Outside was cold and empty of life. There was no one I saw loitering outside the hall, except for me and the little girl who had invited me out.
Although Naomi had been skeptical about the kind of meet up the girl had proposed, she had finally agreed to let me go. After all, what could go wrong? What could a twelve year old possibly commit against me?
Well, seeing the dark and hollow environment, I was beginning to doubt and question that question of mine, especially since the bad feeling deep in my gut was getting deeper and wider. I shouldn’t have come out here without Naomi.
What was I thinking? I should have let Adam know at least. I had allowed my quest for a stupid information about Claire to drive me. I hoped I wouldn’t regret it.
The girl still led the way, and I was about to ask her if we hadn’t gotten to a place where no one would hear us yet, when she stopped abruptly and turned to face me.
I looked at her, expecting her theory about Claire to resurface so that I could get back to the hall, but she just stood there staring at me, heightening my fears.
“Are you scared?” She asked me.
I would have sworn that there was a smirk on her lips even though it was dark outside.
“Not at all. Should there be a reason for that?” I refused to show that I was intimidated by this scenario.
“Probably. No one is here.” She answered smugly. The smirk which I thought I had seen earlier metamorphosed more properly in her voice, causing an atmosphere of doom to descend upon me.
“Why did you call me here? What theory is it that you have about Claire?” I decided to get to the point so that I could get her answer, and get out of here. Things were beginning to look creepy.
“To distract you of course.” She replied simply, smiling sinisterly.
“To distract me from what?” My heart began to beat faster than usual.
What was she talking about? Was there something going on in the hall now? Does it have to do with Adam? Was Claire planning something?
I knew that there must have been a reason why she hadn’t appeared for the party. Something was wrong somewhere. Something that had to do with Claire. I was sure of it.
No longer waiting for the strange girl to give me a reply, I walked away from her. Inhaling deeply at intervals, I refused to give in to the trembling that was threatening to assuage me when she began to laugh loudly like a deranged witch.
Who was she? I thought, biting my lips as I increased my walking pace. I couldn’t make out who she was no matter how much I racked my brain, even though her face looked familiar, especially her eyes.
Walking into the hall with more quickened steps, I balked when I saw Claire discussing with Adam. What were they talking about? Me?
Although he wasn’t smiling or receptive to her sly touches, he still stood there, listening to her speak.
His eyes met mine a second later and held, and then he ambled toward me, not minding that Claire was beckoning on him; getting the attention of the party members to us for the umpteenth time tonight.
“Where did you go?” He asked, immediately he reached me.
I sighed first, uncertain if I should tell him about the girl whom I had followed outside for gossip. What would he think of me?
“Just went outside to get some air.” I finally answered, gasping softly when he threw his hands around my waist and pulled me suddenly, such that my breast splayed on his chest, coincidentally at the same time that a slow dance tune was put on by the music regulator.
“Everybody is watching.” I whispered shyly, aware of the more than hundred eyes gazing at us, especially as we danced to the middle of the hall. Including his parents and mine.
I knew everyone was thinking why the lycan’s son was suddenly being touchy with the wolfless one of the pack, the pariah, the unfortunate one.
For a second I wished I could hear those thoughts distinctively, but on a second note, I discarded the thought. Reading minds would be poisonous to my mental health. Only hearing what had been said vocally to me in the last two years, had not done me any good. What would happen if I should hear their thoughts then?
With time, some couples joined us, including my parents. My mother winked at me, as our eyes met on the dance floor. She was happy that I was happy, not that I had managed to snag the Lycan’s son as a date for the night. I was sure that she had her reservations about Adam. I was also sure that for now, she was only concerned about making my last days in the pack happiness filled.
As I danced with Adam, our moments at the garden earlier today kept flashing through my mind, and a smile slithered across my lips as a result of that.
“Why are you smiling?” Adam asked, rubbing his nose against mine, not minding that his father was glaring at us.