Michelle Michaels

"Alissa seems really out of it today. Sasha told me she was crying in the bathroom today 'cause her boyfriend dumped her." I shaded my eyes and squinted up at my best friend, Trish Teverro. Her long, wavy hair was pulled back into a ponytail that ran down to her waist. I could just make out her profile with the sun blinding me as I absorbed her words.

"Who was her boyfriend?"

"Don't know. But I put a note in Matt Larson's locker asking him to find out."

Matt is a mute, and knows pretty much everything going on in our school. What he doesn't know off the top of his head he can find out in record time. A reliable source if there ever was one. At that moment, Matt appeared at our table with a note. He handed it to Trish and she unfolded it, cocking an eyebrow as she read the name.

"Madsen?" She looked up for a response, and Matt answered by nodding.

"Thanks, Matteo." He nodded once again before turning on his heel and walking away. Sometimes I felt sorry that he couldn't talk, but he seemed to get by just fine.

Turning back to Trish, I quirked an eyebrow. "The question is, who is Madsen?"

She wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed. When we sobered up, I did wonder though. I wanted to know what sort of boy made a bubbly person like Alissa Toddwell cry her eyes out, and I wanted to know what sort of boy did it on purpose and left her. Well, we weren't going to figure it out by sitting here. I grabbed the closest kid to me. "Do you know who Madsen is?"

He furrowed his brow, looked at me like I was crazy. When he saw I wasn't going anywhere he sighed, like it was an effort to answer me. "I think he's one of those guys." He pointed at a group a few tables away, flicking his hand around.

"Which one is he?"

"How should I know? I just know one of those guys and that he hangs out with a Madsen."

"Which one do you know?"

"Mason."

I did my best not to sound too frustrated. Really. "And which one is Mason?"

He smirked. "The one that's twice as big as everyone around him."

I looked back to the group. Sure enough, one of the guys was huge. Like body builder huge. "Oh. Thanks...'Bye."

I sat back next to Trish, dismissing the guy I'd questioned. "Apparently, one of the guys over there hangs out with our dear Mr. Madsen."

She nodded. I continued. "He's the really big guy with the-white? Yes-hair."

"His hair looks more blonde, but like a really light blonde."

"Focus. I don't care what color his hair is. We need to find Madsen."

"He's pretty cute." Trish could be easily side tracked sometimes. Despite this, I took a second look at Mason. He was good looking. I couldn't really tell what color his eyes were. Blue? Green? Oh well. I didn't really care. He didn't look like my type, anyway.

"Good. So you should be able to jiggalo your way into finding out who Madsen is."

"Jiggalo?"

"Shhh..." I placed a finger on my lips before we both started giggling. A few moments later we calmed down, simultaneously standing and walking over to the small group around Mason.

When we were close enough, I still couldn't tell what color his eyes were. Blue one minute, then emerald and back to blue again the next. We stopped at the edge of the group, waiting for someone to notice us. When they did see us, everyone got quiet. They turned and looked at us. It was very quiet. Suddenly I felt like an intruder. Like I had no right to walk in on their group, and I should go. I stood my ground and turned towards the body builder, who I'm pretty sure plays on the soccer team.

"Are you Mason?"

"Yeah." I stood looking at him. He cocked his head to the side. His voice sounded very level and calm, like he never yelled. It was deep, but soft. Soothing. I realized I was just looking at him.

"Uh...Can I talk to you for a second? Please?"

He turned towards me, and I was struck by how tall he is and how short I am. Nice. He looked down expectantly at me, and I squirmed under the scrutiny.

"I meant like...privately?" He blinked. "If that's okay." I added hurriedly, looking at the people around him.

He stepped off to the side, a good few feet away. I followed gratefully, leaving Trish to the mercy of his friends. I stopped infront of him and looked way up into his face. I inhaled, my nostrils flaring slightly. I smelt...wolf. Wolf? He's wolf? I hadn't even known there were other wolves in the area. Was he a stray? Did he have a pack? I realized I was just standing there looking at him. "So. Do you er...have a friend?"

The corner of his mouth lifted into a smile. "Yeah, I've got a friend. A few, actually."

I feel...so...lame.

"Well, yea. Duh. I mean, everyone's got friends. Of course you have some. Why wouldn't you?"

He just looked at me. This was going great. Really great. It was so great, it was almost bad.

I cleared my throat. "So...do you have a friend named Madsen?"

"Of course he does!" I jumped three feet in the air as someone yelled in my ear. Turning, I saw a scruffy looking guy in baggy jeans and a gray sweatshirt. He looked like he rolled out of bed and had just enough time to pull on clothes before bolting to school. I scented the air. He was wolf, too. He stuck his hand in my face. Nice.

"David Corwin. And you are...?"

I grabbed his hand feebly. "Uh...Michelle. Michelle Michaels."

"Well, Uh Michelle Michaels, what do you need from Mason's friend Madsen?"

"I was just uh...looking for him."

"Well you can uh, find him at a party tonight." He smiled as he mocked me, and before I got angry, it occurred to me that this was just how he acted. I could deal with a little teasing.

"Really?" I flicked my hair back over my shoulder. I willed him to give me a number or address to the party. I didn't have all day.

"Yeah. Here." He took my hand and pulled a pen out of his sleeve. No joke. He proceeded to write something on my palm. When I got my hand back, I looked down and read the address. When I looked up, both guys were gone. They hadn't even just left me alone, because they weren't back with their friends either. Classy.

I walked back to rescue Trish, and stopped at the edge of the group. She was glaring down at this short red head, and I stepped up beside her, immediately defensive. Trish is five foot seven inches, tall and lithe with long legs. The girl, whose eyes were narrowed viciously at my best friend, was a good few inches shorter and very curvy. Trish has the height leverage, but this girl looked tough. She stepped closer to us and turned those eyes on me. They were beautiful. A true blue-green color.

"You keep your hands off my brother, understand?"

I blinked. Me? And who is her brother? I looked into those eyes, and it dawned on me. Her brother was Mason. Was she wolf, too? I tried to smell her, but her scent was lost with all the other people walking around the grounds. I wasn't as close to her as I was her brother. They had the same eyes. Her gaze was darkening to emerald though, probably because of her anger, but I could still find traces of blue.

"I wasn't after your brother."

"You looked pretty cozy over there, talking privately." She emphasized the last word, wrinkling her nose at me. Jesus.

"I was asking him about another guy."

She looked at me warily and backed up a little bit. Progress. "Who?"

"Erm..."

Trish snapped at her. "Why is that any of your business?" Oh, brother.

"I wasn't talking to you, so step off," She turned back to me and seemed to visibly relax. "Who were you asking about? I might know him."

"Madsen?"

Her eyebrows went up. "Madsen?"

"Madsen." I nodded, shifting on my feet. She smiled and it lit up her whole face. Now she really looked like Mason. At first glance they didn't look that similar except for their eyes, but looking at her, I saw they shared the same smile as well. She turned on her heel and walked away then, and I blinked rapidly. Was it a family thing that they didn't know how to say 'good-bye'? No, because that guy David hadn't said 'bye either. Ugh. How rude.