Chapter 3

Blue Eyes

By the time I woke up the next morning, I felt like I had had at least six cups of coffee. I was ready nearly half an hour early and I was starving. I found some chicken strips in the refrigerator and put them into the biggest salad that I've ever made in my entire life. I paced around while I ate, unsure of how to properly work off all of this extra energy. I kept watching the clock. I finished my salad in six minutes but my stomach was still rumbling. Time ticked by slowly as I wondered when I was going to crash from this high.

I fiddled with my phone until it was finally time for me to leave. Picking up an apple on my way out, I told my mom bye before heading to school. All I could think about was seeing Damon change yesterday and the fact that I would be doing that someday. Well, I was thinking about that and the fact that I had been tatted because of a vampire. If I had ever heard anything like this before, I never would've even considered it. In fact, I probably would've rolled my eyes and/or laughed.

I bit into the apple and could feel a difference, but I didn't realize what it was until my tongue brushed against one of my canines. My tooth nearly cut me. I felt my other canines and they even felt a little bit longer. After parking in my usual spot in the school parking lot, I stopped to look at my teeth in the rearview mirror. Both rows looked whiter but they didn't seem like they would be too noticeable.

I smiled and hopped out of my car as quickly as I could considering that my joints were still pretty sore. I looked around once I was through the double doors. At least school hadn't really changed. There were still obnoxiously loud people, people who looked like they could easily fall asleep standing up, people who were rushing to class to make up a test or study, and those people who were just happy to see a new day. The days of simply classifying cliques were nearly over at this school. Cheerleaders hung out with geeks- heck, some of them were geeks themselves- and talked about TV and math. Jocks could be spotted with fellow jocks or the occasional Goth. The possibilities are endless, especially in the off-seasons. Dominic is a perfect example. He's a starter on the football team and he's on the soccer team, but rather than dating the captain of the cheerleading squad or a girl from the soccer team, he dates me. I quit cheerleading after my freshman year and am a complete and total book nerd. But at least now I'm a book nerd that's secretly a werewolf.

"Guess who," I said, holding my hands over Dominic's eyes. He closed his locker and leaned against it as I dropped my hands. It wasn't quite the greeting that I had expected. Worry flooded his eyes.

"How are you feeling? I called you last night and you didn't answer. Did something happen?"

Well other than my quick nightmare, everything was fine. I hardly even remember what it was about. It was cute how he worried though, but according to Damon, he wouldn't have to worry for very long. I wasn't going to be the same, but I was going to be different more physically than mentally.

"I'm fine. I doubt that I'll be disappearing again anytime soon."

That almost seemed to make it worse. I leaned against him and he pulled his arms around my waist.

"You just seem really distant lately. Are we okay?"

Okay, just for the record, caring is cute, confidence is sexy, but insecurity is irritating as heck. A fight was really the last thing I wanted after such a great start to a morning and there were a million mean things swirling in my head. By the time I got to fifteenth bad group of words, I had to keep myself from laughing. Needy is not necessary and I don't have time for it today. Without another word, I slipped out of his grip and started walking to my next class. He called me a few times and finally pulled me back by my hips. He spun me around and put his hands on my shoulders.

"What's wrong? Did I do something?" he asked in a tense whisper. I was debating whether to open my mouth or not. The mean words were still there and they were loud. He stared at me, waiting for my answer.

"No, you haven't done anything, but you're coming dangerously close."

He just searched my face for a second. He looked a little hurt, but my words hadn't been harsh in the slightest in my opinion, especially not in comparison to what I was thinking. He loosened his grip and I started walking to class again. I could feel him watching me, but I didn't turn around. Being honest was for his own good. Besides, it's not like I had broken up with him.

A few hours later, I was parking in my driveway and Damon was waiting for me. I yawned while I stepped out my car. I had burned off most of my extra energy by flying through my work freakishly fast in class. The teachers had been just as shocked as I was when they saw that I had almost all of the right answers. It was so strange. It was like my memory was twice as strong and held four times as much. School has probably never gone by as quickly or as easily as it did today andI told Damon all about it on our way back to the clearing. We sat in the grass and I just rambled on. I leaned back while Damon leaned on his upright knees.

"I felt like such a genius today! Is it normal to be this wired? It's like I chugged energy drinks for breakfast. I don't know what's wrong with me. I've been going this fast almost all day today only worse. I almost bit Dominic's head off today though. That wouldn't have been good."

Damon looked down at me. "Why?"

"He asked me too many questions. He was being paranoid. It was so annoying."

I rubbed my eyes and rolled over. The grass tickled and poked at my fingertips. The pretty, green blades were still moist from the melted snow.

"Maybe we should work on your mood swings," Damon said. I sat up and kicked his foot. He stuck his tongue out at me and I returned the favor.

"Is that really what we're doing today?" I asked. He didn't answer me. He just stared at my arm as if he was trying to figure something out and cupped his hand around his chin. He slowly held his finger out and poked my limb. I jerked my arm back.

"What are you doing?" I asked, holding back a laugh. He looked at me and smiled excitedly.

"Have you noticed your arm?"

"What about it?"

"Feel it."

He was practically bouncing. I stared at him and then at my arm before sliding my fingertips down it. There was way more muscle now than there was just a few days ago. The surprise on my face excited him even more. I really hadn't noticed any of it. They were the same size, there just wasn't any fat.

"Stand up," he whispered putting his hands on his face and putting his elbows on his knees. I shook my head. This was the cousin that I had come to know and love. He was humongous and looked like a steroid- filled wrestler, but that eleven year-old that I used to play with in the backyard was obviously still in him.

"What?" I sounded a bit more surprised than I had meant to.

"Just stand up," He said this in a friendly yet firm way. I stood up. "Now run."

"What? Why?"

"You'll see."

His smile never left his face.

"This is crazy," I argued.

"You're going to have to start trusting my judgment."

I guess he was right. He may be my cousin, but that doesn't change the fact that he's the pack leader…I think? Regardless, I was under him. I sighed and started jogging. There was nothing at first until I felt myself pick up speed. That was when the tingling started. It felt like millions of tiny needles were being poked into my legs at once, but not in the painful way. It was more like…acupuncture. Yea, it felt like acupuncture. It was exhilarating and relaxing at the same time. I paid attention to my surroundings for the first time since I'd started running and everything was a blur.

I slowed myself enough to finally stop and I didn't recognize the area. The tingling was still going strong as Damon appeared beside me.

"Fun, isn't it? I have to admit, you were moving pretty fast for this to just be your first time. Come on, I wanna see how strong you are."

"I can't follow you if I can't see you," I said with a smile. It really had been fun and I was anxious to do it again, but it was scary running blind.

"Just focus your eyes," he said in an almost brotherly tone. "It'll get easier once you get used to it. Just keep your eyes on my shirt for right now, ok?"

I nodded nervously and got myself ready. He started at a jog. I mirrored him. I could practically feel him smile just seconds before he disappeared. I picked up speed and the blur reappeared. I tried to focus only on his navy blue shirt. I sped up and my breathing evened itself out naturally. There he was. He was finally starting to look like an actual person rather than just a blurry spot. I tried to push myself and get closer. The tingling intensified, exciting me.

He was slowing down now. I, on the other hand, wasn't as lucky. I was getting closer and he was beginning to look more and more like Damon with every step I took. He stopped and turned around, crossing his arms. I had barely slowed down at all. The second I got to him, I felt my breath fly out of me. He had stopped me with just his arm and without even taking a step. He took his arms away from my stomach and laughed as I bent over trying to breathe. I glared at him and that only made him laugh even harder.

"We'll work on your brakes later," he said once we were both breathing normally again. Truthfully, he wasn't breathing hard at all. He looked like he had just woken up from a nap. I was the only one wheezing and I'm pretty sure that he had left a mean bruise on my stomach. I stood up straight and saw that he was walking over to his truck. He looked back at me to make sure that I was watching as he knelt down and gripped the front bumper. He steadied himself and raised the truck effortlessly until the front wheels were by his head, with the back still resting on the ground, before putting it back down carefully.

"Your turn." He laughed at the look of shock that I could feel was plastered on my face.

"You expect me to do that?"

"Yeah, I do. It's not as hard as you think. Just relax and let your arms and legs do the work. And I'm here if anything goes wrong. Just think of me as your spotter."

His smirk widened as he said this. This was very much not the same thing as lifting weights. He was talking about picking up this two-ton truck as if it was an everyday thing! He stepped to the side as I walked over to the front. I grabbed the bottom of the bumper and closed my eyes.

"Relax. Take deep breaths and don't think too much about it," he instructed. I tried to do what he said and calmed down. I let my mind wander and all I could see was Dominic. We weren't going to last much longer and it was pretty clear that he knew this. What he didn't realize was that it was his clinginess that was causing the problem between us and that was making him even clingier. I opened my eyes and pushed up. The truck went up quicker than I, and obviously Damon, had expected.

"That was perfect!" he yelled. "Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

"I'm positive," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Well, you're making some insane progress. You might just break my record and change before the end of this week."

I lowered the truck and just kind of collapsed. Not only had I just run faster than a car, but I had just lifted one, well the front of it anyway. Wait, can you define a truck as a car? I've never really been completely sure about that. Well, anyway, how many people can say that they did something like that on a Tuesday afternoon? I lied back onto the itchy blades of green and my nightmare hit me like a kid running full speed into a glass door. My heart was pounding painfully by the time that I had sat up and put my face in my hands. It was so… insane! It was just there. I jumped as I felt Damon's hand on my shoulder.

"What was it?"

Of course he wouldn't be surprised by all of this. How could he be? Any normal person would have thought that I was having a conniption, but no, not my pack leader cousin.

"I think it was something about…imprinting."

He sat down in front of me anxiously. "What did you see?"

"It wasn't much, just these unbelievable grey eyes."

He stared at me and turned his head to the side. "You saw who you're going to imprint with?" he asked in a low voice that was directed more to himself than to me, but I answered him anyway.

"I don't know. I'm still not completely sure on what imprinting is."

"Well, I wouldn't know. None of the guys have imprinted and I probably couldn't give you a good enough description of it even if I had. You might be able to get some answers from your mom though. Surely she's heard something about it over the years."

The last thing I wanted to do was have a serious talk with my mom, especially not with all that she's going through. Any wolf talk could wait. But what about boyfriend talk? I mean, this wasn't just a meaningless crush. I had just had a vision of a guy that would quite possibly change my life forever, he was a complete stranger, and I just celebrated my one-year anniversary a few days ago. So where does all of this leave Dominic?

"And you're sure this guy exists?" I asked, my voice shaking.

"You tell me. You're the one who saw him."

"All I saw was his eyes, but I know that I've never seen him before."

"That might be enough. You said he had grey eyes?"

"Yeah, they didn't look real, like he had contacts or something. They were almost clear, but kind of hazy."

This seemed to mean something to him. He looked away from me and off into the trees.

"You don't know this guy, do you?" I asked. He kept staring at the trees.

"No."

"Yes you do! You're still a horrible liar. Tell me who he is."

He started laughing. "I could be wrong. It's just a guess."

"Tell me, please."

"No ma'am."

"Why not?"

"Imprinting is huge if it actually does happen to you and I'm not going to ruin the moment. Now come on, it's getting late and you're running back."

"Why?"

He smiled. "I told you we were going to practice and I can't just leave my truck here."

"But what if I get lost, or I can't stop…or both?"

"I think you can get it and I'll be able to find you if I have to."

I sighed and stood up while he got into his truck. He started the engine while I started jogging. I let the tingling take over again, but made sure that the world wasn't passing by too quickly. I could feel myself slowly getting used to it. My eyes were adjusting to the wind whipping around me and over me. I looked to the side and saw my house grow smaller and smaller. It only took me a second, but I drove my feet into the snow and stumbled to a stop within walking distance of my yard. I sat on the porch and waited for Damon to drive up and roll down his window.

"See, I knew you could do it. Tell the family that I said goodnight." I glared at him, only slightly out of breath this time. Of course, he didn't even flinch. Damon simply smiled and sped off down the street. Feeling the pain starting to form in my thighs and knees, I trudged my way into the house.

"How did it go?" my mom asked the second I stepped through the door. She had tried to convince me that she was okay with the whole wolf thing, but she had seemed on the verge of a heart attack yesterday when I left and came back with Damon. Truth be told, she didn't seem to have made much improvement tonight either. But I guess that's what happens when you think that your oldest daughter has been murdered. And yes, I did mean to say oldest. My little sister, Crystal, is six years younger than me and recently celebrated her twelfth birthday.

My mom named her Crystal because, unlike the rest of us, she ended up with baby blue eyes that stood out with her copper-colored skin. We have no idea how it happened and mom swears that she never had an affair. Of course, none of us would ever assume that of her anyway. She's the sweetest woman on the face of the earth. But anyway…

"It went fine. Damon thinks that I might change soon."

She tensed but tried to hide it by smiling and hugging me. "That's great baby. Are you excited?"

"Yeah, I am."

That was when Crystal walked in the room in her dark blue jeans that she had gotten from me after I found them in my closet and an old tank top that she only wore around the house.

"Chanelle, are you really turning into a dog, or are we going to have to take you to that special place with the padded walls?"

She smiled at me devilishly. Ah, adolescence.

"No, I'm not going crazy, wanna see?"

She and my mom looked at me with their heads tilted to the side in confusion. I looked around and walked over to the table in the dining room. I didn't really want to show off too much, so I only lifted it 'til all four legs were off of the carpet. I turned my head to the side to see their expressions. It had all happened in a split second, but it felt like minutes to me. My mom was starting to drop and I was there to catch her arm while Crystal was still flinching from the sound of the table colliding with the floor. It was clear that neither one of them had expected me to get there that fast. To be honest, it shocked me too.

I practically carried my mom over to the couch while I could feel my sister still staring at me. Ignoring Crystal, I walked to the kitchen to get my mom a cup of water. Her hands shook as she took it from me. I had never really thought that it was possible, but she was actually pale. She looked down and shook her head.

"Damon didn't tell me about this," she whispered, looking back up at me, "what else is supposed to change?"

The look in her eyes broke my heart, but she would have to find out eventually. I was changing and there was nothing that any of us could do about it. It was in my blood and I had already died once in my lifetime if you still want to call it that. I guess this was, in a way, my afterlife, and I didn't have nearly as much room to screw up as I did before. That was becoming more clear now.

"Nothing else is supposed to change other than the obvious and there's a chance that I saw the guy that I'm supposed to be imprinting with or on or whatever you want to call it. Do you know anything about imprinting?"

"Yes. But it's surely too early to talk about now. Do you know this boy?"

"I'm pretty sure I don't."