
wasn’t me, but who was it?

“Do you want to talk about
it?” I asked quietly. She shook her head no. “Okay. Come on, let me walk you to
your door.” I hopped out, grabbing her bag of fries. I followed her closely to
the door and she turned toward me when she was right by the door. She was
shocked by my close proximity and tried to take a step back but bumped into the
wooden door behind her. I held the bag of fries in between the tight space
between our bodies.

“Oh, fries too,” she said
excitedly. She reached for the bag, but I got an idea and quickly snatched it
out of her reach. She glared at me.

“How about a hug at least?”
I asked, not expecting for my wish to be granted. I was surprised when she
reached on her
tip toes
and slipped her slender arms
around my neck. My arms automatically went around her waist and I held her
close to me. Her head tucked perfectly in the crook of my neck, but all too
quickly she pulled away with a shy smile.

“Thanks,” she said and slipped past the door, fries in hand. I
stood there with a
smile,
maybe I was finally getting
to her. The heightened emotions from the shift were coming to my aid, but only
confusing her. I knew her Wolf side was coming to me for comfort, and I was
more than willing to give it. I stopped staring at a closed door like an idiot
and went back to Brody’s car.
It was time to have a talk with
Brody
,
she needed to know
.
Like
yesterday.
Not telling her wasn't protecting her, only hurting her.