Chapter 7

Chloe's POV

After the wolf leaves, my mom and I just sit there, processing everything that had happened in the last few hours.

"Well, that was crazy," I laugh, nervously. My mom stands up and starts cleaning, a sign of her stressing.

"Chloe, what do we do here? Do we tell somebody about this?"

"No!" I yell, startling both me and my mom. "I mean, we can't. I can't explain it Mom, but that wolf... there's something special about her. Telling somebody would only endanger her and possibly us."

"But-"

"She already showed that she won't hurt us. So what's the harm in keeping this quiet? At least for a little while.' We stare at each other until my mom finally gives in.

"You're right. She doesn't give me a bad feeling. Actually, I kind of get the feeling that she wants to protect you."

"Me too,"I whisper. "Me too."

…..

The next day, I go back to school only to walk into a wave of rapid questions before school even starts.

'Where the hell did you go?"Aubrey yells, wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Yeah, it was your second day and you're already missing school. What happened?"Stacie puts a worried hand on my arm.

"You okay?" Cynthia asks, for once not joking. "I thought you died." Never mind.

"Guys. I'm fine. I got sick yesterday so my mom made me stay home from school." They all narrow their eyes at me until they're satisfied with my answer.

"Well, just so you know, you weren't the only one to miss school." Frowning, I glance at Stacie.

"What do you mean?" The pull suddenly tugs at me and I glance toward the parking lot. Beca is walking across and toward us, headphones on, oblivious to the world.

"Beca wasn't here either,"Aubrey practically spits, still not accepting her.

"I wonder why,"I whisper, more to myself than anything.

"Not sure. Nobody ever talks to the other kids in the foster home and they didn't look like they cared that she was gone. Well, other than her friends." Speaking of her friends, Beca's group spots her and run over to her. A annoyed look crosses her face as they all start talking. They're too far for me to hear them though. One girl goes to hug Beca, but she stops her, a flicker of pain crossing her face.

"Ugh, she's such a jerk,"Aubrey comments, causing anger to rise in me.

"Aubrey,"Stacie warns before I can. Nodding guilty, Aubrey doesn't say anything else. I give Stacie a silent thanks and excuse myself. Beca's friends watch as I walk toward them. Before they say anything, Beca turns my way, a big smile spreading on her face.

"Hey." I stop in front of her, noticing how she rocks on her feet a little. Nervous? But why?

"Hey, I heard you weren't here yesterday." I tell her and she nods like she knew this. I frown until she frantically speaks.

"Uh, Yeah. Were you not here?" I shake my head and I have a feeling that's she's putting on an act.

"I didn't feel great. Why weren't you here?" She waits a second too long to answer.

"Just..uh...some stuff to do. I hope we didn't miss too much."

"Yeah, me too,"I say quietly. "Well, I'm going to head to first hour." Before she can offer to walk me, I turn around and speed walk away. Why would she lie to me? Did I judge her wrong? Is she really the bitch everybody thinks she is? Oh god, was Aubrey right? I've only known Aubrey for a little while, but she seems like the person to hold that against you. Beca's got secrets and damn if I'm going to let this "connection" cloud my judgement.

Beca came into first hour just a minute after me and headed directly to me, obviously on a mission for us to talk. Mr. Smith though had other plans and called her out of class. When she came back, she wouldn't look at me but I could've sworn that there were tear tracks on her face. Ignoring my curious side, I listen to the lesson, watching Beca out of the corner of my eye. Occasionally, our eyes meet, sending a shock through my body. Both of us would instantly look away only to repeat the same thing a few minutes later. When the bell rings, I walk out of class, not looking back. It's at lunch that she finally comes over to me. All my friends glare daggers, knowing that I'm not happy with her.

"Um. Could I talk to you for a second, Chloe?"

"Yeah. " I don't move.

"Privately?" Her stormy grey eyes stare at me and I can tell that she's upset. Nodding, I get up and follow Beca out of the cafeteria, ignoring the looks we get. Instead of stopping at the doors, Beca keeps going down the hallway until we get to a set of double doors. Without a word, she holds one open for me and I go in, trying not to be affected by her kindness.

Beca talks to the librarian for a second before bringing me to the very back where nobody is.

"So..um.. this is probably a stupid question but did I do something?" The innocent, pouty expression on her face isn't adorable at all. At least that's what I tell myself.

"Beca, you lied to me."

"About what?" But I can see in her eyes that she knows what I'm talking about.

"About why you weren't here yesterday. Usually I wouldn't care this much but when it comes to you…." Blush covers my cheeks and I look away. The shorter girl places her hand on my arm.

"Chloe, I'm really sorry. It's just...I can't explain it yet. If I did, I'm afraid that shit would hit the fan and there would be nothing I could do. Just let me deal with some stuff first and than I'll tell you everything. I promise." I stare into her eyes and I can see that she's telling the truth. There's a dangerous glint in her eyes, showing me that there's a real threat. What could be so dangerous that she can't even tell me why she was gone from school? Do I want to know?

"Good because I feel-"I stop before I say anything too embarrassing. There's a big chance that this connection I feel with her is one sided, though I don't think so. If it is, I'm not sure I could handle it. This connection is so strong that I would probably break. I almost did after my dad died but this would be different. If she rejected me, I have a feeling that I would be slowly ripped to pieces with no hope of being able to be put back together.

"You feel what?" Beca whispers, something like hope bordering on the edge of her tone. I look down at my feet and plaster a huge smile on my face. My head shoots up as I take a step closer to her. We're so close I can feel her warm breath mingling with mine, sending shivers up and down my spine.

"I feel like we are going to be best friends." Confidence that I thought was lost forever, surges through me, taking control. "We should go. Our friends are probably wondering what's taking us so long."

"Our friends?"

I loop my arm through hers, tugging her out of the library. "Well, of course. My friends are your friends and vice versa. Though, there are some that can't seem to get past your bad girl reputation."

"Oh. My friends just don't trust very easily."

"Okay. So it's our job to tell our friends how great we both are. We can't do that though until we know more about each other."

"And how do you suppose we do that?" Amusement covers Beca's face as she tries to hide her smile. She can't fool me though.

"You can come over to my house after school."

"Real smooth Beale." I smile proudly and we reach the cafeteria. Before going in, I grab my phone and put it in Beca's hand.

"Friends have each other's phone numbers." Beca's response is to quickly enter her number.

"See you later,"Beca says, handing my phone back to me, letting her hand linger on mine. Without another word, she leaves me standing there, speechless and out of breath from the intimate contact. I take a couple of seconds to get my breath back before going in and heading over to my friends. As I walk, I watch Beca. She has on her usual pissed off expression. For some reason, even with her friends, she refuses to smile. With me though, she does freely. I get to see a side of Beca that nobody else does and I'm not sure how to feel about that.

"What was that about?" Aubrey asks, watching me with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

"Oh nothing. We're all good now." She sighs and I can see that it wasn't the answer she was wanting. "Why do you hate her so much?"

"I don't hate her,"Aubrey insists but before I can speak, she continues. "It's just, I don't know her. I've tried talking to her when we were younger and she flat out ignored me. All I've done is try to be friends with her, but for some reason she won't have it."

"Maybe if I talk to her-"

"No, that won't do any good. It just makes it worse because she's taken to you and I don't like it. We've gotten several new people over the years but she's never went out of her way to be friends with them until you."

"She should consider herself lucky,"Stacie interrupts our conversation. I didn't realize how heated we were both getting.

"What do you mean?" I ask since Aubrey seems to be speechless, stumped at the idea that maybe me being friends with Beca isn't such a bad thing.

"Well, Chloe should be honored that Beca seems to have taken to her. There's a reason for it that we don't know and I don't think it's that bad. Anyway, it's up to Chloe on whether or not she wants to be friends with Beca. I believe that Chloe has enough sense on her that she knows how to look out for herself."

"Bu-"Aubrey starts, but Stacie puts her hand over hers, stopping her in her tracks.

"Aubrey, we have to trust Chloe. If we don't, she won't want to be friends with us." Aubrey visibly swallows as she stares at the hand on her own. She nods and Stacie slowly withdraws her hand, like it's the last thing she wants to do.

"Damn, that was intense." Cynthia Rose blurts out. "I think I like you red. Ever since you showed up, it's been a helluva lot more interesting." Taking that as a compliment, I smile. For the next several minutes, I feel eyes practically boring a hole in my back. Glancing over my shoulder, I find Beca's stormy grey eyes watching me. She throws me a small smile and I give her a little wave before being brought back to the conversation.

Cynthia Rose was right about one thing. The moment I got here, everything got interesting and not just for her.