When Life Gives You Lemons

8. Aftermath

Things hadn't gone very smoothly with the Copperhead pack in Bruce Mines; they had taken our warning message as an excuse to enter their territory.

The Alpha male - Grant White - had gotten vicious and started a fight. We all walked away with minor injuries - bite marks, scratches, and bad bruises.

Burnum had tried to calm things down before they'd gotten out of control, but Grant commanded the pack to attack because we were allegedly moving in on their territory.

Due to his age, Will was hurt the worst; he'd sprained his left wrist and had to limp back. Jack had gotten sick of waiting up for him in our rush to return to our own territory, so he carried Will on his back and we ran.

All the foundation and cover-up in the world couldn't cover the scratches on my body. I had bite marks on the back of my neck, both shoulders, and on the backs of both ankles, and bruises along both sides of my rib cage and on the right side of my face.

I covered the facial bruises with makeup, but it wouldn't cover the accompanying scratches.

Even though I'd missed over a week of school, I begged Burnum not to make me go because I didn't want my friends to see me like this.

Just to make sure that I did go to school, Burnum drove me himself and planned to pick me up after.

I ducked my head as I got out of the car and tugged at my clothes so my battle marks were hidden. I wanted no attention whatsoever; I wished that everyone would ignore me.

Hailey ran up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. "Where the hell have you been?"

I shoved her away and looked her in the eyes with anger and pain. Both her hands had gripped the injured parts of my shoulders. "Don't touch me!"

She narrowed her eyes, focusing on my face. "What happened to you?"

I realized that I may have sweat some makeup off and that she could probably see the bruises and scratches. "I'm fine." I said.

Hailey scoffed. "Fine? Sure, you're fine, if giant black bruises and gashes on half your face qualify is fine. Now tell me what happened? Did Jack... hit you?"

"No!" I defended. She was determined to get an answer, and I would give her one, just not the whole story. "It was an animal attack."

"Oh, my gosh, are you okay?"

I glared at her. "Of course I'm okay! If I wasn't okay, I wouldn't be here!" I stormed in the school.

Everyone looked at me like I was new. I guess I looked different, wearing regular jeans, t-shirt, a loose hoodie and running shoes.

I really wished that no one could see me. Evey one of my teachers talked to me in the hall at the beginning of class, peppering me with questions about why I was in such horrible shape.

I dreaded gym class. It was basketball season, which meant tank tops, shorts and an exposed neck from pulling my hair back. In the change room, I got changed in a bathroom stall and made sure the other girls were gone when I came out.

I snuck through the doors into the gym as quietly as I could but that was a lost cause. Everyone stood and stared when they heard me come in.

Whispers echoed in the large, empty room, making it obvious that they were talking about me. I knew they saw it all - the bitten shoulders and neck, the bitten ankles, scratches that spanned the entire length of my arms, and the bruising around the bite marks.

One boy laughed louder than he'd thought. "Ha, looks like someone got too cozy with her vampire."

Mr. Brown, the gym teacher, scornfully sent him out of class.