Fearless

Trust me I Know

Chapter Three: Trust me, I Know

Pain shot through every cell in my body as my bones broke and reshaped a hundred times. My skin burned as if it were covered in flames as fur grew up. A muzzle pushed itself out of my mouth and nose. I pushed myself off of the muddy ground and started to run after Aaron. My paws thudded heavily against the ground as I pushed myself to run faster. Aaron was a blur ahead of me. His speckled coat of white, brown and black was easy for me to spot. I caught up to him and ran beside him, mirroring his every move.

'Aaron, please. We have to go back. There are hunters out. If we don't come back home, what will Charlie do?' I pleaded with him.

'Shut up, Michael.' he thought angrily. 'Leave me alone. Go back home. I'll be fine.' as he thought this, an arrow whizzed past us. We skidded to a stop. An arrow embedded itself into me. I shot off the ground in the opposite direction.

'Aaron, if we don't leave now we'll get killed.' I thought to him. Aaron was right beside me as we sped past trees and other things of the woods.

'How badly are you hurt?' I pushed myself farther forward.

'I'm fine.' I assured him. 'We have to keep going.' We burst through the treeline and were in our clearing. I saw Charlie at the door, soaking wet. She moved out of the way and let us in through the door. Aaron followed me in. She slammed the door shut.

"I am so glad that we have mats on the floors," she muttered to herself. Aaron quickly changed back. I stood taller than Charlie and Aaron, my head a little over Aaron's.

"We need to pull the arrow out before he can shift back," Aaron told Charlie.

"He got hit?" she asked in disbelief. "They must have gotten someone with better aim."

"He broke the tip shaft before he kept running, so he's not being poisoned anymore," Aaron stated. He gripped what was left of the arrow in his hand.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded my huge head. He quickly yanked the arrow out. I yelped in pain.

"There, change back so you can get something dry on." Charlie said. In an instant, I was back on two feet.

"Charlie, get changed, can't have you getting a cold." Aaron fretted. We walked out of the backroom. Charlie headed over to her bedroom while Aaron helped me dress my puncture. I lifted my arms so he could place some gauze and tape on it.

I plopped down on my bed once I had put on some sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Don't ever do that to me again," I told Aaron before he left my room.

***

Something soft crashed into my face hard. I groaned softly and pushed it off of me. Aaron was standing in my doorway, a pillow in his hand. "Quit throwing pillows at me," I groaned after the one he was holding hit me square in the face.

I got out of bed and quickly got dressed. I decided I would wear a baggy white t-shirt with jeans. I threw on a large black hoodie and a grey beanie. I tied my black high-tops over some generic white socks. On my way out the door with Aaron, I grabbed my old army jacket and put that on over my hoodie. Aaron was wearing a leather jacket over a red and black flannel, which was over a plain white t-shirt. He tossed me my backpack as we walked over to my truck.

"You really need to get this hunk of junk fixed," Aaron said, his nose scrunched up in disgust. I gave him my colossal eye roll and got inside the truck.

"My truck is fine. I did some work on it the other day. It runs beautifully. So you better shut it if you want me to continue hauling your furry butt to school." Aaron snickered as my old red Chevy rumbled to life.

We jumbled around as I drove down the dirt road that led off our property. "The trees are so green," Aaron commented in awe. "Green like Sam's eyes." I rolled my eyes.

"Seems like you're developing a crush," I pointed out. Aaron crossed his arms over his chest.

"So? Does it matter if I kinda sorta like the guy?" Aaron asked. I shook my head.

"No, I just don't want you to hurt him, or him to hurt you," I said. Aaron stared out the passenger window.

"He can't hurt me the way I can hurt him." Aaron murmured to himself. The rest of the drive to school was quiet, except for the music playing softly from my stereo. I hummed along to I Don't Love You as we pulled into the parking lot. Rebekah and Sam were sitting on the bleachers, talking and laughing. Aaron smacked the back of my head, snapping me out of my reverie. "Staring is rude, Mikey." Aaron scolded.

"It's not like you don't stare at Sam all the time," I muttered lowly. Aaron pulled me along with him over to the bleachers where Rebekah and Sam were sitting. "Aaron, no. I can't go over there." I tried to pull out of Aaron's grip. He tugged me harder and I tripped, almost falling flat on my face.

"Aaron! Michael! What a lovely surprise." Sam exclaimed as Aaron continued to pull me towards them. I obediently followed him up the metal stairs of the bleachers. "Rebekah, be polite and say hello," Sam encouraged as Rebekah hid her face in her hands. She was coating her nails with black polish.

"Why do girls paint their nails?" Aaron asked her.

"Why do gay guys buy condoms?" she countered without looking up at him. Sam rolled his eyes, a small smile on his face. Aaron's face went ruby red as he struggled to find something to say.

"That's enough, Beck," Sam said to her lightly. Rebekah poised her nail brush in her fingers and pointed it at Sam. She had narrowed her eyes dangerously. In one fluid motion, she swiped the brush on the tip of Sam's nose, leaving a huge black drop on it. Sam's eyes went wide as he stared down at the black drop, making himself go cross-eyed.

Aaron used the sleeve of his flannel to carefully wipe the drop off of Sam's nose. Sam smiled at Aaron, and Aaron smiled back. "Get a room, you two," Rebekah said. She shoved Sam, and he stumbled onto Aaron, who caught the freckle-faced boy.

"Beck, why don't you and Michael chit-chat while Aaron and I 'get a room'," Sam suggested. Rebekah's face heated up and she hid behind her mass of hair. I was about to reach forward and tuck some of her hair behind her ear when the first bell rung.

Rebekah quickly grabbed her things and jumped down the bleachers. Sam hung back with Aaron and me. "She's getting better about people," Sam assured me. "She just doesn't.." Sam trailed off.

"She just doesn't like me. Trust me, I know."

A/N in case you haven't figured it out, the songs I linked to at the beginning of the chapter are supposed to be listened to while you read. It will help give you the right atmosphere for each chapter, and a little bit more insight into the relationships between characters.