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Early update... Are you happy?

As for  the Monday update it is dependent on the reactions to this one. Check out the author note at the end of the chapter.
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Chapter 31 Attack

I walked past the reception counter. Mrs. Linda called to me to stop, she reached out, grabbed my arm, I jerked away. I stormed into Mr. Rashes office. I didn't wait for him to put down the phone.

"I fell asleep in Mr. Bridges' class. I was rude. I yelled at him. I may have called him stupid, I don't remember." I shrugged my shoulders. I dropped into the seat in front of his desk. He disconnected the call with a promise to call back soon. "I know I wasn't," I sighed and shrugged again, leaving the sentence unfinished.

"Ms. Stone," he looks at my eyes. His fingers folded over one another on top of the desk. "You have always been one of the best students. Lately, despite your grades, you've gotten into a lot of trouble. Is there something going on at home? Problems?"

"What? No. Mr. Rashe, I'm just stressed. Um... Girl things." I gripped the seat and scooted forward. It wasn't like I could tell him the truth. He would think I've gone crazy, maybe he'd think I was on drugs.

"You know my office is a safe place. If you choose to tell me something I wouldn't tell anyone. I would do almost anything to help you."

"Mr. Rashe, really, it's not like that. I'm fine," I conceded recognizing the doubt on his face. "Okay, not fine, but I'm dealing. I'm stressed about where my life is going, who I am, who my real parents are. I wonder if my parents will still love me or think I'm some kind of freak. I'm not even sure I have a choice what I do with my life." I was absolutely sure I said too much. But words continued to spill from my mouth. "Sometimes, I feel everything all at once and I'm completely overwhelmed. I'm dealing with it but it's not easy. It's hard and no one else knows what it's like." I bit my cheek in an attempt to stop the flow of words.

"I see." He nodded, solemnly. "I bet you feel you're the only teenager feeling like this. I want to assure you you're not. While it's true not many can say they were adopted and wonder about their birth parents, there are others who can. As for your parents they will always love you. Who your biological parents are won't make a difference to them. You'll still be the daughter they raised."

"How would you know? Are you adopted? I'm not the perfect daughter they thought they were signing up for." Even to my own ears my tone was disrespectful. I realize I wasn't being reasonable but there were those nagging doubts in the back of my mind. I wasn't even human. I was a monster straight out of legend. How could a parent not —

"My daughter is grown now. We adopted her when she was two." He smiled fondly and reached for a wooden picture frame. He turned it to face me. A blond female with dark brown eyes had been frozen in the photograph. Her mouth was open, a small chip darkened one of her otherwise perfect teeth, amusement sparked in her eyes. Her yellow hat sat lopsided on her thick hair. "Her name is Seanna. There isn't a thing in the world she could do or say that would cause me not to love her."

"Not the same thing." I mumbled softly to myself. She's probably human.

"Your parents will always love you. There may be times when they don't agree with you but they'll still love you." He turned the picture back to face him. "As for choices, we always have choices."

"Like a queen born to be a queen." I said softly.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Stone, I missed that." He leaned closer, like he was really interested in what I said.

"Like a queen born to be a queen." I repeated louder. I let my tone say exactly how much choice I thought she had. "She may not choose to be queen but she can choose what kind of queen she is." I had heard that enough lately.

He smiled, pleased. "Exactly. That's an excellent example." Why did he have to agree? "I was thinking more along the lines of studying for a test or going to the movies. You study- you get a good grade but you miss the chances to be with your friends. You go to the movies with your friends and have a great time but you don't get such a good grade on the test. Both choices have pros and cons."

"Yeah. But shouldn't a queen be free to choose if she even wants to be a queen? Maybe she wants to be an artist or a dancer. Maybe she doesn't want to have a baby to insure there is someone else to sit on a thrown later. Maybe she doesn't want kids- ever."

"Okay. I see. Maybe she could make the choice to step down. But is that really in her best interest or for the country she's meant to govern? Someone has to lead. Here we elect by vote, but in some places the old way of doing things still works. If she becomes queen she can still do other things, dance, sculpt, paint. She'll also have the ability to be a wonderful queen if she wants. It's all about choices." He looked like he was just getting started.

"Maybe. But what about now? My future has been planned to the week for the next ten years. I chose every step I wanted to take for the goal I wanted, the future I wanted. Now I don't know what to do."

"Plans change. It happens to some of the best of us. We simply rethink, reevaluate, replan, move on. Just because something isn't what we expected doesn't make it a bad thing. People always have choices, small or large."

He let me leave a little bit later. I wasn't in trouble but he did warn me to take more care in my classes. He also suggested, strongly, to get a better hold on my temper.

I went to my locker then made my way to the lunch room to gather a tray and wait for the others.

After Amy's irritation passed we returned to class. The day passed slowly, by the time we met at the lockers after fifth class Amy's irritation had returned.

She wasn't overly angry. She didn't punch the locker, yell or even toss her books around. But I could tell her emotions where becoming rampant. Even the scent of her skin changed. It smelled mildly of vinegar mixed with her other natural scents.

"Are you okay?" I asked as soon as she closed her locker. She nodded her head. "No, I don't think you are. Talk to me, Amy."

She hugged her books to her chest, so tight I heard the papers crunch in protest. "I can't handle the feelings. Everything is getting on my nerves today. Do you realize that some people stink?" We were walking down the hall. I almost laughed. I had noticed that. I just didn't bring it up. I noticed her jerk back when someone got to close, which happened often in the mass of people around us. "I don't mean they have body odor. They just – smell." She shook her head. "But some of them smell good. Really good." She sounded so embarrassed I turned to look at her. Her face had taken on a pink hue.

Her words made me think of the day Eric had came by. Yeah, he had smelled so good. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

"I wish they all smelled bad. It would be easier to handle."

"You don't have to answer me if you don't want to, but who is it that smells good? Is it Eric?"

She gave me a look that clearly answered my question. "No. Why would you think that?"

"He smells good– to me." I shoved a guy that bumped into my side roughly. "Watch where you're going." I demanded. He smirked, turned and continued down the hall.

I stopped at the next hall. Amy and I had to go different directions. Amy had already started down the left hallway. "Are you going to tell me who?" I called after her.

She looked at me over her shoulder. "Kyle." Then she was lost in the crowd.

I found myself relieved she didn't find Eric's scent as enjoyable as I did. Thinking about him made me wish I could be with him. I didn't even care if we were jumping off of roofs in the middle of the night. I just wanted to be with him.

After school I ran out to the parking lot. I stood, bouncing on the heels of my feet, by Eric's car. I couldn't wait to see him. I had spent the last few hours thinking about him. I could almost exactly recall his scent from memory. Remembering it made my stomach flutter.

Thinking about it didn't help me concentrate on class but it made the time in the classes pass faster.

I was so preoccupied I almost didn't notice Amy's pale skin between classes.

"You okay?" I asked. I closed my locker door and put my hand on her shoulder.

"I feel sick. Sicker then I did the last few days."

"The tea?"

"I drank some in class." She pulled a water bottle from her purse. There was only a few drops of liquid left in the bottom of the clear plastic container. I wondered if drinking it cold would have any benefit.

"Make some more." I told her in a whisper.

"The rest is at home. I only brought enough for two bottles." She didn't whisper. She didn't seem to care others could hear her. I guess she had a point. They wouldn't have a clue what we were talking about.

"Okay. We'll be home in two hours, think you can wait? Or should we skip class and head home or to Angelov's? I'm sure Eric would give us a ride." I gave her shoulder a squeeze. My stomach twisted. For a second I felt a deep hunger. It made my breath catch in my lungs then it was gone.

"I– I'll be fine." She shook her head. She gave me a weak smile. I blinked. For a moment I thought I saw fangs. "I have to go. I don't want to be late to class." She took a deep breath. Her eyes widened, she looked around the hall. "Gotta go." She walked away, leaving me staring after her.

Standing by Eric's car I bounced, waiting. As I waited I did look to where Kyle usually parked. Neither his car or his motorcycle sat in the space. It wasn't the only empty spot so I didn't think much of it.

Eric was walking quickly across the parking lot. I smiled at him. He said something, pressed his fingers to his ear and nodded.

"Get in." He ordered still a few car spaces away. His tone conveyed urgentcy. I got in the car and started buckling my seat belt. His door flew open and he dropped in the driver's seat. He tossed his phone to the dash. He had the car started and was backing up before I could form a question in my mind.

"Kyle and Amy are at Angelov's. They've been there ten minutes. Angelov said," he slammed his foot on the break and his hand on the horn. He yelled at the blue SUV that cut him off. "Angelov said Amy is transitioning." He slipped his car between two others. Barely an inch of space separated his car from theirs. When he finally pulled out onto the road I released the breath I held.

"I just saw her before class. What happened?"

"According to Kyle, Amy showed up in the gym halfway through class. She was crying. Kyle told Mr. Carp he'd take her to the councilor. He said when they got out of the gym she broke down completely. She was shaking, her breathing was too fast and she was saying she couldn't handle it. She was talking about the smells." He took the next turn too fast and I had to hold on to the seat and door. "He got her in his car and she seemed to calm down. A few blocks from school she attached him."

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Hello my lovies. I hope you're having a good day and enjoying the chapter.
Tell me... What do you think about this little twist? Did you see it coming? Was Amy the one you expected to go wild? What do you think REALLY happened in the car?

Oh... I can't wait to see what you think. *Rubs hands together like a mad scientist, eyes darting from reader to reader.*

Don't forget to vote and all that stuff.
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