Chapter 6

I made it home after classes, looking forward to spending some time alone with Adam. When he didn't show up for either of our afternoon classes, I knew that he was still upset. He tried to fight Avery...for me. And he stopped when I called. He really does care.... I snapped out of it. He was just a friend. Period. I really needed to stop thinking about him like that. Once I got home, I went straight to work. For the next few hours, I blocked out my thoughts and focused on cooking. I made a dish I only made occasionally for my father's birthday--three cheese ravioli with homemade sauce, and garden salad. I worked so hard, because I still wanted Adam to have a great birthday. Plus, I wanted him to forget about his confrontation with that slime-ball Avery. Dinner was finally ready, and I set the table. I glanced at the clock, and saw that it was 7:45pm. I knew Adam would be showing up any minute...and so I sat down in the living room with a book to wait.

 

Before I knew it, I was done reading, it was dark, and the food was cold...and Adam wasn't there. I glanced at the clock again. It's nearly 10....where is he? I checked my phone and prayed for either a text message or voice mail. I got neither. Did something happen to him? Is he okay? Where could he be? Could he still be upset about earlier? My father was still at work, Josué and Jaq had late shift, and Tyre' was still on her date....so there was no one to call. I decided to look for Adam myself. There's something going on...and I'm going to find out... I went up to my room and grabbed my keys, and then set off towards the apartment. I had to find out for myself if Adam was okay. As I drove, I imagined all kinds of things...and none of them were good. What if he's hurt or sick? What if he's decided I'm not worth the trouble and doesn't want to be friends anymore? Oh Goddess, please let him be okay...

 

I made it to the apartment, and it was dark. I knew everybody else was gone...but Adam had to be in there somewhere. I walked up, and used the spare key that Josué had given me to enter. Everything was unnaturally quiet. I'm so used to coming over here and everything is so lively....this is strange...it's so...empty... I walked around the different rooms, calling out Adam's name. Each unanswered call left me more and more nervous. If he isn't here, where else could he be? I was beginning to question the possibility of him running away or not when I walked out onto the patio. Instantly, I was greeted by the fragrances of Adam's garden. Peppermint, lavender, sage, and roses...There's no way on earth that Adam would leave his garden. Wherever he is, he will be back. I decided to go back inside and wait until somebody came home. I had just turned to go back inside when I heard a strange noise. What on earth was that? I turned back around and stepped further into the garden to investigate. I was aware that if the noise was a burglar or rapist that I'd be screwed...but I sensed somehow that it wasn't either one. I took another step, and stopped. From behind a bush stepped out a massively overgrown wolf. It stopped as soon as it saw me, and stared in fright. Something, I'm not sure what, told me to look up. I stared into the wolf's eyes, and suddenly, I gasped as the realization hit me like a sack of bricks. It's Adam! That's right, tonight is a full moon...and when he disappeared last month for a night, it was also the full moon. He's a werewolf! It was then I was hit by a burst of adrenaline, and I fled. I rushed out of the apartment and drove quickly back home. Adam....MY Adam....is a werewolf? It makes sense...but why didn't he tell me? Doesn't he trust me? What...did he think I'd be the type of person to tell? How could he keep a secret from me...especially after all I've told him? I got home around midnight, and discovered that my father had returned while I was out. He'd left me a note on the table: "Not sure what happened to the dinner plans, but I ate some of the ravioli--don't worry, I cleaned up. I have to work early in the morning, so I'll see you late tomorrow night. Love you. Dad." I sighed, and went up to my room. While still fully dressed, I crawled into bed and stared at the wall. I was in shock...my whole friendship had be based around a lie....Oh Adam, how could you?

 

For the first time in my life, I refused to get up when my alarm went off. I laid there and listened to my father get up and leave for work, unable to even go say goodbye. I only dragged myself out of bed with enough time to change my shirt and drive to class. Adam didn't show up for lab, and my depression grew as I was assigned to work as a group of three with two other girls who had no idea what they were doing. Lunchtime came. Josué, Tyre', and Jaq waved me over when they saw me, but all I could think about was that they most likely knew Adam's secret and didn't bother telling me...and I felt betrayed. I sat alone once more, music and misery  my only companions. I drove straight home afterwards, and crawled right back into bed. I couldn't do anything else. When my father came home, I was back to staring at the wall. "Re, I'm home," he said as he entered my room. "Hi Dad," I said, my voice hollow. He was on instant alert, "What's the matter?" "Nothing." "Look at me and tell me what's wrong?" I sat up and looked at him, "Nothing." Again, my voice sounded hollow, but I didn't even care. "Rena, your eyes are bright green. What happened?" I sighed. "I found out Adam had been keeping a big secret from me, and all his friends knew, and now he's avoiding me." "Oh, Re." He hugged me, and I broke down crying. I felt as if I'd lost my friend and my heart was broken....

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

When Rena turned and fled, I expected screaming, but her silence was more unnerving. How could I have been so careless? Nice going, dumbass. Now she knows your secret. I sent up a long, heart-breaking howl into the night before I went inside to my room as I awaited my changing back. I couldn't sleep, but kept envisioning Rena's look when she realized it was me inside this beast's body. How could I ever face her again? I had been so close, so close to having her....and now this. I'm such an idiot....how am I ever going to explain this to her? Would she even listen to me? 

 

Daylight came, and I refused to go to class. There was no way I could face her...not with everybody around as witnesses. It wasn't that I thought she'd expose me, but I wanted to talk to her alone. Time dragged on...and I was going crazy being cooped up in my room. I was so grateful when everybody got home. "Hey Adam, are you in here?" called out Tyre', and she sounded pissed. Uh oh... I walked out of my room and was greeted by three accusing faces. "Adam...what happened while we were gone last night?" questioned Jaq. The other two glared at me. I looked down at the ground and sighed. "Rena discovered what I was..." They all gasped. "So that's why her eyes were green and she didn't sit with us," said Josué. Tyre' just stared at me, "How could you let her see you like that? And how could you let her get away. You're more of a dumbass than I thought." Then she went and slammed the door to her room. I'd never made her that mad before, and I felt like an a*s. "What am I going to do, guys?" I asked helplessly. "Have you tried contacting her to explain?" suggested Josué. Jaq offered his view, "Maybe you should actually face her and apologize." I had no idea what to do, and soon the twins had to leave for work. Tyre' didn't come out of her room until a few hours later, and said she had to go out to cool off. And so I was stuck home alone. I went back to my room and reached for the figurine that Rena had given me the day before. I caressed it gently, still in awe over how thoughtful the gift was and how I had possibly ruined our friendship. Suddenly, I felt something I didn't notice before. I turned the figurine over and found that there was an inscription on the bottom of it I had failed to noticed. "From one lone wolf to another. Thank you for letting me join your pack. May we always remain true to each other and ourselves. Have a wonderful birthday. Love, your Rena."  My heart swelled with the sweetest pain I had ever felt. She had this written into the most perfect gift....I love her even more.. There had to be a way for me to be able to fix things with her. I grabbed my phone and sent her a text message, "Re, I'm sorry about last night. I can explain. Please."  I didn't get a message back, and I panicked. "Rena please. I'm sorry. Just talk to me."  When she still didn't reply, I broke down and called her. "Hey. You've reached my voice mail. Either I'm stuck in a book or busy doing something, so please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks! *beep*" "Rena, it's Adam. Please talk to me. I'm sorry." I kept calling and leaving messages for the rest of the night...with every second she didn't talk to me slowly sending me into a deeper depression. Well Adam, hope you're satisfied. You really blew it this time....