My Childhood Friend is a Werewolf

Chapter Five

"Are we really going to leave her here, by herself?" Yoko asked with a frown on her face as she watched her very drunk friend totter away. Yoko and Tara had overheard Hannah's side of the conversation with Emma's first love. There was already that look in Yoko's eyes that told Hannah that she didn't care what the answer was, she was going to stay anyway to make sure something didn't happen to Emma.

Neither of them had to worry though, because Hannah hadn't ever planned on leaving Emma totally alone. "No way. I can't trust our girl with some rando," she said, sipping her bottle of beer. "On the very, very, very slim chance that Dren doesn't show, I'll make sure she gets home safe." Here, a wicked smile touched her lips again and she winked at Yoko. "But Dren is definitely gonna show."

There was no way he could ignore some guy putting their arms around Emma. Hannah had known the two of them since middle school and saw all the little ways that Dren warded off every guy that came within two metres of her. He constantly waited for her in the morning at her locker, despite the fact that he was a night owl and operated like a zombie in the mornings. They always walked home together after school, and Dren only took up soccer when Emma joined an after-school club to make sure they would go home together at the same time.

Hannah would have thought he was a creepy stalker if she hadn't known how they'd basically been together since they were babies. Their moms were friends, and Emma's mom told her that the moment baby Dren opened his eyes and saw Emma, it was practically impossible to keep him away from her. Their birthdays were right next to each other, Dren born on August 22nd and Emma on August 23rd, and they celebrated their birthdays jointly. Emma was over at his house at least once a week and Dren always had some excuse or other for showing up at her house.

They were inseparable... or so she thought.

Emma never told her much about what happened between the two of them, as there was something holding her back from telling Hannah the full story. Hannah didn't really care, though. She didn't think she needed to know the full story; the only part that mattered was that Dren had been a coward and ran away before giving Emma the time to process whatever he had told her. As much as she hated him for his cowardice and for making Emma fall into a dark depression, Hannah also knew that Dren was the only person who could make her best friend truly happy.

Emma smiled, sure. She experienced joy and excitement, sure. She had fun going out to clubs and dancing, going to brunch and drinking mimosas, buying clothes and bags and taking spontaneous trips to tropical places, but Hannah could tell that Emma wasn't happy. She was trying to make the most of her life, trying to live in the moment and find joy, but she wasn't truly or genuinely happy.

It sucked to admit, but Emma had only been happy when she was with Dren.

So Hannah, ever the best friend, understood that in order to improve her friend's life, she needed to take some dumb risks. And if Dren wasn't the biggest, dumbest risk that she knew of, she would eat her hat.

As if summoning him from the underworld, the large, looming figure that was Dren entered Boarder's. Hannah, having kept her eye on Emma gyrating against some dude on the crowded dance floor, leaned back and took a hearty swig of her beer.

"It's showtime, ladies," she said as she watched Dren prowl through the crowd.

--

--

--

The floor was vibrating.

Emma jerked her head away from the breath ghosting over her ear, finding it uncomfortable and invasive. She didn't know that the guy she was dancing with was trying to talk to her, his hands insistently wrapped around her hips, pressing her to him. The only thing that was really registering through all the haze were the vibrations through the floor caused by the absolutely ear-deafening music that reverberated through the building.