The Alpha's Beta

Chapter 6

So, guys, I have a couple of announcements:
-One: It's my birthday Squeeeeeee!! I'm finally fifteen!! :)
          (For those of you reading this in the future, today is March 11th)
-Two: Friday is going to be my official update day. Let me know if that's okay with you, or if it isn't. I just thought it was time to stop doing random updates. 
-Three: I love you guys! You may not be the most talkative, but you show your love by reading and occasionally voting!! So thank you! I appreciate you all so much! <3

Enjoy the chapter!! :)

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"Spill." Tia told me. We sat at a table in the tiny cafe in Twin Pines. She had ordered a coffee and I ordered a hot chocolate. Coffee just isn't my thing.

"You first." We held a stare down. It lasted for three seconds, when Tia dropped her eyes. Why she dropped her eyes instead of blinking, I had no idea. But I won, so that was good.

"Fine. Nick took off again two nights ago. Noah's known that dog for almost his entire life. So you can see why he'd be a little upset."

"But why didn't he just tell me that? I would've understood."

"I don't know. He wouldn't tell me why, either. I had to torture it out of Ethan." Tia laughed. "I tickled him until he told me all of his secrets."

"When did you do that?" I put two and two together. "Hey, are you two -"

"I was going to tell you, I swear! He only asked me out last night! He came over to my house, asked me out, then we just hung out. Until he hinted at Nick being gone." Tia smiled.

"Okay. I'm happy for you!" I smiled back at her. I didn't want to ruin her mood, but if she wanted to know why I was upset earlier, then I'd have to.

"So, are you going to tell me all of your secrets now?" The waitress came over with our drinks.

"Yeah, I suppose. Okay. How to start?" I boxed up my feelings and hid them in a secret spot in my brain. I took a deep breath. "I was just thinking about little moments my friends and I used to have, and that brought up memories of Dad. About four months ago, my dad got into a car accident. He was coming home from work and got rammed by a drunk driver. Both of them were pronounced dead at the scene."

Tia got up, walked around the table, and bear-hugged me. "I'm so sorry! If I had known, I wouldn't have asked!" Unlike the majority of people telling me that they were 'sorry for my loss,' Tia sounded genuine.

"It's fine. And thanks for understanding." I hugged her back. We stayed like that for a minute, then pulled apart when the door jingled. Well, the bell on the door.

"Hey, how's it going?" I turned in my chair to see Tia's new boyfriend.

"Hi, and good." Tia answered.

"Hi, Ethan. How are you?"

"I'm doing pretty well - under the circumstances." Then Ethan winced, like he said something he wasn't supposed to.

"What circumstances?" I asked.

"Oh, um, I'm not supposed to tell you." Ethan winced again.

"Why?"

"I just can't, okay?"

"Um, okay." My phone went off. "That's my mom. She's waiting for me. I gotta go, but I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Came the replies.

I walked down the sidewalk to my mom's work. She was standing outside. 

"Hi, honey! How was school?" 

"It was good. Nothing really happened. How was your day?" Nothing except my friends lied to me...

"Well, someone broke the coffee machine, so I had to live without my afternoon caffeine." Unlike me, my mom was an absolute coffee fanatic. She drank coffee when she first woke up, all afternoon, and sometimes right before bed. Why she drank it right before bed, I have no clue. But that's my mom for you.

"Oh, no! What a tragedy!" Sarcasm at its best, people.

"That's my little smart aleck!" She pinched my cheek as she went around to the driver side of the car. She was too far away to punch. Aw.

**

I was finishing up homework when I saw something outside my window. Not again! This time I saw white, and brown. But they were in two different spots. 

My phone went off, drawing me away from the window. I picked it up, and saw Tia was calling.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked her.

"Noah's mood! Nick is back home safe and sound once again!"

"Are you sure?" I wondered, watching the two dogs crouch in the bushes.

"Yeah, positive. Noah told Ethan, and Ethan told me. Those two are best friends. They don't lie to each other."

"I wouldn't be too sure of that. Considering Nick is outside in my woods with a brown dog. You didn't tell me Noah had another dog."

"A brown dog, huh? Noah! Ugh!" Tia murmured, talking to herself. "Oh, yeah. His name is Noa-Nolan."

I snorted. "Do you know how weird it would be if Noah had a dog named Noah? But, really, what's up with all of the 'N' names? Does he have siblings? I'd love to know what their names are."

"Yeah, that would be pretty weird." Just like you're acting, Tia. What's up with you? "Noah actually has a sister named Naomi. Their parents are just obsessed with 'N' names. It's really, really weird."

"Huh. Well, anyways, I have to get back to homework. So, talk to you tomorrow. Bye!"

"Bye!" Tia ended the call.

I stared out my window, the dogs long gone by now. Why were my new friends acting so weirdly? True, I had only known them for two and a half weeks, so who was I to judge?