Disclaimer: I own nothing.
AN: From now on I'm shorting Alexa (My OC's friend) to Lexi. There's too many names that began with A and I don't want it to get confusing.
Chapter Eleven
"You what!?" Amy screeched her voice so shrill and harsh it nearly caused the Mai to cover their ears. School had long since ended and the five of them sat at one of the tables in the coffee shop across from Chloe's work. The tension from last year still hung thick in the air and was felt by all.
Alek rolled his eyes at Amy's dramatics, he felt like he was on trial. "For the last bloody time, I asked her out."
Chloe rubbed her temples, "You shouldn't of done that."
He didn't understand why it was such a big deal. They needed to get closer to her and this was their way in. Couldn't they just be thankful? "And why not?"
"We have to get her to trust us. To come to us for help on her own terms. You think I like sitting back and doing nothing? I don't."
Alek scoffed.
"I think what Chloe meant was," Paul spoke up, "you cornered her. A-a-and isn't it dangerous to corner a f-f-frightened animal?" He stuttered as Alek turned his gaze on to him.
"Yeah." Amy agreed squeezing Paul's shoulder, "What if she does something drastic now and it costs her another life?"
"She won't."
"How can you be so sure? We don't know her. We don't know what she's capable of." Amy pointed out.
"She's the Uniter. She's not going-"
"I did." Chloe whispered cutting off Alek.
"She's not you." Alek snapped defensively.
Chloe flinched at his angry glare and looked down at the coffee in her hands.
"Enough." Jasmine commanded, standing up from her seat. "This is not about your issues with each other. This is about protecting Aurelia and we can't do that if you two are constantly at each others throats."
Alek sighed and closed his eyes, breathing deeply he reigned in his anger. "Jasmine is right. I'm sorry." He knew sooner or later he and Chloe would have to make amends but right now their problems weren't important. The fate of all the Mai rested on Aurelia's shoulders and in extension them.
"It's okay."
He noticed Chloe's reply was said meekly and he felt his heart sag in guilt. But she wasn't their top priority anymore. "So what do we do?"
Jasmine sat back down in her seat, "We have to find a way to build her trust."
"Which is going to be hard considering she's a year below us." Paul sipped his coffee unaware of the glares he was getting from the Mai.
"Well," Amy began, "she just made the cheerleading squad. As did Chloe and I."
Jasmine nodded, "Okay. Try and get closer and befriend her. Don't try and force her into anything. She's impulsive, so we need to be extra careful." Everyone nodded in agreement.
~x~
When Alek got to his locker the next day he was surprised to see Aurelia leaning against it. "Well what do I owe the pleasure of your presence this morning, Re."
Aurelia rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the lockers, "Please, there is nothing pleasurable about this and don't call me Re."
"Why not Re?" He smirked as he spun the combination and opened his locker, forcing his books inside.
She took a deep breath, "Can you be serious for like five seconds?"
"I can."
"Will you?" Closing his locker he turned to face her and raised an eyebrow. "Never mind. Don't answer that. I'm not going to the after party with you."
"Ok, so I'll meet you there." Alek smirked and began walking to class, well aware of Aurelia at his heels.
"No."
"No?"
"Yes."
"Yes!"
"No." She grabbed his forearm breaking his stride, "I'm not going to the party with you. I am not meeting you there. And I am not leaving with you. I'm going to hang with my friends. Your going to hang with your friends, though I don't know how you could have any, "Alek opened his mouth to respond but she continued with her rant. "Neither of us will acknowledge the other's presence. Okay?"
Alek took a step closer to her and Aurelia knew he was purposely trying to make her uncomfortable. But instead of taking a step back like she wanted she titled her head so she could look him in the eyes. "How about we make this interesting?"
"And how would we do that?"
"You go to the party with me-" She opened her mouth to retort but he put a hand up stopping her. "Just hear me out." She sighed and crossed her arms looking at him to continue. "We go to the party together and if you can control yourself from shifting like you did in lunch yesterday. Yes I knew your claws came out." He added at the look she gave him and took another step closer and this time she took a step back. "If you can make one night with me without shifting, we'll leave you alone."
She narrowed her eyes at him debating whether or not he was being sincere, "Just like that?"
He spread out his arms, "Just like that."
"And if I lose?"
He smirked and she knew she wasn't going to like his answer. "If you lose you have to let us train you."
"Define train?"
"Teach you how to use and control your new abilities."
"Okay."
Alek blinked in surprise, "Okay? I thought you would've put up more of a fight."
She laughed shifting her weight, "Why would I do that when I know I'm going to win."
"Pride comes before a fall, Re." He warned amusement in his tone.
~x~
She was doodling in the margin of her notebook when the slamming of books on the desk next to her made her jump. She looked up into her friends blue eyes that were always so warm but today were cold. She opened her mouth to ask Bianca what had her so pissed but was interrupted.
"You can't go out with Alek." Bianca said.
She narrowed her eyes at her friends command, there was no secret that Bianca was bossy and demanding. At first meeting she comes off as a bitch, sometimes even Lexi and her would teasing call her the ice queen. But underneath all that she has a sensitive and loving nature. So when Aurelia stared at the emotionless face of her best friend she knew something wasn't right. This was extreme, even for Bianca. "Well it's not like Lexi gave me much of a choice. Anyways why do you care? Do you like Alek?"
Bianca scoffed and slid into the seat beside Aurelia, "Please. As if Alek could meet my standards."
It was Aurelia's turn to scoff, "No man can meet your standards."
"Ha ha ha."
Their teacher's voice interrupted their conversation, "I am handing out a worksheet. You have twenty minutes to finish it. When you receive one pair off."
Aurelia took the papers from the student in front of her, leaving one for herself and passed on the rest. "So if you don't like him why don't you want me to go out with him?"
"There's something not right about him." Bianca elegantly wrote her name on the top of her worksheet.
She glared at her own handwriting, it looked like chicken scratch."Yeah, he's an ass." Bianca snorted. "Yeah that's attractive."
Bianca ignored her, "You said it yourself you don't like him, so why don't you cancel the date?"
Oh, I don't know, maybe because it's the only way I can get him and his band of freaks off my back. But she couldn't tell Bianca that, not without going into detail. "He's the captain of the basketball team." She said it like it was obvious, "He could ruin my reputation before I create one. I don't want to be one of those people whose high school years were hell. Their suppose to be the best years of our lives." They fell into silence, filling out the worksheet Ms. Reed gave them.
Aurelia sighed, "Look, it's just one date. Not a death sentence. It'll be over before we know it."
"Just be careful."
She nodded, confused by the amount of emotion in her friend's voice. "Of course."
~x~
Friday night came quickly and Aurelia was dressed in her skimpy little cheerleading uniform, pom poms in hand cheering as her school's basketball players came out. As her eyes scanned the bleachers she noticed the other two Mai she met the night she 'died'. She could feel the tips of her claws peek out at the thought that they were here because of her, but she forced them back in. Relax she mentally told herself you only have to deal with them for one more night and then they'll leave you alone. You need to be in control. You are in control.
Lexi nudging her shoulder knocked her out of her thoughts, "Chase's next."
She smiled and turned her attention to her brother who came bounding out with a wide smile on his face. "Go Chase!" She could hear her family echo her from their place in the stands. Chase waved at them and winked at her before he joined his teammates. Which unfortunately included Alek who was looking at her with an odd expression. She just smirked in response, "Go Vikings!"
~X~
"I thought our basketball team was suppose to be good." Lexi whispered as they watched the game.
"They are. We're only losing because Alek isn't being a team player." Bianca picked at her manicured nails, "Sure you still want to go out with him?"
Ignoring Bianca's slur she ran her hands through her hair as she watched Alek isolate her brother yet again. It was taking every ounce of self control she had to keep the claws from coming out. Ha, claws, cat pun. She glanced over at Chloe who was looking at the pretty Hispanic girl, who was watching Aurelia. She pursed her lips as an a idea formed in her head. She threw a smirk at the brunette before she leaned over Lexi, "Hey Jessica. Maybe our team needs some encouragement."
The cheer captain smiled brightly, "I think your right. Okay ladies, let's cheer on our team." The squad rose from their seats with pom poms in hand and started to cheer.
Taking a deep breath Aurelia braced herself for what she was about to do, "Go Alek!" She cheered gaining his attention. She felt Bianca's gaze on her, but she ignored it as she forced a smile on her face, "Go Alek!" She cheered louder hoping he'd get the hint and start to play right. He smirked at her before chasing after his teammates. Hopefully she didn't just make things worse.
AN: So sorry it took so long, but did you guys hear that they released the script for TNLOCK movie they were going to make but never did. If not go check it out! Maybe if there's enough positive feedback they'll make it into a movie! Anyways if you have any suggestions on how Aurelia should die next (not that she will be dieing anytime soon) leave it in a message or a review :)