La Lune // Bastille (ON HOLD)

- 3 -

Kelsey

"Holy shit," Celeste breathed as we walked through the gates and into the festival. Her eyes widened as she looked up and around.

I walked up and stood beside her as we looked around at the seemingly thousands of people gathered in the open area. Tents upon tents of different shops and things to do were set up, from photo booths to places to buy beer to covered hammocks you could rent to face painting. You name it, this place probably had it. I looked around and, for the first time, actually got to see what it was like to be in huge crowds, well, outside of walking around New York City. But it is a completely different atmosphere here, since people actually seem to be enjoying themselves, instead of wandering around aimlessly, probably pissed off or late to some business meeting.

Growing up in the Black Moon Pack meant that I hadn't been able to really be around a lot of people. I was "homeschooled" by some of the more "knowledgeable" members of the Pack. That really just meant they taught us how to hunt and kill and the history of the Pack. That's the way it normally goes in a rural pack, like the Black Moon Pack. They don't like interacting with human society and would much rather prefer to stick to themselves and carry on life like they always have. Which is most packs out there, honestly.

"Hey, stop walking down memory lane, Reid," Lexi giggled in my ear and elbowed me in the back.

"Sorry!" I laughed in response, turning around and pushing her away from me to keep her from elbowing me again.

When we started walking again, I didn't pay the rest of the group much attention because I was looking all around me, taking in everything. I felt the echo of the bass and drums pounding against my ribcage and I heard the sounds of music I've been listening to my whole life. I breathed in deeply, taking in the smells of the food cooking in stalls to my right and the perfumes of various people as they passed me. I could feel the gentle breeze, comfortingly warm against my skin. Awe came over me and I just stopped walking and closed my eyes in pure bliss. None of the others had noticed that I had stopped, so they kept walking. I didn't care, so I just took a deep breath and felt my entire body relax for once.

I strained my ears to try to take in everything around me. But then I heard someone walking towards me, not around me. I tried to ignore it and put it to the back of my mind, surely it was just someone looking at their phone and they would soon change their course of approach. But as the footsteps got closer, I realized it was several people. I panicked, afraid that it was going to be Mason, Keenan, and some other members of the Pack. Mom has gotten me that paranoid. I turned around quickly, hoping that it wasn't my father. Thank gods it wasn't.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you like that! I thought you were someone else!" the guy that was in front of the little group said, holding up a hand. He had a thick English accent and black hair that was cut close to his head. He had these sea blue eyes that immediately caught my attention. This man was admittedly very, very attractive.

Sadly, that's one thing I've never known how to deal with. Boys. Since I've been on the run for so long, I never really had time to try to date anyone. Guys also didn't try to talk to me since I was constantly the new student wherever we tried to settle down for a little while. It's also pointless to try to get into a relationship. I'm a monster, after all. Who would want to date someone like me? I saw how it turned out for Mason and Mom.

"N-No, it's fine," I stammered and tried to smile a little bit to show I had no hard feelings towards the guy.

"Um, hi, I'm Dan," he said rather awkwardly as one of the guys behind him coughed to hide a laugh. I glanced around Dan's shoulder and saw a tall guy with a beard and moustache covering his mouth with the side of his hand.

I giggled, smiling a little. "Hi, I'm Kelsey."

"It's very nice to meet you, Kelsey. This is Kyle, Woody, and Will," Dan turned to point at each of his friends as he introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you!" They all greeted me, also with British accents.

"Kelsey?" I heard Lexi call from behind me. I sighed and closed my eyes. Damn it.

"I'm here, Lexi," I smiled tightly and turned to face the direction Lexi's voice had come from.

"Oh," her eyes grew wide as she saw the four guys standing behind me. She walked quickly over to me and made me lean over so my ear was level with her mouth. "Oh, my god. They're hot."

"Shut up! I don't know how to talk to guys!" I felt myself turn bright red.

"Go for it! Be yourself!" Lexi smirked.

"Yeah whatever," I giggled and turned back to the group, catching Dan kind of staring at me. "Oh, shit. He's staring at me," I whispered, turning quickly back to Lexi.

"He totally thinks you're cute."

"You think so?"

"Stop doubting yourself and go talk to him!" Lexi giggled into my ear as I glanced back at them. I caught sight of the Kyle guy looking at Lexi.

"Don't look now, but one of them is looking at you."

Lexi bit her lip and smiled a little at the same time, twirling a strand of her brown hair around one of her fingers. "Well, in that case, we might both try to talk to these guys."

"You take the lead. I have don't know what I'm doing."

"I got you, Kelsey," Lexi winked and turned her brown eyes to Kyle. Their gazes met and I saw Kyle freeze momentarily. "So where are you boys from? Your accent clearly isn't from New York," Lexi asked, walking fearlessly closer to their group.

"England, London to be exact," Kyle replied nervously.

"That's so cool! I've always wanted to go to England, Kelsey and I both have! Isn't that right?" Lexi turned back to me, widening her eyes slightly and glaring at me for a second before turning back to the front, flashing a bright white smile.

"Oh! Uh, yeah! I've always wanted to go there!" I replied awkwardly.

"You'll have to excuse Kelsey, her people skills are a little rusty."

I sighed and slapped my forehead as Will laughed. "It's alright, Dan's people skills are rusty, too!" Dan turned bright red as Will slapped his shoulder. "So we know how you feel to live with a shy person," Will added. Dan turned redder and elbowed him in the stomach. I giggled and looked over at Dan, who returned my smile with a little lopsided one. Damn. That was adorable.

"So, how long are you guys going to be here?" Lexi asked.

"We're actually camping out in the campground," Woody answered.

"No way! We need a campsite!" Lexi said excitedly. I felt myself die a little on the inside. Lexi knew damn well that we didn't have any clothes or a tent.

"Great! There's a campsite next to us," Kyle smiled at Lexi.

"Let me call our other friends and tell them we'll be camping out with you guys," Lexi smiled confidently.

"That sounds great!" Kyle smiled at her. Okay, he totally likes her, it's obvious.

"Lexi, I'll save you the trouble. I'll go find Celeste and Rose," I said before Lexi could pull out her phone.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of course," I nodded quickly before I hurried off in the direction Lexi had come in.