The Broken Werewolves: Forbidden Law (BxB)

Chapter 17: The Invitation

Chapter 17
The Invitation

 A week after Marcus and I have talked about the Forbidden Law, everything goes back to normal. Troy, Dave and I always hang out whenever we have free time together and mostly, we spend our time eating at Farmacy, an ice cream parlour that is four blocks away from the school. So far, my most favorite ice cream there would be the dark chocolate. Dave's is the mint, and Troy's is the double dutch. Today, as we hang out while eating our favorite ice creams, Troy stops eating and shivers, mumbling brain freeze. Dave and I both snicker at his reaction and Troy pouts at us.

"Meanie," he mumbles, taking a scoop of his ice cream and putting it into his mouth, eating happily.

My eyes roam around the place. The store isn't packed yet, but there are two girls chattering lowly, sat on the sofa behind the round table. One girl has a blonde hair, long and curly, and the other girl is brunette, short and curly. I can tell that they are only juniors, considering they seem younger. Apart from them, there's an old lady with a dog, Shih Tzu, on her lap. She's wearing a cap that looks very 80s and a beige dress, pairing it with black boots. Her nails are painted pink, and she looks like she's part of the It Girls back in her old days and still can't move on about it in present days.

The theme of the story is similar to a clinic. Walls are painted white, with medical utensils drawn on the wall. Two big plant vases are placed on either side of the main entrance of the store. A bell is hanging atop of the door, signaling the staffs that a customer has arrived or goes inside. An acoustic version of The One That Got Away by Katy Perry is playing, speakers are on each corner of the store. I find the song relaxing at all. A 2016 Ford Mustang is parked in front of the store, and a boy is climbing out of it. I recognize him suddenly. A student from the school that I'm attending to. He's one of the friends of Trevor, the school bully, and he's part of the basketball team as well. I think his name is Ruben. He has a shaggy brown hair, almost covering his stunning brown eyes that can capture girls' attention. Today, he's wearing a camouflage tank top, showcasing his bulky and long arms and a black loose pants, tattered, giving him a bad boy look. A pair of combat boots to top it all. When he enters the store, he sees me and gives a slight nod. Both Dave and Troy look at me, brow arched, probably thinking why Ruben acknowledged my presence. I shrug at them as a reply. Ruben and I, well, we've had a few talks because Mikaela is basically my friend at my other classes, but other than that, he has no reasons to be friends with me.

Ruben orders a dark chocolate, same as mine, and when he has his order already, he takes a seat next to me, flashing me a smile as he scoops dark chocolate, ready to shove it into his mouth.

"Hope it's okay to see by your side," he says to me then shoves the ice cream into his mouth, moaning as he savors the taste. "Yummy, dark chocolate my favorite. Sugar and salt."

"Cool, it's also my favorite." I say to him, not finding the fact interesting. "We have something in common." Yehey! Ready the confetti!

After that, we never speak again as we continue to eat. Ruben being here with us, we can't keep the conversation going. Ruben is not part of the gang, so why should he join the conversation with us? I feel mean all of a sudden. I'm not usually like this.

Your mate rejected you, and you swore to yourself that you'd be tough, a voice inside my head informs me, making me remember the rejection that I had received from the Great Alpha. My stomach churns suddenly, and I get dizzy. Thinking of those things make me feel bad. Really, really bad. Shaking my head, I eat my ice cream as fast as I can so we can go home. I need to rest, or time alone, whichever.

Once done, I get up on my seat, followed by Dave and Try and together, I pat Ruben on the back and tell him that we're going now and he gives me a nod. So we head out of the Farmacy. Since Dave did not bring the car, we just walked from school to the Farmacy. Even though the ice cream parlour is just four blocks away from the school, it's still tiring!

So that's what we do. Dave, Troy, and I walk back to school, legs starting to ache as we chat about Ruben, who assumed he could seat with us first before asking. That's just plain rude. But then again, we don't own the place.

When we reach the school, our legs still numbed from walking, the hair at the back of my neck stand up as I sense something's wrong. I take a look behind me, but find no one. Strange. Sighing, thinking that my brain is, once again, playing tricks on me, I whip my head back in front. It's 5:00 in the afternoon, and the students have already gone home. School for today has already ended, but there are a few students staying because they have after school detention.

"I need to go," Troy says to us as he takes a step forward and hugs me. The romantic action makes me blush and I bury my face in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent, which is a combination of cinnamon and coffee. It tickles my nostrils, making me inhale more of his scent and apparently, he senses that I'm smelling and I earn a chuckle from him, which makes me blush deeply. I wrap my arms around him, massaging his back. "It's Theresa's birthday next week. I hope you could come. I'll introduce you to her and to my Dad as well."

The thought of Troy introducing me to his father and sister has made me freeze, from head to toe. Even Dave makes him look up at him, staring intently, almost as it he's scrutinizing him, which I know he does. Troy looks down at me, and suddenly, I find his height very appealing. My eyes focus on his chest and ask myself how hard his pectoral muscles are. It would be nice and heaven-feeling if I could just rest my head on his chest, my arms wrapping tightly around him. The image makes me squirm, and both Troy and Dave watch me, arching a brow and I have to shake my head at them.

"No? You wouldn't go?" I can almost hear the pain in Troy's voice, his grey eyes glistening with sadness as he stares at me. His shoulders sag down, as if he's losing hope all of a sudden. The last thing I want to happen is make Troy sad. He has been good to me, and so loyal and friendly.

As if on queue, I reach out to his hand and squeeze it tightly. "No! I mean, it's not that I don't like to go. I'd love to. I'd love to meet your sister and your Dad. Seems like they are very nice, considering you were raised this way." I gesture towards him.

He blushes at the compliment I have given him and smiles. "They are, indeed."

"Okay, specific date? So I can also buy a gift for Theresa,"

"You don't have to buy a gift for my sister, really."

"A birthday wouldn't be a birthday if there are no gifts involved,"

But then again, 17 years of my existence were spent crying, and every time my birthday would occur, no one would care. No one would give me a gift. Instead, I received beatings instead.

"So really, it's okay."

"Well, it's... September 3,"

"We'll be there,"

"Who's we?" says Dave, arching a brow. "You're invited. I'm not."

Troy rolls his eyes. "Nonsense, everyone's invited. You can bring your mom as well."

"Thanks," replies Dave, smiling widely. "We'll be there. We promise."

"I'm surprised my sister did not mention it to you, Dave." Troy says, a question lingers in the statement and Dave scratches his cheek, his smile has become unsure.

"I might have done something that pissed Trisha off," Dave says it, frowning once he has said it all. I might have judged Theresa, or Trisha, early, but Dave has said she was good. That girl was all over my brother and now that she was brought up, I think back to the times when Dave and I were always together. He has mentioned Trisha to me many times, but ever since he had set up a date for Troy and I, Dave never mentioned her again. "But I'm working on it right now. I mean, I'm working on asking for her forgiveness. I'll do it on her birthday, I swear."

"Just don't hurt my sister, Dave." Troy sighs. "She's still our little princess."

"Yeah, yeah." Dave says dismissively.

With that, I feel my hair at the back of my neck stand again, as if someone's watching, and when I turn back, I catch a glimpse of their red eyes. Wolves. Rogues.

Then they disappear into the wilderness.