Chapter 17 Back

Cathryn's POV

Okay. You want to know the scoop? The one thing I that I absolutely can't do no matter how hard I try?

Its hold a grudge.

I mean, it wasn't as if they didn't fully deserve it. They lied to me for almost a year. And not some dinky little thing like a girlfriend or whatever. They lied about their species, for crying out loud. And when I finally did find out, it was an accident. Who knows how long they would have kept me in the dark? Forever? Probably.

And then there was the whole matter of my safety. Those wolves were huge. Bigger than bears. Not exaggerating. They could rip me to shreds in a second. And they wouldn't have any control over it. According to Embry's legends, they phase when they lose their temper. I tended to have that effect on people. Although this wouldn't be the first time he'd lied to me.

But, for some reason, I couldn't stay mad at them. Truly. I wasn't that upset. That didn't mean I was going to end my silent treatment, but it definitely made it harder. That, and the fact that it was lunch time and I had nobody to eat with. So what I did was, I walked out of the middle school and skateboarded over to the High School, like usual. Only not really because Drew wasn't there to give me pointers and let me know when I'm doing something wrong that could cause me to fall. Needless to say that my jeans were quite a bit ripped up by the time I got there.

This was where I got stuck. Obviously, I couldn't go in. So I resigned myself to walking around the block all dejectedly, dragging the skateboard behind me. Pathetic, right? If you had been there, you so would have seen me and thought that I was homeless or something.

At least, that's what the guys in the parking lot seemed to think.

There were about six of them, all hanging around this huge van that made Embry's truck look clean and shiny. They were smoking, too. Isn't that weird? I always thought you only saw stuff like that in movies. You'd think that the teachers would have caught them.

Anyway, one of them saw me. "Hey," He crowed. He made a beckoning gesture with his badly groomed head.

I know, I know. I fully should have been all, "Thanks, but no thanks". I should have turned around and walked away, back to the middle school or into the high school where I would have made up with Keilly and Seth and Brady and the rest of them. That's what a smart person would have done.

But when have I ever claimed to be smart?

I shuffled over, head down. The one that had called me over held up a beer. "Want one?" He asked.

Be proud of me. I made the right choice that time. "No thanks," I muttered. He shrugged and put it back.

My rejection got one of the guy's attention. He had curly dark hair and lighter skin than the average Native American. He also had a sprinkling of freckles over his nose, and bright blue eyes. Probably only half Indian. He was handsome in a funky, exotic way. He looked up and flashed me a smile. "Hey," He drawled. "I'm Hart."

"Cat," I responded, smiling back uncertainly.

Other than Hart and the other guy, they didn't take too much notice of me. Just went about what they'd been doing before. They were different from what I was used to, but for some unknown reason, I enjoyed it. I listened intently to all the crap that every one said, trying to distinguish the difference in personalities and attitude. I said some thing whenever I could get a word in. Not anywhere near as natural as with the wolves, but bearable.

I was stranded. At school. Stuck at my crappy school with virtually nothing to rescue me. There was no way Embry was coming to pick me up, and even if he was I probably wouldn't ride with him. Nope. The prospect of walking home or sleeping on a cafeteria table was much more welcoming to me than trying to get a ride from Lizzie or Embry or any of the others.

I leaned against the flagpole, trying to look less dumb than I felt.

"Uh…Cathryn, right?" A finger tapped my shoulder.

I spun around. It was Hart, smirking slightly with his hands in his pockets. He sounded and looked a lot less wasted than he had earlier. "Need a ride?" He asked me, smirk still in place.

"Um," I bit my lip, not sure how to put my strange request. "Sure. But could you, like, not take me home?" I'd spent half the month trapped at the stupid place, and I did not look forward to going back.

"I'll take you to my place," He promised, asking no questions.

Chapter !9 Sketchy

Cathryn's POV

Hart lived in a small house just down the road from the store that Embry's mom owned.

The thing of it was that he didn't act like it was his home. He walked in head down, shoulders tensed. You know. Wary. It was odd. Once we were in, though, he relaxed. "Hey, mom." He said, nodding towards the lady on the computer. She looked kind of like him. They had the same eyes and freckles and curls, only hers were blonde. She might have been pretty once, but not any more. Her face was etched with worry lines, her shoulders hunched forward, as if braced for a battle. The same way Hart had been when he first walked in.

Hart lead me into his room. The first word that crossed my mind was…clean.

Because that's what it was. So perfect, and fresh, and freaking clean! It was the kind of room that drove me insane. I hated clean. It made me want to pin my arms to my sides, stand up straight, and not move. It wasn't comfortable. Not lived in. Not homey. Good Grief. Who had done this? His mother? Surely she wasn't that crazy….

Hart sat down on the bed, smoothing out a wrinkle in the spread. Ugh. Not his mother. Him. "So you're in middle school?" He asked me a little condescendingly.

"Yes," I sniffed, flopping down on his bed and purposely messing it up. "Got a problem with it?"

He smiled. "Naw," he said, sneakily placing a hand on my thigh. "I'm good."

I stared at him for a moment, not entirely sure how to react. I didn't like the way he was looking at me. Nor did I like the way he'd said the word naw. Slurred. Maybe he was less sober than I'd thought?

Suddenly, a loud bang made us both jump. "I CALLED LIKE NINE TIMES!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL BACK? HUH, BITCH?!" A man's voice bellowed. His voice was slurred too, like Hart's.

"Shit." Hart whispered. "Dad."

"What?" I jumped up. "That's you're father?" But he didn't seem to notice me.

Another thud came from the house, this time mingled with a woman's cries. The color drained from Hart's face. He stood up and walked slowly down the hall. The battle pose was back. I started to follow him, but he stopped about halfway down, and turned around, facing me.

"You," He said, looking down at me. He looked sort of dazed, confused. Like he'd forgotten I was there.

"Me." I replied.

"Stay here." He told me.

"No." I said, crossing my arms. I wanted to know what the crap was going on. Although I was already pretty sure.

He put his hands firmly on my shoulders. "Stay here." He repeated, glaring at me.

Something in his voice made me, for once, do what I was told. I went back into his room and waited impatiently for him to return. I started hearing the yelling again. "GET OFF HER!" This voice was familiar. Hart.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA TELL ME WHAT TO DO, BOY?! LEARN YOU'RE GODDAMN PLACE!!!"

I heard several more thuds, these shaking the house. I cringed. A few seconds later, Hart came stumbling back in, falling apart before my eyes. He was cradling his shoulder. One side of his face was already beginning to swell. He looked terrible.

It was a second before he noticed me, staring up at him in shock. "You-I should take you home," He muttered. He fumbled around the dresser for his keys. His hands shook.

I stood up and walked over to him and put a hand on his good shoulder. "Leave me alone," He murmured, cringing away from me a little. However, my brief bout of obedience was long gone. I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him into a tight hug.

At first he was still. Surprised. But after a moment he relaxed against me, burying his face in my hair.

Chapter 20

From that day on, Hart and I were together. Like, together together. Every day at lunch we'd either eat with his friends or he'd take me over to McDonald's or someplace and we'd eat alone. I was in heaven. Or as close to heaven as possible. What with the issues with the werewolves and my lack of ability to drive my beautiful Jewel-that's what I'd named my car- I obviously wasn't as happy as I could have been.

But ….

Okay. I have a confession. I've never had a boyfriend. Which I don't guess is a huge deal, since I'm only thirteen. And it isn't as if I'm an ogre or anything. I don't look that bad. I mean, I'm not pretty, by any means, but I'm not fat or scared or covered in zits or cursed with incredibly frizzy hair or have some kind of hideous deformity or anything. I'm…decent looking. Guys have liked me before. Not a whole lot of guys, but still.

Only I didn't like anybody back. Back in Florida, I was in honor's Math and English, and I lived in one of the nicer neighborhoods. The only guys I had to choose from were either total geeks or arrogant idiots. Neither were particularly appealing.

So I wasn't exactly sure how these things worked. I just went along with him, not paying attention and letting him lead. He seemed to enjoy this. We had a pretty set schedule by February. He'd pick me up, and take me to school, I'd skateboard over to the high school during lunch-carefully avoiding Drew- and meet him in the parking lot. He'd take me home from school once it was over, then call that night. And, you know, we'd hang out at the beach and go to the movies and stuff.

I was settling into my new life pretty well, in my opinion. I didn't speak to my old friends anymore, not even Leslie too much. I didn't think about them. Never said a word about them to Hart. It was like they'd never been a part of my life.

However, I couldn't ignore my gleaming Porsche, sitting all alone in the garage. It was like it was calling to me. Cathryn, Cathryn, Drive me. It would beckon. Sitting day after day in Hart's clanky van that smelled like liquor and moldy pizza had quickly gotten old. I wanted speed. I wanted beauty. I wanted to be able to breathe without gagging.

It was one Saturday during which Hart was not there to keep me occupied that I finally cracked. Age was just a number, right? But I knew that there was no way Mark would teach me to drive. He'd been convinced that I'd joined a gang ever since he'd met Hart. And Lizzie could hardly drive herself, let alone teach someone else. So I broke the one rule I'd ever made for myself.

I remembered the wolves.

Embry's car may not have been mint, but it had run well. Fast. Good mileage. The brakes worked, and stuff. He had known cars. But I didn't want to talk to him. We'd been too close. There was no way I could just show up and demand he teach me how to drive. He'd want an explanation, if anything. One that I didn't feel like giving.

But there were others. Jacob in particular, I knew, was a good mechanic. According to Embry, he was working at Dowling's as the Assistant manager. The actual owner was getting up there in years, and when he died, Jacob would get the business.

So after much begging from my part and much complaining on Lizzie's, I was being driven to Dowling's by a very grumpy stepsister.

"I don't understand you," Lizzie ranted as we turned a corner. "I mean, the Porsche obviously runs. You aren't even going to use the stupid thing for another three years." She sped up, demonstrating my car's awesomeness. " It's so dumb. And then it comes around to me. You're so selfish."

She kept up a steady stream of similar talk until we got there. Then she saw Jacob.

"My God." She said softly, star struck. "What's with you and all these hot friends?"

Rolled my eyes. "Jake!" I yelled.

He'd been leaning against a SUV and talking adamantly with its owner when I'd gotten there, but as soon as he heard my voice, he'd walked over, a huge smile on his face. I didn't get that. For one thing, he should hate me. Or at least be a little wary. For another, even if he had nothing against me, he shouldn't look so darned happy. Or relieved. It didn't add up.

I swear, these mythical creatures are just so hard to understand.

He loped over, still grinning. "Hey," He said, looking at my car appreciatively. "Nice ride."

"Yeah. Whatever." I said impatiently. "I need you to teach me how to drive it."

He snorted. "Sure, sure." He said. "How old are you? Six?"

"Close." I crossed my arms. "I'll pay you."

"You can't pay me." He said flatly. "You're a kid."

Hey. It wasn't a no. "So you'll do it?" I asked hopefully.

"I never said that."

"Sure, sure." I retorted.

He stared at me for a moment, eyebrows furrowed. "What," He said finally. "You don't have a problem with a monster touching your car?"

I flinched.

He smirked.

"Look," I said slowly, carefully. "It's not because of what they are. I just don't like them lying about it."

"Right," He snorted. "Like Em-Seth's going to walk up to you one random day and be all 'hey, I'm a werewolf'?"

"Obviously not." I snapped. "But they could have told me at some point. I mean, how long were you guys planning on keeping this a secret from me? Forever?"

Jacob bit his lip, but said nothing.

"Then why did they even talk to me?" I pressed. "If I was nothing but some ignorant human?"

"I'll do it." He said abruptly.

"Do what?"

"The car. I'll teach you how to drive."

"Serious?" I squealed, sounding like Lizzie. "Thanks so much!" I threw my arms around him. He was very, very warm.

"Hey, what's with the heat?" I asked, pulling away. "Wolf thing?"

"Uh, yeah." He said, looking uncomfortable.

"And the height? The muscles?"

"Those too. Here's the deal though, about the car." He said, changing the subject. "We can't talk about what I am."

I raised my eyebrows, surprised. "Why not?" I asked.

He looked away, and murmured something that sounded like, "It's not my place to tell you."

I stared at him, bewildered. "What the crap is that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"Like I said. It's not my place."

"But-"

"Hey! We aren't talking about this, remember? Or maybe you don't want to learn how to-"

"Fine! Fine. I'm shutting up now." I assured him.