Chapter 13

Time started going by pretty quick after the whole Brady fiasco. September finally ended and then October came and went with nothing out of the ordinary. November passed pretty quick with December following its trail. The holidays came and I celebrated with my family and my new extended wolf-family.

Seth and I have been great. We've gone on 'real' dates practically every Friday night and when we're not on official dates, we're hanging out together with the pack or our main group of Kat, Brady and Collin. He's been amazing to me and I can't believe I waited so long to be with him. Everything is so natural with him. He bought me a necklace for Christmas that had a heart on the chain with our initials engraved on the back. It was simple and beautiful and I never take it off.

Kat and I hangout alone more now that the boys sometimes have patrol or meetings and we'd rather not sit alone waiting for them. We take turns hosting movie night at each other' houses. We invite the other imprints but they don't always come. It's understandable, they're older than us anyway.

Brady's been on a bunch of dates with a bunch of random girls since that day back in September and I know it's his way of coping with being single surrounded by so many couples now. I wished I could help him find a girl to settle with but he refused since he's convinced he's going to imprint one of these days. I really hope he's right.

Things weren't as awkward with Brady as I thought they might be. I had gone to talk to him about it back in October one day.

FLASHBACK

"Hey can we talk?" I asked, knocking on Brady and Collin's open bedroom door. They shared a bedroom since they wanted to turn the third bedroom into a music studio. They kept their instruments and music stuff in that room and it was honestly one of my favorite places to go and hangout. Their bedroom was big with a giant window in the middle of the wall across from the door that overlooked the backyard. Their beds were on opposite sides of the window. It was the perfect set up for the two of them.

Brady was strumming a guitar and Collin was tossing a basketball in the air above him as he laid on his bed.

"Yea, what's up?" Brady sat up and made room on his bed for me. I plopped down next to him and turned to Collin.

"Don't you have to go pee?" I asked, hinting I wanted some privacy. Collin sat up and looked at me like I was crazy.

"You know I can hear you down the hall just as clear as I can hear you in here, right?"

"Yes but I'll feel better thinking I have privacy." I smiled sweetly. Collin rolled his eyes but got up.

"Oh wow, I have to pee! I'll be right back guys!" he said sarcastically, hooking his right arm in a 'golly-gee' type of manner. Brady laughed as Collin closed the door and turned to look at me.

"If you're here-"

"Did you mean it?" I cut him off, not letting him change the topic.

"What?"

"Did you mean what you said to me back on my front lawn last week?" I repeated with more details. He sighed and put his guitar on the floor.

"Look Stevie, I really don't think-"

"Just answer the damn question Bra-"

"Yes. I meant everything I said. Everything I said about my feelings for you were true." He said matter-of-factly. I nodded my head slowly. I don't know why I was surprised by his words, I knew he had meant everything. For some reason, I needed the confirmation though. "However, I also meant what I said when I told you and Seth that I knew it would reveal your true feelings for Seth. I knew you were in love with him and so did you, you just needed help seeing that no one else is going to feel right for you. Sucks it had to be me but… I didn't mind taking one for the team." He winked at me and I laughed.

"Thanks Brady." I mumbled after a few moments of silence. He looked up at me confused. "For putting yourself out there just for me to find happiness. You don't know how much I really appreciated it." He gave me a small smile.

"Isn't that what best friends are for?" he asked. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a big hug. I hugged him back and just relaxed in the knowledge that maybe my little messed up group of friends would be alright afterall..

END FLASHBACK

We both act like nothing happened now and the moment never came up in conversation again. The wolves don't even make jokes about it because they know how much it pisses off Seth and how awkward it makes things. Apparently kissing your wolf-brother's imprint is a pretty ballsy but serious move.

It was now the end of January and midterms had just finished up last week. The weather was finally feeling like Winter and there was snow on the ground all the time. It made me glad that Seth was so warm because walking to school wasn't as crappy as it usually was in the Winter. He wraps an arm around me and I'm good for the entire walk.

"Did you hear about that new family moving in down the road? Jake said they were only a few houses down I think." Seth mentioned one Tuesday morning on our walk to school. His arm was wrapped tightly around me and my head rested on his shoulder as we walked.

"Yea, it's a family of three right? Mom, dad, and daughter?" My mom had mentioned something about it to me the other day but I was only half-paying attention. I was focused more on watching DJ shove an entire pbj sandwich into his mouth in one bite. I had told him I didn't think he could do it and, against my mom's wishes, he proved he could.

Turns out my parents knew about the wolves and the fact that DJ was one. My dad had been there when DJ first phased and since him and my mom are so close with the Clearwater's, Sue didn't disagree when my dad suggested telling my mom about the secret. My mom is still a bit nervous about it all, though, because it means her son is out there fighting vampires. It doesn't help that DJ and I mess around with all the cool wolf perks he has when were home together. For example, one night during family dinner, DJ and I had been arguing about how I wanted to spend Christmas with our family but he had wanted to spend it with the wolves and I had gotten so mad at him that I accidently stabbed my fork down on his hand instead of the table. My mom had started shrieking that I "hurt her baby" but DJ just laughed and inspected his hand and the fact that it didn't hurt. I was too shocked and disgusted to be upset so I watched in awe as he easily pulled the fork out and saw the holes quickly close up, as if nothing had ever been there. Woah was all I could say.

"Yup. I think the daughter is our age. My mom went to welcome them yesterday evening but I was on patrol by the time she came back."

"I wonder if she'll be in school today." I thought out loud as we walked through the parking lot of school. Brady and Collin were leaning against Brady's jeep both with a coffee while Kat was quietly reading a book next to them.

"Hey guys!" I said to them. They nodded a hello and went back to their conversation.

"Jake was pissed but I think Paul apologized and they're all good now." Collin chuckled. I looked up to see Seth holding back a laugh as well and I raised my eyebrow in question to what they were talking about.

"Jake and Paul were on patrol yesterday and Paul was thinking…. inappropriately about Rachel." Collin laughed. Rachel was Paul's imprint but also Jake's older sister. I could only imagine what Paul had been thinking about.

"C'mon, we're gonna be late to class." I said, turning to give Seth a kiss goodbye and grabbing Brady's arm to pull him to Music.

"I hear there's a new girl in school today." He said scanning the halls. I nodded but didn't say anything, turning the corner and entering the classroom.

My mind was more focused on the assignment that was due for this class next week. We had to have a fully completed song written along with music to perform for the class next Monday. It's our midterm that was pushed back because Mrs. Miller wanted us to spend last week focusing more on studying for actual tests during our midterms week. I had a tune in my head with lyrics I liked but I couldn't find a way to string it all together with a guitar.

Do you remember / The 28th night of September? / Love was changin' the minds of pretenders / While chasin' the clouds away. I hummed the lyrics quietly to myself, trying to match up my tune at the correct part-

"Anybody in there?" Brady knocked on my head, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"What's got you all in a daze this morning?" Brady took a sip of his coffee, raising an eyebrow at me.

"We have that huge assignment due next week and I'm stressing over finding a tune for a song I have."

"Wanna go show me what you got so far? Maybe I can help." We stood up and walked to the back by the guitars because we knew we had free time in class again. I sat across from Brady with a guitar and read aloud some of the lyrics I had along with the tune I had for it in my head.

"Do you remember. The 28th night of September. Love was changin' the minds of pretenders. While chasin' the clouds away. Our hearts were ringin'. In the key that our souls were singin'. As we danced in the night, remember. How the stars stole the night away." He sat there and thought for a while, fiddling with his guitar.

"Here, try singing it again a little slower." He started strumming and I sand my lyrics aloud again. His music matched up nicely but gave me an idea for an even better tune.

"Okay, you play that again and I'm gonna play over you." We both started strumming and I began to sing again.

"Do you remember

The 28th night of September

Love was changin' the minds of pretenders

While chasin' the clouds away.

Our hearts were ringin'

In the key that our souls were singin'.

As we danced in the night, remember,

How the stars stole the night away."

Brady stopped playing but I kept going and added in the chorus.

"Ahh-ahh-ahh

Hey, say that you remember

Ai, ai, dancin' in September

Ai, ai, never was a cloudy day."

Brady smiled at me as I happily started writing down the chords I played so I wouldn't forget. I finally found the right music to go with this song.

"Thank you so much!" I hugged Brady and he chuckled.

"I'm glad I could help. The 28th night or September, that's the day when…" he trailed off, remembering exactly what happened that day. Remembering when he kissed me.

"It's the day Seth and I finally got together. That's what the song is about." I told him so he wouldn't get the wrong idea of what I was writing about. He nodded but didn't comment. Class passed by quickly after that and soon we were walking down the hall to our next class. Ahead of us was a girl who seemed to be struggling with all of her books. She had long wavy blonde hair that was pulled back into a messy half-up/half-down do and looked to be on the paler side so I assumed she was the new girl Seth had mentioned this morning. I was about to point her out to Brady but she had suddenly dropped her books all over the hallway. Both Brady and I ran to help her.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't realize how heavy they would all be." She laughed nervously, clearly embarrassed.

"It's not a prob-" Brady began to hand her back her things but stopped mid-sentence. I looked over to see why and found him staring at her. She looked a little uncomfortable so I nudged him to snap him out of it. He immediately grabbed the books to his chest and reached his hand out to help her stand up.

"I'm Brady…" He said, shaking her hand and giving her a small smile.

"I'm Juliana." She said quietly, blushing at his intense gaze. I felt almost intrusive standing here watching Brady talk to her. I knew he must've imprinted, the way he was staring at her was so intense and already full of love.

"Juliana…" Brady repeated quietly, giving her another one of his dashing smiles. I waited to see if he was going to introduce me and when it became evident that he completely forgot I was even here, I jumped in.

"Hi, I'm Stevie." I said, holding my hand up to shake hers. She smiled and released Brady's hand to shake mine.

"Juliana." I took her in- she was a tall girl, with a slight build and fair skin. Her hair was bright blonde and her eyes were a piercing green. She was very pretty. She was wearing tight dark jeans with a beautiful pair of grey heeled boots. She had a tan cardigan over a white tank top that seemed simple yet elegant. It was a perfect outfit choice for her first day of school, I was impressed. Her and I are probably gonna get along pretty well I thought to myself. I realized I had been staring and cleared my throat, giving her a smile.

"Please ignore my friend over here, he's not used to talking to girls." I said, pointing to Brady who was still staring at the poor girl. She laughed and grabbed her books back that I had helped pick up. "Brady, stop being a creep and get to class. You can talk to her at lunch." I said, lightly shoving his shoulder. He snapped out of it and shot me a glare before turning back to Juliana.

"Do you wanna sit with us at lunch? We sit at the back table with a few other friends you can meet!" Brady asked her.

"Um, sure! I'd love to have people to sit with on my first day." She laughed and Brady's smile grew bigger.

"Dude you're gonna be late again and Daniels is gonna kill you." I told him. He rolled his eyes but began to back away towards his class.

"I'll see you at lunch Juliana." He gave her a smile and waved goodbye. "Later Stevie!" He yelled to me as he jogged down the hall. I laughed and turned to Juliana.

"I promise he's not always that weird." I told her, defending Brady's staring.

"He wasn't that weird." She giggled. "He was actually kinda cute." I smiled but rolled my eyes.

"Eh, he's alright."

"Are you guys…"

"No, no, no, no. He's my best friend." I laughed as we began walking down the hall. "I'm dating our other best friend, Seth Clearwater. You can go for Brady, just stay away from my Seth." She laughed but nodded her head.

"Is this the way towards Advanced Math with Ms. Andrews?"

"Yup! That's actually where I'm heading to now so you can just follow me." We walked into the room and I showed her the empty seat next to me. Maybe math won't be as boring anymore if we're in it together- once she knows the secret, that is.

Class was uneventful and I couldn't talk to Juliana much due to Andrews going through the notes too quickly. We agreed to meet at my locker after our next class so that I could show her the way to the cafeteria.

I walked to my locker after Science and smiled when I saw Seth leaning against it, waiting for me. He smiled when he looked up and saw me coming.

"Hey." He said, leaning down to kiss my cheek. I giggled and turned my head so that I could kiss his lips. He smiled but didn't object.

"Alright alright, let's keep the PDA to a minimum." Brady walked up to us with a few books in his hands. I rolled my eyes and went to pull away from Seth but he grabbed my waist and pulled me closer so I could lean against his body. Brady rolled his eyes but looked around the hallway. "Where is she? I know she's meeting you here…" he trailed off when he saw Juliana walking down the hall. Seth was about to ask who he was talking about and I mouthed imprint to let him know what was going on. He nodded and turned to see who the girl was.

"Hi Juliana!" Brady gave her a big smile and she waved at all of us.

"Hi guys!"

"Hey, I'm Seth." Seth reached out to shake her hand.

"Ah yes, Stevie's Seth." She laughed and I blushed, looking down at my suddenly interesting shoes.

"I guess so." Seth chuckled, pulling me closer and kissing my head.

"How's your first day going so far?" I asked Juliana, changing the subject.

"So far so good! My classes are all pretty easy thankfully and since midterms just passed, I'm not too behind on the new stuff."

"I can help catch you up on anything you're behind in if you wanted." Brady offered, taking a step closer to the girl. He seemed so nervous around her and it was weird because it was so unlike Brady. He was always cool and collected around girls and never seemed nervous or scared by them. It's amazing how much the imprint affects the boys.

"We should probably get to lunch." Seth said, making me check my phone to see we've already missed ten minutes of the period. We all nodded and began to walk towards the cafeteria. Seth caught my arm and pulled me back.

"Let's give them some space, I wanted to go eat alone outside anyway." He gave me a smile that he knew I couldn't say no to. I gave him a peck on the cheek and led the way to one of the side doors.