Too Many Secrets To Hide | ✔| #Wattys2017

Chapter Thirteen

Word Count: 3339

   It was most likely that after this game, there would be either intense celebration or unrelenting sulking. This was particularly true for the varsity football team. We had all won our first game of the season, but it was now Friday and time for the second game. It consisted of the biggest rivalry in the entire district. Fiona had agreed to pick up Bel and Maddox after their games, as the middle school ran on mostly the same playing schedule as the highschool and Jasper would most likely not be able to do it.
  
   After winning my junior varsity volleyball game and watching varsity do the same, I strolled out, still in uniform, to the football field where the game had just gone into overtime. A few of the girls came with me, but most of them just went out for ice cream before they would be on their way home. I, on the other hand, took particular interest in the game. The score was tied 21-21, fourteen seconds left and the other team had the ball. The quarterback hauled off and you could tell it was gonna be a long pass as it sailed high into the air, heading straight for a receiver just a few yards from the end zone. Every mouth on this side of the bleachers groaned.
  
   Then, from who even knows where, someone from our team jumped into the air and...caught the ball! It was an interception! Number twenty-two took off at a sprint, reaching full speed before the receiver could even react. The whole crowd stood up, watching as he weaved his way in and out of traffic, dodging tackles and barely managing to stay in bounds. He was at the fifty now, and it was an incredible miracle. Then we saw it, a player from the other team absolutely trucking towards number 22. It was a collision course, no hope for him whatsoever. Just when we thought he was done for and he couldn't get any faster, he came out with a sudden burst of speed never seen before. The guy had tried to tackle him, but ended up catching nothing but the ground. Number twenty-two was now in front of the whole field, not one man standing between him and the end zone. His sprint never slowed at he raced the clock. That was the only thing  that could possibly stand in his way now.
  
   Touchdown. Then the buzzer.
  
   You could probably hear us from ten miles away. This place was absolutely exploding. I left the stands with the rest of the fans and charged into the field. I ran even faster and bypassed The rest of the crowd when our hero took his helmet off. He had people all over him by the time I got there, but his arms were open wide for me as I ran into him. It was hard enough to be a tackle, and he started going down before the surrounding people caught him. "Yeah, Jasper!" the fans roared while he lifted me up for me to wrap my legs around his waist. We got lost in a kiss that could have trumped that touchdown, in my opinion. Either of us only smiled into each other's lips when something ice cold drenched us.
  
   Jasper carried me off the field, dripping wet and it felt so good. The whole team followed and at some point Jasper pushed me into a car before sliding in next to me. I heard the words "after party" and after a few more people crowded into the car, we took off. All the guys were ones that I recognized and also knew me from sitting at lunch with them and Jasper. "Your boyfriend's insane," they told me and I beamed. The car erupted in laughter and blaring music. Jasper sat back, swimming in pride and listening to every thing they were saying and throwing in the occasional "hey, that's what I do'. A car that was just as stuffed as ours pulled up next to us at the red light. As we both had all our windows down, it wasn't hard to hear them saying "Great game Jasper" and things. I was so proud of my boyfriend.
  
   We made it to somebody's house after a few minutes of driving. Jasper pulled me inside and I held tight to his hand. The whole place was decked in pizza and beer within the hour. Most people stood and some sat while Jasper told the story of exactly what he was thinking when he went for the interception. Everyone was so pumped even as he repeated things he had said several times before. They pretty much all held beer in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other. I think we were thanking someone's older brother for getting the alcohol.
  
   I was now sitting in Jasper's lap as we shared a slice of pizza with the topping's falling all over us. We were both too buzzed to care. We stayed with the main crowd, dancing and yelling and singing to the music. Somebody made a damn good playlist for after parties. I don't remember much after looking into Jasper's eyes and not stopping dancing.
  
   I woke the next morning laid across the couch. My head was in Jasper's lap, who unlike me, was sitting up but still out. With a pounding head, I glanced down at my legs to see why they were partially numb. There was a guy on them and one laying on the floor with one of his feet caught under my knee. I hadn't drunk quite as much as the guys did which was probably why I had woken up before them. I made no move to remove myself however. I was in too much pain to even consider going anywhere if it wasn't to find Advil. I was just glad it was Saturday.
  
   After what seemed like an eternity of head pain later, Jasper started to shift. I watched as his eyes fluttered open. They were more red than blue, and slathered in hangover. "Ah, man..." he said, rubbing his neck. He chuckled a little bit when he saw how I was stuck but laughing must have hurt his head. Then, getting back to himself, he realized how unhappy he was about the guys on my legs. He shoved himself to his feet and stumbled over to them. He pushed the guy on the couch off of the couch, and kicked the other guy's foot out from under my knee. He pulled me up to a painfully sitting position before collapsing next to me.
   He suddenly covered my mouth in a stale beer flavored kiss before standing back up again. "Going to get some Advil," he muttered as he made his way towards what I thought was the kitchen, but I couldn't remember. "Get me some too," I called after him as loud as my aching head would let me as I laid back down. I decided Jasper had clearly done this before, and as it was my first time getting drunk or being hungover, I was glad to have him with me.
  
   Jasper came back with several Advil's I doubt he counted and a mostly empty bottle of beer. We each took a swig, not caring who's it had been last night, so that we could swallow the medicine. We laid pretty much still on the couch while Jasper texted him mom we would be home soon, apparently she had been trying to get a hold of him for a couple hours. I thought about how my parents would have killed me if I had stayed out all night like this. Of course, one of my parents was dead and the other one might as well have been to me.
  
   I bumbled into the kitchen and found some more beer and leftover pizza. I was more focused on the alcohol though, if it would take my mind off my parents. Suddenly, my relief in a bottle was slipped from my hand and I watched scornfully as Jasper poured it down the drain. "No more for you," he slurred. Angrily, I dug into my dry pizza.
  
   Realizing it was good of him to do that and not let me drink any more, my anger slowly cooled down. "Do you remember anything from last night?" I asked once we were both sitting down in chairs by the table. He smirked. "You tried to give me oral before you passed out," he told me with quite a sense of joy on him. My face flushed red, but I laughed as much as my pounding head would allow. I had been drunk after all, and he only said 'tried'. I hadn't actually done it... I don't think.
  
   People were beginning to stir in the house. I noticed there were considerably less of them now than there had been last night. It looked like the guys who had brought girls with them had left already, because I was the only female around. I was comfortable with that though, because that was almost exactly what it was like at lunch. Of course, the girls were usually there with their boyfriends, but most of the time making out with them so they didn't participate in conversation much. In general, I had become known as 'Jasper's girl', but around that, they kind of treated me like I was one of the guys. I enjoyed that treatment, it suited me.
  
   Jasper and I showered separately at this house before somebody gave us a ride home, along with a couple other guys the driver was dropping off. Jasper insisted that he just take us within walking distance of his house though, as he wanted to walk me home. I couldn't imagine he actually wanted to walk. Granted, the Advil was a blessing, but I still wouldn't have passed up the opportunity to stay sitting in that car for a few more minutes. I didn't argue though, not in my condition.
  
   "I'm not supposed to let people know where I live if they aren't a werewolf," he explained, although I hadn't said anything. "Since dad is the alpha." I thought it was funny he was talking about rules and what he was 'supposed' to do when he just stayed out all night and got passed out drunk. And I'm sure his parents didn't encourage that kind of thing. "I'm sure you're not supposed get drunk and stay out all night either," I commented. He shrugged. "They aren't too serious about alcohol," he told me. I gave him a disbelieving look. "My parents would kill me if they ever found out about this," I told him, holding back my sorrow knowing they never would. "Well, my parents are pretty chill," he stated. It made me feel better to know that my parents weren't just insanely strict, his were just cool.
  
   We made it to his house just in time for dinner, which we were both craving. His parents didn't say anything, and neither did Maddox. Bel asked where I had been and I told her we crashed at one of the guys's houses, but then Jasper stole me away for something. We went up to his room and it didn't take me long to realize he wanted to have a serious conversation with me.
  
   "Cadence, getting drunk is not a way of escaping your problems," he said getting straight to the point. "Alright, dad," I say, offended and ready to walk out. He pushed me down onto the bed before I could get very far. "No, Cadence," he said sternly. "I'm not gonna watch you become an alcoholic." I was taken aback. An alcoholic? Where would he even get that from? "I heard you talking last night," Jasper went on. I instantly stilled, wondering what I had said. "Saying that you loved how you could just let go like that. I brushed it off since you were drunk, but then this morning when you tried to have more, I realized you were being serious." I hated that he was right, I really had wanted to get drunk to ease my pain.
  
   "But Cadence," he continued, much softer now as he sat down next to me. "Just because you can't think about something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Do you know how often temporary fixes actually work?" he asked. I shook my head 'no'. "Only for a little while before they disappear," he answered his own question. I dropped my head, feeling guilty. "Besides," he started speaking again while he used a finger to lift my chin. "I'm always right here." I looked into his eyes for a moment before I crushed my head into his chest. He didn't smell like beer anymore as he had changed shirts. He returned the favor by embracing  me as well.
  
   Slowly, he laid us down on the bed and simultaneously pulled us up to the pillows. We sat peacefully there for a few minutes before he started telling a story. "My father hasn't always been an alpha," he began. "He was second in line." I listened, wondering where this was going. "My uncle was the alpha, he had it all. The pack was much bigger then than it is now, wealthier too. But after he developed a severe drinking habit, everything started to go downhill. He started losing everything, including the respect of the pack members. He died of alcohol poisoning soon after, and it did a lot of damage to the pack. It was lucky that dad was able to get things back under control, or there would be no pack at all." He paused there to look at me. "So I take alcoholism very seriously."
  
   I shrunk smaller into his arms now. The story made me feel terrible, but it also made me wonder why Jasper and his parents were so okay with him getting drunk. "But Cadence," oh, isn't he done yet? "My uncle had a lot on his plate. Pack duties, family issues and other things. He was under constant pressure- more so than you." Suddenly I knew what he was getting at. "So I don't believe for one second that Bel getting kidnapped, barely harmed and then rescued by you is why you acted that way."
  
   Jasper gave me a pointed look that made me twitch with discomfort. He gave me a minute to answer him. "It was dumb, okay. I'm fine, really." It was at that moment I remembered how he had said that 'a woman is never fine when she says she is'. "Don't you know you can tell me anything, baby girl?" he said with sympathy wrapped up in his voice tighter than I was wrapped in his arms. My only response was to snuggle down farther into him, bury my head in his chest. What was I thinking, getting drunk to drown my sorrows when I had him to talk to. He listened, he cared. He cared about me. But I didn't want to change that, so I still kept my mouth shut.
  
   He sighed, and even though I knew he wasn't happy, I couldn't help but love the feeling of his chest heave against me with his sigh. "I guess you'll tell me eventually," he said, more to himself than to me it sounded like. He stroked my hair gently. "But I wish you would tell me now." And I wish you would shut up. He was making me feel guilty. He needed to stop before I broke down. But then, I'm sure that was his intention. He was wonderful for not pushing it too far though.
  
   We laid on his bed in silence for a while, maybe an hour or two before I fall asleep. Or at least, I must have fallen asleep. It felt like I had only blinked my eyes, but it was now much darker and I was in a bed with Bel rather than Jasper. I instantly pouted, I missed my big warm teddy bear.
  
   I brushed a stray chunk of hair out of Bel's face as my stomach grumbled. It was funny how the sound of it initially reminded me that I was part werewolf, and afterwards that I was hungry. This thing was consuming me like I was about to go consume something in the kitchen. It was a good thing I had Bel to talk to about it...in hushed tones away from the world.
  
   Hating to leave my precious baby sister alone, I slipped out of the room. I tiptoed down the steps, only being quiet to match my surroundings. I nearly gasped when I saw the time on the oven in the kitchen. 4:17am?! I hated myself for falling asleep so early, this always happened if I went to bed before ten. Oh well.
  
   I opened the fridge, looking for something quiet to snack on. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice sounded behind me. "Cadence?" Bel whispered, and giggled the quietest giggle in the world when she saw me jump. "Don't scare me like that," I scoffed. "I just noticed you weren't in bed so I came down to check on you." Oh, now wasn't that something. Maybe she wasn't my baby sister anymore, coming to check on me like this. It seemed as if the tables had turned.
  
   "I just wanted a snack," I explained while I resumed my perusal of the refrigerator shelves. I eventually gave up there and retrieved some cookies n' cream flavored ice cream from the freezer. Fiona had said we could help ourselves to as much as we wanted. Seeing me, Bel quickly pulled two bowls and two spoons from the cabinet. I smiled inwardly at how stealthy she was, I had taught her well.
   When we had got ourselves each a generous helping of the ice cream, I decided to talk. "Jasper knows something's up," I stated at first. "Like he can just sense I'm hiding something." Bel nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Maddox too. I told him I was fine but he just said-" "-When a woman says she's fine, she never is," I finished for her. She nodded again. "I'm honestly having trouble keeping it from him," Bel admitted. "I just wanna tell him so bad, but I'm afraid he'll hate me." She dropped her head almost into her bowl while she spoke. "I know exactly how you feel," I concurred.
  
   "It's really got me thinking," I went on with a mouth full of ice cream. "If they really love us so much, then they won't turn us away just based on what our dad is. They should understand, shouldn't they?" I reasoned. Bel seemed to consider. I felt like I made a valid point, but I couldn't know if my opinion of that was biased. "And we're their mates," she pointed out, agreeing with me. "In fact," I whispered, "they should be excited that we're part werewolf." Bel nodded. Well, if my view on it was skewed, so was hers.
  
   "It hasn't even been a week since we promised we would never tell them," Bel confessed, sounding guilty but not quite remorseful. "I know..." I trailed off, thinking. Half of me wanted to smack the other half of me just for considering telling the boys our secrets. "We need to tell them," we said in unison.
  
   "Tell who what?"