Hayley was a freshman at NYU, following her dreams. Sure she was broke and currently living off of ramen noodles, but she was determined to let nothing stand in her way.
Aileen was crazy. A self-proclaimed thug, she lived life hard and without regre...
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We were all crowded around Hayley's door, eavesdropping on their conversation, until I heard something.
"Wait a minute!" I exclaimed, drawing back from the door and staring at Jacob in shock. "YOU might be the LEADER some day?!"
This had to be some sort of joke. There was no way Jacob could be in charge of something. He couldn't lead a horse to water if the horse was a genius and the water was three feet away!
He looked at me evenly. "Yes. I might be."
I couldn't help it.
"BWAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHHAHAAH!" I exploded. "YOU!? LEADER?! AND WILL YOU SUDDENLY BECOME SMART, TOO?! AHAHAHAH!"
"It's not a joke!" Jacob grumped. "Stop laughing!"
My chuckles faded away as I wiped my eyes.
Jacob moved away from the door and sat down cross-legged on the floor. His eyes narrowed at me angrily.
"When I'm the alpha," He began, "My first order of business is to throw you in the dungeons."
I raised an eyebrow. "You have dungeons?"
He thought for a second. "No, but my grandma has a cell in her basement."
I rolled my eyes and went back to continue listening in on Hayley when Jacob grabbed my arm. "Wait. I need to tell you something."
I turned back around and narrowed my eyes at him wearily. Nothing good ever comes from those words. "...What is it?"
He but his lip, hesitating, and something about that made my heart skip a beat.
Stop that, heart.
"I really didn't want to tell you this," He began, his eyes a little nervous, "But Carson said I have to. So here it is: You have a choice."
I brightened. A choice you say?
He cleared his throat, scared, and said, "You can either stay with us... or leave."
Time froze.
Wait... what?
"OH, HECK YEAH!" I sprang up, shouting. I jumped up and down, pumping my fists and karate kicking the air. "HASTA LA VISTA, JERKS! AAAHAHHA!"
Jacob did not like my reaction very much, and started crying.
His eyes got all watery, and as his bottom lip began to tremble, I took notice of his upset state.
He turned his head away, trying in vain to hide it, and the gesture made my heart clench.
"What's your problem?" I asked, trying to be gentle about it. It came across a little mean, I'm afraid. "Are you crying?"
"No, I just am allergic to things that make me sad," He said tightly, his voice higher than normal. "I guess I was just hoping..." He trailed off, sniffling and wiping his eyes.
Ah, that's why he's all upset. Well, who can blame him? I'm a catch!
"Look, Jacob," I began, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. "There are plenty of fish in the sea. Not as great as me, however, but they still exist."
"That's not the point!" He exclaimed, wiping his eyes. "There's only one fish!"
"What are you talking about?" I demanded impatiently. "I'm sure you can reel at least one back in. You're a catch!"
Man, I love all these fish puns.
"So long as you don't flounder around, I'm shore you can get one who isn't a beach. You sea, as long as you aren't a bass murderer, you-"
"THATS NOT THE POINT!" He finally snapped, jumping up and clenching his fists. "People like me-"
"Werewolves," I added helpfully.
He glared. "People like me only have one person."
Wait a second.
"I certainly hope that person isn't me," I said.
He scowled at the ground. "Why else did you think we kidnapped you. I ran across you once at the library. I knew it immediately."
Dang. I knew nothing good can come from a visit to the library.
"So, you kidnapped me then? Great plan! That works every time!" I said sarcastically.
"You'd be surprised," He muttered.
I was trying really hard not to go into my default mode for when I was feeling lots of different things. The default mode is not a pretty one.
I tried to calm down, but emotions kept swarming up and around my head. Anger, frustration, confusion, fury, surprise, shock, and angry again.
"Well, what do you want me to do?" I demanded. "Just stay here? I have a life back home! One I've been missing because of your stupid criminal plan!"
"I don't know!" He raised his voice back at me. "I haven't really thought that far ahead!"
"Not the first time you haven't thought ahead, is it?" I shot back.
"Guys!" Camille broke in.
She had turned away from the door and was not glaring at us both with her hands on her hips, looking quite menacing.
"Don't be so immature," She ordered. "Jacob, you can't force her to stay, and Aileen, you can't blame Jacob for everything."
"Why not?" Jacob and I said at once.
"Because I said so!" She gritted her teeth. "Geez, you two are EXACTLY alike."
Jacob said, "No we're not!" at the same time as I said, "Don't insult me!"
She raised her eyebrows as if to say, "you see?"
I sighed heavily. "Look, Jacob. You're a nice guy and everything-"
"Thank you."
"And these last couple weeks have been... um... interesting-"
"That's true."
"But I can't just leave everything-"
"You don't have to."
I broke off, looking at him quickly. "What do you mean?"
He grappes this rope eagerly, probably thinking this would help his case.
"I can just get an appartement near your dorms. I'm already enrolled at your school for next year. You wouldn't have to leave anything."
