Shapeshifter

Chapter Nine: No Show

Sam hadn't been to school all week and I was starting to worry. Was he okay? He hadn't done anything stupid, had he? Stupid me! Stupid, stupid me! I walked into my English classroom, looking for Courtney. She saw me and gave me a small smile. "Hey," she said, motioning to a seat in the front row. I sat on the table instead and looked at her. She was wearing black jeans and a blue shirt and as always, her hair was up in a high pony tail. "How have you been? I haven't talked to you for a while in class."

"Hi. I'm fine, I suppose. How are you?" I asked. Would she tell me where Sam was? Or at least that he wasn't dead in a ditch somewhere?

"I'm doing fine, thank you. I have to write up notes for the next class but I'm thinking of mixing things up a bit. Normal work is a bit boring." She said and I choked out a small laugh before I stopped and frowned.

"How's Sam?" I asked, looking at her expectantly.

She sighed heavily. "He's... okay. He's not happy, he's acting like a broken hearted puppy who lost its owner to old age or something."

My frown deepened. "And I'm the one who broke his heart."

"Look, I hate seeing both of you like this and knowing my stupid brother, he won't try to fix it until it's too late. So here's what we're going to do..."

It was perfect!

I sat in the park after school, waiting for Courtney to play out her little plan. I heard voices, one cheery one - Courtney - and one voice that was complaining, that would be Sam. I sighed heavily but perked up when I picked up Sam's scent on the breeze. "Tell me again why you brought me out here?" Sam asked his sister.

"Shut up and keep walking and you'll find out." Courtney growled, obviously fed up with her brother. I waited on the park bench for them to come into view. I saw them and Sam spotted me, standing up straighter and I swear something changed in his eyes, like the happiness went back into them. We locked eyes and smiled at each other. "Oh! Cj! Fancy meeting you here!" Courtney said with fake surprise.

"You can quit the act, Courtney." Sam said.

Courtney huffed. "Am I that bad at acting?" She asked. Sam smirked and shrugged. Courtney hissed as she breathed in. "Well, that must be why my year sevens hate me doing any drama related piece, or reading." I laughed and gave her a hug once I stood up. "Good luck," she whispered to me. I smiled and pulled away and she turned to Sam. "I trust you with my baby. Crash it and you die!" She threatened, handing Sam keys. I smiled and she started walking away.

"How are you getting home?" Sam called after his sister. She turned around and smirked.

"Scamming a ride out of dad." She said, walking off. Sam shook his head and laughed, before he looked at me.

I smiled weakly. "Hey," I said.

"Hi." He replied, then we fell into silence. This was awkward. I sighed heavily, sitting on the bench again.

"I'm going to tell you everything," I said. Sam nodded and sat next to me, grabbing my hand. "Well, when I was sixteen, like ever shifter, I shifted for the first time. Only, I realised three things; I could read people's minds, I could feel their emotions and I could see the future. Almost everyone heard about it. It was spread out amongst packs, herds, everything. One pack's Alpha called my parents, demanding I be handed over to them or he'd declare war. Mum and dad thought about it. They actually considered handing me over to that Alpha. Then a couple months later, my older brother - Cal - planned for the two of us to run away. But he couldn't leave the herd. I didn't want him to. So I left during the night and spent two or three months on my own. Then I met Sebastian and we became friends and not long after, Leo joined us. I told them about what was going on and they said they'd help me, that they'd protect me. I learnt how to control my gifts, well, keep them locked up - I still refuse to use them. We traveled around a lot because a wolf from that pack always found us."