Hidden Fox

Thirteen

Emerald was waiting for me when I arrived home, after Xavier dropped me in the school's lot, gave me a grocery sack of my share of the apples, and I drove to the Williams'. Neither of her children were present, and she grinned like she were an older sister witnessing her younger sister come home from her first ever date.

Rolling my eyes and trying to hide my smirk, I offered her the grocery sack. "You guys need apples?"

She snatched it with a sigh. "I want to know how it went!"

I shrugged, "It was fun." It was more than fun, it was one of the best days of my life! Now that I was away from them and the risk of something slipping, I found myself wishing next weekend would come sooner so I could join my new friends on whatever their next adventure was.

Emerald passed the apples to an omega walking by and then tugged me into the next room. She practically flung me to the couch and sat herself in the chair across from me. "Tell me everything."

Realizing she has just essentially replaced my mother, I found myself with no escape, and so I obliged.

"Is he your mate?" She pressed when I reached the end of the day.

"I'm still not sure. But I've decided to stop caring, to stop letting that consume me."

She raised an eyebrow, her green eyes sparkling like her namesake.

I explained, "I'm taking your advice. I'm just going to have fun and be free and live like I'm a human in college making friends as long as I can."

"And if he is your soulmate?"

I bit my lip to hide the smile trying to creep through.

"April." Emerald pressed, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Then I might have landed a good one."

She squealed and launched herself across room to throw her arms around me.

I smacked her off of me with an escaped giggle.

"You guys would be so cute together!"

"All right, all right." I stood up, signaling I was done with this conversation. "I still don't know how to know if he is or not."

She shrugged, the smile still wide across her face. She was as giddy as a little kid on Christmas morning. "So, just live human until you're more sure."

And so I did.

As the days blew past, they were consumed with my new friends, and I found myself meeting up with them as often as our schedules allowed. Everlee and I talked constantly before and after our bio class, and we studied for the next exam as much as I could handle it. I decided biology wasn't for me, so I had stopped trying, but I studied with her because I knew it was important that she got a good grade and that she cared, so I did it for her. It reflected positively for me, too, and after the first test I'd practically failed, the second one was much much better. Everlee got an A, of course, but like I said: she actually cared.

In between classes, I hung out at the library, in the same area I had been all of September. The rest of the group realized it had kind of become my spot, and by the end of the second week of October, I was finding them there to join me in homework grinds more often.

And, whenever one of us was hungry, we'd all end up in the cafeteria to sit in the big booth and chat. On weekends, Everlee often came up with at least one thing for us to do, including hijacking the Williams' kitchen to make cookies (since the three of them already knew I went over there sometimes, but that day gave me more anxiety than I expected and I avoided a repeat) and chilly hikes in the woods. Over the past weeks, I had been able to become pretty close friends with Xavier, Everlee, and Andrew, who still insisted on calling me Freckles. Jacob joined the four of us once in a while, but I wasn't sure if he was truly a student here or not. If he wasn't, his absence made sense. He was quieter, too, not as extroverted as the others. The activities he joined, he acted as if he were dragged along for the ride. I still was unsure what to make of him.