My Innocent Mate

II

"Everyone this way please." A woman said, smiling. I followed Jason and started fidgeting with my hands, looking down at the shiny floor.

 "Jason, don't ditch me like you did last time," I said. 

"I didn't ditch you! I was getting ice cream for us and the line was long." Jason said. 

Jason had been my childhood friend who I always relied on, perhaps a little too much. Whoever his mate was, I was sure I would be a bit envious of her. 

The stench of sweat interrupted my thoughts as I looked up to find myself amidst a very large crowd of people.

"How are we all going to get sorted when there's like a bunch of us?" I asked curiously.

"Just watch," Jason replied.

Then the speakers turned on and a female voice started talking. "Welcome to The Big House! Pretty unique name right?" 

A few people chuckled. 

"So you'll be assigned random roommates and if you have any problems, please let us know and we will try to solve it. Now let's get you guys arranged!" 

Then bronze keys came down from the sky. The keys were floating above each person's head so it wouldn't smack them. "Please grab the key that is over your head. On the key, there will be a letter and a number. The letter represents the floors A, on the first floor, to F, which is the top. The numbers represent the room on each floor. Please don't switch with anyone because that causes trouble if you really want to switch though let us know and we'll try our best to help. Dinner will be at 7:00 pm sharp. Don't be late! Have a good afternoon!" 

I grabbed the key and looked at it thoroughly. Room F27. I looked at Jason. "Jason what room number are..." I faltered. Jason had this crazed look on his face. "Jason?" 

"Something smells really pleasant..." He said sniffing the air. 

"What? All I smell is sweat." I said. He started going towards people and sniffing them. I followed him. "Jason...?" Then I saw Jason eyeing a pretty girl. 

"Mate..." He muttered. The girl looked at him. Jason ran up to her and squeezed her. He started sniffing her. "What's your name?" 

"Iris..." She said. 

"What's your room number?" Iris asked. 

"F27." 

Yes! 

"Oh, I have A12." She said. 

"Don't worry I'll switch. Excuse me, ma'am, may I have my key switched to A12?" He asked. I interjected. 

"Wait, Jason, we have the same room key....." 

"Oh cool," he said. The lady he was talking to replied to him saying, "That can be arranged." 

"But Jason what about me...?" I asked softly. 

"What about you?" He replied. 

  ❅ ❅ ❅  

Jason switched out. He left me. 

I began to walk upstairs alone. How could he leave me so quickly? My best friend literally just ditched me for some chick he just met because she's his "mate." I tried to suppress the anger that was boiling in my stomach. Finally, I arrived at my room and sadly opened the door. "Oh hi! I'm your roommate!" I heard a voice say. I looked up and saw a pretty girl smiling. Why are all the girls here so pretty?

"Hi," I said. 

"My name is Zoe Revere what's your name?" she asked in a cheerful manner.

"Um... it's Ella. Just Ella." I said. 

"Well then nice to meet you, Just Ella," she said. 

"No, I mean-"

Zoe giggled. "I know what you mean." 

"What pack did you come from?" She asked. 

"Moon River Pack," I said. 

"Oh, that's far! I come from the Blood Moon Pack, in case you were wondering." I nodded. I wasn't. 

"Is it alright if I took the room at the back?" She asked. 

I nodded again. 

"I'll go unpack in my room now," I said and quickly left. 

"Okay! I'm going clubbing at that one place," she replied as if I knew where that "one place" was. 

I hurried to my room and started unpacking my stuff. 

I muttered to myself, "Laptop... mouse... mouse pad... charger... headphones... earbuds..." I had a lot of electronics. I  then unpacked my pillow, blankets, teeth stuff, etc. 

After I was done unpacking I went on my phone and checked my Facebook. Most of my Facebook friends were online. I never met them in real life before. All of them were wolves, just from different places. I checked my messages to see the red notification of 999+ messages. I sighed but made a soft smile. I scrolled through them and mostly it was about how most of them were going to their gala in their country. 

My mom posted a picture of me and Jason leaving. I stared at it for a while. Who knew your one of your closest friends could just betray you in an instant because of their mate? 

If that was the case, I didn't want one anymore. Then I heard the ringtone from the server we used. It was from a group called "Is Your Refridgerator Running?" 

I rejected it but texted 'brb.'

I quickly plugged in my headphones and opened my laptop to join the call. "Hello?" 

"Hey, Ella! It's been forever!" My friend Claire said. 

"Hey." Ryan and Riley said. They were handsome twins who, in their past time, liked to tease me and Claire.

"What's going on?" I asked. 

"Ryan is just fanboying," Riley smirked. All of us had face cam on. "What?" I asked. "He saw this beautiful girl when we were getting coffee this morning." 

"Oh, that's cool," I said. "Did you ask for her number or anything?"

Riley laughed. "This guy? Going up to a girl? You're funny."

"I figured," I shrugged. "Just wanted to make sure though." 

"Anyway, how are things?" Claire asked me. 

"I just want to rot in my bed, maybe suffocate myself with my pillow," I said with a sarcastic thumbs up.

"Everything will be fine once you find your mate." 

"If Riley. If. With what happened with... him... Man and Moon will probably not..." I said sadly.

Ryan was going to say something, but I interjected. 

"Got to go eat guys. 7:00 pm sharp. Bye." I hung up. 

I hated having conversations like that, conversations about him. I totally didn't lie to them or anything saying that I was going to eat. There's no way I'm going down to eat with people, that was an anxiety attack waiting to happen. Instead, I decided to eat Hot Cheetos in my room. Alone.

  ❅ ❅ ❅  

"Ella!" I heard Zoe shout. 

"Yes?" I asked, coming out of my dark room. Zoe lay on the couch looking exhausted. 

"Hey, why you didn't come to dinner?" She asked in a drunk voice.

"Um... I had a stomachache?" I lied. 

"Oh well, anyway, that spokeslady said that the ball is tomorrow, so get ready!" 

"Okay. Thanks," I said and returned to my humble, dark abode. I closed the white door and fell onto my silken bed. With a big sigh, I let my thoughts be released. 

I wondered if I had another chance. I thought about getting over Jason and his betrayal of our friendship. I thought about just going home, not caring whether or not my mate was there. Most of all, I lingered on the thought of just letting everything go, to see him again.

As these thoughts swirled around my head, I let slumber gingerly engulf my body, snuggling into the thick sheets.