Chapter 2 - Plan Gone Awry

"Maddy. Sweetheart, wake up." Maddy blinked. This time her sleepiness wasn't feigned as she hobbled out of the car and wished her mum goodbye. As she turned and looked at the three-story house with pristine brick and stone siding, she was acutely aware that her mother was still in the car in park, waiting for her to go up and ring the doorbell. Maddy hesitated, trying to find a way out of the humiliation of randomly showing up at someone's door.

It wasn't supposed to go this way. Mum was supposed to drive off right away and then Maddy could have just wandered around for an hour or so before calling her back on the cell to say that they were done studying—a cake walk. Instead…ugh. Maddy called over her shoulder, trying to keep her tone totally nonchalant.

"Jared said he'd meet me in the backyard by the patio. I'll call you when we're done, OK?" She didn't wait for a reply, just hastened over to the wrought-iron side gate that led around to the long, narrow, patch of pampered green grass that was apparently the Aimsley's backyard. Maddy had just decided to wait maybe 30 seconds in the yard to make sure her mum had left when she rounded the corner to the patio.

Expecting to find it empty, instead she saw a lithe and limber Jared Aimsley throw a clean pass to a younger boy at least 40 yards away—American football. The blonde-headed boy dove and caught it, and Jared pumped his fist.

"Nice one Bray!"

He turned to see a slightly disheveled teenage girl gaping at him. Maddy suddenly became more aware of her rumpled school uniform, the one she'd had the temerity to nap in. She felt suddenly awkward and well on the way to becoming fully mortified as Jared sized her up with a confused stare.

"Hi there. Um, can I help you?" The thing about Jared Aimsley—besides his handsome, understated face with soft planes and those liquidy-warm brown eyes—was that he had this effortless aura about him. He just was, somehow. He was the type of guy in school that could do something crazy or even stupid, like put whipped cream on broccoli, eat it and then make everyone else think that somehow it was they who were missing out.

That was the sum of everything Maddy knew about Jared Aimsley from the keen observations of her inner wolf. It wasn't much to go on, but it was enough to create that slight flutter in her chest as she tried to stop staring.

"Hi. Umm… Jared Aimsley, right?" She was buying time, pure and simple.

"Yeah. You're Maddy James. The new girl from Northumbria."

Maddy blushed a little. She still wasn't used to her fake last name. "Um, yes that's me. If you don't mind me asking, how do you know where I'm from? Most people have never heard of Stoneybridge, and I know I never told anyone where it was."

Jared Aimsley shrugged at Maddy, his mouth quirking up just a little. "The town name sounded interesting, so I looked it up. You have to admit, 'Stoneybridge' is kind of distinct and impressive-sounding in its own quaint way. Hey, don't we have sociology and history together too?"

The dark-haired girl nodded, unsure why it was so easy to talk to this boy she didn't even know. She was about to say something else, anything to try to explain this bizarre random showing-up at his place, when the blonde-headed boy walked up to them.

"Who's the new girl? She's hot." The blonde boy yelped as Jared beaned him with another football.

"Ow. What did you do that for?"

"If you have to ask then you deserved it." Jared jerked his chin toward the back door. "Go inside. We're done practicing and I'll not have my little brother embarrass me by opening his mouth again." His easygoing face looked remarkably still as his younger brother scowled and tromped up the patio steps, slamming the door behind him.

"Don't mind, Brayden. Like most 11 year-old boys he can be a bit of an ass."

"Good to know. Definitely could be a much bigger ass, if that's any consolation." Jared grinned at Maddy's gentle humor, and soon she was smiling a little too.

"Look, Jared, I'm really sorry just barging in on you like this. This whole thing is actually really embarrassing."

"What is? You mean why you're here?"

"Yes." The wolfblood girl shifted awkwardly on her feet, suddenly feeling self-conscious as the inner alpha in her cringed and seemed to go dormant. Something broke inside her just then, and maybe it was because Jared seemed so easy to talk to, just one of those people who instinctively gave off that trustworthy vibe. On some level Maddy just felt safe to let go…and so she did.

"Look, I'm here on false pretenses. This was a stupid idea in the first place. I'm a total idiot." Maddy blinked. She felt the tears forming again, damn it, and she angrily swiped them away as she gulped up a shuddering breath. Suddenly Jared was right there, his arm slipping around her waist.

"Sit." He eased her into one of the wicker chairs at the glass patio table, then sat down beside her and put his feet up on the table, lounging as if he didn't have a care in the world. His light brown hair caught the dying rays of the sun like a halo at this angle, and only the intensity of his eyes betrayed how much she intrigued him.

"Can we start over?" he said, his tone curious yet soft. "It's not every day that a random girl wanders into my backyard." His tone brightened. "In fact, it's kind of refreshing. Not to mention, maybe fate wanted it to happen. You're new to Swan Hill and I've grown up here my whole life. You look like someone who could use a friend, and I just happen to have a vacancy. So, Maddy James…what do you say?"

Maddy kept her head half-bowed as she ventured a look up to gauge his expression. He actually seemed genuine.

"I'm not very good at keeping friends," she choked out as a fresh pair of tears slid down her cheeks. She struggled through it now, deciding to just get it out there, her dignity be damned. She told Jared about having to leave Stoneybridge because of the trouble she'd gotten caught up in, telling just enough details so that he wouldn't ask questions while leaving out anything wolfblood-related. When she had finished telling him everything she could, she rubbed her cheeks dry with her sleeves and waited for the inevitable rejection.

Instead she looked up to see that the boy was half-gaping, half-grinning at her. Jared shook his head, whistling loudly.

"You are such a badass, girl. You have that cute innocent look down pat, but you're really a daring thief. I love it!" he grinned, and when Maddy frowned he pretended not to notice, piling on. "So, any other targets? Who are you going to steal bones from next? I'm guessing if Indiana Jones had had a little sister…"

"Stop it," Maddy said, but the gentle teasing in Jared's tone had already disarmed her.

He tugged on her sleeve. "Hey, I know it sucks…being so far away from your friends and the boyfriend you just started dating. That must suck on a whole new order of magnitude, I totally get it. Can I make an observation though?"

Maddy looked up, suspicious. "What?"

"My brother's indelicate pronouncements aside, you're beautiful and smart. I've seen those straight 'A' papers Mr. Haversham hands back to you in sociology. Which gives me an idea, in fact, one of my better ones, and that's saying something because I get those quite often." His eyes gleamed at Maddy as she tried to get over the fact that Jared Aimsley, the Jared Aimsley, had just called her 'beautiful.'

"What kind of idea?"

"Well, here's my proposal. I need someone to help tutor me in sociology. I'm just not feeling it, and Coach is going to be riding my butt if I don't pull up my marks. You help me with studying and in return I make you my for-show girlfriend. Totally platonic here, I mean I know your heart still belongs to this Rhydian guy. The whole arrangement benefits you perfectly though. You'll be instantly popular, my mates will look out for you. I'll stop failing tests. It's a win-win for both of us."

"Whoa. Whoa! Wait a second." Maddy's alpha had just woken up. "First of all, why me? You must have plenty of attractive girls willing to tutor you."

"Not ones who score anywhere nearly as good as you do. Next question." Jared met her disbelieving stare with surprising sureness.

"OK, then question number two is, 'You don't even know me so why would you be willing to do this for me? Really just to up your grades?' I may be the new girl, but new is not synonymous with naïve." The backs of Maddy's hands tingled, just faintly, but it was definite proof. Her inner alpha was clearing out the cobwebs and coming out to play.

"Fair enough." Jared gave her a musing stare. "I didn't want to admit this, but you leave me no other choice. I kind of did notice you the first day you came to class. I kind of wouldn't mind dating you for real, Maddy James. You showing up here is what I call a sign from the gods, from whoever, and I usually don't take those for granted. Fortunately for me I'm also supremely confident and I don't take advantage of people. So…." He gave Maddy an 'I've put all my cards out on the table' shrug.

"So…wait, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, you intrigue me and fate's thrown us together, so why not make the most of it? We'll be pretend boyfriend and girlfriend. I'll get the added bonus of being around a girl who intrigues me, you get the bonus of fitting in here in Swan Hill and having some friends to watch your back." He put out his hands, fingers spread in that gesture of surrender. "If you don't want us to be real boyfriend and girlfriend, I'm cool with that. I've dated dozens of girls, it's not like my heart's some delicate snowflake. We'll do this thing only if you want to, and only at your pace, with your rules."

Maddy's eyebrows arched as the gist of it all sunk home. She folded her arms across her chest. "If I didn't know better I'd say that you're proposing this odd arrangement not just out of pragmatism, but probably even more out of sheer boredom." Swan Hill was not exactly a happening place.

Jared leaned over, prying Maddy's wrist loose and bringing the back of her hand slowly to his lips as if he was mimicking some Shakespearean suitor.

"The ball's in your court, not mine. Maybe I'm a scoundrel. Maybe you're a thief. Maybe that makes us a perfect match." Maddy could see the laughter in his eyes. How could he joke so effortlessly with someone he barely knew? That made him a mystery she wanted to get to know more, she had to admit. Even her inner wolf found this odd human boy to be worth studying a bit more closely.

Abruptly Maddy's other hand shot out. "Shake on it?"

Jared's smile broadened, but behind his whole easygoing persona a tiny thought wheedled at the back of Maddy's mind.

Why is it that I have this feeling I'm not the only one harboring secrets?