Moon Phased: The Triple Claim

I threw up violently in front of 500 schoolmates, my body burning with dizziness until I nearly passed out. The Ryder triplets’ eyes turned completely black. To my shock, Chase — the one who always seemed to hate me — ditched his girlfriend and scooped me up into his arms without hesitation. His twin brothers, Cash and Chance, immediately surrounded me, their faces tight with tension. “MATE!” they growled in unison. The entire building fell into stunned silence. For months, as the new girl, I had been treated like absolute GARBAGE. They whispered words I didn’t understand — “mate,” “fate,” and other strange things. They abandoned me in a dark forest, forcing me to run home alone while unknown beasts roared in the distance. They warned me to stay away from the Ryder triplets — the campus heartthrobs everyone worshipped. Ryder triplets never even looked my way. I knew I didn’t belong here. In one year, I’d be gone, back to California for college. But now Chase was carrying me to his room instead of the hospital. “Baby, you're in heat,” Cash said, already impatiently unzipping his pants. “Having three mates means your heat will be much stronger. We need to knot inside you to help you through it.” “Wh… what?!” I stared at them in disbelief. I''m a human! “We’re werewolves, sweets,” Chance added with his hands around my waist. “And we’re your mates. We’ll fk and knot you one by one tonight. But next time… you’re going to have to learn how to take all three of us at once.” ***** Raven’s POV You never really know what life has in store for you. One minute you can be with your family celebrating a remarkable moment in your life, and the next minute poof, everything you ever knew can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. The next minute, you find yourself in a juvenile metal institution, as flashbacks of the day you lost everything are triggered by the smallest of things. Honestly, I don’t remember exactly how it happened. I just remember the aftermath of being pulled from the car, as my eyes opened just in time to see my parents both deceased in the front seat. My own screams are what haunt me to this day, as I remember watching the firefighters quickly moving to cover the wreckage with a tarp after pulling me out, as if they were trying to protect me, but they were too late, and the damage was already done. Now I found myself at a crossroads, and if I wanted out of this place, I knew I was going to have to outsmart the prestigious shrink that was assigned to me. Even though I was far from overcoming the trauma that I had borne that day, I knew if I stayed in this place any longer, I was going to truly lose my mind. “So, your nightmares have stopped, and I have reports that there haven’t been any incidents in the past week since I last saw you. I think that between your weekly sessions with me and the medication, we have finally gotten a hold of this, and the good news is, we were finally able to find a living relative to release you to.” The wonderful shrink said to me, and I knew that they must have finally tracked down my grandmother. She was the only living relative that I had, but I had only met her once, when I was a child. My mother would, from time to time, call her, and I would speak to her over the phone, but other than that, she was a total stranger to me. But right now, anything was better than being in here, at least that was what I thought. As the uber driver enters the town of Beaumont, I begin to realize why my mother had left here so many years ago, and had never looked back, as I couldn’t imagine living in this god forsaken town my whole life. It was a far cry from California, and it was going to take some major getting used to, but I kept telling myself it was only going to be for the next eight months. After that, I was out of here, and back to California, where I belonged. “Miss, are you sure you have the right address?” The uber driver now asks me, as he brings the car to a halt, along a back road surrounded by complete wilderness. Pulling my phone out, I looked at the address I had saved in my notes, and it was the same address I had given him. I was just about to tell him that I would call my grandmother for the right address, when I realized that I had no service. “Just my luck.” I thought to myself, as I put my phone back in my pocket, while I tried to think of an alternative plan, as I watched the uber meter continue to roll. Gathering my bags, I begin to say to the driver, “I will just get out here.” But he stopped me before I could even open my door. “Miss, I can’t in good conscience let you in the middle of nowhere. Let me at least take you back to the small town. I have to go back that way anyhow.” He said pleading with me, and as I looked out the window at completely nothing, I had to agree with him. Turning the car around, the driver headed back to the small town of Beaumont, where I had seen a small Diner on our way through with an open sign flashing in its window. Thankfully, when we arrived there, the sign was still on, and he wasn’t as hesitant about leaving me. With my bags in hand, I walked into the Diner, and immediately all heads turned in my direction, as it was clear this town wasn’t used to getting too many visitors. Clearly, by the way I was dressed compared to them, I was sticking out like a sore thumb. “Can I help you?” A girl asked from behind the counter with a huge smile on her face, who had to be around my age. “Yeah, do you by chance have a phone that works so that I can call my grandmother to pick me up?” I asked her as I made my way to the counter, praying that she did, because after the day I had traveling here, I was spent. But before the girl could answer my question, a man sitting on a bar stool at the counter asks, “Who’s your grandmother?” Making me turn to look at him. At first, I was apprehensive to tell him, but then I realized I wasn’t in California anymore. I was in a small town where I was sure that everyone knew everyone and their business. “Rosemary Wilson.” I finally answered him, and as her name came from my lips, the atmosphere of the Diner changed, as everyone’s attention went back to the meals in front of them. “You’re Carla’s daughter.” The man said to me, more as a statement then a question, but I answered him anyhow with a simple, “Yes.” “There’s no need to call your grandmother. I can take you there when I have finished eating my dinner. Besides, I don’t think your grandmother has driven in years.” He said to me as if he knew my grandmother well, but I was still apprehensive to take his offer, but then as if he could sense my apprehension, he says, “My name is Evan. I went to high school with your mother, and to be honest, you’re the spitting image of her. You must be starving, traveling all the way here from California. Come take a seat and get a bite to eat, before I take you to your grandmother’s house.” My eyes moved back to the girl behind the counter, as if to see her response to Evan’s offer, and by the look on her face, as she moved to get me a menu, it was clear that she trusted this man. To be honest, the smell of the food was making my stomach begin to growl, as I realized that I only had two bags of peanuts on the plane on the way here. Moving to the empty seat beside Evan, I took a seat, plopping my bags to the floor beside my feet, as I looked at the menu now in front of me. Not wanting to get anything that would take a lot of time to cook, I opted for the grilled chicken salad, which actually sounded heavenly at this moment. As the girl went to place my order with the cook, the door to the Diner opened, and a group of boys entered, all wearing varsity jackets. While I looked over my shoulder, I watched them all heading towards a table in the far corner of the Diner, but one of the boys that was in the group strayed from them and headed in my direction. “Dad, I’m going to get a bite to eat, and then I will be home.” The boy said, addressing Evan beside me, and Evan slowly turned in his seat to look at him. “You can grab a bite to eat, but you are leaving when I leave. I have to take this young lady to Mrs. Wilson’s house, and then I need your help to take care of something.” Evan tells him, making his son’s eyes move to look at me. “Mrs. Wilson?” The boy said with a confused look on his face, as if he was shocked that I would be going there. “Yes, Chase. This is her granddaughter.” Evan said, and I took that as my cue to turn to completely face him, as I extended my hand to him and said, “I’m Raven.” Chase stared at my hand for a few seconds, and then turned back to look at his father, making me retract my hand when I realized that he wasn’t going to take it. “Can’t you get one of my brothers to help you?” “No Chase, they are busy doing what I need them to do, unlike you.” “Fine.” Chase said before he stormed off to the back table to join his friends, and Evan stood from his seat moving to the restroom, leaving me sitting there thinking that their family had some issues. As I turned back in my seat, rethinking my choice of accepting Evan’s offer to drive me to my grandmother’s house, the girl from behind the counter appeared with my salad. As she places it on the counter in front of me, she leans over and whispers, “Don’t mind Chase. He hasn’t been the same since his mother passed away.” My eyes instantly moved to the back of the Diner to see Chase staring back at me, making me quickly look away from him. I knew better than anyone what he must be going through, but unlike him, I didn’t want people to see how it was affecting me. Unfortunately, he couldn’t run or hide from his loss, as I was sure he was reminded of it daily, living here in this small town. Raven’s POV The drive to my grandmother’s house was done in awkward silence, as I sat between Evan and Chase in the front seat of his truck, while the cool night’s breeze seeped through the cracked windows, tousling my long dark hair. I tried my best to keep my eyes looking forward to the road, but I found it hard not to steal glances at Chase sitting directly beside me. He kept his head turned the whole time, looking out his window, as if he was trying to avoid interacting with me, but from our brief encounter at the Diner, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with his father making him come along with us. The road that we were now driving on began to look familiar, making me realize that the uber driver had been heading in the right direction, and when we passed the side road where he had turned around at, Evan began to slow his truck down, before turning on his turn signal. “No wonder you couldn’t find your grandmother’s lane. I will have to send the boys over this weekend to take care of this.” He said as he pulled off the road onto a lane that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in half a decade, making me realize that he wasn’t lying when he said my grandmother hadn’t driven in years. As he drove up the lane, his truck hit a bump, and my hand went to grab ahold of the seat to steady myself, but instead of the seat, I accidentally grabbed ahold of Chase’s leg. Our heads turned at the same time to look at one another, while I quickly retracted my hand, as I apologetically said to him, “Sorry.” By the look on Chase’s face, you would have sworn that my touch had scolded him, making me quickly turn away, as I noticed a faint light in the distance approaching. As my grandmother’s house came into view, it was clear that her lane wasn’t the only thing in desperate need of repair, making me realize this was going to be a big change from the lifestyle I was used to. Before Evan even put the truck into park, Chase opened his door and jumped out, as if he couldn’t wait to be released from my presence. “Thanks for the ride.” I said to Evan, letting him know that I appreciated it, as I quickly moved to get out of his truck, knowing that Chase would be happy to be freed from my presence. The front door to my grandmother’s house at that moment opened, as I heard an elderly woman’s voice call out, “Is that you Evan?” Evan shut his truck off, getting out of the truck too, as he says, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson. I’m just dropping your granddaughter off.” As he moved towards the house to talk to her. Chase appeared at that moment, handing me my bags that they had placed in the bed of the truck, and I was just about to tell him thank you, when Evan called out, “Chase, get over here and say hello.” I watched Chase roll his eyes, before he headed towards the house, and I slowly followed him as I took in my new home. The house was a small ranch, and it reminded me more of a cabin that I once stayed at on vacation with my parents, but unlike the cabin we stayed in, it had seen better days. One of the shutters was missing from the front window, while the other hung on by a thread, as the white paint was chipping off in numerous places. It was a far cry from the home I was raised in back in California, but it was my home now, and I had to make the best of it. “I can’t believe how much you have grown since the last time I saw you.” I heard my grandmother saying to Chase, as I made my way now onto the rickety porch that creaked beneath my feet. My grandmother’s eyes at that moment spotted me, and I could see tears begin to pool in them, as it was the first time she had seen me in well over a decade. “Raven.” She said as her hand moved to her mouth, as she tried to fight back the emotions of seeing me, but unfortunately, I didn’t share the same emotions as her, because she was just a mere stranger to me. As if Evan could sense the awkwardness between myself and my grandmother, and my lack of emotions of seeing her, he quickly says, “Well, it was nice seeing you, Mrs. Wilson, and I will send the boys over this weekend to take care of the lane.” Turning, Evan quickly moved off the front porch, only to stop at the bottom of the steps before turning to look back at me as he says to me, “Chase will pick you up for school in the morning.” My eyes quickly moved to look at Chase, who was clearly once again unhappy with his father, and it didn’t take long for him to make up an excuse to not want to do as his father asked of him, as he says, “But dad, I had plans before school.” “Your plans can wait.” Evan said back to him with a stern tone, making Chase’s eyes narrow as he looked at me. It was clear that Chase had no desire to take me to school, nor, at this point, with the way he was reacting to me, did I want him to. The last thing I wanted was for him to be forced to do something that he didn’t want to do, making things even more uncomfortable between us than it already clearly was. “No, it’s fine. I will just take the bus.” The look of distaste slowly began to leave Chase’s face, knowing that he was now freed from having to deal with me, but that relief was short-lived when my grandmother says, “Oh dear, I am afraid I forgot to set up transportation for you. I assumed your car would have been here by now.” Dread instantly formed on Chase’s face, as he realized he wasn’t getting out of this. Through gritted teeth, he says to me, “Be ready by seven twenty.” Before he stormed off towards the truck. “You must be hungry.” My grandmother said as she ushered me into the house, and as I stepped inside, I felt like I was stepping back in time as her décor looked like it had to be from the eighties. By the looks of things, nothing seemed to have been updated since my mother had left here, but then, of course, my grandmother had been alone raising my mother all those years, living paycheck to paycheck. I remember my mother telling me how lucky I was to have the life I had, and now I was seeing exactly what she meant. It was clear that my mother had grown up poor, and that would explain why she wanted to better herself by going to college and getting the hll out of here. “Actually, I already ate at the Diner, and I am really exhausted from my travels today. With school starting tomorrow, I would like to get a shower and unpack a few of my things. That’s if my belongings have already arrived.” The smile on her face began to fall, and I felt bad for making an excuse not to spend time with her, but all of this was hа'rd on me, and I needed some time alone to adjust first, before I could sit down with her. Nodding her head, she says, “Of course you would be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.” Turning, she began to walk towards a small narrow hallway that only had three doors, stopping at the first one on the left. Opening the door, she stepped to the side, allowing me to enter as she says to me, “This was your mother’s room.” The room was about the size of my walk-in closet back home, and with all my boxes of belongings that had arrived, there was only a small path that led to the twin-sized bed that sat beneath a small window. The room smelled of musk, telling me that the door had remained closed for many years, probably since the day that my mother had left here, as posters from my mother’s era still hung on the walls. “The bathroom is straight across the hall, and the towels are in the closet.” She then said, and I turned around, thanking her, not wanting her to see the state of cultural shock I was in. Thankfully, she didn’t linger, and I closed the door, before I moved to the small window, pulling the curtains back, opening it to air out the room. A light breeze carried the scent of fresh pine into my room, making the musky scent bearable, as I turned and looked at the stack of boxes, dreading the thought of going through them, but I knew that I had too. As I began to sort through the boxes, I noticed a small vanity with a cloudy mirror sitting against the wall behind them, making me move a few boxes out of the way so that I could get to it. It wasn’t the mirror that I was looking at but the pictures that were taped around the outer edge. Plucking one of the photos from the mirror, I stepped back to the middle of the room under the light, as I spotted my mother first in the middle of the picture as she posed with a man with his arm around her, and a group of her friends. As I stared at the man with his arm around her, I realized who that man in the photo was. “A friend, huh.” I said to myself, as the man in the photo was no other than Evan, telling me that my mother and him at one point in time were more than just friends, and it now made sense why he was so eager to help me. But it also made me wonder what had happened between them, for her to leave him behind, when she had left, with their picture still taped to the mirror. Raven’s POV Thankfully, Chase drove the rest of the drive to school at a normal speed, with both his hands on the wheel, while we rode in complete silence. After what he had just pulled, I really had nothing to say to him, and to be honest, I preferred the silent treatment we were both giving each other. Finally, after about a fifteen-minute drive, the school came into view, as I read the huge sign out front, “Welcome to Beaumont High School. Home of the Wolves.” I had never been so happy to see a school in my life, as I was at this moment, knowing that I would be out of this jeep and away from Chase, and the awkwardness that I was feeling right now being near him. After the stunt he pulled, he would be lucky if I ever got in a vehicle with him again, making me realize that I was going to have to find an alternate form of transportation home, because there was no way in hll I was getting back in his jeep with him today. As he pulled his jeep into a parking place, I didn’t even wait for him to turn it off, before I got out, grabbed my bag, and headed straight towards the double doors. But before I reached the doors, I heard someone yell, “Chase.” Making me turn to see a beautiful blonde-haired girl running over to him, planting a kiss on his lips. Of course, he had a girlfriend, as it all now made sense why he didn’t want me touching him, but it didn’t dismiss his erratic behavior this morning. His eyes at that moment moved towards me, as if he could sense I was watching him. Quickly, I turned away, moving inside the school, out of his sight and straight to the office to get my schedule. “Raven, Mrs. Jacobs is ready to see you.” The school secretary said, motioning to a door to her right that read, “Principal’s Office.” “Raven Knight, your transcripts are very impressive. President of the Student Council, Vice President of the Honor Society, Captain of the Cheering Squad, and early acceptance to Berkeley. Your parents must have been proud of you.” Principal Jacobs says to me, making me try not to think back to how happy my parents were when my acceptance letter came from Berkeley, but it was too late, and I couldn’t get the memories out of my head. I remember arriving home from school to find both my parents just sitting at the dinner table. At first, I thought something was terribly wrong, but then my mother pushed the letter towards me on the table, and I quickly opened it. I began to read the letter out loud, and when I came to the part where it said, “You have been accepted.” Both my parents jumped out of their chairs with joy. That night, my parents took me out to dinner to celebrate, and after that, we drove down to the boardwalk to my favorite ice cream emporium. We planted our toes in the sand and watched the sunset on the beach, as it was our last night together as a family. “I see your request for certain courses, but unfortunately, we are a small school, and we can only accommodate you with what we have available.” She then said, drawing my attention back to her, as I realized what she was saying. “But I need to stay on course, if I want my acceptance to be honored when I graduate.” I explained to her how important these certain courses were, hoping there was something that she could do to keep me on track. “I personally called Berkeley and explained your rare circumstances to them, and they were very accommodating to your situation.” She then said as she handed me a schedule of my new classes, along with a paper from Berkeley for an online college course that I would have to take along with my classes here. “As for your extracurricular activities, try-outs for the cheerleading squad are this Friday. Unfortunately, student council positions have already been filled, and we don’t have an Honor Society here.” She then told me, and I quickly said back to her, “Can’t I just focus on my studies?” As I dreaded the thought of having to join the cheerleading squad with a bunch of girls I didn’t know. “Unfortunately, if you want to go to Berkeley, you will need to maintain not only your academics but your extracurricular activities too. Listen, Raven, I know this is hа'rd on you. I can’t even imagine what you have gone through, but if this is truly what you want, then you have to move on, and focus on your future. I am sure your parents would want this for you.” She was right. My parents would want me to succeed in life, especially my mother. She had told me time and time again that my education was the key to making something of myself, and if I wanted to get out of this godforsaken town like she did, then I was going to have to do whatever it took to do it. Just then, the door to the office opened, and I heard a voice say, “You wanted to see me, mother.” My head turned as the voice sounded somewhat familiar to me, to see the beautiful blonde-haired girl that had run up to Chase when we had arrived at school. “You are right on time, sweetheart. Jessica, this is Raven. She just transferred here from California, and I would like you to show her around the school.” Of all the students in this school, what were the chances that Jessica here was the principal’s daughter, and that she would be my welcoming committee? Dread at that moment filled me, as Jessica glared at me, while it was clear that she too wasn’t excited about having to babysit the new girl, especially when the new girl showed up this morning with her boyfriend. As if Jessica was playing a role to win an Oscar, she plastered a smile on her face, one that I could see clearly was fake, as she says to her mother, “I would be delighted to show her around, and explain the ropes to her.” And by ropes, I knew what she meant. As the two of us walked out of her mother’s office and into the now vacant hallways of the school, Jessica turned to look at me, before she said, “Let’s get one thing clear, Chase is mine. You stay in your lane, and we won’t have a problem. Capeesh?” “I’m not interested in Chase, or any boy here for that matter. I just want to make it through the school year and get the hll out of this town and back to civilization.” I explained my position to her, wanting her to know where I stood, and that I had no plans on interfering with her relationship with Chase. The last thing I needed on my first day at school was to make enemies with the principal’s daughter, who held all my playing cards in her hands, to make sure that the dreams I worked so hard for remained my reality. “Good, because you don’t belong here anyhow.” She then said, reminding me of the obvious, as she turned and began her tour of the school, like nothing was ever said between the two of us, making me believe that she wasn’t wrapped too tightly. Thankfully, the school wasn’t large, and her grand tour only took about ten minutes before she came to a stop in front of a classroom. “Your first period class.” “Thanks.” I said sarcastically to her, as I reached for the door handle, thankful that my time with her was over with, but then she grabbed a hold of my arm firmly, stopping me, making me turn my head to look at her. I could have sworn her eyes darkened a few shades, just like Chase had with me this morning in my room, making me wonder what on eаrth was in the water here. “Don’t forget what I said.” “Trust me, I won’t.” I said quickly back to her through gritted teeth, as her grip was becoming painful on my arm. “Good.” She said as a smirk formed on her face, before she released my arm, and started walking down the hallway, humming some dam song, as I rubbed my arm, trying to relieve the pain she had just caused. Jesus, this girl was nuts. Maybe she should be the one medicated and not me, I thought to myself, as I watched her head into a classroom, before I turned back to my own, thinking could today, get any worse. But as I finally walked into my own classroom, I realized that it could, as my eyes immediately landed on Chase, sitting in the only seat with an empty desk beside him. Raven’s POV “Wake up.” echoed in my head, as I rolled onto my side, muttering half asleep, “Just a few more minutes,” Not wanting to get out of bed yet, because, for the first time in a long time, I was having a peaceful sleep. “I told you seven twenty.” I then heard his voice say, making me shoot straight up in bed, to find Chase standing at the foot of it. “What the hll are you doing in here?” I asked him, as I pulled my blanket up to cover myself, not wanting him to see me in my pink bunny pajamas, but by the look on his face, he had already gotten a sneak peek of them. With a devious grin now on his face, he says to me, “Your grandmother let me in.” “That doesn’t explain why you are in my room.” “Well, I wouldn’t be in your room, Princess, if you had been ready when I told you to be.” He now says to me, making me reach for my phone to check the time, but my dang phone was dead, which made no sense because it was plugged in. “I’m sorry. The outlet must not work.” I said to him, giving him an explanation of why I had slept in, as I pulled up the cord following it all the way back to the plug, where it remained plugged in. Under his breath, he says sarcastically, “I’m sure that’s not the only thing around here that doesn’t work.” As he turns towards my mother’s vanity, making me quickly move from the protection of my blanket, scurrying out of the bed, not wanting him to see the picture of my mother and his father together. Placing myself between him and my mother’s vanity, trying to block the mirror, was a chore in itself, as Chase’s massive structure consumed most of my tiny room. As I accidentally bump into him in the process of doing so, he takes a step back from me, as his eyes widen and darken at the same time, while he growls at me, “Don’t ever touch me again.” I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, or the fact that I had enough of his anger being taken out on me, but I couldn’t contain myself when I said back to him, “If you weren’t in my dam room taking up half of it then I wouldn’t have bumped into you.” What sounded like a growl comes from his lips, making me rethink if I should have gone off on him, as I take a step back, finding myself pinned between him and the vanity, while he takes a step towards me. My heart began to race in my chest, as I stared into his eyes, which looked like they were darkening by the second. His head slowly lowered towards me, and he took in a deep inhale, as if he was smelling me, while his eyes closed, making me wonder what the hll he was doing. My hands gripped tightly on the edge of the vanity, as he continued to invade my space, and if I was being honest with myself, my body was starting to react to his proximity to me. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t find him attractive, but this thing he had going on right now was sending me mixed signals. He wasn’t like any of the guys I had dated back in California, but he had this bad boy persona and a look that made my lady bits want to scream out for attention. He was now hovering over me, so closely that if I made a sudden move, our heads would collide, making me take a deep breath, as I dared not to move. The smell of cool mint now tickled my nose, while he took deep breaths, as if he was trying to get a grip on whatever this was he was doing. Slowly his eyes open, staring deep into my own, before he takes a step back from me, and I find myself leaving out a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, while my grip loosened on the vanity’s edge. “Get dressed Princess. We are going to be late.” He finally says to me, before he turns and just walks out of my room, leaving me to wonder what the hll just happened between us. Thankfully, I had showered last night, and had set out my clothes to wear today, because this was going to be the fastest I had ever gotten ready for school in my life. As I stepped out of my room, I spotted my grandmother sitting in a rocking chair with a huge smile on her face, making me wonder why she was so happy this morning, but she didn’t leave me wondering too long. “I remember when Evan used to come every morning to pick your mother up for school. He was so good to her. And now seeing Chase…” She began to say, but I quickly cut her off by saying, “It’s not like that.” Not wanting her to get her hopes up that there was something romantic going on between the two of us, because there wasn’t. Plus, I honestly didn’t want to hear about what my mother did before my father. Not giving her a chance to say another word to me, I headed out the front door and stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted the blue jeep sitting in the driveway with the top down. “You have to be kidding me.” I thought to myself, as I willed myself to walk towards it, knowing that by the time we got to school my hair was going to be a tangled mess. Throwing my backpack in the backseat, I pulled the hair tie off my wrist, putting my hair in a low ponytail, before I got into the passenger seat. “Buckle up, Princess.” Chase said to me with a smirk on his face, as he took off down my grandmother’s lane, purposely hitting every single bump he could find, as I held on to whatever I could to steady myself. Reaching over, he turned the radio on, turning it up as loud as it could go, before he didn’t even pause to check for traffic, pulling out onto the road on I swear two wheels. It was clear that he was trying to make a statement about having to be my chauffeur, and that he wasn’t happy about it, but it wasn’t my doing, and if he kept this up, he was going to kill the both of us. Reaching over, I turned the radio off, before I said to him, “Are you trying to kill me?” He let out a dam chuckle as if he thought what I said was funny, before he turns his head to look at me and says, “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now.” Before I could process his words, the sound of a car horn fills the air, and I quickly turn my head to see that his jeep was halfway over in the other lane, as a car was coming straight for us. Flashbacks of the night of the accident began to flash before my eyes, and I found myself bracing for impact, but the impact never came, as Chase turned the steering wheel just at the nick of time to avoid the car. My breathing at that moment became unsteady, and I began to find it hard to breathe, as I could feel one of my panic attacks coming on, that I started to have after the accident. “Pull over!” I screamed, as my hand reached for the door handle, wanting him to stop so I could get the hll out of his jeep. “What is wrong with you?” He asked as my door opened, while the jeep was still moving, but he quickly hit the brakes, slowing the jeep down, as he pulled off the side of the road. Quickly, I unbuckled my seat belt before jumping out, as I bent over trying to catch my breath, while I heard his car door shut. “Are you crazy?” He yells at me, as he walks around the front of the jeep, but when he sees me in my current state his tone changes, as he rushes to me, placing his hand on my back as he now asks me, “Are you okay?” no, I wasn’t okay, and it was because of him and his reckless driving why I was in the state I was in now, and if he thought I wanted him to comfort me, he was dead wrong. Standing, I stepped away from him, as I said to him through gritted teeth, “Leave me the hll alone.” While I moved to his jeep, grabbing my backpack from the backseat before I threw it over my shoulders and began to walk away from him. “Raven, stop!” He called out to me, but instead of stopping, I raised my hand, flipping him off as I continued to walk. A low growl that sounded animalistic filled the air, making me stop dead in my tracks, as I looked towards the forest surrounding me, half scared of what was lurking in them. “Raven, get back in the jeep!” Chase now says with authority in his tone, making me wonder if he too had heard the growl. Once again, I found myself at a crossroads, of either getting eaten by a wild animal on my first morning here or getting back in the jeep with someone who clearly wasn’t mentally stable. Neither of my choices sounded good, but at least I knew with Chase, I wouldn’t have to worry about him having me for breakfast. Raven’s POV Handing my schedule to the teacher, she looked up at the classroom, and said, “It seems we have a new student. Everyone, this is Raven Knight. Raven, you can take a seat next to Chase Ryder, and he can help get you caught up.” My eyes moved back to Chase, and I could see the look of dread on his face, that once again he was going to be forced into helping me. But he wasn’t the only one that was feeling the dread, as I too dreaded the thought of having to talk to him. Turning back to the teacher, knowing that I had to do something to stop this, I asked her, “Is there any way I can sit in the front of the room? My eyesight isn’t that good, and I have problems seeing the board from the back of the classroom.” Obviously, I was lying to her, because there wasn’t anything wrong with my eyesight, but I knew that she wouldn’t deny a student with seeing issues. “She can have my seat.” A boy said in the front row, picking up his books off his desk, moving to sit beside Chase. “Thank you, Conner.” The teacher said, as I moved to the seat where Conner was sitting, before she changed her mind, thankfully dodging a bullet. “I can help you get caught up.” A girl said sitting to my right, and as I looked over at her, I realized that she was the girl from the Diner last night. “Thanks.” I said, as I edged my seat over so that I could take a glance at her work to get caught up. “I’m Mazie, by the way.” She now said, introducing herself to me with a genuine smile, just like she had given me last night at the Diner. Thankfully, it wasn’t going to be hard to get caught up, because I had already read the book that they were reading two years ago, making me realize that this school year might be a walk in the park. If this was the case, then it was going to leave me more time to focus on the class that I was going to have to take online from Berkeley. When the bell rang, Mazie began to gather her books, as she asked me, “What is your next class?” Looking at my schedule, it seemed that I had trigonometry next, which I despised, but at least I was getting it over with in the morning. Showing her my schedule, she says back to me, “It looks like we have a lot of the same classes. If you don’t mind, I could walk with you.” “That would be great.” As we walked out of the classroom and to our next class, I spotted Jessica right away in the hallway with her hands all over Chase, making me think that they really needed to get a room. Her back was turned towards me, and when we walked past them, Chase’s head turned in my direction, as he just stood there staring at me once again, making me turn away from him. As if Mazie had caught me staring at Chase, she said to me, “Those two make me sick. They have been together since like sixth grade. Everyone swears their mates, but I, on the other hand, hope they aren’t, because Chase deserves so much better than her.” “Mates?” I asked her, confused by her choice of words. Mazie’s shoulders at that moment scrunched together, as her eyes closed, like she had misspoken, but then she opened her eyes and said, “That’s what we call two people around here fated to be together.” “Oh…” Is all I said back to her, because I didn’t know what else to say, because I didn’t believe in fate, especially after everything that had happened in the past two months to me. Walking into Trigonometry with Mazie by my side was much easier than English class was, and the teacher thankfully told me I could sit next to her, but as I made my way back to take my seat, Mazie said to me, “I thought you couldn’t see from the back of the classroom.” Busting me with my little lie I had told in English class. Feeling like I could trust her, I admitted to her, “I just didn’t want to sit by Chase. I don’t think he really cares too much for me, and Jessica, well, she sort of gave me a warning to stay away from him.” “That witch!” Mazie said a bit too loudly, making everyone that was seated in the classroom turn to look in our direction, as my cheeks began to redden, hoping that no one overheard our conversation, leading to Mazie’s outburst. When everyone finally turned back around, Mazie whispered in my ear, “I am sure Chase doesn’t dislike you. If anything, I think it’s quite the opposite. I am sure it’s all Jessica’s doing if he is treating you like he doesn’t. Normally, he is the easy-going brother, always without a care in this world of what people think about him. As for Jessica, it’s clear that she is intimidated by your presence around him. Maybe it’s because she noticed the way he looks at you.” Was Mazie seriously talking about the same Chase that had driven me to school this morning? I wouldn’t describe him as easy-going, in any shape or form. If anything, he was destructive, not only to himself but to those around him. As for the way he looked at me, all I could see in his eyes was the look of disgust towards me, as he made it very clear to me this morning that he wanted nothing to do with me. “What? No. Trust me, he is not interested in me, nor am I in him.” I explained to her, wanting to set the record straight, that nothing was going on between the two of us, right before the bell rang, making us both turn our attention to the front of the room, but I couldn’t get it out of my head that she thought Chase liked me. Thankfully, the rest of my morning went by without a hitch, and I truly had Mazie to thank for that. She was like a breath of fresh air, especially after how my day had started. As the two of us got our lunch and moved to an empty table, I was ready to chow down, because I had missed breakfast this morning and my stomach had been growling in protest since the middle of our last class. But as I take my first bite, Chase comes into my view, shockingly without Jessica. I tried to force myself to look away from him, but I found myself just sitting there staring at his every move, like a dam stalker. As he made his way through the line getting his lunch, he turned instantly and looked in my direction, as a smile formed on his face. Unlike the smirk I had gotten from him this morning, this smile looked genuine, making me wonder if Mazie’s words held truth in them. Casually he made his way towards the table I was sitting at, and I looked away from him, just as he approached the table. “Mind if I sit with you pretty ladies?” He asked, but didn’t wait for an answer, as he took the seat directly beside me, acting as if nothing negative transpired between us this morning. “How is your first day at Beaumont High going?” He then asks, as if suddenly he gave two sh'its about me, making me wonder what the hll he was on, because his moods today were changing like the wind. Both Mazie and Chase stared at me, waiting for me to give an answer to his question, and I began to feel the awkwardness from my lack of responding to him. “It’s fine.” Finally came blandly from my lips, as I moved to take another bite of my burger, hoping that he wasn’t going to play twenty questions with me, or I was going to have to ask him what the hll gives. “A group of us are heading over to Big Rock after school. Do you ladies want to join us?” He now asks, making me turn my head back to look at him, as I wondered why in Hll he thought I would go anywhere with him after what he pulled this morning, which reminded me I still needed to find a ride home. “After the weekend of working at the Diner that sounds amazing.” Mazie says with excitement in her eyes, telling me whatever Big Rock was, it had to be fun, but I just couldn’t see myself being able to relax if he was going to be there. “Raven, you have to come along.” She pleads with me, and even though I wanted to hang out with her, there was still the fact that he was going to be there too, and right now I don’t know how I felt about that. “Yeah Raven, what do you say? Are you game for a little fun?” Chase now asks me, as if he was taunting me, which began to piss me off. Instead of playing into the little game he was playing with me, I said to him, “I don’t think your girlfriend will like me tagging along with you.” “My girlfriend?” He asks with a dumbfounded look on his face, as if he was playing dumb with me, but I was done playing whatever game he was playing right now. “Listen Chase, I don’t know what the hll you are on, but your mood swings today are giving me whiplash. As for your girlfriend, the Barbie want-to-be, she has already warned me to stay away from you. Plus, you almost killed both of us with the stunt you pulled driving me to school today. So no, I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Mazie at that moment busted out in complete laughter, as Chase let out a chuckle, making me wonder what the hll I had just said that was so dam funny. I was just about to ask the two of them when I spotted Jessica walking into the cafeteria, but it wasn’t her that my eyes were focused on, but the person walking directly behind her. Raven’s POV My head instantly began to spin, as I thought that I was having another one of my episodes, where I was seeing things that weren’t really there. Taking the advice that my shrink had given me to be able to decipher what is real and what isn’t, I reached over and pinched the arm of the Chase that was sitting beside me. “Ouch. What the hll was that for?” He asks, making me realize that he was real, but if he was really sitting beside me, then who was following Jessica? Just as I was about to feel another panic attack come on, Mazie says, “Raven, this isn’t Chase. This is his brother, Cash. I thought you knew he had brothers.” My head turned to look at Cash, taking in his appearance, and when my eyes landed on his green eyes, there was a speck of gold around the rim of them, which I hadn’t noticed when I looked into Chase’s eyes this morning. Other than that, they were identical twins, and it would have been easy for anyone to mix the two of them up. “I’m sorry.” I said, apologizing to Cash, as I turned away from him embarrassed, while I just stared at my food in front of me with a loss of appetite. That was twice now, on my first day here, that I almost lost it, making me question if I should still be back in California at the mental institution. I thought that it was the place and its surroundings that was driving me mad, but now, being free from there, I realize that it was me. “No need to apologize, Raven. We still fool our own father on occasions, but I guess I had better warn you that there’s a third one of us, so you don’t go pinching Chance.” “Oh, my goddess, could you imagine? He would lose his sh1t.” Mazie says, as a giggle comes from her lips, and I look up to see her and Cash making faces at each other, as if they were trying to portray what Chance’s reaction would have been. My stomach at that moment tied instantly into a knot, as I thought about there being not just two of them, but three, and this Chance being worse than Chase. I had no clue how that could be remotely possible, but as I sat there thinking about it, my eyes moved to the doors of the cafeteria as the third one of them entered. Unlike Chase and Cash, Chance had his own look about him, and there was no way that I was going to mix him up with his other two brothers. Dressed in all black, with his hair slicked back, this brother gave off the vibes of pure trouble, and if I was being honest, there was something about his bad boy persona that called out to me. His eyes scanned the cafeteria, as if he was looking for someone, and when they landed on me, he came walking full stride towards our table, making me sit up straight, as I waited for him to approach me. But when he reached the table, I quickly realized that it wasn’t me who he was looking at. “What is this I hear about a party at Big Rock after school? You know, we promised dad that we would help him tonight.” “Yeah, well, we helped dad all weekend while Chase ran off with his friends and Jessica. Let him be the one to help dad tonight. Plus, I have already invited Raven, and she is looking forward to hanging out with all of us.” Cash told Chance, making me turn my head to look at him, as he gave me a cunning smile, while he knew dam well, I didn’t agree to go. But as I thought about Chase having to help his father while his brothers got to relax, it served him right after what transpired this morning. Plus, as I turned back to look at Chance now hovering over me like a Greek God, I couldn’t help but want to go if he was going to be there. His eyes moved down to look at me at that moment, and as they widened with recognition, he began to say, “Wait, this is Raven? Mrs. Wilson’s daughter? The one that Chase said…” But Cash cut him off before he could finish by saying, “Yes, that Raven.” “Wait. What did Chase say about me?” “Nothing.” Came out of both their mouths at the same time, and I looked over at Mazie, who looked just as intrigued to hear what Chase had said about me too. But before I could insist that they tell me, Jessica appeared and said, “Look what we have here. Are you two really that desperate to go slumming?” It took everything I had to control my urge to stand up and slap her across the face, but I knew if I did, then I would be scre'wing myself out of my future, as I was sure that Berkeley would frown upon a disciplinary action on my records. So instead, I lowered my head, looking at my food, as I tried not to let her words bother me. “You of all people would know about slumming. So, why don’t you get off your high horse, because we all know if it wasn’t for our brother, you would still be a nobody omega.” Chance says to Jessica, defending me, making me look up just in time to see the smirk fall from her face, before she storms off. “You know you are going to have to deal with Chase now.” Cash says to Chance, but Chance lets out a huff, before he says back to him, “I really don’t care. I can’t take another year of this sh1t. She needs to learn her true status and quit living in the make-believe world she lives in because of our brother.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.” I told them, hoping that this wouldn’t cause any more friction between the three of them, even though it was clear there already was. Cash placed his hand on my arm, making me turn to look at him, as he said to me, “It’s cool, don’t worry about it. The only thing you caused is for Jessica to show her true colors, and I am sure that once Chase sees her in a different light like we do, it will be bye-bye Jessica.” “Yeah, right. She’s got her claws dug too deep into him. It’s going to take a of a lot more than that to make him open his eyes.” Chance says, before he walks away, leaving us sitting there, while I wonder what he meant earlier about her knowing about slumming. “I had better go too. Hopefully I will see you ladies later at the party.” Cash says as he stands, now leaving just Mazie and I at the table alone, and I couldn’t help but look towards the back of the cafeteria to see Jessica glaring at me. So much for my plan to stay under the radar, as it was clear by the glare Jessica was giving me, this thing she had out for me, was far from being over with. Even though it was nice to have someone stand up for me, it just made things worse for me with her than they already were. “Don’t worry about her. She wouldn’t dare to challenge you now that Chance stood up for you. If she does, then she is as good as dead.” Mazie tells me, making me turn my attention to her, wondering what she meant by that. “I don’t understand. Why would Chance standing up for me have anything to do with her leaving me alone?” Mazie looked at me with that same look on her face as she had in the hallway when she said about Jessica and Chase being mates, before she finally said, “Every school has that one student that is like the leader of their class. Here at Beaumont High, Chance is like that for us. What he says goes, and no one is dumb enough to challenge him.” A part of me felt relief at Mazie’s explanation, but as I looked once again towards the back of the cafeteria, something told me that Jessica might just be crazy enough to. Raven’s POV “Oh, wow.” Mazie said, as I walked into my bedroom with my bikini on, with her eyes wide, before she said, “Is this what the California girls wear?” Making me feel a bit uncomfortable in it, as I wondered what the girls here wore. “Is there something wrong with it?” I asked her, as I pulled a cover-up over it, hoping that it would be fine, because all my swimsuits looked like this one. “No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that I have only seen bikinis like it in magazines on supermodels. Our local stores don’t carry swimsuits like that.” “I have a brand new one with the tags still on it, if you would like to have it.” I told her, as I moved to my dresser drawer to pull it out. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have the body like you to pull it off.” “Seriously? Girl, you need to stop hiding that figure of yours under all those clothes.” I said to her, as she looked down at what she was wearing, pulling on the baggy sweatshirt she had on. “You know what, you’re right.” She said as she stood from my bed, taking the bikini from my hands, as she moved to the bathroom across the hallway, and I began to look for a cover-up that would match it. After finding a cover-up, I touched up my makeup, as I began to wonder what was taking Mazie so long to change. Looking out into the hallway, the door to the bathroom was still shut, and I moved to it, lightly knocking on it, as I asked, “Mazie, is everything okay?” There was complete silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds, before I heard the door unlock, making me take a step back, waiting for her to open it. When the door finally opened, Mazie stood in front of me in her oversized sweatshirt that hung to her knees, as she says to me, “I don’t know if I can wear this.” Clearly, she had the bikini on under the sweatshirt, making me grab hold of her hand, pulling her into my room, shutting the door behind us, as I turned to her and said, “It seriously can’t be that bad. Show me.” Slowly, Mazie grabbed ahold of the hem of her sweatshirt, and began to pull it over her head, revealing her body to me in the bikini. “Holy sh1t, Mazie. You could easily be one of the supermodels in the magazines. You look amazing.” I told her, as a part of me wished that my body looked as good as her in it. “You aren’t just saying that?” “Hll no. Girl seriously, you are going to be turning some heads.” I told her, as I moved to my bed, picking up the cover-up, handing it to her, as I snatched the sweatshirt from her hands, not going to allow her to put it back on, and hide that perfect body of hers. “Well, I guess we don’t have to go to my house for me to change.” She says as she slides on her shoes, and the two of us make our way out of my bedroom, to see my grandmother taking a nap on her recliner chair. Moving my finger to my lips, we tipped toed out of the house, not wanting to wake up my grandmother and having to explain to her where I was heading, as I didn’t know what her response would be to me heading to a party on a school night. In all honesty, it was reckless of me to do, but I knew I could get done with my homework in no time, since most of it was a repeat of what I had already learned. Mazie pulled her car over on to the side of a back road, where a line of cars was already parked, telling me that this was more than just a few friends getting together. As we got out of the car and began to walk down a small narrow beaten-down path, I could hear people talking and laughing, and this was just what I needed to get my mind off what happened today. But as the trail ended, and the waterhole came into view, I realized why they called this Big Rock. “Cannonball!” A boy yelled, as he leaped off the top of a huge rock, twenty feet to the pool of water beneath him, making a huge splash as his body hit the water. As I stood there staring at the rock, Mazie asked me, “You want to give it a try?” “Oh no. I hate heights.” I told her, as I looked away, knowing that hll would freeze over first before I jumped off that. Mazie let out a chuckle, before she grabbed a hold of my hand, and began to lead me around the waterhole towards an area where everyone was gathered sitting on blankets, bathing in the evening sun. Pulling a blanket out of her bag, she began to fluff it before placing it on the ground, as she says to me, “I personally rather watch myself.” Taking my shoes off, I was just about to sit down, when I heard someone come up behind me and ask, “So, how was your first day?” Turning, I came face to face with the boy from first period class that had given up his seat to me, so that I didn’t have to sit next to Chase. Knowing that he had saved my a'ss, I put a smile on my face, and said to him, “I survived.” “That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to lose someone as pretty as you on the first day.” He said back to me, making my cheeks instantly begin to blush, as he was obviously flirting with me. “Oh Conner, is that the best pickup line that you have?” Another male’s voice said, making me turn to see Cash standing directly behind me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that she was with you.” Conner said with what sounded like fear in his voice, as he took off, not saying another word to me. “What the hll Cash? He was just trying to be nice to her.” Mazie says, scolding Cash, before she went to take a seat on the blanket. “You and I both know how Conner is.” “Whatever. Raven is a big girl, and she can make her own decisions.” Mazie then says, as she pulls out her sunglasses, placing them on her face, before she leans back taking in the sun. I looked at Cash, wondering if I should thank him or be upset with him for driving Conner away, but as I peered over his shoulder, I could see that Conner had moved onto another girl, telling me that it was a blessing that he had stepped in and said something. “What the hll are you wearing?” Cash now asks, making me turn to see him looking at Mazie, as he lets out a chuckle. Mazie lowers her sunglasses, as she looks up at Cash, giving him an evil look, before she says to him, “What’s wrong with what I am wearing? Raven picked it out for me.” Cash turned to look at me, as I too gave him a glare, just waiting for him to make a remark about what I was wearing too, but instead he turned back to Mazie, giving her an apologetic look. “It’s just that I have never seen you wear anything that girly before, you know, since…” He began to say, but Mazie was quick to stop him from finishing what he was saying, by cutting him off as she said, “Maybe I changed my mind.” “Okay. You don’t need to get your panties in a bunch.” Cash said to her before he turned his attention towards me, asking, “Can I talk to you for a second alone?” “Sure.” I said, as my eyes moved to Mazie, who was pushing her sunglasses back up, before she laid back down on the blanket. Placing the palm of his hand against my back, Cash began to guide me away from everyone towards a trail that led around the waterhole, and I knew whatever he was about to say, he didn’t want others to hear. Removing his hand from my back once we were on the trail, he says to me, “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at school and my brother’s behavior towards you.” “It’s not your fault that your brother is a dou''che-bag.” I quickly told him, wanting him to know that I didn’t hold him accountable for his brother’s actions. Cash pauses in his step, letting out a chuckle, before he says, “I heard my brother called a lot of things, but a dou''che-bag has never been one of them. But seriously, he normally isn’t like this, he’s just dealing with a lot right now.” I wanted to tell him that I had heard about their mother, and that I was sorry for his loss, but I had been told that a hundred times myself, and it never made me feel better, but instead brought back memories of that tragic night. So instead, I said to him, “It’s alright, but I think it is best for all of us if Chase just keeps his distance from me. Between Jessica and him being a loose cannon, it’s just too much for me to deal with after everything I have been through recently. I hope you understand.” “Trust me, I completely understand.” "Good, because I just want to make it through this school year so that I can move back to California.” I explained to him, and the expression on Cash’s face changed before he said to me, “Wait, you don’t plan on staying here?” Shaking my head, I told him, “No, I have an early acceptance to Berkeley, where I plan on going to college. Plus, like Jessica pointed out to me today, I don’t belong here.” www.argbook.com

Triplet wolves usually shared one fated mate and preferred taking her together. I used to think I was the exception. Until my Alpha boyfriend still had his thick, hard l€ngth buried inside me, and his two brothers jumped onto the bed and sandwiched me between their n@ked muscles. "No... I refuse to take three." I gasped, struggling when they guided my hands to their p€nises. "Sweetheart, you can handle it." I should've been disgusted. But when Cash and Chase shoved hard into me, and Chance quickened his speed, that burning heat pooling deep in my belly screamed one thing: Oh God... I wanted all three of them! ***** Raven’s POV You never really know what life has in store for you. One minute you can be with your family celebrating a remarkable moment in your life, and the next minute poof, everything you ever knew can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. The next minute, you find yourself in a juvenile metal institution, as flashbacks of the day you lost everything are triggered by the smallest of things. Honestly, I don’t remember exactly how it happened. I just remember the aftermath of being pulled from the car, as my eyes opened just in time to see my parents both deceased in the front seat. My own screams are what haunt me to this day, as I remember watching the firefighters quickly moving to cover the wreckage with a tarp after pulling me out, as if they were trying to protect me, but they were too late, and the damage was already done. Now I found myself at a crossroads, and if I wanted out of this place, I knew I was going to have to outsmart the prestigious shrink that was assigned to me. Even though I was far from overcoming the trauma that I had borne that day, I knew if I stayed in this place any longer, I was going to truly lose my mind. “So, your nightmares have stopped, and I have reports that there haven’t been any incidents in the past week since I last saw you. I think that between your weekly sessions with me and the medication, we have finally gotten a hold of this, and the good news is, we were finally able to find a living relative to release you to.” The wonderful shrink said to me, and I knew that they must have finally tracked down my grandmother. She was the only living relative that I had, but I had only met her once, when I was a child. My mother would, from time to time, call her, and I would speak to her over the phone, but other than that, she was a total stranger to me. But right now, anything was better than being in here, at least that was what I thought. As the uber driver enters the town of Beaumont, I begin to realize why my mother had left here so many years ago, and had never looked back, as I couldn’t imagine living in this god forsaken town my whole life. It was a far cry from California, and it was going to take some major getting used to, but I kept telling myself it was only going to be for the next eight months. After that, I was out of here, and back to California, where I belonged. “Miss, are you sure you have the right address?” The uber driver now asks me, as he brings the car to a halt, along a back road surrounded by complete wilderness. Pulling my phone out, I looked at the address I had saved in my notes, and it was the same address I had given him. I was just about to tell him that I would call my grandmother for the right address, when I realized that I had no service. “Just my luck.” I thought to myself, as I put my phone back in my pocket, while I tried to think of an alternative plan, as I watched the uber meter continue to roll. Gathering my bags, I begin to say to the driver, “I will just get out here.” But he stopped me before I could even open my door. “Miss, I can’t in good conscience let you in the middle of nowhere. Let me at least take you back to the small town. I have to go back that way anyhow.” He said pleading with me, and as I looked out the window at completely nothing, I had to agree with him. Turning the car around, the driver headed back to the small town of Beaumont, where I had seen a small Diner on our way through with an open sign flashing in its window. Thankfully, when we arrived there, the sign was still on, and he wasn’t as hesitant about leaving me. With my bags in hand, I walked into the Diner, and immediately all heads turned in my direction, as it was clear this town wasn’t used to getting too many visitors. Clearly, by the way I was dressed compared to them, I was sticking out like a sore thumb. “Can I help you?” A girl asked from behind the counter with a huge smile on her face, who had to be around my age. “Yeah, do you by chance have a phone that works so that I can call my grandmother to pick me up?” I asked her as I made my way to the counter, praying that she did, because after the day I had traveling here, I was spent. But before the girl could answer my question, a man sitting on a bar stool at the counter asks, “Who’s your grandmother?” Making me turn to look at him. At first, I was apprehensive to tell him, but then I realized I wasn’t in California anymore. I was in a small town where I was sure that everyone knew everyone and their business. “Rosemary Wilson.” I finally answered him, and as her name came from my lips, the atmosphere of the Diner changed, as everyone’s attention went back to the meals in front of them. “You’re Carla’s daughter.” The man said to me, more as a statement then a question, but I answered him anyhow with a simple, “Yes.” “There’s no need to call your grandmother. I can take you there when I have finished eating my dinner. Besides, I don’t think your grandmother has driven in years.” He said to me as if he knew my grandmother well, but I was still apprehensive to take his offer, but then as if he could sense my apprehension, he says, “My name is Evan. I went to high school with your mother, and to be honest, you’re the spitting image of her. You must be starving, traveling all the way here from California. Come take a seat and get a bite to eat, before I take you to your grandmother’s house.” My eyes moved back to the girl behind the counter, as if to see her response to Evan’s offer, and by the look on her face, as she moved to get me a menu, it was clear that she trusted this man. To be honest, the smell of the food was making my stomach begin to growl, as I realized that I only had two bags of peanuts on the plane on the way here. Moving to the empty seat beside Evan, I took a seat, plopping my bags to the floor beside my feet, as I looked at the menu now in front of me. Not wanting to get anything that would take a lot of time to cook, I opted for the grilled chicken salad, which actually sounded heavenly at this moment. As the girl went to place my order with the cook, the door to the Diner opened, and a group of boys entered, all wearing varsity jackets. While I looked over my shoulder, I watched them all heading towards a table in the far corner of the Diner, but one of the boys that was in the group strayed from them and headed in my direction. “Dad, I’m going to get a bite to eat, and then I will be home.” The boy said, addressing Evan beside me, and Evan slowly turned in his seat to look at him. “You can grab a bite to eat, but you are leaving when I leave. I have to take this young lady to Mrs. Wilson’s house, and then I need your help to take care of something.” Evan tells him, making his son’s eyes move to look at me. “Mrs. Wilson?” The boy said with a confused look on his face, as if he was shocked that I would be going there. “Yes, Chase. This is her granddaughter.” Evan said, and I took that as my cue to turn to completely face him, as I extended my hand to him and said, “I’m Raven.” Chase stared at my hand for a few seconds, and then turned back to look at his father, making me retract my hand when I realized that he wasn’t going to take it. “Can’t you get one of my brothers to help you?” “No Chase, they are busy doing what I need them to do, unlike you.” “Fine.” Chase said before he stormed off to the back table to join his friends, and Evan stood from his seat moving to the restroom, leaving me sitting there thinking that their family had some issues. As I turned back in my seat, rethinking my choice of accepting Evan’s offer to drive me to my grandmother’s house, the girl from behind the counter appeared with my salad. As she places it on the counter in front of me, she leans over and whispers, “Don’t mind Chase. He hasn’t been the same since his mother passed away.” My eyes instantly moved to the back of the Diner to see Chase staring back at me, making me quickly look away from him. I knew better than anyone what he must be going through, but unlike him, I didn’t want people to see how it was affecting me. Unfortunately, he couldn’t run or hide from his loss, as I was sure he was reminded of it daily, living here in this small town. Raven’s POV The drive to my grandmother’s house was done in awkward silence, as I sat between Evan and Chase in the front seat of his truck, while the cool night’s breeze seeped through the cracked windows, tousling my long dark hair. I tried my best to keep my eyes looking forward to the road, but I found it hard not to steal glances at Chase sitting directly beside me. He kept his head turned the whole time, looking out his window, as if he was trying to avoid interacting with me, but from our brief encounter at the Diner, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with his father making him come along with us. The road that we were now driving on began to look familiar, making me realize that the uber driver had been heading in the right direction, and when we passed the side road where he had turned around at, Evan began to slow his truck down, before turning on his turn signal. “No wonder you couldn’t find your grandmother’s lane. I will have to send the boys over this weekend to take care of this.” He said as he pulled off the road onto a lane that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in half a decade, making me realize that he wasn’t lying when he said my grandmother hadn’t driven in years. As he drove up the lane, his truck hit a bump, and my hand went to grab ahold of the seat to steady myself, but instead of the seat, I accidentally grabbed ahold of Chase’s leg. Our heads turned at the same time to look at one another, while I quickly retracted my hand, as I apologetically said to him, “Sorry.” By the look on Chase’s face, you would have sworn that my touch had scolded him, making me quickly turn away, as I noticed a faint light in the distance approaching. As my grandmother’s house came into view, it was clear that her lane wasn’t the only thing in desperate need of repair, making me realize this was going to be a big change from the lifestyle I was used to. Before Evan even put the truck into park, Chase opened his door and jumped out, as if he couldn’t wait to be released from my presence. “Thanks for the ride.” I said to Evan, letting him know that I appreciated it, as I quickly moved to get out of his truck, knowing that Chase would be happy to be freed from my presence. The front door to my grandmother’s house at that moment opened, as I heard an elderly woman’s voice call out, “Is that you Evan?” Evan shut his truck off, getting out of the truck too, as he says, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson. I’m just dropping your granddaughter off.” As he moved towards the house to talk to her. Chase appeared at that moment, handing me my bags that they had placed in the bed of the truck, and I was just about to tell him thank you, when Evan called out, “Chase, get over here and say hello.” I watched Chase roll his eyes, before he headed towards the house, and I slowly followed him as I took in my new home. The house was a small ranch, and it reminded me more of a cabin that I once stayed at on vacation with my parents, but unlike the cabin we stayed in, it had seen better days. One of the shutters was missing from the front window, while the other hung on by a thread, as the white paint was chipping off in numerous places. It was a far cry from the home I was raised in back in California, but it was my home now, and I had to make the best of it. “I can’t believe how much you have grown since the last time I saw you.” I heard my grandmother saying to Chase, as I made my way now onto the rickety porch that creaked beneath my feet. My grandmother’s eyes at that moment spotted me, and I could see tears begin to pool in them, as it was the first time she had seen me in well over a decade. “Raven.” She said as her hand moved to her mouth, as she tried to fight back the emotions of seeing me, but unfortunately, I didn’t share the same emotions as her, because she was just a mere stranger to me. As if Evan could sense the awkwardness between myself and my grandmother, and my lack of emotions of seeing her, he quickly says, “Well, it was nice seeing you, Mrs. Wilson, and I will send the boys over this weekend to take care of the lane.” Turning, Evan quickly moved off the front porch, only to stop at the bottom of the steps before turning to look back at me as he says to me, “Chase will pick you up for school in the morning.” My eyes quickly moved to look at Chase, who was clearly once again unhappy with his father, and it didn’t take long for him to make up an excuse to not want to do as his father asked of him, as he says, “But dad, I had plans before school.” “Your plans can wait.” Evan said back to him with a stern tone, making Chase’s eyes narrow as he looked at me. It was clear that Chase had no desire to take me to school, nor, at this point, with the way he was reacting to me, did I want him to. The last thing I wanted was for him to be forced to do something that he didn’t want to do, making things even more uncomfortable between us than it already clearly was. “No, it’s fine. I will just take the bus.” The look of distaste slowly began to leave Chase’s face, knowing that he was now freed from having to deal with me, but that relief was short-lived when my grandmother says, “Oh dear, I am afraid I forgot to set up transportation for you. I assumed your car would have been here by now.” Dread instantly formed on Chase’s face, as he realized he wasn’t getting out of this. Through gritted teeth, he says to me, “Be ready by seven twenty.” Before he stormed off towards the truck. “You must be hungry.” My grandmother said as she ushered me into the house, and as I stepped inside, I felt like I was stepping back in time as her décor looked like it had to be from the eighties. By the looks of things, nothing seemed to have been updated since my mother had left here, but then, of course, my grandmother had been alone raising my mother all those years, living paycheck to paycheck. I remember my mother telling me how lucky I was to have the life I had, and now I was seeing exactly what she meant. It was clear that my mother had grown up poor, and that would explain why she wanted to better herself by going to college and getting the hll out of here. “Actually, I already ate at the Diner, and I am really exhausted from my travels today. With school starting tomorrow, I would like to get a shower and unpack a few of my things. That’s if my belongings have already arrived.” The smile on her face began to fall, and I felt bad for making an excuse not to spend time with her, but all of this was hа'rd on me, and I needed some time alone to adjust first, before I could sit down with her. Nodding her head, she says, “Of course you would be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.” Turning, she began to walk towards a small narrow hallway that only had three doors, stopping at the first one on the left. Opening the door, she stepped to the side, allowing me to enter as she says to me, “This was your mother’s room.” The room was about the size of my walk-in closet back home, and with all my boxes of belongings that had arrived, there was only a small path that led to the twin-sized bed that sat beneath a small window. The room smelled of musk, telling me that the door had remained closed for many years, probably since the day that my mother had left here, as posters from my mother’s era still hung on the walls. “The bathroom is straight across the hall, and the towels are in the closet.” She then said, and I turned around, thanking her, not wanting her to see the state of cultural shock I was in. Thankfully, she didn’t linger, and I closed the door, before I moved to the small window, pulling the curtains back, opening it to air out the room. A light breeze carried the scent of fresh pine into my room, making the musky scent bearable, as I turned and looked at the stack of boxes, dreading the thought of going through them, but I knew that I had too. As I began to sort through the boxes, I noticed a small vanity with a cloudy mirror sitting against the wall behind them, making me move a few boxes out of the way so that I could get to it. It wasn’t the mirror that I was looking at but the pictures that were taped around the outer edge. Plucking one of the photos from the mirror, I stepped back to the middle of the room under the light, as I spotted my mother first in the middle of the picture as she posed with a man with his arm around her, and a group of her friends. As I stared at the man with his arm around her, I realized who that man in the photo was. “A friend, huh.” I said to myself, as the man in the photo was no other than Evan, telling me that my mother and him at one point in time were more than just friends, and it now made sense why he was so eager to help me. But it also made me wonder what had happened between them, for her to leave him behind, when she had left, with their picture still taped to the mirror. Raven’s POV Thankfully, Chase drove the rest of the drive to school at a normal speed, with both his hands on the wheel, while we rode in complete silence. After what he had just pulled, I really had nothing to say to him, and to be honest, I preferred the silent treatment we were both giving each other. Finally, after about a fifteen-minute drive, the school came into view, as I read the huge sign out front, “Welcome to Beaumont High School. Home of the Wolves.” I had never been so happy to see a school in my life, as I was at this moment, knowing that I would be out of this jeep and away from Chase, and the awkwardness that I was feeling right now being near him. After the stunt he pulled, he would be lucky if I ever got in a vehicle with him again, making me realize that I was going to have to find an alternate form of transportation home, because there was no way in hll I was getting back in his jeep with him today. As he pulled his jeep into a parking place, I didn’t even wait for him to turn it off, before I got out, grabbed my bag, and headed straight towards the double doors. But before I reached the doors, I heard someone yell, “Chase.” Making me turn to see a beautiful blonde-haired girl running over to him, planting a kiss on his lips. Of course, he had a girlfriend, as it all now made sense why he didn’t want me touching him, but it didn’t dismiss his erratic behavior this morning. His eyes at that moment moved towards me, as if he could sense I was watching him. Quickly, I turned away, moving inside the school, out of his sight and straight to the office to get my schedule. “Raven, Mrs. Jacobs is ready to see you.” The school secretary said, motioning to a door to her right that read, “Principal’s Office.” “Raven Knight, your transcripts are very impressive. President of the Student Council, Vice President of the Honor Society, Captain of the Cheering Squad, and early acceptance to Berkeley. Your parents must have been proud of you.” Principal Jacobs says to me, making me try not to think back to how happy my parents were when my acceptance letter came from Berkeley, but it was too late, and I couldn’t get the memories out of my head. I remember arriving home from school to find both my parents just sitting at the dinner table. At first, I thought something was terribly wrong, but then my mother pushed the letter towards me on the table, and I quickly opened it. I began to read the letter out loud, and when I came to the part where it said, “You have been accepted.” Both my parents jumped out of their chairs with joy. That night, my parents took me out to dinner to celebrate, and after that, we drove down to the boardwalk to my favorite ice cream emporium. We planted our toes in the sand and watched the sunset on the beach, as it was our last night together as a family. “I see your request for certain courses, but unfortunately, we are a small school, and we can only accommodate you with what we have available.” She then said, drawing my attention back to her, as I realized what she was saying. “But I need to stay on course, if I want my acceptance to be honored when I graduate.” I explained to her how important these certain courses were, hoping there was something that she could do to keep me on track. “I personally called Berkeley and explained your rare circumstances to them, and they were very accommodating to your situation.” She then said as she handed me a schedule of my new classes, along with a paper from Berkeley for an online college course that I would have to take along with my classes here. “As for your extracurricular activities, try-outs for the cheerleading squad are this Friday. Unfortunately, student council positions have already been filled, and we don’t have an Honor Society here.” She then told me, and I quickly said back to her, “Can’t I just focus on my studies?” As I dreaded the thought of having to join the cheerleading squad with a bunch of girls I didn’t know. “Unfortunately, if you want to go to Berkeley, you will need to maintain not only your academics but your extracurricular activities too. Listen, Raven, I know this is hа'rd on you. I can’t even imagine what you have gone through, but if this is truly what you want, then you have to move on, and focus on your future. I am sure your parents would want this for you.” She was right. My parents would want me to succeed in life, especially my mother. She had told me time and time again that my education was the key to making something of myself, and if I wanted to get out of this godforsaken town like she did, then I was going to have to do whatever it took to do it. Just then, the door to the office opened, and I heard a voice say, “You wanted to see me, mother.” My head turned as the voice sounded somewhat familiar to me, to see the beautiful blonde-haired girl that had run up to Chase when we had arrived at school. “You are right on time, sweetheart. Jessica, this is Raven. She just transferred here from California, and I would like you to show her around the school.” Of all the students in this school, what were the chances that Jessica here was the principal’s daughter, and that she would be my welcoming committee? Dread at that moment filled me, as Jessica glared at me, while it was clear that she too wasn’t excited about having to babysit the new girl, especially when the new girl showed up this morning with her boyfriend. As if Jessica was playing a role to win an Oscar, she plastered a smile on her face, one that I could see clearly was fake, as she says to her mother, “I would be delighted to show her around, and explain the ropes to her.” And by ropes, I knew what she meant. As the two of us walked out of her mother’s office and into the now vacant hallways of the school, Jessica turned to look at me, before she said, “Let’s get one thing clear, Chase is mine. You stay in your lane, and we won’t have a problem. Capeesh?” “I’m not interested in Chase, or any boy here for that matter. I just want to make it through the school year and get the hll out of this town and back to civilization.” I explained my position to her, wanting her to know where I stood, and that I had no plans on interfering with her relationship with Chase. The last thing I needed on my first day at school was to make enemies with the principal’s daughter, who held all my playing cards in her hands, to make sure that the dreams I worked so hard for remained my reality. “Good, because you don’t belong here anyhow.” She then said, reminding me of the obvious, as she turned and began her tour of the school, like nothing was ever said between the two of us, making me believe that she wasn’t wrapped too tightly. Thankfully, the school wasn’t large, and her grand tour only took about ten minutes before she came to a stop in front of a classroom. “Your first period class.” “Thanks.” I said sarcastically to her, as I reached for the door handle, thankful that my time with her was over with, but then she grabbed a hold of my arm firmly, stopping me, making me turn my head to look at her. I could have sworn her eyes darkened a few shades, just like Chase had with me this morning in my room, making me wonder what on eаrth was in the water here. “Don’t forget what I said.” “Trust me, I won’t.” I said quickly back to her through gritted teeth, as her grip was becoming painful on my arm. “Good.” She said as a smirk formed on her face, before she released my arm, and started walking down the hallway, humming some dam song, as I rubbed my arm, trying to relieve the pain she had just caused. Jesus, this girl was nuts. Maybe she should be the one medicated and not me, I thought to myself, as I watched her head into a classroom, before I turned back to my own, thinking could today, get any worse. But as I finally walked into my own classroom, I realized that it could, as my eyes immediately landed on Chase, sitting in the only seat with an empty desk beside him. Raven’s POV “Wake up.” echoed in my head, as I rolled onto my side, muttering half asleep, “Just a few more minutes,” Not wanting to get out of bed yet, because, for the first time in a long time, I was having a peaceful sleep. “I told you seven twenty.” I then heard his voice say, making me shoot straight up in bed, to find Chase standing at the foot of it. “What the hll are you doing in here?” I asked him, as I pulled my blanket up to cover myself, not wanting him to see me in my pink bunny pajamas, but by the look on his face, he had already gotten a sneak peek of them. With a devious grin now on his face, he says to me, “Your grandmother let me in.” “That doesn’t explain why you are in my room.” “Well, I wouldn’t be in your room, Princess, if you had been ready when I told you to be.” He now says to me, making me reach for my phone to check the time, but my dang phone was dead, which made no sense because it was plugged in. “I’m sorry. The outlet must not work.” I said to him, giving him an explanation of why I had slept in, as I pulled up the cord following it all the way back to the plug, where it remained plugged in. Under his breath, he says sarcastically, “I’m sure that’s not the only thing around here that doesn’t work.” As he turns towards my mother’s vanity, making me quickly move from the protection of my blanket, scurrying out of the bed, not wanting him to see the picture of my mother and his father together. Placing myself between him and my mother’s vanity, trying to block the mirror, was a chore in itself, as Chase’s massive structure consumed most of my tiny room. As I accidentally bump into him in the process of doing so, he takes a step back from me, as his eyes widen and darken at the same time, while he growls at me, “Don’t ever touch me again.” I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, or the fact that I had enough of his anger being taken out on me, but I couldn’t contain myself when I said back to him, “If you weren’t in my dam room taking up half of it then I wouldn’t have bumped into you.” What sounded like a growl comes from his lips, making me rethink if I should have gone off on him, as I take a step back, finding myself pinned between him and the vanity, while he takes a step towards me. My heart began to race in my chest, as I stared into his eyes, which looked like they were darkening by the second. His head slowly lowered towards me, and he took in a deep inhale, as if he was smelling me, while his eyes closed, making me wonder what the hll he was doing. My hands gripped tightly on the edge of the vanity, as he continued to invade my space, and if I was being honest with myself, my body was starting to react to his proximity to me. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t find him attractive, but this thing he had going on right now was sending me mixed signals. He wasn’t like any of the guys I had dated back in California, but he had this bad boy persona and a look that made my lady bits want to scream out for attention. He was now hovering over me, so closely that if I made a sudden move, our heads would collide, making me take a deep breath, as I dared not to move. The smell of cool mint now tickled my nose, while he took deep breaths, as if he was trying to get a grip on whatever this was he was doing. Slowly his eyes open, staring deep into my own, before he takes a step back from me, and I find myself leaving out a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, while my grip loosened on the vanity’s edge. “Get dressed Princess. We are going to be late.” He finally says to me, before he turns and just walks out of my room, leaving me to wonder what the hll just happened between us. Thankfully, I had showered last night, and had set out my clothes to wear today, because this was going to be the fastest I had ever gotten ready for school in my life. As I stepped out of my room, I spotted my grandmother sitting in a rocking chair with a huge smile on her face, making me wonder why she was so happy this morning, but she didn’t leave me wondering too long. “I remember when Evan used to come every morning to pick your mother up for school. He was so good to her. And now seeing Chase…” She began to say, but I quickly cut her off by saying, “It’s not like that.” Not wanting her to get her hopes up that there was something romantic going on between the two of us, because there wasn’t. Plus, I honestly didn’t want to hear about what my mother did before my father. Not giving her a chance to say another word to me, I headed out the front door and stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted the blue jeep sitting in the driveway with the top down. “You have to be kidding me.” I thought to myself, as I willed myself to walk towards it, knowing that by the time we got to school my hair was going to be a tangled mess. Throwing my backpack in the backseat, I pulled the hair tie off my wrist, putting my hair in a low ponytail, before I got into the passenger seat. “Buckle up, Princess.” Chase said to me with a smirk on his face, as he took off down my grandmother’s lane, purposely hitting every single bump he could find, as I held on to whatever I could to steady myself. Reaching over, he turned the radio on, turning it up as loud as it could go, before he didn’t even pause to check for traffic, pulling out onto the road on I swear two wheels. It was clear that he was trying to make a statement about having to be my chauffeur, and that he wasn’t happy about it, but it wasn’t my doing, and if he kept this up, he was going to kill the both of us. Reaching over, I turned the radio off, before I said to him, “Are you trying to kill me?” He let out a dam chuckle as if he thought what I said was funny, before he turns his head to look at me and says, “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now.” Before I could process his words, the sound of a car horn fills the air, and I quickly turn my head to see that his jeep was halfway over in the other lane, as a car was coming straight for us. Flashbacks of the night of the accident began to flash before my eyes, and I found myself bracing for impact, but the impact never came, as Chase turned the steering wheel just at the nick of time to avoid the car. My breathing at that moment became unsteady, and I began to find it hard to breathe, as I could feel one of my panic attacks coming on, that I started to have after the accident. “Pull over!” I screamed, as my hand reached for the door handle, wanting him to stop so I could get the hll out of his jeep. “What is wrong with you?” He asked as my door opened, while the jeep was still moving, but he quickly hit the brakes, slowing the jeep down, as he pulled off the side of the road. Quickly, I unbuckled my seat belt before jumping out, as I bent over trying to catch my breath, while I heard his car door shut. “Are you crazy?” He yells at me, as he walks around the front of the jeep, but when he sees me in my current state his tone changes, as he rushes to me, placing his hand on my back as he now asks me, “Are you okay?” no, I wasn’t okay, and it was because of him and his reckless driving why I was in the state I was in now, and if he thought I wanted him to comfort me, he was dead wrong. Standing, I stepped away from him, as I said to him through gritted teeth, “Leave me the hll alone.” While I moved to his jeep, grabbing my backpack from the backseat before I threw it over my shoulders and began to walk away from him. “Raven, stop!” He called out to me, but instead of stopping, I raised my hand, flipping him off as I continued to walk. A low growl that sounded animalistic filled the air, making me stop dead in my tracks, as I looked towards the forest surrounding me, half scared of what was lurking in them. “Raven, get back in the jeep!” Chase now says with authority in his tone, making me wonder if he too had heard the growl. Once again, I found myself at a crossroads, of either getting eaten by a wild animal on my first morning here or getting back in the jeep with someone who clearly wasn’t mentally stable. Neither of my choices sounded good, but at least I knew with Chase, I wouldn’t have to worry about him having me for breakfast. Raven’s POV Handing my schedule to the teacher, she looked up at the classroom, and said, “It seems we have a new student. Everyone, this is Raven Knight. Raven, you can take a seat next to Chase Ryder, and he can help get you caught up.” My eyes moved back to Chase, and I could see the look of dread on his face, that once again he was going to be forced into helping me. But he wasn’t the only one that was feeling the dread, as I too dreaded the thought of having to talk to him. Turning back to the teacher, knowing that I had to do something to stop this, I asked her, “Is there any way I can sit in the front of the room? My eyesight isn’t that good, and I have problems seeing the board from the back of the classroom.” Obviously, I was lying to her, because there wasn’t anything wrong with my eyesight, but I knew that she wouldn’t deny a student with seeing issues. “She can have my seat.” A boy said in the front row, picking up his books off his desk, moving to sit beside Chase. “Thank you, Conner.” The teacher said, as I moved to the seat where Conner was sitting, before she changed her mind, thankfully dodging a bullet. “I can help you get caught up.” A girl said sitting to my right, and as I looked over at her, I realized that she was the girl from the Diner last night. “Thanks.” I said, as I edged my seat over so that I could take a glance at her work to get caught up. “I’m Mazie, by the way.” She now said, introducing herself to me with a genuine smile, just like she had given me last night at the Diner. Thankfully, it wasn’t going to be hard to get caught up, because I had already read the book that they were reading two years ago, making me realize that this school year might be a walk in the park. If this was the case, then it was going to leave me more time to focus on the class that I was going to have to take online from Berkeley. When the bell rang, Mazie began to gather her books, as she asked me, “What is your next class?” Looking at my schedule, it seemed that I had trigonometry next, which I despised, but at least I was getting it over with in the morning. Showing her my schedule, she says back to me, “It looks like we have a lot of the same classes. If you don’t mind, I could walk with you.” “That would be great.” As we walked out of the classroom and to our next class, I spotted Jessica right away in the hallway with her hands all over Chase, making me think that they really needed to get a room. Her back was turned towards me, and when we walked past them, Chase’s head turned in my direction, as he just stood there staring at me once again, making me turn away from him. As if Mazie had caught me staring at Chase, she said to me, “Those two make me sick. They have been together since like sixth grade. Everyone swears their mates, but I, on the other hand, hope they aren’t, because Chase deserves so much better than her.” “Mates?” I asked her, confused by her choice of words. Mazie’s shoulders at that moment scrunched together, as her eyes closed, like she had misspoken, but then she opened her eyes and said, “That’s what we call two people around here fated to be together.” “Oh…” Is all I said back to her, because I didn’t know what else to say, because I didn’t believe in fate, especially after everything that had happened in the past two months to me. Walking into Trigonometry with Mazie by my side was much easier than English class was, and the teacher thankfully told me I could sit next to her, but as I made my way back to take my seat, Mazie said to me, “I thought you couldn’t see from the back of the classroom.” Busting me with my little lie I had told in English class. Feeling like I could trust her, I admitted to her, “I just didn’t want to sit by Chase. I don’t think he really cares too much for me, and Jessica, well, she sort of gave me a warning to stay away from him.” “That witch!” Mazie said a bit too loudly, making everyone that was seated in the classroom turn to look in our direction, as my cheeks began to redden, hoping that no one overheard our conversation, leading to Mazie’s outburst. When everyone finally turned back around, Mazie whispered in my ear, “I am sure Chase doesn’t dislike you. If anything, I think it’s quite the opposite. I am sure it’s all Jessica’s doing if he is treating you like he doesn’t. Normally, he is the easy-going brother, always without a care in this world of what people think about him. As for Jessica, it’s clear that she is intimidated by your presence around him. Maybe it’s because she noticed the way he looks at you.” Was Mazie seriously talking about the same Chase that had driven me to school this morning? I wouldn’t describe him as easy-going, in any shape or form. If anything, he was destructive, not only to himself but to those around him. As for the way he looked at me, all I could see in his eyes was the look of disgust towards me, as he made it very clear to me this morning that he wanted nothing to do with me. “What? No. Trust me, he is not interested in me, nor am I in him.” I explained to her, wanting to set the record straight, that nothing was going on between the two of us, right before the bell rang, making us both turn our attention to the front of the room, but I couldn’t get it out of my head that she thought Chase liked me. Thankfully, the rest of my morning went by without a hitch, and I truly had Mazie to thank for that. She was like a breath of fresh air, especially after how my day had started. As the two of us got our lunch and moved to an empty table, I was ready to chow down, because I had missed breakfast this morning and my stomach had been growling in protest since the middle of our last class. But as I take my first bite, Chase comes into my view, shockingly without Jessica. I tried to force myself to look away from him, but I found myself just sitting there staring at his every move, like a dam stalker. As he made his way through the line getting his lunch, he turned instantly and looked in my direction, as a smile formed on his face. Unlike the smirk I had gotten from him this morning, this smile looked genuine, making me wonder if Mazie’s words held truth in them. Casually he made his way towards the table I was sitting at, and I looked away from him, just as he approached the table. “Mind if I sit with you pretty ladies?” He asked, but didn’t wait for an answer, as he took the seat directly beside me, acting as if nothing negative transpired between us this morning. “How is your first day at Beaumont High going?” He then asks, as if suddenly he gave two sh'its about me, making me wonder what the hll he was on, because his moods today were changing like the wind. Both Mazie and Chase stared at me, waiting for me to give an answer to his question, and I began to feel the awkwardness from my lack of responding to him. “It’s fine.” Finally came blandly from my lips, as I moved to take another bite of my burger, hoping that he wasn’t going to play twenty questions with me, or I was going to have to ask him what the hll gives. “A group of us are heading over to Big Rock after school. Do you ladies want to join us?” He now asks, making me turn my head back to look at him, as I wondered why in Hll he thought I would go anywhere with him after what he pulled this morning, which reminded me I still needed to find a ride home. “After the weekend of working at the Diner that sounds amazing.” Mazie says with excitement in her eyes, telling me whatever Big Rock was, it had to be fun, but I just couldn’t see myself being able to relax if he was going to be there. “Raven, you have to come along.” She pleads with me, and even though I wanted to hang out with her, there was still the fact that he was going to be there too, and right now I don’t know how I felt about that. “Yeah Raven, what do you say? Are you game for a little fun?” Chase now asks me, as if he was taunting me, which began to piss me off. Instead of playing into the little game he was playing with me, I said to him, “I don’t think your girlfriend will like me tagging along with you.” “My girlfriend?” He asks with a dumbfounded look on his face, as if he was playing dumb with me, but I was done playing whatever game he was playing right now. “Listen Chase, I don’t know what the hll you are on, but your mood swings today are giving me whiplash. As for your girlfriend, the Barbie want-to-be, she has already warned me to stay away from you. Plus, you almost killed both of us with the stunt you pulled driving me to school today. So no, I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Mazie at that moment busted out in complete laughter, as Chase let out a chuckle, making me wonder what the hll I had just said that was so dam funny. I was just about to ask the two of them when I spotted Jessica walking into the cafeteria, but it wasn’t her that my eyes were focused on, but the person walking directly behind her. Raven’s POV My head instantly began to spin, as I thought that I was having another one of my episodes, where I was seeing things that weren’t really there. Taking the advice that my shrink had given me to be able to decipher what is real and what isn’t, I reached over and pinched the arm of the Chase that was sitting beside me. “Ouch. What the hll was that for?” He asks, making me realize that he was real, but if he was really sitting beside me, then who was following Jessica? Just as I was about to feel another panic attack come on, Mazie says, “Raven, this isn’t Chase. This is his brother, Cash. I thought you knew he had brothers.” My head turned to look at Cash, taking in his appearance, and when my eyes landed on his green eyes, there was a speck of gold around the rim of them, which I hadn’t noticed when I looked into Chase’s eyes this morning. Other than that, they were identical twins, and it would have been easy for anyone to mix the two of them up. “I’m sorry.” I said, apologizing to Cash, as I turned away from him embarrassed, while I just stared at my food in front of me with a loss of appetite. That was twice now, on my first day here, that I almost lost it, making me question if I should still be back in California at the mental institution. I thought that it was the place and its surroundings that was driving me mad, but now, being free from there, I realize that it was me. “No need to apologize, Raven. We still fool our own father on occasions, but I guess I had better warn you that there’s a third one of us, so you don’t go pinching Chance.” “Oh, my goddess, could you imagine? He would lose his sh1t.” Mazie says, as a giggle comes from her lips, and I look up to see her and Cash making faces at each other, as if they were trying to portray what Chance’s reaction would have been. My stomach at that moment tied instantly into a knot, as I thought about there being not just two of them, but three, and this Chance being worse than Chase. I had no clue how that could be remotely possible, but as I sat there thinking about it, my eyes moved to the doors of the cafeteria as the third one of them entered. Unlike Chase and Cash, Chance had his own look about him, and there was no way that I was going to mix him up with his other two brothers. Dressed in all black, with his hair slicked back, this brother gave off the vibes of pure trouble, and if I was being honest, there was something about his bad boy persona that called out to me. His eyes scanned the cafeteria, as if he was looking for someone, and when they landed on me, he came walking full stride towards our table, making me sit up straight, as I waited for him to approach me. But when he reached the table, I quickly realized that it wasn’t me who he was looking at. “What is this I hear about a party at Big Rock after school? You know, we promised dad that we would help him tonight.” “Yeah, well, we helped dad all weekend while Chase ran off with his friends and Jessica. Let him be the one to help dad tonight. Plus, I have already invited Raven, and she is looking forward to hanging out with all of us.” Cash told Chance, making me turn my head to look at him, as he gave me a cunning smile, while he knew dam well, I didn’t agree to go. But as I thought about Chase having to help his father while his brothers got to relax, it served him right after what transpired this morning. Plus, as I turned back to look at Chance now hovering over me like a Greek God, I couldn’t help but want to go if he was going to be there. His eyes moved down to look at me at that moment, and as they widened with recognition, he began to say, “Wait, this is Raven? Mrs. Wilson’s daughter? The one that Chase said…” But Cash cut him off before he could finish by saying, “Yes, that Raven.” “Wait. What did Chase say about me?” “Nothing.” Came out of both their mouths at the same time, and I looked over at Mazie, who looked just as intrigued to hear what Chase had said about me too. But before I could insist that they tell me, Jessica appeared and said, “Look what we have here. Are you two really that desperate to go slumming?” It took everything I had to control my urge to stand up and slap her across the face, but I knew if I did, then I would be scre'wing myself out of my future, as I was sure that Berkeley would frown upon a disciplinary action on my records. So instead, I lowered my head, looking at my food, as I tried not to let her words bother me. “You of all people would know about slumming. So, why don’t you get off your high horse, because we all know if it wasn’t for our brother, you would still be a nobody omega.” Chance says to Jessica, defending me, making me look up just in time to see the smirk fall from her face, before she storms off. “You know you are going to have to deal with Chase now.” Cash says to Chance, but Chance lets out a huff, before he says back to him, “I really don’t care. I can’t take another year of this sh1t. She needs to learn her true status and quit living in the make-believe world she lives in because of our brother.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.” I told them, hoping that this wouldn’t cause any more friction between the three of them, even though it was clear there already was. Cash placed his hand on my arm, making me turn to look at him, as he said to me, “It’s cool, don’t worry about it. The only thing you caused is for Jessica to show her true colors, and I am sure that once Chase sees her in a different light like we do, it will be bye-bye Jessica.” “Yeah, right. She’s got her claws dug too deep into him. It’s going to take a of a lot more than that to make him open his eyes.” Chance says, before he walks away, leaving us sitting there, while I wonder what he meant earlier about her knowing about slumming. “I had better go too. Hopefully I will see you ladies later at the party.” Cash says as he stands, now leaving just Mazie and I at the table alone, and I couldn’t help but look towards the back of the cafeteria to see Jessica glaring at me. So much for my plan to stay under the radar, as it was clear by the glare Jessica was giving me, this thing she had out for me, was far from being over with. Even though it was nice to have someone stand up for me, it just made things worse for me with her than they already were. “Don’t worry about her. She wouldn’t dare to challenge you now that Chance stood up for you. If she does, then she is as good as dead.” Mazie tells me, making me turn my attention to her, wondering what she meant by that. “I don’t understand. Why would Chance standing up for me have anything to do with her leaving me alone?” Mazie looked at me with that same look on her face as she had in the hallway when she said about Jessica and Chase being mates, before she finally said, “Every school has that one student that is like the leader of their class. Here at Beaumont High, Chance is like that for us. What he says goes, and no one is dumb enough to challenge him.” A part of me felt relief at Mazie’s explanation, but as I looked once again towards the back of the cafeteria, something told me that Jessica might just be crazy enough to. Raven’s POV “Oh, wow.” Mazie said, as I walked into my bedroom with my bikini on, with her eyes wide, before she said, “Is this what the California girls wear?” Making me feel a bit uncomfortable in it, as I wondered what the girls here wore. “Is there something wrong with it?” I asked her, as I pulled a cover-up over it, hoping that it would be fine, because all my swimsuits looked like this one. “No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that I have only seen bikinis like it in magazines on supermodels. Our local stores don’t carry swimsuits like that.” “I have a brand new one with the tags still on it, if you would like to have it.” I told her, as I moved to my dresser drawer to pull it out. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have the body like you to pull it off.” “Seriously? Girl, you need to stop hiding that figure of yours under all those clothes.” I said to her, as she looked down at what she was wearing, pulling on the baggy sweatshirt she had on. “You know what, you’re right.” She said as she stood from my bed, taking the bikini from my hands, as she moved to the bathroom across the hallway, and I began to look for a cover-up that would match it. After finding a cover-up, I touched up my makeup, as I began to wonder what was taking Mazie so long to change. Looking out into the hallway, the door to the bathroom was still shut, and I moved to it, lightly knocking on it, as I asked, “Mazie, is everything okay?” There was complete silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds, before I heard the door unlock, making me take a step back, waiting for her to open it. When the door finally opened, Mazie stood in front of me in her oversized sweatshirt that hung to her knees, as she says to me, “I don’t know if I can wear this.” Clearly, she had the bikini on under the sweatshirt, making me grab hold of her hand, pulling her into my room, shutting the door behind us, as I turned to her and said, “It seriously can’t be that bad. Show me.” Slowly, Mazie grabbed ahold of the hem of her sweatshirt, and began to pull it over her head, revealing her body to me in the bikini. “Holy sh1t, Mazie. You could easily be one of the supermodels in the magazines. You look amazing.” I told her, as a part of me wished that my body looked as good as her in it. “You aren’t just saying that?” “Hll no. Girl seriously, you are going to be turning some heads.” I told her, as I moved to my bed, picking up the cover-up, handing it to her, as I snatched the sweatshirt from her hands, not going to allow her to put it back on, and hide that perfect body of hers. “Well, I guess we don’t have to go to my house for me to change.” She says as she slides on her shoes, and the two of us make our way out of my bedroom, to see my grandmother taking a nap on her recliner chair. Moving my finger to my lips, we tipped toed out of the house, not wanting to wake up my grandmother and having to explain to her where I was heading, as I didn’t know what her response would be to me heading to a party on a school night. In all honesty, it was reckless of me to do, but I knew I could get done with my homework in no time, since most of it was a repeat of what I had already learned. Mazie pulled her car over on to the side of a back road, where a line of cars was already parked, telling me that this was more than just a few friends getting together. As we got out of the car and began to walk down a small narrow beaten-down path, I could hear people talking and laughing, and this was just what I needed to get my mind off what happened today. But as the trail ended, and the waterhole came into view, I realized why they called this Big Rock. “Cannonball!” A boy yelled, as he leaped off the top of a huge rock, twenty feet to the pool of water beneath him, making a huge splash as his body hit the water. As I stood there staring at the rock, Mazie asked me, “You want to give it a try?” “Oh no. I hate heights.” I told her, as I looked away, knowing that hll would freeze over first before I jumped off that. Mazie let out a chuckle, before she grabbed a hold of my hand, and began to lead me around the waterhole towards an area where everyone was gathered sitting on blankets, bathing in the evening sun. Pulling a blanket out of her bag, she began to fluff it before placing it on the ground, as she says to me, “I personally rather watch myself.” Taking my shoes off, I was just about to sit down, when I heard someone come up behind me and ask, “So, how was your first day?” Turning, I came face to face with the boy from first period class that had given up his seat to me, so that I didn’t have to sit next to Chase. Knowing that he had saved my a'ss, I put a smile on my face, and said to him, “I survived.” “That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to lose someone as pretty as you on the first day.” He said back to me, making my cheeks instantly begin to blush, as he was obviously flirting with me. “Oh Conner, is that the best pickup line that you have?” Another male’s voice said, making me turn to see Cash standing directly behind me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that she was with you.” Conner said with what sounded like fear in his voice, as he took off, not saying another word to me. “What the hll Cash? He was just trying to be nice to her.” Mazie says, scolding Cash, before she went to take a seat on the blanket. “You and I both know how Conner is.” “Whatever. Raven is a big girl, and she can make her own decisions.” Mazie then says, as she pulls out her sunglasses, placing them on her face, before she leans back taking in the sun. I looked at Cash, wondering if I should thank him or be upset with him for driving Conner away, but as I peered over his shoulder, I could see that Conner had moved onto another girl, telling me that it was a blessing that he had stepped in and said something. “What the hll are you wearing?” Cash now asks, making me turn to see him looking at Mazie, as he lets out a chuckle. Mazie lowers her sunglasses, as she looks up at Cash, giving him an evil look, before she says to him, “What’s wrong with what I am wearing? Raven picked it out for me.” Cash turned to look at me, as I too gave him a glare, just waiting for him to make a remark about what I was wearing too, but instead he turned back to Mazie, giving her an apologetic look. “It’s just that I have never seen you wear anything that girly before, you know, since…” He began to say, but Mazie was quick to stop him from finishing what he was saying, by cutting him off as she said, “Maybe I changed my mind.” “Okay. You don’t need to get your panties in a bunch.” Cash said to her before he turned his attention towards me, asking, “Can I talk to you for a second alone?” “Sure.” I said, as my eyes moved to Mazie, who was pushing her sunglasses back up, before she laid back down on the blanket. Placing the palm of his hand against my back, Cash began to guide me away from everyone towards a trail that led around the waterhole, and I knew whatever he was about to say, he didn’t want others to hear. Removing his hand from my back once we were on the trail, he says to me, “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at school and my brother’s behavior towards you.” “It’s not your fault that your brother is a dou''che-bag.” I quickly told him, wanting him to know that I didn’t hold him accountable for his brother’s actions. Cash pauses in his step, letting out a chuckle, before he says, “I heard my brother called a lot of things, but a dou''che-bag has never been one of them. But seriously, he normally isn’t like this, he’s just dealing with a lot right now.” I wanted to tell him that I had heard about their mother, and that I was sorry for his loss, but I had been told that a hundred times myself, and it never made me feel better, but instead brought back memories of that tragic night. So instead, I said to him, “It’s alright, but I think it is best for all of us if Chase just keeps his distance from me. Between Jessica and him being a loose cannon, it’s just too much for me to deal with after everything I have been through recently. I hope you understand.” “Trust me, I completely understand.” "Good, because I just want to make it through this school year so that I can move back to California.” I explained to him, and the expression on Cash’s face changed before he said to me, “Wait, you don’t plan on staying here?” Shaking my head, I told him, “No, I have an early acceptance to Berkeley, where I plan on going to college. Plus, like Jessica pointed out to me today, I don’t belong here.” www.argbook.com

“We’ll fill every hole you have, little mate. And we won’t stop at once. If you still think you can run…” “No… I’m still a v!rgin.” How the hell was she supposed to take all three of them? ***** Raven’s POV You never really know what life has in store for you. One minute you can be with your family celebrating a remarkable moment in your life, and the next minute poof, everything you ever knew can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. The next minute, you find yourself in a juvenile metal institution, as flashbacks of the day you lost everything are triggered by the smallest of things. Honestly, I don’t remember exactly how it happened. I just remember the aftermath of being pulled from the car, as my eyes opened just in time to see my parents both deceased in the front seat. My own screams are what haunt me to this day, as I remember watching the firefighters quickly moving to cover the wreckage with a tarp after pulling me out, as if they were trying to protect me, but they were too late, and the damage was already done. Now I found myself at a crossroads, and if I wanted out of this place, I knew I was going to have to outsmart the prestigious shrink that was assigned to me. Even though I was far from overcoming the trauma that I had borne that day, I knew if I stayed in this place any longer, I was going to truly lose my mind. “So, your nightmares have stopped, and I have reports that there haven’t been any incidents in the past week since I last saw you. I think that between your weekly sessions with me and the medication, we have finally gotten a hold of this, and the good news is, we were finally able to find a living relative to release you to.” The wonderful shrink said to me, and I knew that they must have finally tracked down my grandmother. She was the only living relative that I had, but I had only met her once, when I was a child. My mother would, from time to time, call her, and I would speak to her over the phone, but other than that, she was a total stranger to me. But right now, anything was better than being in here, at least that was what I thought. As the uber driver enters the town of Beaumont, I begin to realize why my mother had left here so many years ago, and had never looked back, as I couldn’t imagine living in this god forsaken town my whole life. It was a far cry from California, and it was going to take some major getting used to, but I kept telling myself it was only going to be for the next eight months. After that, I was out of here, and back to California, where I belonged. “Miss, are you sure you have the right address?” The uber driver now asks me, as he brings the car to a halt, along a back road surrounded by complete wilderness. Pulling my phone out, I looked at the address I had saved in my notes, and it was the same address I had given him. I was just about to tell him that I would call my grandmother for the right address, when I realized that I had no service. “Just my luck.” I thought to myself, as I put my phone back in my pocket, while I tried to think of an alternative plan, as I watched the uber meter continue to roll. Gathering my bags, I begin to say to the driver, “I will just get out here.” But he stopped me before I could even open my door. “Miss, I can’t in good conscience let you in the middle of nowhere. Let me at least take you back to the small town. I have to go back that way anyhow.” He said pleading with me, and as I looked out the window at completely nothing, I had to agree with him. Turning the car around, the driver headed back to the small town of Beaumont, where I had seen a small Diner on our way through with an open sign flashing in its window. Thankfully, when we arrived there, the sign was still on, and he wasn’t as hesitant about leaving me. With my bags in hand, I walked into the Diner, and immediately all heads turned in my direction, as it was clear this town wasn’t used to getting too many visitors. Clearly, by the way I was dressed compared to them, I was sticking out like a sore thumb. “Can I help you?” A girl asked from behind the counter with a huge smile on her face, who had to be around my age. “Yeah, do you by chance have a phone that works so that I can call my grandmother to pick me up?” I asked her as I made my way to the counter, praying that she did, because after the day I had traveling here, I was spent. But before the girl could answer my question, a man sitting on a bar stool at the counter asks, “Who’s your grandmother?” Making me turn to look at him. At first, I was apprehensive to tell him, but then I realized I wasn’t in California anymore. I was in a small town where I was sure that everyone knew everyone and their business. “Rosemary Wilson.” I finally answered him, and as her name came from my lips, the atmosphere of the Diner changed, as everyone’s attention went back to the meals in front of them. “You’re Carla’s daughter.” The man said to me, more as a statement then a question, but I answered him anyhow with a simple, “Yes.” “There’s no need to call your grandmother. I can take you there when I have finished eating my dinner. Besides, I don’t think your grandmother has driven in years.” He said to me as if he knew my grandmother well, but I was still apprehensive to take his offer, but then as if he could sense my apprehension, he says, “My name is Evan. I went to high school with your mother, and to be honest, you’re the spitting image of her. You must be starving, traveling all the way here from California. Come take a seat and get a bite to eat, before I take you to your grandmother’s house.” My eyes moved back to the girl behind the counter, as if to see her response to Evan’s offer, and by the look on her face, as she moved to get me a menu, it was clear that she trusted this man. To be honest, the smell of the food was making my stomach begin to growl, as I realized that I only had two bags of peanuts on the plane on the way here. Moving to the empty seat beside Evan, I took a seat, plopping my bags to the floor beside my feet, as I looked at the menu now in front of me. Not wanting to get anything that would take a lot of time to cook, I opted for the grilled chicken salad, which actually sounded heavenly at this moment. As the girl went to place my order with the cook, the door to the Diner opened, and a group of boys entered, all wearing varsity jackets. While I looked over my shoulder, I watched them all heading towards a table in the far corner of the Diner, but one of the boys that was in the group strayed from them and headed in my direction. “Dad, I’m going to get a bite to eat, and then I will be home.” The boy said, addressing Evan beside me, and Evan slowly turned in his seat to look at him. “You can grab a bite to eat, but you are leaving when I leave. I have to take this young lady to Mrs. Wilson’s house, and then I need your help to take care of something.” Evan tells him, making his son’s eyes move to look at me. “Mrs. Wilson?” The boy said with a confused look on his face, as if he was shocked that I would be going there. “Yes, Chase. This is her granddaughter.” Evan said, and I took that as my cue to turn to completely face him, as I extended my hand to him and said, “I’m Raven.” Chase stared at my hand for a few seconds, and then turned back to look at his father, making me retract my hand when I realized that he wasn’t going to take it. “Can’t you get one of my brothers to help you?” “No Chase, they are busy doing what I need them to do, unlike you.” “Fine.” Chase said before he stormed off to the back table to join his friends, and Evan stood from his seat moving to the restroom, leaving me sitting there thinking that their family had some issues. As I turned back in my seat, rethinking my choice of accepting Evan’s offer to drive me to my grandmother’s house, the girl from behind the counter appeared with my salad. As she places it on the counter in front of me, she leans over and whispers, “Don’t mind Chase. He hasn’t been the same since his mother passed away.” My eyes instantly moved to the back of the Diner to see Chase staring back at me, making me quickly look away from him. I knew better than anyone what he must be going through, but unlike him, I didn’t want people to see how it was affecting me. Unfortunately, he couldn’t run or hide from his loss, as I was sure he was reminded of it daily, living here in this small town. Raven’s POV The drive to my grandmother’s house was done in awkward silence, as I sat between Evan and Chase in the front seat of his truck, while the cool night’s breeze seeped through the cracked windows, tousling my long dark hair. I tried my best to keep my eyes looking forward to the road, but I found it hard not to steal glances at Chase sitting directly beside me. He kept his head turned the whole time, looking out his window, as if he was trying to avoid interacting with me, but from our brief encounter at the Diner, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with his father making him come along with us. The road that we were now driving on began to look familiar, making me realize that the uber driver had been heading in the right direction, and when we passed the side road where he had turned around at, Evan began to slow his truck down, before turning on his turn signal. “No wonder you couldn’t find your grandmother’s lane. I will have to send the boys over this weekend to take care of this.” He said as he pulled off the road onto a lane that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in half a decade, making me realize that he wasn’t lying when he said my grandmother hadn’t driven in years. As he drove up the lane, his truck hit a bump, and my hand went to grab ahold of the seat to steady myself, but instead of the seat, I accidentally grabbed ahold of Chase’s leg. Our heads turned at the same time to look at one another, while I quickly retracted my hand, as I apologetically said to him, “Sorry.” By the look on Chase’s face, you would have sworn that my touch had scolded him, making me quickly turn away, as I noticed a faint light in the distance approaching. As my grandmother’s house came into view, it was clear that her lane wasn’t the only thing in desperate need of repair, making me realize this was going to be a big change from the lifestyle I was used to. Before Evan even put the truck into park, Chase opened his door and jumped out, as if he couldn’t wait to be released from my presence. “Thanks for the ride.” I said to Evan, letting him know that I appreciated it, as I quickly moved to get out of his truck, knowing that Chase would be happy to be freed from my presence. The front door to my grandmother’s house at that moment opened, as I heard an elderly woman’s voice call out, “Is that you Evan?” Evan shut his truck off, getting out of the truck too, as he says, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson. I’m just dropping your granddaughter off.” As he moved towards the house to talk to her. Chase appeared at that moment, handing me my bags that they had placed in the bed of the truck, and I was just about to tell him thank you, when Evan called out, “Chase, get over here and say hello.” I watched Chase roll his eyes, before he headed towards the house, and I slowly followed him as I took in my new home. The house was a small ranch, and it reminded me more of a cabin that I once stayed at on vacation with my parents, but unlike the cabin we stayed in, it had seen better days. One of the shutters was missing from the front window, while the other hung on by a thread, as the white paint was chipping off in numerous places. It was a far cry from the home I was raised in back in California, but it was my home now, and I had to make the best of it. “I can’t believe how much you have grown since the last time I saw you.” I heard my grandmother saying to Chase, as I made my way now onto the rickety porch that creaked beneath my feet. My grandmother’s eyes at that moment spotted me, and I could see tears begin to pool in them, as it was the first time she had seen me in well over a decade. “Raven.” She said as her hand moved to her mouth, as she tried to fight back the emotions of seeing me, but unfortunately, I didn’t share the same emotions as her, because she was just a mere stranger to me. As if Evan could sense the awkwardness between myself and my grandmother, and my lack of emotions of seeing her, he quickly says, “Well, it was nice seeing you, Mrs. Wilson, and I will send the boys over this weekend to take care of the lane.” Turning, Evan quickly moved off the front porch, only to stop at the bottom of the steps before turning to look back at me as he says to me, “Chase will pick you up for school in the morning.” My eyes quickly moved to look at Chase, who was clearly once again unhappy with his father, and it didn’t take long for him to make up an excuse to not want to do as his father asked of him, as he says, “But dad, I had plans before school.” “Your plans can wait.” Evan said back to him with a stern tone, making Chase’s eyes narrow as he looked at me. It was clear that Chase had no desire to take me to school, nor, at this point, with the way he was reacting to me, did I want him to. The last thing I wanted was for him to be forced to do something that he didn’t want to do, making things even more uncomfortable between us than it already clearly was. “No, it’s fine. I will just take the bus.” The look of distaste slowly began to leave Chase’s face, knowing that he was now freed from having to deal with me, but that relief was short-lived when my grandmother says, “Oh dear, I am afraid I forgot to set up transportation for you. I assumed your car would have been here by now.” Dread instantly formed on Chase’s face, as he realized he wasn’t getting out of this. Through gritted teeth, he says to me, “Be ready by seven twenty.” Before he stormed off towards the truck. “You must be hungry.” My grandmother said as she ushered me into the house, and as I stepped inside, I felt like I was stepping back in time as her décor looked like it had to be from the eighties. By the looks of things, nothing seemed to have been updated since my mother had left here, but then, of course, my grandmother had been alone raising my mother all those years, living paycheck to paycheck. I remember my mother telling me how lucky I was to have the life I had, and now I was seeing exactly what she meant. It was clear that my mother had grown up poor, and that would explain why she wanted to better herself by going to college and getting the hll out of here. “Actually, I already ate at the Diner, and I am really exhausted from my travels today. With school starting tomorrow, I would like to get a shower and unpack a few of my things. That’s if my belongings have already arrived.” The smile on her face began to fall, and I felt bad for making an excuse not to spend time with her, but all of this was hа'rd on me, and I needed some time alone to adjust first, before I could sit down with her. Nodding her head, she says, “Of course you would be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.” Turning, she began to walk towards a small narrow hallway that only had three doors, stopping at the first one on the left. Opening the door, she stepped to the side, allowing me to enter as she says to me, “This was your mother’s room.” The room was about the size of my walk-in closet back home, and with all my boxes of belongings that had arrived, there was only a small path that led to the twin-sized bed that sat beneath a small window. The room smelled of musk, telling me that the door had remained closed for many years, probably since the day that my mother had left here, as posters from my mother’s era still hung on the walls. “The bathroom is straight across the hall, and the towels are in the closet.” She then said, and I turned around, thanking her, not wanting her to see the state of cultural shock I was in. Thankfully, she didn’t linger, and I closed the door, before I moved to the small window, pulling the curtains back, opening it to air out the room. A light breeze carried the scent of fresh pine into my room, making the musky scent bearable, as I turned and looked at the stack of boxes, dreading the thought of going through them, but I knew that I had too. As I began to sort through the boxes, I noticed a small vanity with a cloudy mirror sitting against the wall behind them, making me move a few boxes out of the way so that I could get to it. It wasn’t the mirror that I was looking at but the pictures that were taped around the outer edge. Plucking one of the photos from the mirror, I stepped back to the middle of the room under the light, as I spotted my mother first in the middle of the picture as she posed with a man with his arm around her, and a group of her friends. As I stared at the man with his arm around her, I realized who that man in the photo was. “A friend, huh.” I said to myself, as the man in the photo was no other than Evan, telling me that my mother and him at one point in time were more than just friends, and it now made sense why he was so eager to help me. But it also made me wonder what had happened between them, for her to leave him behind, when she had left, with their picture still taped to the mirror. Raven’s POV Thankfully, Chase drove the rest of the drive to school at a normal speed, with both his hands on the wheel, while we rode in complete silence. After what he had just pulled, I really had nothing to say to him, and to be honest, I preferred the silent treatment we were both giving each other. Finally, after about a fifteen-minute drive, the school came into view, as I read the huge sign out front, “Welcome to Beaumont High School. Home of the Wolves.” I had never been so happy to see a school in my life, as I was at this moment, knowing that I would be out of this jeep and away from Chase, and the awkwardness that I was feeling right now being near him. After the stunt he pulled, he would be lucky if I ever got in a vehicle with him again, making me realize that I was going to have to find an alternate form of transportation home, because there was no way in hll I was getting back in his jeep with him today. As he pulled his jeep into a parking place, I didn’t even wait for him to turn it off, before I got out, grabbed my bag, and headed straight towards the double doors. But before I reached the doors, I heard someone yell, “Chase.” Making me turn to see a beautiful blonde-haired girl running over to him, planting a kiss on his lips. Of course, he had a girlfriend, as it all now made sense why he didn’t want me touching him, but it didn’t dismiss his erratic behavior this morning. His eyes at that moment moved towards me, as if he could sense I was watching him. Quickly, I turned away, moving inside the school, out of his sight and straight to the office to get my schedule. “Raven, Mrs. Jacobs is ready to see you.” The school secretary said, motioning to a door to her right that read, “Principal’s Office.” “Raven Knight, your transcripts are very impressive. President of the Student Council, Vice President of the Honor Society, Captain of the Cheering Squad, and early acceptance to Berkeley. Your parents must have been proud of you.” Principal Jacobs says to me, making me try not to think back to how happy my parents were when my acceptance letter came from Berkeley, but it was too late, and I couldn’t get the memories out of my head. I remember arriving home from school to find both my parents just sitting at the dinner table. At first, I thought something was terribly wrong, but then my mother pushed the letter towards me on the table, and I quickly opened it. I began to read the letter out loud, and when I came to the part where it said, “You have been accepted.” Both my parents jumped out of their chairs with joy. That night, my parents took me out to dinner to celebrate, and after that, we drove down to the boardwalk to my favorite ice cream emporium. We planted our toes in the sand and watched the sunset on the beach, as it was our last night together as a family. “I see your request for certain courses, but unfortunately, we are a small school, and we can only accommodate you with what we have available.” She then said, drawing my attention back to her, as I realized what she was saying. “But I need to stay on course, if I want my acceptance to be honored when I graduate.” I explained to her how important these certain courses were, hoping there was something that she could do to keep me on track. “I personally called Berkeley and explained your rare circumstances to them, and they were very accommodating to your situation.” She then said as she handed me a schedule of my new classes, along with a paper from Berkeley for an online college course that I would have to take along with my classes here. “As for your extracurricular activities, try-outs for the cheerleading squad are this Friday. Unfortunately, student council positions have already been filled, and we don’t have an Honor Society here.” She then told me, and I quickly said back to her, “Can’t I just focus on my studies?” As I dreaded the thought of having to join the cheerleading squad with a bunch of girls I didn’t know. “Unfortunately, if you want to go to Berkeley, you will need to maintain not only your academics but your extracurricular activities too. Listen, Raven, I know this is hа'rd on you. I can’t even imagine what you have gone through, but if this is truly what you want, then you have to move on, and focus on your future. I am sure your parents would want this for you.” She was right. My parents would want me to succeed in life, especially my mother. She had told me time and time again that my education was the key to making something of myself, and if I wanted to get out of this godforsaken town like she did, then I was going to have to do whatever it took to do it. Just then, the door to the office opened, and I heard a voice say, “You wanted to see me, mother.” My head turned as the voice sounded somewhat familiar to me, to see the beautiful blonde-haired girl that had run up to Chase when we had arrived at school. “You are right on time, sweetheart. Jessica, this is Raven. She just transferred here from California, and I would like you to show her around the school.” Of all the students in this school, what were the chances that Jessica here was the principal’s daughter, and that she would be my welcoming committee? Dread at that moment filled me, as Jessica glared at me, while it was clear that she too wasn’t excited about having to babysit the new girl, especially when the new girl showed up this morning with her boyfriend. As if Jessica was playing a role to win an Oscar, she plastered a smile on her face, one that I could see clearly was fake, as she says to her mother, “I would be delighted to show her around, and explain the ropes to her.” And by ropes, I knew what she meant. As the two of us walked out of her mother’s office and into the now vacant hallways of the school, Jessica turned to look at me, before she said, “Let’s get one thing clear, Chase is mine. You stay in your lane, and we won’t have a problem. Capeesh?” “I’m not interested in Chase, or any boy here for that matter. I just want to make it through the school year and get the hll out of this town and back to civilization.” I explained my position to her, wanting her to know where I stood, and that I had no plans on interfering with her relationship with Chase. The last thing I needed on my first day at school was to make enemies with the principal’s daughter, who held all my playing cards in her hands, to make sure that the dreams I worked so hard for remained my reality. “Good, because you don’t belong here anyhow.” She then said, reminding me of the obvious, as she turned and began her tour of the school, like nothing was ever said between the two of us, making me believe that she wasn’t wrapped too tightly. Thankfully, the school wasn’t large, and her grand tour only took about ten minutes before she came to a stop in front of a classroom. “Your first period class.” “Thanks.” I said sarcastically to her, as I reached for the door handle, thankful that my time with her was over with, but then she grabbed a hold of my arm firmly, stopping me, making me turn my head to look at her. I could have sworn her eyes darkened a few shades, just like Chase had with me this morning in my room, making me wonder what on eаrth was in the water here. “Don’t forget what I said.” “Trust me, I won’t.” I said quickly back to her through gritted teeth, as her grip was becoming painful on my arm. “Good.” She said as a smirk formed on her face, before she released my arm, and started walking down the hallway, humming some dam song, as I rubbed my arm, trying to relieve the pain she had just caused. Jesus, this girl was nuts. Maybe she should be the one medicated and not me, I thought to myself, as I watched her head into a classroom, before I turned back to my own, thinking could today, get any worse. But as I finally walked into my own classroom, I realized that it could, as my eyes immediately landed on Chase, sitting in the only seat with an empty desk beside him. Raven’s POV “Wake up.” echoed in my head, as I rolled onto my side, muttering half asleep, “Just a few more minutes,” Not wanting to get out of bed yet, because, for the first time in a long time, I was having a peaceful sleep. “I told you seven twenty.” I then heard his voice say, making me shoot straight up in bed, to find Chase standing at the foot of it. “What the hll are you doing in here?” I asked him, as I pulled my blanket up to cover myself, not wanting him to see me in my pink bunny pajamas, but by the look on his face, he had already gotten a sneak peek of them. With a devious grin now on his face, he says to me, “Your grandmother let me in.” “That doesn’t explain why you are in my room.” “Well, I wouldn’t be in your room, Princess, if you had been ready when I told you to be.” He now says to me, making me reach for my phone to check the time, but my dang phone was dead, which made no sense because it was plugged in. “I’m sorry. The outlet must not work.” I said to him, giving him an explanation of why I had slept in, as I pulled up the cord following it all the way back to the plug, where it remained plugged in. Under his breath, he says sarcastically, “I’m sure that’s not the only thing around here that doesn’t work.” As he turns towards my mother’s vanity, making me quickly move from the protection of my blanket, scurrying out of the bed, not wanting him to see the picture of my mother and his father together. Placing myself between him and my mother’s vanity, trying to block the mirror, was a chore in itself, as Chase’s massive structure consumed most of my tiny room. As I accidentally bump into him in the process of doing so, he takes a step back from me, as his eyes widen and darken at the same time, while he growls at me, “Don’t ever touch me again.” I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, or the fact that I had enough of his anger being taken out on me, but I couldn’t contain myself when I said back to him, “If you weren’t in my dam room taking up half of it then I wouldn’t have bumped into you.” What sounded like a growl comes from his lips, making me rethink if I should have gone off on him, as I take a step back, finding myself pinned between him and the vanity, while he takes a step towards me. My heart began to race in my chest, as I stared into his eyes, which looked like they were darkening by the second. His head slowly lowered towards me, and he took in a deep inhale, as if he was smelling me, while his eyes closed, making me wonder what the hll he was doing. My hands gripped tightly on the edge of the vanity, as he continued to invade my space, and if I was being honest with myself, my body was starting to react to his proximity to me. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t find him attractive, but this thing he had going on right now was sending me mixed signals. He wasn’t like any of the guys I had dated back in California, but he had this bad boy persona and a look that made my lady bits want to scream out for attention. He was now hovering over me, so closely that if I made a sudden move, our heads would collide, making me take a deep breath, as I dared not to move. The smell of cool mint now tickled my nose, while he took deep breaths, as if he was trying to get a grip on whatever this was he was doing. Slowly his eyes open, staring deep into my own, before he takes a step back from me, and I find myself leaving out a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, while my grip loosened on the vanity’s edge. “Get dressed Princess. We are going to be late.” He finally says to me, before he turns and just walks out of my room, leaving me to wonder what the hll just happened between us. Thankfully, I had showered last night, and had set out my clothes to wear today, because this was going to be the fastest I had ever gotten ready for school in my life. As I stepped out of my room, I spotted my grandmother sitting in a rocking chair with a huge smile on her face, making me wonder why she was so happy this morning, but she didn’t leave me wondering too long. “I remember when Evan used to come every morning to pick your mother up for school. He was so good to her. And now seeing Chase…” She began to say, but I quickly cut her off by saying, “It’s not like that.” Not wanting her to get her hopes up that there was something romantic going on between the two of us, because there wasn’t. Plus, I honestly didn’t want to hear about what my mother did before my father. Not giving her a chance to say another word to me, I headed out the front door and stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted the blue jeep sitting in the driveway with the top down. “You have to be kidding me.” I thought to myself, as I willed myself to walk towards it, knowing that by the time we got to school my hair was going to be a tangled mess. Throwing my backpack in the backseat, I pulled the hair tie off my wrist, putting my hair in a low ponytail, before I got into the passenger seat. “Buckle up, Princess.” Chase said to me with a smirk on his face, as he took off down my grandmother’s lane, purposely hitting every single bump he could find, as I held on to whatever I could to steady myself. Reaching over, he turned the radio on, turning it up as loud as it could go, before he didn’t even pause to check for traffic, pulling out onto the road on I swear two wheels. It was clear that he was trying to make a statement about having to be my chauffeur, and that he wasn’t happy about it, but it wasn’t my doing, and if he kept this up, he was going to kill the both of us. Reaching over, I turned the radio off, before I said to him, “Are you trying to kill me?” He let out a dam chuckle as if he thought what I said was funny, before he turns his head to look at me and says, “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now.” Before I could process his words, the sound of a car horn fills the air, and I quickly turn my head to see that his jeep was halfway over in the other lane, as a car was coming straight for us. Flashbacks of the night of the accident began to flash before my eyes, and I found myself bracing for impact, but the impact never came, as Chase turned the steering wheel just at the nick of time to avoid the car. My breathing at that moment became unsteady, and I began to find it hard to breathe, as I could feel one of my panic attacks coming on, that I started to have after the accident. “Pull over!” I screamed, as my hand reached for the door handle, wanting him to stop so I could get the hll out of his jeep. “What is wrong with you?” He asked as my door opened, while the jeep was still moving, but he quickly hit the brakes, slowing the jeep down, as he pulled off the side of the road. Quickly, I unbuckled my seat belt before jumping out, as I bent over trying to catch my breath, while I heard his car door shut. “Are you crazy?” He yells at me, as he walks around the front of the jeep, but when he sees me in my current state his tone changes, as he rushes to me, placing his hand on my back as he now asks me, “Are you okay?” no, I wasn’t okay, and it was because of him and his reckless driving why I was in the state I was in now, and if he thought I wanted him to comfort me, he was dead wrong. Standing, I stepped away from him, as I said to him through gritted teeth, “Leave me the hll alone.” While I moved to his jeep, grabbing my backpack from the backseat before I threw it over my shoulders and began to walk away from him. “Raven, stop!” He called out to me, but instead of stopping, I raised my hand, flipping him off as I continued to walk. A low growl that sounded animalistic filled the air, making me stop dead in my tracks, as I looked towards the forest surrounding me, half scared of what was lurking in them. “Raven, get back in the jeep!” Chase now says with authority in his tone, making me wonder if he too had heard the growl. Once again, I found myself at a crossroads, of either getting eaten by a wild animal on my first morning here or getting back in the jeep with someone who clearly wasn’t mentally stable. Neither of my choices sounded good, but at least I knew with Chase, I wouldn’t have to worry about him having me for breakfast. Raven’s POV Handing my schedule to the teacher, she looked up at the classroom, and said, “It seems we have a new student. Everyone, this is Raven Knight. Raven, you can take a seat next to Chase Ryder, and he can help get you caught up.” My eyes moved back to Chase, and I could see the look of dread on his face, that once again he was going to be forced into helping me. But he wasn’t the only one that was feeling the dread, as I too dreaded the thought of having to talk to him. Turning back to the teacher, knowing that I had to do something to stop this, I asked her, “Is there any way I can sit in the front of the room? My eyesight isn’t that good, and I have problems seeing the board from the back of the classroom.” Obviously, I was lying to her, because there wasn’t anything wrong with my eyesight, but I knew that she wouldn’t deny a student with seeing issues. “She can have my seat.” A boy said in the front row, picking up his books off his desk, moving to sit beside Chase. “Thank you, Conner.” The teacher said, as I moved to the seat where Conner was sitting, before she changed her mind, thankfully dodging a bullet. “I can help you get caught up.” A girl said sitting to my right, and as I looked over at her, I realized that she was the girl from the Diner last night. “Thanks.” I said, as I edged my seat over so that I could take a glance at her work to get caught up. “I’m Mazie, by the way.” She now said, introducing herself to me with a genuine smile, just like she had given me last night at the Diner. Thankfully, it wasn’t going to be hard to get caught up, because I had already read the book that they were reading two years ago, making me realize that this school year might be a walk in the park. If this was the case, then it was going to leave me more time to focus on the class that I was going to have to take online from Berkeley. When the bell rang, Mazie began to gather her books, as she asked me, “What is your next class?” Looking at my schedule, it seemed that I had trigonometry next, which I despised, but at least I was getting it over with in the morning. Showing her my schedule, she says back to me, “It looks like we have a lot of the same classes. If you don’t mind, I could walk with you.” “That would be great.” As we walked out of the classroom and to our next class, I spotted Jessica right away in the hallway with her hands all over Chase, making me think that they really needed to get a room. Her back was turned towards me, and when we walked past them, Chase’s head turned in my direction, as he just stood there staring at me once again, making me turn away from him. As if Mazie had caught me staring at Chase, she said to me, “Those two make me sick. They have been together since like sixth grade. Everyone swears their mates, but I, on the other hand, hope they aren’t, because Chase deserves so much better than her.” “Mates?” I asked her, confused by her choice of words. Mazie’s shoulders at that moment scrunched together, as her eyes closed, like she had misspoken, but then she opened her eyes and said, “That’s what we call two people around here fated to be together.” “Oh…” Is all I said back to her, because I didn’t know what else to say, because I didn’t believe in fate, especially after everything that had happened in the past two months to me. Walking into Trigonometry with Mazie by my side was much easier than English class was, and the teacher thankfully told me I could sit next to her, but as I made my way back to take my seat, Mazie said to me, “I thought you couldn’t see from the back of the classroom.” Busting me with my little lie I had told in English class. Feeling like I could trust her, I admitted to her, “I just didn’t want to sit by Chase. I don’t think he really cares too much for me, and Jessica, well, she sort of gave me a warning to stay away from him.” “That witch!” Mazie said a bit too loudly, making everyone that was seated in the classroom turn to look in our direction, as my cheeks began to redden, hoping that no one overheard our conversation, leading to Mazie’s outburst. When everyone finally turned back around, Mazie whispered in my ear, “I am sure Chase doesn’t dislike you. If anything, I think it’s quite the opposite. I am sure it’s all Jessica’s doing if he is treating you like he doesn’t. Normally, he is the easy-going brother, always without a care in this world of what people think about him. As for Jessica, it’s clear that she is intimidated by your presence around him. Maybe it’s because she noticed the way he looks at you.” Was Mazie seriously talking about the same Chase that had driven me to school this morning? I wouldn’t describe him as easy-going, in any shape or form. If anything, he was destructive, not only to himself but to those around him. As for the way he looked at me, all I could see in his eyes was the look of disgust towards me, as he made it very clear to me this morning that he wanted nothing to do with me. “What? No. Trust me, he is not interested in me, nor am I in him.” I explained to her, wanting to set the record straight, that nothing was going on between the two of us, right before the bell rang, making us both turn our attention to the front of the room, but I couldn’t get it out of my head that she thought Chase liked me. Thankfully, the rest of my morning went by without a hitch, and I truly had Mazie to thank for that. She was like a breath of fresh air, especially after how my day had started. As the two of us got our lunch and moved to an empty table, I was ready to chow down, because I had missed breakfast this morning and my stomach had been growling in protest since the middle of our last class. But as I take my first bite, Chase comes into my view, shockingly without Jessica. I tried to force myself to look away from him, but I found myself just sitting there staring at his every move, like a dam stalker. As he made his way through the line getting his lunch, he turned instantly and looked in my direction, as a smile formed on his face. Unlike the smirk I had gotten from him this morning, this smile looked genuine, making me wonder if Mazie’s words held truth in them. Casually he made his way towards the table I was sitting at, and I looked away from him, just as he approached the table. “Mind if I sit with you pretty ladies?” He asked, but didn’t wait for an answer, as he took the seat directly beside me, acting as if nothing negative transpired between us this morning. “How is your first day at Beaumont High going?” He then asks, as if suddenly he gave two sh'its about me, making me wonder what the hll he was on, because his moods today were changing like the wind. Both Mazie and Chase stared at me, waiting for me to give an answer to his question, and I began to feel the awkwardness from my lack of responding to him. “It’s fine.” Finally came blandly from my lips, as I moved to take another bite of my burger, hoping that he wasn’t going to play twenty questions with me, or I was going to have to ask him what the hll gives. “A group of us are heading over to Big Rock after school. Do you ladies want to join us?” He now asks, making me turn my head back to look at him, as I wondered why in Hll he thought I would go anywhere with him after what he pulled this morning, which reminded me I still needed to find a ride home. “After the weekend of working at the Diner that sounds amazing.” Mazie says with excitement in her eyes, telling me whatever Big Rock was, it had to be fun, but I just couldn’t see myself being able to relax if he was going to be there. “Raven, you have to come along.” She pleads with me, and even though I wanted to hang out with her, there was still the fact that he was going to be there too, and right now I don’t know how I felt about that. “Yeah Raven, what do you say? Are you game for a little fun?” Chase now asks me, as if he was taunting me, which began to piss me off. Instead of playing into the little game he was playing with me, I said to him, “I don’t think your girlfriend will like me tagging along with you.” “My girlfriend?” He asks with a dumbfounded look on his face, as if he was playing dumb with me, but I was done playing whatever game he was playing right now. “Listen Chase, I don’t know what the hll you are on, but your mood swings today are giving me whiplash. As for your girlfriend, the Barbie want-to-be, she has already warned me to stay away from you. Plus, you almost killed both of us with the stunt you pulled driving me to school today. So no, I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Mazie at that moment busted out in complete laughter, as Chase let out a chuckle, making me wonder what the hll I had just said that was so dam funny. I was just about to ask the two of them when I spotted Jessica walking into the cafeteria, but it wasn’t her that my eyes were focused on, but the person walking directly behind her. Raven’s POV My head instantly began to spin, as I thought that I was having another one of my episodes, where I was seeing things that weren’t really there. Taking the advice that my shrink had given me to be able to decipher what is real and what isn’t, I reached over and pinched the arm of the Chase that was sitting beside me. “Ouch. What the hll was that for?” He asks, making me realize that he was real, but if he was really sitting beside me, then who was following Jessica? Just as I was about to feel another panic attack come on, Mazie says, “Raven, this isn’t Chase. This is his brother, Cash. I thought you knew he had brothers.” My head turned to look at Cash, taking in his appearance, and when my eyes landed on his green eyes, there was a speck of gold around the rim of them, which I hadn’t noticed when I looked into Chase’s eyes this morning. Other than that, they were identical twins, and it would have been easy for anyone to mix the two of them up. “I’m sorry.” I said, apologizing to Cash, as I turned away from him embarrassed, while I just stared at my food in front of me with a loss of appetite. That was twice now, on my first day here, that I almost lost it, making me question if I should still be back in California at the mental institution. I thought that it was the place and its surroundings that was driving me mad, but now, being free from there, I realize that it was me. “No need to apologize, Raven. We still fool our own father on occasions, but I guess I had better warn you that there’s a third one of us, so you don’t go pinching Chance.” “Oh, my goddess, could you imagine? He would lose his sh1t.” Mazie says, as a giggle comes from her lips, and I look up to see her and Cash making faces at each other, as if they were trying to portray what Chance’s reaction would have been. My stomach at that moment tied instantly into a knot, as I thought about there being not just two of them, but three, and this Chance being worse than Chase. I had no clue how that could be remotely possible, but as I sat there thinking about it, my eyes moved to the doors of the cafeteria as the third one of them entered. Unlike Chase and Cash, Chance had his own look about him, and there was no way that I was going to mix him up with his other two brothers. Dressed in all black, with his hair slicked back, this brother gave off the vibes of pure trouble, and if I was being honest, there was something about his bad boy persona that called out to me. His eyes scanned the cafeteria, as if he was looking for someone, and when they landed on me, he came walking full stride towards our table, making me sit up straight, as I waited for him to approach me. But when he reached the table, I quickly realized that it wasn’t me who he was looking at. “What is this I hear about a party at Big Rock after school? You know, we promised dad that we would help him tonight.” “Yeah, well, we helped dad all weekend while Chase ran off with his friends and Jessica. Let him be the one to help dad tonight. Plus, I have already invited Raven, and she is looking forward to hanging out with all of us.” Cash told Chance, making me turn my head to look at him, as he gave me a cunning smile, while he knew dam well, I didn’t agree to go. But as I thought about Chase having to help his father while his brothers got to relax, it served him right after what transpired this morning. Plus, as I turned back to look at Chance now hovering over me like a Greek God, I couldn’t help but want to go if he was going to be there. His eyes moved down to look at me at that moment, and as they widened with recognition, he began to say, “Wait, this is Raven? Mrs. Wilson’s daughter? The one that Chase said…” But Cash cut him off before he could finish by saying, “Yes, that Raven.” “Wait. What did Chase say about me?” “Nothing.” Came out of both their mouths at the same time, and I looked over at Mazie, who looked just as intrigued to hear what Chase had said about me too. But before I could insist that they tell me, Jessica appeared and said, “Look what we have here. Are you two really that desperate to go slumming?” It took everything I had to control my urge to stand up and slap her across the face, but I knew if I did, then I would be scre'wing myself out of my future, as I was sure that Berkeley would frown upon a disciplinary action on my records. So instead, I lowered my head, looking at my food, as I tried not to let her words bother me. “You of all people would know about slumming. So, why don’t you get off your high horse, because we all know if it wasn’t for our brother, you would still be a nobody omega.” Chance says to Jessica, defending me, making me look up just in time to see the smirk fall from her face, before she storms off. “You know you are going to have to deal with Chase now.” Cash says to Chance, but Chance lets out a huff, before he says back to him, “I really don’t care. I can’t take another year of this sh1t. She needs to learn her true status and quit living in the make-believe world she lives in because of our brother.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.” I told them, hoping that this wouldn’t cause any more friction between the three of them, even though it was clear there already was. Cash placed his hand on my arm, making me turn to look at him, as he said to me, “It’s cool, don’t worry about it. The only thing you caused is for Jessica to show her true colors, and I am sure that once Chase sees her in a different light like we do, it will be bye-bye Jessica.” “Yeah, right. She’s got her claws dug too deep into him. It’s going to take a of a lot more than that to make him open his eyes.” Chance says, before he walks away, leaving us sitting there, while I wonder what he meant earlier about her knowing about slumming. “I had better go too. Hopefully I will see you ladies later at the party.” Cash says as he stands, now leaving just Mazie and I at the table alone, and I couldn’t help but look towards the back of the cafeteria to see Jessica glaring at me. So much for my plan to stay under the radar, as it was clear by the glare Jessica was giving me, this thing she had out for me, was far from being over with. Even though it was nice to have someone stand up for me, it just made things worse for me with her than they already were. “Don’t worry about her. She wouldn’t dare to challenge you now that Chance stood up for you. If she does, then she is as good as dead.” Mazie tells me, making me turn my attention to her, wondering what she meant by that. “I don’t understand. Why would Chance standing up for me have anything to do with her leaving me alone?” Mazie looked at me with that same look on her face as she had in the hallway when she said about Jessica and Chase being mates, before she finally said, “Every school has that one student that is like the leader of their class. Here at Beaumont High, Chance is like that for us. What he says goes, and no one is dumb enough to challenge him.” A part of me felt relief at Mazie’s explanation, but as I looked once again towards the back of the cafeteria, something told me that Jessica might just be crazy enough to. Raven’s POV “Oh, wow.” Mazie said, as I walked into my bedroom with my bikini on, with her eyes wide, before she said, “Is this what the California girls wear?” Making me feel a bit uncomfortable in it, as I wondered what the girls here wore. “Is there something wrong with it?” I asked her, as I pulled a cover-up over it, hoping that it would be fine, because all my swimsuits looked like this one. “No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that I have only seen bikinis like it in magazines on supermodels. Our local stores don’t carry swimsuits like that.” “I have a brand new one with the tags still on it, if you would like to have it.” I told her, as I moved to my dresser drawer to pull it out. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have the body like you to pull it off.” “Seriously? Girl, you need to stop hiding that figure of yours under all those clothes.” I said to her, as she looked down at what she was wearing, pulling on the baggy sweatshirt she had on. “You know what, you’re right.” She said as she stood from my bed, taking the bikini from my hands, as she moved to the bathroom across the hallway, and I began to look for a cover-up that would match it. After finding a cover-up, I touched up my makeup, as I began to wonder what was taking Mazie so long to change. Looking out into the hallway, the door to the bathroom was still shut, and I moved to it, lightly knocking on it, as I asked, “Mazie, is everything okay?” There was complete silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds, before I heard the door unlock, making me take a step back, waiting for her to open it. When the door finally opened, Mazie stood in front of me in her oversized sweatshirt that hung to her knees, as she says to me, “I don’t know if I can wear this.” Clearly, she had the bikini on under the sweatshirt, making me grab hold of her hand, pulling her into my room, shutting the door behind us, as I turned to her and said, “It seriously can’t be that bad. Show me.” Slowly, Mazie grabbed ahold of the hem of her sweatshirt, and began to pull it over her head, revealing her body to me in the bikini. “Holy sh1t, Mazie. You could easily be one of the supermodels in the magazines. You look amazing.” I told her, as a part of me wished that my body looked as good as her in it. “You aren’t just saying that?” “Hll no. Girl seriously, you are going to be turning some heads.” I told her, as I moved to my bed, picking up the cover-up, handing it to her, as I snatched the sweatshirt from her hands, not going to allow her to put it back on, and hide that perfect body of hers. “Well, I guess we don’t have to go to my house for me to change.” She says as she slides on her shoes, and the two of us make our way out of my bedroom, to see my grandmother taking a nap on her recliner chair. Moving my finger to my lips, we tipped toed out of the house, not wanting to wake up my grandmother and having to explain to her where I was heading, as I didn’t know what her response would be to me heading to a party on a school night. In all honesty, it was reckless of me to do, but I knew I could get done with my homework in no time, since most of it was a repeat of what I had already learned. Mazie pulled her car over on to the side of a back road, where a line of cars was already parked, telling me that this was more than just a few friends getting together. As we got out of the car and began to walk down a small narrow beaten-down path, I could hear people talking and laughing, and this was just what I needed to get my mind off what happened today. But as the trail ended, and the waterhole came into view, I realized why they called this Big Rock. “Cannonball!” A boy yelled, as he leaped off the top of a huge rock, twenty feet to the pool of water beneath him, making a huge splash as his body hit the water. As I stood there staring at the rock, Mazie asked me, “You want to give it a try?” “Oh no. I hate heights.” I told her, as I looked away, knowing that hll would freeze over first before I jumped off that. Mazie let out a chuckle, before she grabbed a hold of my hand, and began to lead me around the waterhole towards an area where everyone was gathered sitting on blankets, bathing in the evening sun. Pulling a blanket out of her bag, she began to fluff it before placing it on the ground, as she says to me, “I personally rather watch myself.” Taking my shoes off, I was just about to sit down, when I heard someone come up behind me and ask, “So, how was your first day?” Turning, I came face to face with the boy from first period class that had given up his seat to me, so that I didn’t have to sit next to Chase. Knowing that he had saved my a'ss, I put a smile on my face, and said to him, “I survived.” “That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to lose someone as pretty as you on the first day.” He said back to me, making my cheeks instantly begin to blush, as he was obviously flirting with me. “Oh Conner, is that the best pickup line that you have?” Another male’s voice said, making me turn to see Cash standing directly behind me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that she was with you.” Conner said with what sounded like fear in his voice, as he took off, not saying another word to me. “What the hll Cash? He was just trying to be nice to her.” Mazie says, scolding Cash, before she went to take a seat on the blanket. “You and I both know how Conner is.” “Whatever. Raven is a big girl, and she can make her own decisions.” Mazie then says, as she pulls out her sunglasses, placing them on her face, before she leans back taking in the sun. I looked at Cash, wondering if I should thank him or be upset with him for driving Conner away, but as I peered over his shoulder, I could see that Conner had moved onto another girl, telling me that it was a blessing that he had stepped in and said something. “What the hll are you wearing?” Cash now asks, making me turn to see him looking at Mazie, as he lets out a chuckle. Mazie lowers her sunglasses, as she looks up at Cash, giving him an evil look, before she says to him, “What’s wrong with what I am wearing? Raven picked it out for me.” Cash turned to look at me, as I too gave him a glare, just waiting for him to make a remark about what I was wearing too, but instead he turned back to Mazie, giving her an apologetic look. “It’s just that I have never seen you wear anything that girly before, you know, since…” He began to say, but Mazie was quick to stop him from finishing what he was saying, by cutting him off as she said, “Maybe I changed my mind.” “Okay. You don’t need to get your panties in a bunch.” Cash said to her before he turned his attention towards me, asking, “Can I talk to you for a second alone?” “Sure.” I said, as my eyes moved to Mazie, who was pushing her sunglasses back up, before she laid back down on the blanket. Placing the palm of his hand against my back, Cash began to guide me away from everyone towards a trail that led around the waterhole, and I knew whatever he was about to say, he didn’t want others to hear. Removing his hand from my back once we were on the trail, he says to me, “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at school and my brother’s behavior towards you.” “It’s not your fault that your brother is a dou''che-bag.” I quickly told him, wanting him to know that I didn’t hold him accountable for his brother’s actions. Cash pauses in his step, letting out a chuckle, before he says, “I heard my brother called a lot of things, but a dou''che-bag has never been one of them. But seriously, he normally isn’t like this, he’s just dealing with a lot right now.” I wanted to tell him that I had heard about their mother, and that I was sorry for his loss, but I had been told that a hundred times myself, and it never made me feel better, but instead brought back memories of that tragic night. So instead, I said to him, “It’s alright, but I think it is best for all of us if Chase just keeps his distance from me. Between Jessica and him being a loose cannon, it’s just too much for me to deal with after everything I have been through recently. I hope you understand.” “Trust me, I completely understand.” "Good, because I just want to make it through this school year so that I can move back to California.” I explained to him, and the expression on Cash’s face changed before he said to me, “Wait, you don’t plan on staying here?” Shaking my head, I told him, “No, I have an early acceptance to Berkeley, where I plan on going to college. Plus, like Jessica pointed out to me today, I don’t belong here.” www.argbook.com

"You left your window open, baby girl." Chance Ryder's rough voice. Outside my door. And I had just been crying out his name—alone, completely undone, s0aked. Chance. Cash. Chase. The Ryder triplets run this town. Dark hair. Gold-rimmed eyes. Built like they were carved to ruin girls like me. Chase hates me. Cash confuses me. Chance—Chance is the one who terrifies me most. Because he looks at me like I'm already his. Hours earlier, Chase threw me over his shoulder in front of the entire school. I screamed. I fought. His chest rumbled against me, deep and animal. His brothers had to pin him against a truck to make him let me go. And even then—he didn't take his eyes off me. Now the lock is broken and they're all inside my room. I'm pinned against the mattress. "You're in heat," Chance murmurs, eyes darkening. "You want all of us." Chase's breath burns against my neck like he wants to devour me. "We can scent you. You're driving us crazy." Cash moves closer, a slow smile spreading. "She's human. We need to teach her." His hand finds my b4re thigh. "Do you know what it means for humans with mates like us?" I shake my head, breathless. "We'll mark you. One after the other. Until you know exactly who you belong to." This town was supposed to be my escape. One year. Then back to California, back to the life I lost. And I didn't count on them... ***** Raven’s POV You never really know what life has in store for you. One minute you can be with your family celebrating a remarkable moment in your life, and the next minute poof, everything you ever knew can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. The next minute, you find yourself in a juvenile metal institution, as flashbacks of the day you lost everything are triggered by the smallest of things. Honestly, I don’t remember exactly how it happened. I just remember the aftermath of being pulled from the car, as my eyes opened just in time to see my parents both deceased in the front seat. My own screams are what haunt me to this day, as I remember watching the firefighters quickly moving to cover the wreckage with a tarp after pulling me out, as if they were trying to protect me, but they were too late, and the damage was already done. Now I found myself at a crossroads, and if I wanted out of this place, I knew I was going to have to outsmart the prestigious shrink that was assigned to me. Even though I was far from overcoming the trauma that I had borne that day, I knew if I stayed in this place any longer, I was going to truly lose my mind. “So, your nightmares have stopped, and I have reports that there haven’t been any incidents in the past week since I last saw you. I think that between your weekly sessions with me and the medication, we have finally gotten a hold of this, and the good news is, we were finally able to find a living relative to release you to.” The wonderful shrink said to me, and I knew that they must have finally tracked down my grandmother. She was the only living relative that I had, but I had only met her once, when I was a child. My mother would, from time to time, call her, and I would speak to her over the phone, but other than that, she was a total stranger to me. But right now, anything was better than being in here, at least that was what I thought. As the uber driver enters the town of Beaumont, I begin to realize why my mother had left here so many years ago, and had never looked back, as I couldn’t imagine living in this god forsaken town my whole life. It was a far cry from California, and it was going to take some major getting used to, but I kept telling myself it was only going to be for the next eight months. After that, I was out of here, and back to California, where I belonged. “Miss, are you sure you have the right address?” The uber driver now asks me, as he brings the car to a halt, along a back road surrounded by complete wilderness. Pulling my phone out, I looked at the address I had saved in my notes, and it was the same address I had given him. I was just about to tell him that I would call my grandmother for the right address, when I realized that I had no service. “Just my luck.” I thought to myself, as I put my phone back in my pocket, while I tried to think of an alternative plan, as I watched the uber meter continue to roll. Gathering my bags, I begin to say to the driver, “I will just get out here.” But he stopped me before I could even open my door. “Miss, I can’t in good conscience let you in the middle of nowhere. Let me at least take you back to the small town. I have to go back that way anyhow.” He said pleading with me, and as I looked out the window at completely nothing, I had to agree with him. Turning the car around, the driver headed back to the small town of Beaumont, where I had seen a small Diner on our way through with an open sign flashing in its window. Thankfully, when we arrived there, the sign was still on, and he wasn’t as hesitant about leaving me. With my bags in hand, I walked into the Diner, and immediately all heads turned in my direction, as it was clear this town wasn’t used to getting too many visitors. Clearly, by the way I was dressed compared to them, I was sticking out like a sore thumb. “Can I help you?” A girl asked from behind the counter with a huge smile on her face, who had to be around my age. “Yeah, do you by chance have a phone that works so that I can call my grandmother to pick me up?” I asked her as I made my way to the counter, praying that she did, because after the day I had traveling here, I was spent. But before the girl could answer my question, a man sitting on a bar stool at the counter asks, “Who’s your grandmother?” Making me turn to look at him. At first, I was apprehensive to tell him, but then I realized I wasn’t in California anymore. I was in a small town where I was sure that everyone knew everyone and their business. “Rosemary Wilson.” I finally answered him, and as her name came from my lips, the atmosphere of the Diner changed, as everyone’s attention went back to the meals in front of them. “You’re Carla’s daughter.” The man said to me, more as a statement then a question, but I answered him anyhow with a simple, “Yes.” “There’s no need to call your grandmother. I can take you there when I have finished eating my dinner. Besides, I don’t think your grandmother has driven in years.” He said to me as if he knew my grandmother well, but I was still apprehensive to take his offer, but then as if he could sense my apprehension, he says, “My name is Evan. I went to high school with your mother, and to be honest, you’re the spitting image of her. You must be starving, traveling all the way here from California. Come take a seat and get a bite to eat, before I take you to your grandmother’s house.” My eyes moved back to the girl behind the counter, as if to see her response to Evan’s offer, and by the look on her face, as she moved to get me a menu, it was clear that she trusted this man. To be honest, the smell of the food was making my stomach begin to growl, as I realized that I only had two bags of peanuts on the plane on the way here. Moving to the empty seat beside Evan, I took a seat, plopping my bags to the floor beside my feet, as I looked at the menu now in front of me. Not wanting to get anything that would take a lot of time to cook, I opted for the grilled chicken salad, which actually sounded heavenly at this moment. As the girl went to place my order with the cook, the door to the Diner opened, and a group of boys entered, all wearing varsity jackets. While I looked over my shoulder, I watched them all heading towards a table in the far corner of the Diner, but one of the boys that was in the group strayed from them and headed in my direction. “Dad, I’m going to get a bite to eat, and then I will be home.” The boy said, addressing Evan beside me, and Evan slowly turned in his seat to look at him. “You can grab a bite to eat, but you are leaving when I leave. I have to take this young lady to Mrs. Wilson’s house, and then I need your help to take care of something.” Evan tells him, making his son’s eyes move to look at me. “Mrs. Wilson?” The boy said with a confused look on his face, as if he was shocked that I would be going there. “Yes, Chase. This is her granddaughter.” Evan said, and I took that as my cue to turn to completely face him, as I extended my hand to him and said, “I’m Raven.” Chase stared at my hand for a few seconds, and then turned back to look at his father, making me retract my hand when I realized that he wasn’t going to take it. “Can’t you get one of my brothers to help you?” “No Chase, they are busy doing what I need them to do, unlike you.” “Fine.” Chase said before he stormed off to the back table to join his friends, and Evan stood from his seat moving to the restroom, leaving me sitting there thinking that their family had some issues. As I turned back in my seat, rethinking my choice of accepting Evan’s offer to drive me to my grandmother’s house, the girl from behind the counter appeared with my salad. As she places it on the counter in front of me, she leans over and whispers, “Don’t mind Chase. He hasn’t been the same since his mother passed away.” My eyes instantly moved to the back of the Diner to see Chase staring back at me, making me quickly look away from him. I knew better than anyone what he must be going through, but unlike him, I didn’t want people to see how it was affecting me. Unfortunately, he couldn’t run or hide from his loss, as I was sure he was reminded of it daily, living here in this small town. Raven’s POV The drive to my grandmother’s house was done in awkward silence, as I sat between Evan and Chase in the front seat of his truck, while the cool night’s breeze seeped through the cracked windows, tousling my long dark hair. I tried my best to keep my eyes looking forward to the road, but I found it hard not to steal glances at Chase sitting directly beside me. He kept his head turned the whole time, looking out his window, as if he was trying to avoid interacting with me, but from our brief encounter at the Diner, it was clear that he wasn’t happy with his father making him come along with us. The road that we were now driving on began to look familiar, making me realize that the uber driver had been heading in the right direction, and when we passed the side road where he had turned around at, Evan began to slow his truck down, before turning on his turn signal. “No wonder you couldn’t find your grandmother’s lane. I will have to send the boys over this weekend to take care of this.” He said as he pulled off the road onto a lane that looked like it hadn’t been maintained in half a decade, making me realize that he wasn’t lying when he said my grandmother hadn’t driven in years. As he drove up the lane, his truck hit a bump, and my hand went to grab ahold of the seat to steady myself, but instead of the seat, I accidentally grabbed ahold of Chase’s leg. Our heads turned at the same time to look at one another, while I quickly retracted my hand, as I apologetically said to him, “Sorry.” By the look on Chase’s face, you would have sworn that my touch had scolded him, making me quickly turn away, as I noticed a faint light in the distance approaching. As my grandmother’s house came into view, it was clear that her lane wasn’t the only thing in desperate need of repair, making me realize this was going to be a big change from the lifestyle I was used to. Before Evan even put the truck into park, Chase opened his door and jumped out, as if he couldn’t wait to be released from my presence. “Thanks for the ride.” I said to Evan, letting him know that I appreciated it, as I quickly moved to get out of his truck, knowing that Chase would be happy to be freed from my presence. The front door to my grandmother’s house at that moment opened, as I heard an elderly woman’s voice call out, “Is that you Evan?” Evan shut his truck off, getting out of the truck too, as he says, “Yes, Mrs. Wilson. I’m just dropping your granddaughter off.” As he moved towards the house to talk to her. Chase appeared at that moment, handing me my bags that they had placed in the bed of the truck, and I was just about to tell him thank you, when Evan called out, “Chase, get over here and say hello.” I watched Chase roll his eyes, before he headed towards the house, and I slowly followed him as I took in my new home. The house was a small ranch, and it reminded me more of a cabin that I once stayed at on vacation with my parents, but unlike the cabin we stayed in, it had seen better days. One of the shutters was missing from the front window, while the other hung on by a thread, as the white paint was chipping off in numerous places. It was a far cry from the home I was raised in back in California, but it was my home now, and I had to make the best of it. “I can’t believe how much you have grown since the last time I saw you.” I heard my grandmother saying to Chase, as I made my way now onto the rickety porch that creaked beneath my feet. My grandmother’s eyes at that moment spotted me, and I could see tears begin to pool in them, as it was the first time she had seen me in well over a decade. “Raven.” She said as her hand moved to her mouth, as she tried to fight back the emotions of seeing me, but unfortunately, I didn’t share the same emotions as her, because she was just a mere stranger to me. As if Evan could sense the awkwardness between myself and my grandmother, and my lack of emotions of seeing her, he quickly says, “Well, it was nice seeing you, Mrs. Wilson, and I will send the boys over this weekend to take care of the lane.” Turning, Evan quickly moved off the front porch, only to stop at the bottom of the steps before turning to look back at me as he says to me, “Chase will pick you up for school in the morning.” My eyes quickly moved to look at Chase, who was clearly once again unhappy with his father, and it didn’t take long for him to make up an excuse to not want to do as his father asked of him, as he says, “But dad, I had plans before school.” “Your plans can wait.” Evan said back to him with a stern tone, making Chase’s eyes narrow as he looked at me. It was clear that Chase had no desire to take me to school, nor, at this point, with the way he was reacting to me, did I want him to. The last thing I wanted was for him to be forced to do something that he didn’t want to do, making things even more uncomfortable between us than it already clearly was. “No, it’s fine. I will just take the bus.” The look of distaste slowly began to leave Chase’s face, knowing that he was now freed from having to deal with me, but that relief was short-lived when my grandmother says, “Oh dear, I am afraid I forgot to set up transportation for you. I assumed your car would have been here by now.” Dread instantly formed on Chase’s face, as he realized he wasn’t getting out of this. Through gritted teeth, he says to me, “Be ready by seven twenty.” Before he stormed off towards the truck. “You must be hungry.” My grandmother said as she ushered me into the house, and as I stepped inside, I felt like I was stepping back in time as her décor looked like it had to be from the eighties. By the looks of things, nothing seemed to have been updated since my mother had left here, but then, of course, my grandmother had been alone raising my mother all those years, living paycheck to paycheck. I remember my mother telling me how lucky I was to have the life I had, and now I was seeing exactly what she meant. It was clear that my mother had grown up poor, and that would explain why she wanted to better herself by going to college and getting the hll out of here. “Actually, I already ate at the Diner, and I am really exhausted from my travels today. With school starting tomorrow, I would like to get a shower and unpack a few of my things. That’s if my belongings have already arrived.” The smile on her face began to fall, and I felt bad for making an excuse not to spend time with her, but all of this was hа'rd on me, and I needed some time alone to adjust first, before I could sit down with her. Nodding her head, she says, “Of course you would be exhausted. Let me show you to your room.” Turning, she began to walk towards a small narrow hallway that only had three doors, stopping at the first one on the left. Opening the door, she stepped to the side, allowing me to enter as she says to me, “This was your mother’s room.” The room was about the size of my walk-in closet back home, and with all my boxes of belongings that had arrived, there was only a small path that led to the twin-sized bed that sat beneath a small window. The room smelled of musk, telling me that the door had remained closed for many years, probably since the day that my mother had left here, as posters from my mother’s era still hung on the walls. “The bathroom is straight across the hall, and the towels are in the closet.” She then said, and I turned around, thanking her, not wanting her to see the state of cultural shock I was in. Thankfully, she didn’t linger, and I closed the door, before I moved to the small window, pulling the curtains back, opening it to air out the room. A light breeze carried the scent of fresh pine into my room, making the musky scent bearable, as I turned and looked at the stack of boxes, dreading the thought of going through them, but I knew that I had too. As I began to sort through the boxes, I noticed a small vanity with a cloudy mirror sitting against the wall behind them, making me move a few boxes out of the way so that I could get to it. It wasn’t the mirror that I was looking at but the pictures that were taped around the outer edge. Plucking one of the photos from the mirror, I stepped back to the middle of the room under the light, as I spotted my mother first in the middle of the picture as she posed with a man with his arm around her, and a group of her friends. As I stared at the man with his arm around her, I realized who that man in the photo was. “A friend, huh.” I said to myself, as the man in the photo was no other than Evan, telling me that my mother and him at one point in time were more than just friends, and it now made sense why he was so eager to help me. But it also made me wonder what had happened between them, for her to leave him behind, when she had left, with their picture still taped to the mirror. Raven’s POV Thankfully, Chase drove the rest of the drive to school at a normal speed, with both his hands on the wheel, while we rode in complete silence. After what he had just pulled, I really had nothing to say to him, and to be honest, I preferred the silent treatment we were both giving each other. Finally, after about a fifteen-minute drive, the school came into view, as I read the huge sign out front, “Welcome to Beaumont High School. Home of the Wolves.” I had never been so happy to see a school in my life, as I was at this moment, knowing that I would be out of this jeep and away from Chase, and the awkwardness that I was feeling right now being near him. After the stunt he pulled, he would be lucky if I ever got in a vehicle with him again, making me realize that I was going to have to find an alternate form of transportation home, because there was no way in hll I was getting back in his jeep with him today. As he pulled his jeep into a parking place, I didn’t even wait for him to turn it off, before I got out, grabbed my bag, and headed straight towards the double doors. But before I reached the doors, I heard someone yell, “Chase.” Making me turn to see a beautiful blonde-haired girl running over to him, planting a kiss on his lips. Of course, he had a girlfriend, as it all now made sense why he didn’t want me touching him, but it didn’t dismiss his erratic behavior this morning. His eyes at that moment moved towards me, as if he could sense I was watching him. Quickly, I turned away, moving inside the school, out of his sight and straight to the office to get my schedule. “Raven, Mrs. Jacobs is ready to see you.” The school secretary said, motioning to a door to her right that read, “Principal’s Office.” “Raven Knight, your transcripts are very impressive. President of the Student Council, Vice President of the Honor Society, Captain of the Cheering Squad, and early acceptance to Berkeley. Your parents must have been proud of you.” Principal Jacobs says to me, making me try not to think back to how happy my parents were when my acceptance letter came from Berkeley, but it was too late, and I couldn’t get the memories out of my head. I remember arriving home from school to find both my parents just sitting at the dinner table. At first, I thought something was terribly wrong, but then my mother pushed the letter towards me on the table, and I quickly opened it. I began to read the letter out loud, and when I came to the part where it said, “You have been accepted.” Both my parents jumped out of their chairs with joy. That night, my parents took me out to dinner to celebrate, and after that, we drove down to the boardwalk to my favorite ice cream emporium. We planted our toes in the sand and watched the sunset on the beach, as it was our last night together as a family. “I see your request for certain courses, but unfortunately, we are a small school, and we can only accommodate you with what we have available.” She then said, drawing my attention back to her, as I realized what she was saying. “But I need to stay on course, if I want my acceptance to be honored when I graduate.” I explained to her how important these certain courses were, hoping there was something that she could do to keep me on track. “I personally called Berkeley and explained your rare circumstances to them, and they were very accommodating to your situation.” She then said as she handed me a schedule of my new classes, along with a paper from Berkeley for an online college course that I would have to take along with my classes here. “As for your extracurricular activities, try-outs for the cheerleading squad are this Friday. Unfortunately, student council positions have already been filled, and we don’t have an Honor Society here.” She then told me, and I quickly said back to her, “Can’t I just focus on my studies?” As I dreaded the thought of having to join the cheerleading squad with a bunch of girls I didn’t know. “Unfortunately, if you want to go to Berkeley, you will need to maintain not only your academics but your extracurricular activities too. Listen, Raven, I know this is hа'rd on you. I can’t even imagine what you have gone through, but if this is truly what you want, then you have to move on, and focus on your future. I am sure your parents would want this for you.” She was right. My parents would want me to succeed in life, especially my mother. She had told me time and time again that my education was the key to making something of myself, and if I wanted to get out of this godforsaken town like she did, then I was going to have to do whatever it took to do it. Just then, the door to the office opened, and I heard a voice say, “You wanted to see me, mother.” My head turned as the voice sounded somewhat familiar to me, to see the beautiful blonde-haired girl that had run up to Chase when we had arrived at school. “You are right on time, sweetheart. Jessica, this is Raven. She just transferred here from California, and I would like you to show her around the school.” Of all the students in this school, what were the chances that Jessica here was the principal’s daughter, and that she would be my welcoming committee? Dread at that moment filled me, as Jessica glared at me, while it was clear that she too wasn’t excited about having to babysit the new girl, especially when the new girl showed up this morning with her boyfriend. As if Jessica was playing a role to win an Oscar, she plastered a smile on her face, one that I could see clearly was fake, as she says to her mother, “I would be delighted to show her around, and explain the ropes to her.” And by ropes, I knew what she meant. As the two of us walked out of her mother’s office and into the now vacant hallways of the school, Jessica turned to look at me, before she said, “Let’s get one thing clear, Chase is mine. You stay in your lane, and we won’t have a problem. Capeesh?” “I’m not interested in Chase, or any boy here for that matter. I just want to make it through the school year and get the hll out of this town and back to civilization.” I explained my position to her, wanting her to know where I stood, and that I had no plans on interfering with her relationship with Chase. The last thing I needed on my first day at school was to make enemies with the principal’s daughter, who held all my playing cards in her hands, to make sure that the dreams I worked so hard for remained my reality. “Good, because you don’t belong here anyhow.” She then said, reminding me of the obvious, as she turned and began her tour of the school, like nothing was ever said between the two of us, making me believe that she wasn’t wrapped too tightly. Thankfully, the school wasn’t large, and her grand tour only took about ten minutes before she came to a stop in front of a classroom. “Your first period class.” “Thanks.” I said sarcastically to her, as I reached for the door handle, thankful that my time with her was over with, but then she grabbed a hold of my arm firmly, stopping me, making me turn my head to look at her. I could have sworn her eyes darkened a few shades, just like Chase had with me this morning in my room, making me wonder what on eаrth was in the water here. “Don’t forget what I said.” “Trust me, I won’t.” I said quickly back to her through gritted teeth, as her grip was becoming painful on my arm. “Good.” She said as a smirk formed on her face, before she released my arm, and started walking down the hallway, humming some dam song, as I rubbed my arm, trying to relieve the pain she had just caused. Jesus, this girl was nuts. Maybe she should be the one medicated and not me, I thought to myself, as I watched her head into a classroom, before I turned back to my own, thinking could today, get any worse. But as I finally walked into my own classroom, I realized that it could, as my eyes immediately landed on Chase, sitting in the only seat with an empty desk beside him. Raven’s POV “Wake up.” echoed in my head, as I rolled onto my side, muttering half asleep, “Just a few more minutes,” Not wanting to get out of bed yet, because, for the first time in a long time, I was having a peaceful sleep. “I told you seven twenty.” I then heard his voice say, making me shoot straight up in bed, to find Chase standing at the foot of it. “What the hll are you doing in here?” I asked him, as I pulled my blanket up to cover myself, not wanting him to see me in my pink bunny pajamas, but by the look on his face, he had already gotten a sneak peek of them. With a devious grin now on his face, he says to me, “Your grandmother let me in.” “That doesn’t explain why you are in my room.” “Well, I wouldn’t be in your room, Princess, if you had been ready when I told you to be.” He now says to me, making me reach for my phone to check the time, but my dang phone was dead, which made no sense because it was plugged in. “I’m sorry. The outlet must not work.” I said to him, giving him an explanation of why I had slept in, as I pulled up the cord following it all the way back to the plug, where it remained plugged in. Under his breath, he says sarcastically, “I’m sure that’s not the only thing around here that doesn’t work.” As he turns towards my mother’s vanity, making me quickly move from the protection of my blanket, scurrying out of the bed, not wanting him to see the picture of my mother and his father together. Placing myself between him and my mother’s vanity, trying to block the mirror, was a chore in itself, as Chase’s massive structure consumed most of my tiny room. As I accidentally bump into him in the process of doing so, he takes a step back from me, as his eyes widen and darken at the same time, while he growls at me, “Don’t ever touch me again.” I don’t know if it was because I hadn’t had my morning coffee yet, or the fact that I had enough of his anger being taken out on me, but I couldn’t contain myself when I said back to him, “If you weren’t in my dam room taking up half of it then I wouldn’t have bumped into you.” What sounded like a growl comes from his lips, making me rethink if I should have gone off on him, as I take a step back, finding myself pinned between him and the vanity, while he takes a step towards me. My heart began to race in my chest, as I stared into his eyes, which looked like they were darkening by the second. His head slowly lowered towards me, and he took in a deep inhale, as if he was smelling me, while his eyes closed, making me wonder what the hll he was doing. My hands gripped tightly on the edge of the vanity, as he continued to invade my space, and if I was being honest with myself, my body was starting to react to his proximity to me. I would be lying to myself if I said I didn’t find him attractive, but this thing he had going on right now was sending me mixed signals. He wasn’t like any of the guys I had dated back in California, but he had this bad boy persona and a look that made my lady bits want to scream out for attention. He was now hovering over me, so closely that if I made a sudden move, our heads would collide, making me take a deep breath, as I dared not to move. The smell of cool mint now tickled my nose, while he took deep breaths, as if he was trying to get a grip on whatever this was he was doing. Slowly his eyes open, staring deep into my own, before he takes a step back from me, and I find myself leaving out a breath that I hadn’t realized I was holding, while my grip loosened on the vanity’s edge. “Get dressed Princess. We are going to be late.” He finally says to me, before he turns and just walks out of my room, leaving me to wonder what the hll just happened between us. Thankfully, I had showered last night, and had set out my clothes to wear today, because this was going to be the fastest I had ever gotten ready for school in my life. As I stepped out of my room, I spotted my grandmother sitting in a rocking chair with a huge smile on her face, making me wonder why she was so happy this morning, but she didn’t leave me wondering too long. “I remember when Evan used to come every morning to pick your mother up for school. He was so good to her. And now seeing Chase…” She began to say, but I quickly cut her off by saying, “It’s not like that.” Not wanting her to get her hopes up that there was something romantic going on between the two of us, because there wasn’t. Plus, I honestly didn’t want to hear about what my mother did before my father. Not giving her a chance to say another word to me, I headed out the front door and stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted the blue jeep sitting in the driveway with the top down. “You have to be kidding me.” I thought to myself, as I willed myself to walk towards it, knowing that by the time we got to school my hair was going to be a tangled mess. Throwing my backpack in the backseat, I pulled the hair tie off my wrist, putting my hair in a low ponytail, before I got into the passenger seat. “Buckle up, Princess.” Chase said to me with a smirk on his face, as he took off down my grandmother’s lane, purposely hitting every single bump he could find, as I held on to whatever I could to steady myself. Reaching over, he turned the radio on, turning it up as loud as it could go, before he didn’t even pause to check for traffic, pulling out onto the road on I swear two wheels. It was clear that he was trying to make a statement about having to be my chauffeur, and that he wasn’t happy about it, but it wasn’t my doing, and if he kept this up, he was going to kill the both of us. Reaching over, I turned the radio off, before I said to him, “Are you trying to kill me?” He let out a dam chuckle as if he thought what I said was funny, before he turns his head to look at me and says, “If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it by now.” Before I could process his words, the sound of a car horn fills the air, and I quickly turn my head to see that his jeep was halfway over in the other lane, as a car was coming straight for us. Flashbacks of the night of the accident began to flash before my eyes, and I found myself bracing for impact, but the impact never came, as Chase turned the steering wheel just at the nick of time to avoid the car. My breathing at that moment became unsteady, and I began to find it hard to breathe, as I could feel one of my panic attacks coming on, that I started to have after the accident. “Pull over!” I screamed, as my hand reached for the door handle, wanting him to stop so I could get the hll out of his jeep. “What is wrong with you?” He asked as my door opened, while the jeep was still moving, but he quickly hit the brakes, slowing the jeep down, as he pulled off the side of the road. Quickly, I unbuckled my seat belt before jumping out, as I bent over trying to catch my breath, while I heard his car door shut. “Are you crazy?” He yells at me, as he walks around the front of the jeep, but when he sees me in my current state his tone changes, as he rushes to me, placing his hand on my back as he now asks me, “Are you okay?” no, I wasn’t okay, and it was because of him and his reckless driving why I was in the state I was in now, and if he thought I wanted him to comfort me, he was dead wrong. Standing, I stepped away from him, as I said to him through gritted teeth, “Leave me the hll alone.” While I moved to his jeep, grabbing my backpack from the backseat before I threw it over my shoulders and began to walk away from him. “Raven, stop!” He called out to me, but instead of stopping, I raised my hand, flipping him off as I continued to walk. A low growl that sounded animalistic filled the air, making me stop dead in my tracks, as I looked towards the forest surrounding me, half scared of what was lurking in them. “Raven, get back in the jeep!” Chase now says with authority in his tone, making me wonder if he too had heard the growl. Once again, I found myself at a crossroads, of either getting eaten by a wild animal on my first morning here or getting back in the jeep with someone who clearly wasn’t mentally stable. Neither of my choices sounded good, but at least I knew with Chase, I wouldn’t have to worry about him having me for breakfast. Raven’s POV Handing my schedule to the teacher, she looked up at the classroom, and said, “It seems we have a new student. Everyone, this is Raven Knight. Raven, you can take a seat next to Chase Ryder, and he can help get you caught up.” My eyes moved back to Chase, and I could see the look of dread on his face, that once again he was going to be forced into helping me. But he wasn’t the only one that was feeling the dread, as I too dreaded the thought of having to talk to him. Turning back to the teacher, knowing that I had to do something to stop this, I asked her, “Is there any way I can sit in the front of the room? My eyesight isn’t that good, and I have problems seeing the board from the back of the classroom.” Obviously, I was lying to her, because there wasn’t anything wrong with my eyesight, but I knew that she wouldn’t deny a student with seeing issues. “She can have my seat.” A boy said in the front row, picking up his books off his desk, moving to sit beside Chase. “Thank you, Conner.” The teacher said, as I moved to the seat where Conner was sitting, before she changed her mind, thankfully dodging a bullet. “I can help you get caught up.” A girl said sitting to my right, and as I looked over at her, I realized that she was the girl from the Diner last night. “Thanks.” I said, as I edged my seat over so that I could take a glance at her work to get caught up. “I’m Mazie, by the way.” She now said, introducing herself to me with a genuine smile, just like she had given me last night at the Diner. Thankfully, it wasn’t going to be hard to get caught up, because I had already read the book that they were reading two years ago, making me realize that this school year might be a walk in the park. If this was the case, then it was going to leave me more time to focus on the class that I was going to have to take online from Berkeley. When the bell rang, Mazie began to gather her books, as she asked me, “What is your next class?” Looking at my schedule, it seemed that I had trigonometry next, which I despised, but at least I was getting it over with in the morning. Showing her my schedule, she says back to me, “It looks like we have a lot of the same classes. If you don’t mind, I could walk with you.” “That would be great.” As we walked out of the classroom and to our next class, I spotted Jessica right away in the hallway with her hands all over Chase, making me think that they really needed to get a room. Her back was turned towards me, and when we walked past them, Chase’s head turned in my direction, as he just stood there staring at me once again, making me turn away from him. As if Mazie had caught me staring at Chase, she said to me, “Those two make me sick. They have been together since like sixth grade. Everyone swears their mates, but I, on the other hand, hope they aren’t, because Chase deserves so much better than her.” “Mates?” I asked her, confused by her choice of words. Mazie’s shoulders at that moment scrunched together, as her eyes closed, like she had misspoken, but then she opened her eyes and said, “That’s what we call two people around here fated to be together.” “Oh…” Is all I said back to her, because I didn’t know what else to say, because I didn’t believe in fate, especially after everything that had happened in the past two months to me. Walking into Trigonometry with Mazie by my side was much easier than English class was, and the teacher thankfully told me I could sit next to her, but as I made my way back to take my seat, Mazie said to me, “I thought you couldn’t see from the back of the classroom.” Busting me with my little lie I had told in English class. Feeling like I could trust her, I admitted to her, “I just didn’t want to sit by Chase. I don’t think he really cares too much for me, and Jessica, well, she sort of gave me a warning to stay away from him.” “That witch!” Mazie said a bit too loudly, making everyone that was seated in the classroom turn to look in our direction, as my cheeks began to redden, hoping that no one overheard our conversation, leading to Mazie’s outburst. When everyone finally turned back around, Mazie whispered in my ear, “I am sure Chase doesn’t dislike you. If anything, I think it’s quite the opposite. I am sure it’s all Jessica’s doing if he is treating you like he doesn’t. Normally, he is the easy-going brother, always without a care in this world of what people think about him. As for Jessica, it’s clear that she is intimidated by your presence around him. Maybe it’s because she noticed the way he looks at you.” Was Mazie seriously talking about the same Chase that had driven me to school this morning? I wouldn’t describe him as easy-going, in any shape or form. If anything, he was destructive, not only to himself but to those around him. As for the way he looked at me, all I could see in his eyes was the look of disgust towards me, as he made it very clear to me this morning that he wanted nothing to do with me. “What? No. Trust me, he is not interested in me, nor am I in him.” I explained to her, wanting to set the record straight, that nothing was going on between the two of us, right before the bell rang, making us both turn our attention to the front of the room, but I couldn’t get it out of my head that she thought Chase liked me. Thankfully, the rest of my morning went by without a hitch, and I truly had Mazie to thank for that. She was like a breath of fresh air, especially after how my day had started. As the two of us got our lunch and moved to an empty table, I was ready to chow down, because I had missed breakfast this morning and my stomach had been growling in protest since the middle of our last class. But as I take my first bite, Chase comes into my view, shockingly without Jessica. I tried to force myself to look away from him, but I found myself just sitting there staring at his every move, like a dam stalker. As he made his way through the line getting his lunch, he turned instantly and looked in my direction, as a smile formed on his face. Unlike the smirk I had gotten from him this morning, this smile looked genuine, making me wonder if Mazie’s words held truth in them. Casually he made his way towards the table I was sitting at, and I looked away from him, just as he approached the table. “Mind if I sit with you pretty ladies?” He asked, but didn’t wait for an answer, as he took the seat directly beside me, acting as if nothing negative transpired between us this morning. “How is your first day at Beaumont High going?” He then asks, as if suddenly he gave two sh'its about me, making me wonder what the hll he was on, because his moods today were changing like the wind. Both Mazie and Chase stared at me, waiting for me to give an answer to his question, and I began to feel the awkwardness from my lack of responding to him. “It’s fine.” Finally came blandly from my lips, as I moved to take another bite of my burger, hoping that he wasn’t going to play twenty questions with me, or I was going to have to ask him what the hll gives. “A group of us are heading over to Big Rock after school. Do you ladies want to join us?” He now asks, making me turn my head back to look at him, as I wondered why in Hll he thought I would go anywhere with him after what he pulled this morning, which reminded me I still needed to find a ride home. “After the weekend of working at the Diner that sounds amazing.” Mazie says with excitement in her eyes, telling me whatever Big Rock was, it had to be fun, but I just couldn’t see myself being able to relax if he was going to be there. “Raven, you have to come along.” She pleads with me, and even though I wanted to hang out with her, there was still the fact that he was going to be there too, and right now I don’t know how I felt about that. “Yeah Raven, what do you say? Are you game for a little fun?” Chase now asks me, as if he was taunting me, which began to piss me off. Instead of playing into the little game he was playing with me, I said to him, “I don’t think your girlfriend will like me tagging along with you.” “My girlfriend?” He asks with a dumbfounded look on his face, as if he was playing dumb with me, but I was done playing whatever game he was playing right now. “Listen Chase, I don’t know what the hll you are on, but your mood swings today are giving me whiplash. As for your girlfriend, the Barbie want-to-be, she has already warned me to stay away from you. Plus, you almost killed both of us with the stunt you pulled driving me to school today. So no, I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” Mazie at that moment busted out in complete laughter, as Chase let out a chuckle, making me wonder what the hll I had just said that was so dam funny. I was just about to ask the two of them when I spotted Jessica walking into the cafeteria, but it wasn’t her that my eyes were focused on, but the person walking directly behind her. Raven’s POV My head instantly began to spin, as I thought that I was having another one of my episodes, where I was seeing things that weren’t really there. Taking the advice that my shrink had given me to be able to decipher what is real and what isn’t, I reached over and pinched the arm of the Chase that was sitting beside me. “Ouch. What the hll was that for?” He asks, making me realize that he was real, but if he was really sitting beside me, then who was following Jessica? Just as I was about to feel another panic attack come on, Mazie says, “Raven, this isn’t Chase. This is his brother, Cash. I thought you knew he had brothers.” My head turned to look at Cash, taking in his appearance, and when my eyes landed on his green eyes, there was a speck of gold around the rim of them, which I hadn’t noticed when I looked into Chase’s eyes this morning. Other than that, they were identical twins, and it would have been easy for anyone to mix the two of them up. “I’m sorry.” I said, apologizing to Cash, as I turned away from him embarrassed, while I just stared at my food in front of me with a loss of appetite. That was twice now, on my first day here, that I almost lost it, making me question if I should still be back in California at the mental institution. I thought that it was the place and its surroundings that was driving me mad, but now, being free from there, I realize that it was me. “No need to apologize, Raven. We still fool our own father on occasions, but I guess I had better warn you that there’s a third one of us, so you don’t go pinching Chance.” “Oh, my goddess, could you imagine? He would lose his sh1t.” Mazie says, as a giggle comes from her lips, and I look up to see her and Cash making faces at each other, as if they were trying to portray what Chance’s reaction would have been. My stomach at that moment tied instantly into a knot, as I thought about there being not just two of them, but three, and this Chance being worse than Chase. I had no clue how that could be remotely possible, but as I sat there thinking about it, my eyes moved to the doors of the cafeteria as the third one of them entered. Unlike Chase and Cash, Chance had his own look about him, and there was no way that I was going to mix him up with his other two brothers. Dressed in all black, with his hair slicked back, this brother gave off the vibes of pure trouble, and if I was being honest, there was something about his bad boy persona that called out to me. His eyes scanned the cafeteria, as if he was looking for someone, and when they landed on me, he came walking full stride towards our table, making me sit up straight, as I waited for him to approach me. But when he reached the table, I quickly realized that it wasn’t me who he was looking at. “What is this I hear about a party at Big Rock after school? You know, we promised dad that we would help him tonight.” “Yeah, well, we helped dad all weekend while Chase ran off with his friends and Jessica. Let him be the one to help dad tonight. Plus, I have already invited Raven, and she is looking forward to hanging out with all of us.” Cash told Chance, making me turn my head to look at him, as he gave me a cunning smile, while he knew dam well, I didn’t agree to go. But as I thought about Chase having to help his father while his brothers got to relax, it served him right after what transpired this morning. Plus, as I turned back to look at Chance now hovering over me like a Greek God, I couldn’t help but want to go if he was going to be there. His eyes moved down to look at me at that moment, and as they widened with recognition, he began to say, “Wait, this is Raven? Mrs. Wilson’s daughter? The one that Chase said…” But Cash cut him off before he could finish by saying, “Yes, that Raven.” “Wait. What did Chase say about me?” “Nothing.” Came out of both their mouths at the same time, and I looked over at Mazie, who looked just as intrigued to hear what Chase had said about me too. But before I could insist that they tell me, Jessica appeared and said, “Look what we have here. Are you two really that desperate to go slumming?” It took everything I had to control my urge to stand up and slap her across the face, but I knew if I did, then I would be scre'wing myself out of my future, as I was sure that Berkeley would frown upon a disciplinary action on my records. So instead, I lowered my head, looking at my food, as I tried not to let her words bother me. “You of all people would know about slumming. So, why don’t you get off your high horse, because we all know if it wasn’t for our brother, you would still be a nobody omega.” Chance says to Jessica, defending me, making me look up just in time to see the smirk fall from her face, before she storms off. “You know you are going to have to deal with Chase now.” Cash says to Chance, but Chance lets out a huff, before he says back to him, “I really don’t care. I can’t take another year of this sh1t. She needs to learn her true status and quit living in the make-believe world she lives in because of our brother.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any problems.” I told them, hoping that this wouldn’t cause any more friction between the three of them, even though it was clear there already was. Cash placed his hand on my arm, making me turn to look at him, as he said to me, “It’s cool, don’t worry about it. The only thing you caused is for Jessica to show her true colors, and I am sure that once Chase sees her in a different light like we do, it will be bye-bye Jessica.” “Yeah, right. She’s got her claws dug too deep into him. It’s going to take a of a lot more than that to make him open his eyes.” Chance says, before he walks away, leaving us sitting there, while I wonder what he meant earlier about her knowing about slumming. “I had better go too. Hopefully I will see you ladies later at the party.” Cash says as he stands, now leaving just Mazie and I at the table alone, and I couldn’t help but look towards the back of the cafeteria to see Jessica glaring at me. So much for my plan to stay under the radar, as it was clear by the glare Jessica was giving me, this thing she had out for me, was far from being over with. Even though it was nice to have someone stand up for me, it just made things worse for me with her than they already were. “Don’t worry about her. She wouldn’t dare to challenge you now that Chance stood up for you. If she does, then she is as good as dead.” Mazie tells me, making me turn my attention to her, wondering what she meant by that. “I don’t understand. Why would Chance standing up for me have anything to do with her leaving me alone?” Mazie looked at me with that same look on her face as she had in the hallway when she said about Jessica and Chase being mates, before she finally said, “Every school has that one student that is like the leader of their class. Here at Beaumont High, Chance is like that for us. What he says goes, and no one is dumb enough to challenge him.” A part of me felt relief at Mazie’s explanation, but as I looked once again towards the back of the cafeteria, something told me that Jessica might just be crazy enough to. Raven’s POV “Oh, wow.” Mazie said, as I walked into my bedroom with my bikini on, with her eyes wide, before she said, “Is this what the California girls wear?” Making me feel a bit uncomfortable in it, as I wondered what the girls here wore. “Is there something wrong with it?” I asked her, as I pulled a cover-up over it, hoping that it would be fine, because all my swimsuits looked like this one. “No, there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s just that I have only seen bikinis like it in magazines on supermodels. Our local stores don’t carry swimsuits like that.” “I have a brand new one with the tags still on it, if you would like to have it.” I told her, as I moved to my dresser drawer to pull it out. “I don’t know. I don’t think I have the body like you to pull it off.” “Seriously? Girl, you need to stop hiding that figure of yours under all those clothes.” I said to her, as she looked down at what she was wearing, pulling on the baggy sweatshirt she had on. “You know what, you’re right.” She said as she stood from my bed, taking the bikini from my hands, as she moved to the bathroom across the hallway, and I began to look for a cover-up that would match it. After finding a cover-up, I touched up my makeup, as I began to wonder what was taking Mazie so long to change. Looking out into the hallway, the door to the bathroom was still shut, and I moved to it, lightly knocking on it, as I asked, “Mazie, is everything okay?” There was complete silence on the other side of the door for a few seconds, before I heard the door unlock, making me take a step back, waiting for her to open it. When the door finally opened, Mazie stood in front of me in her oversized sweatshirt that hung to her knees, as she says to me, “I don’t know if I can wear this.” Clearly, she had the bikini on under the sweatshirt, making me grab hold of her hand, pulling her into my room, shutting the door behind us, as I turned to her and said, “It seriously can’t be that bad. Show me.” Slowly, Mazie grabbed ahold of the hem of her sweatshirt, and began to pull it over her head, revealing her body to me in the bikini. “Holy sh1t, Mazie. You could easily be one of the supermodels in the magazines. You look amazing.” I told her, as a part of me wished that my body looked as good as her in it. “You aren’t just saying that?” “Hll no. Girl seriously, you are going to be turning some heads.” I told her, as I moved to my bed, picking up the cover-up, handing it to her, as I snatched the sweatshirt from her hands, not going to allow her to put it back on, and hide that perfect body of hers. “Well, I guess we don’t have to go to my house for me to change.” She says as she slides on her shoes, and the two of us make our way out of my bedroom, to see my grandmother taking a nap on her recliner chair. Moving my finger to my lips, we tipped toed out of the house, not wanting to wake up my grandmother and having to explain to her where I was heading, as I didn’t know what her response would be to me heading to a party on a school night. In all honesty, it was reckless of me to do, but I knew I could get done with my homework in no time, since most of it was a repeat of what I had already learned. Mazie pulled her car over on to the side of a back road, where a line of cars was already parked, telling me that this was more than just a few friends getting together. As we got out of the car and began to walk down a small narrow beaten-down path, I could hear people talking and laughing, and this was just what I needed to get my mind off what happened today. But as the trail ended, and the waterhole came into view, I realized why they called this Big Rock. “Cannonball!” A boy yelled, as he leaped off the top of a huge rock, twenty feet to the pool of water beneath him, making a huge splash as his body hit the water. As I stood there staring at the rock, Mazie asked me, “You want to give it a try?” “Oh no. I hate heights.” I told her, as I looked away, knowing that hll would freeze over first before I jumped off that. Mazie let out a chuckle, before she grabbed a hold of my hand, and began to lead me around the waterhole towards an area where everyone was gathered sitting on blankets, bathing in the evening sun. Pulling a blanket out of her bag, she began to fluff it before placing it on the ground, as she says to me, “I personally rather watch myself.” Taking my shoes off, I was just about to sit down, when I heard someone come up behind me and ask, “So, how was your first day?” Turning, I came face to face with the boy from first period class that had given up his seat to me, so that I didn’t have to sit next to Chase. Knowing that he had saved my a'ss, I put a smile on my face, and said to him, “I survived.” “That’s good to hear. I didn’t want to lose someone as pretty as you on the first day.” He said back to me, making my cheeks instantly begin to blush, as he was obviously flirting with me. “Oh Conner, is that the best pickup line that you have?” Another male’s voice said, making me turn to see Cash standing directly behind me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that she was with you.” Conner said with what sounded like fear in his voice, as he took off, not saying another word to me. “What the hll Cash? He was just trying to be nice to her.” Mazie says, scolding Cash, before she went to take a seat on the blanket. “You and I both know how Conner is.” “Whatever. Raven is a big girl, and she can make her own decisions.” Mazie then says, as she pulls out her sunglasses, placing them on her face, before she leans back taking in the sun. I looked at Cash, wondering if I should thank him or be upset with him for driving Conner away, but as I peered over his shoulder, I could see that Conner had moved onto another girl, telling me that it was a blessing that he had stepped in and said something. “What the hll are you wearing?” Cash now asks, making me turn to see him looking at Mazie, as he lets out a chuckle. Mazie lowers her sunglasses, as she looks up at Cash, giving him an evil look, before she says to him, “What’s wrong with what I am wearing? Raven picked it out for me.” Cash turned to look at me, as I too gave him a glare, just waiting for him to make a remark about what I was wearing too, but instead he turned back to Mazie, giving her an apologetic look. “It’s just that I have never seen you wear anything that girly before, you know, since…” He began to say, but Mazie was quick to stop him from finishing what he was saying, by cutting him off as she said, “Maybe I changed my mind.” “Okay. You don’t need to get your panties in a bunch.” Cash said to her before he turned his attention towards me, asking, “Can I talk to you for a second alone?” “Sure.” I said, as my eyes moved to Mazie, who was pushing her sunglasses back up, before she laid back down on the blanket. Placing the palm of his hand against my back, Cash began to guide me away from everyone towards a trail that led around the waterhole, and I knew whatever he was about to say, he didn’t want others to hear. Removing his hand from my back once we were on the trail, he says to me, “I just wanted to apologize for what happened at school and my brother’s behavior towards you.” “It’s not your fault that your brother is a dou''che-bag.” I quickly told him, wanting him to know that I didn’t hold him accountable for his brother’s actions. Cash pauses in his step, letting out a chuckle, before he says, “I heard my brother called a lot of things, but a dou''che-bag has never been one of them. But seriously, he normally isn’t like this, he’s just dealing with a lot right now.” I wanted to tell him that I had heard about their mother, and that I was sorry for his loss, but I had been told that a hundred times myself, and it never made me feel better, but instead brought back memories of that tragic night. So instead, I said to him, “It’s alright, but I think it is best for all of us if Chase just keeps his distance from me. Between Jessica and him being a loose cannon, it’s just too much for me to deal with after everything I have been through recently. I hope you understand.” “Trust me, I completely understand.” "Good, because I just want to make it through this school year so that I can move back to California.” I explained to him, and the expression on Cash’s face changed before he said to me, “Wait, you don’t plan on staying here?” Shaking my head, I told him, “No, I have an early acceptance to Berkeley, where I plan on going to college. Plus, like Jessica pointed out to me today, I don’t belong here.” www.argbook.com