❁ C H A P T E R  F O U R T E E N ❁

D a t e : 5/13/18

Sara was staring at me with her arms crossed tapping her foot. I looked away, chewing the inside of my cheeks. Her blue eyes were big and intense, drilling holes into me.

"How could you have not told her?" She asked, her tone demanding. Looking away guiltily, I shrugged my shoulders.

It had somehow come into conversation that I hadn't told Maddie that I was rejected. Normally Maddie was the first to know of my issues, since she didn't have a tongue like a viper. This time, however, I was nervous about telling her.

A look of realization crossed her face. "You weren't going to tell her," Sara stated, causing a sheepish look to pass my features. Pulling nervously on my curly hair, I sat on her bed, letting out a stressed sigh.

"She's so happy and she doesn't need me bringing her down!" I defended, my voice changing to a whiny tone.

Sara gave me a stolid look, blinking a few times.

"So you decided I was a good match to bring down?" Sara asked, her eyebrows going up.

I let out a nervous laugh, shaking my head. "No way, that's not what I meant!"

Sara just rolled her eyes at me, a shadow of a smile on her face.

"Well, we have to go and tell her," She decided, pulling me up. I sat down immediately after, shaking my head.

"I don't remember agreeing to this! Maddie doesn't know, and what she doesn't know can't kill her!" I argued, flopping down on the bed so she couldn't force me up. I heard if you go dead weight it's harder for you to be kidnapped.

"She deserves to know," Sara was already grabbing her house keys from her dresser.

I wanted to argue some more, but Sara was already heading out the door. Convincing her was near impossible when she was set on her goal, and right now her goal was to tell Maddie of my predicament.

"Can't you just respect my wishes?" I ask as we walked down the stairs. I'm sure if I was facing Sara she'd be rolling her eyes.

"I could, but I'm not going to. We are best friends, and much as I refuse to acknowledge it. This is a trio, not a duo, and everyone needs to be informed!" She stopped at the platform, sharply turning to look at me.

"Besides, if I was rejected and I didn't tell you, don't you think you'd be pissed?"

I stared at her figure as she walked away, biting my lip. I hated her for being right.

The drive to Maddie's house was slow and painful, mainly due to Sara's constant reprimands.

We pulled up to Maddie's suburban home a few minutes past 4 o'clock, yet we stayed stationary in front of her house for longer. Sara sat in silence, letting me brood over whatever disaster was about to incur.

"You ready yet?" Sara asked suddenly, her impatience getting the best of her. She was normally a patient person, but she seemed to be particularly wound up.

I let out a dramatic sigh, and then a groan, arching my back in a stretch. Once I was done with that, I started sifting through my car for my hairbrush, much to Sara's anguish. As I was reached for my water bottle, Sara grabbed it and opened her door.

"You can drink and walk," She told me as she started walking away. Breathing out slowly, I finally got out of the car, and walked after her.

Maddie's father opened the door when we knocked. He seemed rushed, but took a moment to talk to us.

"Hello girls, I didn't know you were dropping by today," He moved his hands inward, ushering us in. As we entered, we decided to answer him.

"We just wanted to talk to Maddie."

Sara answered him before I could, and he let out a gruff laugh.

"Sounds like a serious girl talk. Maddie should be in her room."

I nodded slowly, but I was distracted by a strange smell. Sharpening my nose, I took in a deep breath and shook my head.

"Does anyone else smell something... burning?" Sara asked, looking at Mr. Jones, who blankly looked towards the inside of his house.

Suddenly, he let out a yelp.

"Shit! My steak!"

He ran off, leaving Sara and I staring wide-eyed after him.

"Well then..." Sara moved towards the stairs, and I reluctantly followed her.

Sara walked up the stairs rather swiftly, while I trudged behind slowly. She didn't seem to notice as she hurried ahead, completely in her own world.

Sara missed no beats when reached Maddie's door, not knocking as she opened it. To our, or more Sara's disappointment, the bedroom was empty. The loud buzz of Maddie's shower could be heard, causing Sara to sigh.

Though my mind was still racing with thoughts of telling Maddie, I let out a victory hum, pleased.

"Guess we should have waited longer," I smiled, walking over to Maddie's bed, taking a seat. Her white covers were pulled back and messy, indicating she had probably woken up not too long before.

Sara sat on the seat across from me, silent glaring at me. We waited like that for a few agonizing minutes, waiting as patiently as we could to hear the shower shut off. Like me, however, Maddie took long showers.

Having enough of waiting, I stood and walked over to Maddie's vanity, inspecting the pictures taped around the rim of the mirror. Plenty of pictures of Zach, Sara and I. Most of Sara's were when she wasn't expecting it, since she hated pictures.

There was one that caught my interest, where she was actually smiling. It was when she spent Christmas with Maddie's family since hers were out of town, like they always were. Now a days she has too much pride and tries to be alone over holidays when her family is gone, but we always seem to wedge ourselves in.

With a smile, I looked to another picture. There was one of her and Zach, on his 18th birthday when he realized she was his mate. They were caught in an embrace, looking at each other happily.

Though the picture was gleeful, my heart still ached. I pushed my sad thoughts away in turn of happy ones, excepting it for what it is. A happy memory.

I looked away from the pictures, turning around. Sara had moved from the chair and was snuggled into Maddie's bed, her face peaceful as she drifted to sleep.

Rolling my eyes, I walked over to her, sitting down on the edge of the bed. She didn't seem disturbed by my presence, only moving towards the bed to give me room.

We sat like that for another few minutes, when the shower clicked off. Excited, I moved to slap Sara awake, but stopped when I saw how peaceful she looked. Snapping, I turned away towards the bathroom door.

When the door opened, I nearly fell back into Sara. Maddie came prancing, or dancing, more so, in a towel. Tied securely around her chest, she moved her head to a beat as she walked forward. There was no music playing, or at least not any that we could hear.

Completely missing us, she moved towards her drawer, opening it as she started to mouth the words to whatever song she had playing in her head.

Amused, I finally decided to speak out.

"Um, Maddie?"

With a shriek, Maddie moved her hands out of her drawer, hitting one the way out. As she looked at me, her eyes big, she shook her hand. When she came to her senses, she started arguing.

"What are you two doing here? And how did you get in my house? Have you no respect for privacy?!" She slammed her drawer closed as she turned to her, becoming dramatic.

Sara stopped her then, pushing herself up on her arms groggily.

"Ruby has something to tell you," She yawned and collapsed back down, snuggling deeper into the bed. Her voice must have been serious, because Maddie gave up her dramatic and crossed her arms.

"Well, alright then- but I have to get dressed first," Was all Maddie said as she turned away from me, opened her dressed again to sift through.

Once she had an appropriate selection of clothes, she went to the bathroom. A few minutes letter she came out in pajamas. Walking to her vanity, she sat, and started brushing her hair.

"Go on," she said, looking at me in the mirror.

Rubbing my hands together, I crossed my legs on my bed, trying to think of how I should attack the situation. The way I had told Sara was upfront, just as she liked it. Maddie was different then that though.

"I'm sorry I was distant," I started, looking downward. Maddie smiled sweetly in the mirror, putting the brush down.

"It's okay- it's not like you missed much," She laughed to herself.

I smiled weakly, looking up at her. She looked so happy, which made me feel worse. I knew Sara was listening, though, and I knew that I should tell her.

"It's just," I looked around the room, tapping my leg. "Something bad happened."

That caught Maddie's attention, and she tilted her head, her eyebrows furrowing. She wanted to interrupt and ask millions of questions, I could tell, but since she had the patience of a saint, she let me continue.

"I- well, what I'm trying to say.. is.." I trailed off, sighing. Why was it so hard to tell my best friend something so important?

"A few weeks ago, I met my mate," I swallowed. Maddie's face lit up, and she started to smile.

"And he rejected me."

Maddie blinked a few times, the corner of her lips turning downward.

"What?"

Maddie's voice cracked and she studied my face, looking for a hint that I was joking. She wanted it to be a joke, because in her book, this was one of the worst things that could ever happen to a wolf.

As the shock started to process, she stood, moving towards me slowly.

"Oh Ruby I'm sorry," She said as she hugged me tightly, sniffling. Since I had cried plenty of tears over the matter, I tried to push my own emotions away, only hugging her back.

After a moment of quiet, I moved away from her, sitting back on the bed.

"There's more."

This time Sara sat up, looking at me with a confused expression. I exhaled, rubbing my forehead tiredly.

"My mate is Mr. Wood," I waited.

Maddie was the first to speak, her voice laced with malice.

"That fucker."

I lifted an eyebrow at her strong choice of words. Even Sara seemed surprised.

"Sorry," She apologized after, though she didn't seem that sorry.

"Now you're right, he is a little bitch," Sara agreed with her, nodding. She didn't seem so surprised though, which made me think she already suspected something.

I couldn't suppress my giggle, and soon we were all laughing. It felt good laughing at something so bad, almost therapeutic.

We stayed like that for a while, just talking. I explained everything that had happened to them, and while Maddie commented on almost everything, Sara sat mute. It was like it always was-

Comfortable.

Authors Note

My dumb ass published these out of order... so enjoy one that you should have seen but didn't.

Love,

Elle Kay