Chapter 3

The girl that I had picked a fight with at the movie theater was named Candace, and she was, in fact, the elder sister to Marie. This was a fact that I found out when I arrived at school on Monday morning. Marie and her best friend Ashley were giggling back and forth at their seats, watching and waiting for me to walk into the classroom. When I did, the two of them nearly tackled each other to approach me.

"Oh my God" Ashley started

"Oh, my God!" Marie continued.

"Oh… My God?" I was confused, brushing past the two of them to take my seat at the front of the class. I originally only sat in the front of the class so that I would have better access to the exit, but I soon realized that I may have needed glasses.

"Oh my God, I can't believe you made my sister's boyfriend break up with her." I blinked a couple of times and let out a couple of nervous scoffs. I thought back to the theater incident, which was something I really wanted to put behind me. Luckily my mother didn't find out about it, but I had been anxious all weekend.

"What do you mean?" I sat down at my desk and pulled out my lilac notebook. Marie leaned against my desk and did this really high pitch giggle.

"Oh my God, she doesn't even know."

"She doesn't even know…" Ashley chimed in.

"What the fuck don't I know?" I was getting tired of their little back and forth. I glared at the two of them and Ashely shrugged.

"Okay, so basically_"

"Ugh, it's my sister Ash. So basically my sister has been pining after this really popular guy named Gabriel for like a whole year. He is apparently mega-hot and super rich too. His dad is like the head of the Reservation Council or something and his mother is like a famous photographer." I thought about the guy at the theater. I guess he was pretty cute.

"Okay…. and ?"

"Weeeeeell, he is the Golden Boy of Forks high and every girl wants to be with him. My sister finally started dating him like the last week of summer when they, like, hooked up at a beach party and this was their first official date!" I sucked in my cheeks and lifted my eyebrows.

"How do you know all this?"

"Oh, her sister talks on the phone super loud. We know everything about her."

"Ah"

"And apparently he didn't like the tone she took with you when you guys were arguing over the seats in the theater. He wasn't paying attention to her all throughout the date and when she tried to offer him blow in the car he declined and dropped her off instead." My eyes widened.

"Okay, two things. First, you mean blow as in the drug… Right?" Marie and Ashely both shook their heads slowly and I held my breath.

"That's… so gross…"

"I mean, sometimes you have to blow to keep a guy_"

"Ashley, stop acting like you've ever even seen a guy naked, let alone give a blowjob." Marie rolled her brown eyes and flicked her hair in a similar manner to her sister. I noticed the teacher walking into the room.

"Okay, grossness aside, can we please get to the part where it's my fault that you sister got dumped?" The teacher, Mr. West, cleared his throat and pointed for Marie and Ashley to get back to their seats. I groaned, knowing that this conversation was now going to be stretched out.

"Oh, well, I guess we'll just have to finish this up at lunch!" Marie and Ashley giggled and walked back to their desks, leaving me wanting to bang my head against the wooden desk. This was bad. I had wanted to stay away from everyone and out of the limelight, but of course I had to go and ruin that for myself.

I was antsy by the time lunch had rolled around.I pushed past the other kids in the too narrow hallways and walked into the rather large lunchroom. Typically, I skipped lunch. Back when I was living in New York, my dad would pack our lunches and I would sit with my cousin and her best friend Jinx, but ever since I moved here, I would just sit in the library.

I scanned the lunchroom until my eyes landed on a pale green table in the back of the lunchroom. Marie and Ashley were sitting alone, which I found odd. The two of them pranced around as if they were the Queens of Sheba, but thinking back on it… I had never actually seen them hanging out with anyone else.

I made my way over to them and sat down on the hard green stool across from the two of them. They were both playing on their identical pink phones, not really noticing that I had sat down.

"So, are we gonna finish the sister story?" Marie looked up, blinking slowly. She kind of reminded me of a meerkat; a stiff back with large, dark, unblinking eyes.

"Oh, you actually came!" Ashley clapped her hands a little and set down her phone.

"Where is your lunch?" I held up my hand and shook my head.

"I'm not hungry, now can we_"

"Can you not afford it? Oh my God, that's so sad. I have like a five in my bag_"

"I have some money on my account if you wanna just use that_"

"No-No" The two of them often spoke at the same time, creating a jumbled mesh of words that ended up having the same meaning. "No, I'm just not hungry. Now can we please get on with the story?"

Marie nodded her head, and took a bite out of her ham sandwich.

"Okay, so where were we? Did we already discuss the blow?"

"Yeah, Ellie thought we were talking about drugs."

"Gross, drugs are so bad for you."

"I know right, I have an aunt that lives in Vegas, and my mom says that she's nothing but a crack whore_"

"Okay, can we just get back on topic please?" The two of them looked at me, then burst out into small giggles. Marie placed her hand over her mouth and kept it there until she composed herself.

"Fine, so my sister calls her friend Erin on Friday night after she got home from her date and she was totally freaking out. Apparently she was expecting for something to happen in the car and it totally didn't." Ashley nodded her head, and began to drink some of her apple juice. "She waited all weekend for him to call her back and when he finally did on Sunday_"

"He told her it was over. He said that she was 'too high maintenance' for a fling." My leg was bouncing up and down, and my brows lifted in confusion.

"I still have no clue what I did. It just sounds like, and no offense, you sister is a mega-bitch." Marie laughed louder, her hand flying to her mouth on instinct.

"She is! Oh my God, that's why we were so happy to find out you ruined her chances at dating Gabe."

"Okay, but how did I ruin her chances?" Getting information from out of the two of them was like pulling out teeth. "Please, for the love of all things."

"Well she immediately called Erin over and the two of them were screaming and crying over the whole situation. Candace swears on our grandmothers grave that if she, and I quote, 'Never fucking ran into the bratty little middle schooler with the nasty attitude' she would have been able to have sex with Gabe." I chuckled a little. When Marie quoted her sister, she rolled her eyes into the back of her head and took on a much higher and pitchy voice.

"And so Marie called me, and we talked about it for a little bit. We both came to the conclusion that it must have been you. Marie and Candace know like, everyone, and you have kind of a bad attitude." I shrugged my shoulders.

"That's… fair, I guess." I hadn't really given the two of them the time of day, and I hadn't really talked to anyone. I was actually surprised by the two of them. They, although very mouthy and kinda obnoxious, were really nice.

"Don't worry about it, I guess New Yorkers just have that…"

"No, don't blame New York. I'm just kinda…"

"Cold_"

"Bitchy?"

"Bitchy… I'll be honest." Ashley and Marie giggled and I watched as Marie brought her hand up to her mouth once again.

"Why do you keep on doing that?" Marie stopped giggling, as did Ashley. Marie sighed and placed her hands on her lap. Ashley went to place her hand on her shoulder and they both looked at me with this pitiful expression.

"Candace." Ashley tsked, shaking her head slowly. "Candace made fun of her…"

"You can say it Ash. Candace made fun of my… Gap. She knows I'm sensitive about it. I mean, we can't all have braces for seven years, now can we?" Marie frowned, and I found myself frowning too. Emi would never make fun of my appearance; there were just some things elder siblings shouldn't do. At least… Not good ones.

"She makes fun of her all the time, and that's why we were glad that her love life was destroyed." I chuckled.

"Well, next time she says something rude, just remind her that she managed to be too high maintenance to be a booty call." We laughed, and for a moment, I didn't feel like I was in the middle of nowhere. Then the bell rang, and it snapped me back to reality.

"It was nice having lunch with you Ellie, we should do this again tomorrow."

"You could be in our circle."

"Is it a circle if it's just the two of you?" Shit. Marie blinked a couple of times, but then gave a small, sly smile.

"Maybe not, but we could be a triangle."

"Oh my God, that sounds so weird_"

"Yeah, I'm gonna pass on that. But if I ever feel hungry, I know where you guys sit." I waved to the both of them and walked back to my class.

It was a nice day out. Fairly warm, and the sun was peeking out behind the large puffy clouds. Emi was waiting for me, like usual, in her car. I opened the door and climbed into the passengers side. What was strange though, was the fact that she was wearing a pair of black shades that were way too big for her face.

"Why are you wearing those?" She didn't answer me, she just shook her head, making her large hoop earrings wiggle along with her. Her jaw was tight, and I had the sneaking suspicion that she was upset with me.

"Emi… What did I do?" She shook her head again, and pressed her lips in a firm line. The air in the car was becoming much warmer than it should have, and I knew she was trying her hardest not to yell at me.

"Emi… Whatever I did, I just wanna say I'm really, really_"

"What happened at the theater on Friday?" I saw her hand tighten around the steering wheel and her knuckles turned white. I opened my mouth and closed it, almost like a fish above water.

"Ellie." She was staring at me through her glasses, I knew she was. I could feel her eyes on me, and it made my skin crawl.

"Nothing, I was just a little anxious… That's all." She nodded her head, then slammed on the breaks. I shot forward, almost getting choked by the seat belt. Luckily there was no one around, and we were on the backroads that led to our neighborhood.

"Anxious, right…" I could hear her teeth grinding.

"Emi, please calm down… You're getting a little… Hot."

She took off her glasses, and now knew why she had them on in the first place. Her eyes were red and blotchy, and she had definitely been crying.

"What happened?" She shrugged her shoulders again, and sighed. "Was it Candace?"

"So you do know?" She clicked her tongue and began to drive again. "Yeah, apparently you caused some waves when you started fighting with her in the theater."

"Um, well… Apparently her boyfriend broke up with her because she was being a bitch." Emi let out an exasperated chuckle.

"Yeah, she is kind of a bitch. She, I can't imagine how, figured out I was your elder sister and she and her friends vowed to make my life hell. This is not exactly how I wanted to spend my time here." I always had a way of making things worse for everyone. If I had just moved down a row, if I hadn't been so rude, if I hadn't… Now I had dragged my sister into my drama.

"I could always… Bite her or something…" Although Emi laughed, and although I knew she wasn't really mad at me, it didn't make me feel any better.

"If you bit her, we'd have a lawsuit on our hands." She chuckled, but I stayed quiet.

"It's… It's okay El. I'm not mad. I just didn't expect to have another Valentina incident so soon." I thought back to Valentine Vargas, and the hard time she had given Emi for years. There would be times where she would sob herself to sleep, her face shoved in her pillows, and other times where she would just flat out refuse to go to school.

"I won't let that happen… I-I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do it!" I clasped my fingers together, and my leg started to bounce. "I'll… rip her throat out, throw her into the ocean, I'll_"

"Don't be so dramatic. I can handle myself… I think… I think I need to deal with her on my own, and on my own time." She gave me a smile, one where her lips curled and her eyes sparkled. "But thank you for the offer."

Mom was home when we got home. She had just pulled up and was getting the mail out of the mailbox. She smiled and waved at us as we pulled into the driveway. She walked up to Emi's window and knocked gently.

"Hey, go inside and put your school stuff away, I'm taking the both of you out to lunch." Mom was grinning from ear to ear, and her smile was quite infectious. We both got out of the car and headed inside of the house.

"What's the big occasion?" Emi and I dropped our bags on the couch and mom beckoned us out to the car.

"Things are going really well at work, so I decided to take the rest of the night off and spend it with my two beautiful daughters. I feel like I've hardly seen the two of you." She hadn't. She had been so busy with work and even when she was here, she was preoccupied with dad. She couldn't even make it through an episode of Law and Order without checking her phone, frowning, and getting up to have a 'bathroom break'.

She took us to a tiny restaurant in the middle of town. It was quaint, and it smelled nice. We got a table in the back of the restaurant and a bouncy redhead came over to take our orders.

"Oh, you must be the family that just moved in down the road!" My mom smiled at her, and held out her hand.

"Ariel Kirkland; yes, we just moved in a few weeks ago." Our waitress smiled a little too widely for my preference and blinked a couple of times.

"Well I'm Kat, and your Emilia… Right?" Emi and I looked at me, then back at the redhead, Kat.

"Yes, hello." She held out her hand.

"We go to the same school. We're in English and Physics together." Emi nodded, and I could see the gears in her head turning.

"Yeah, you sit near the back of the class."

"Sure do. Well, I'll be your waitress this afternoon, is there anything I can get you for drinks?" If I was feeling awkward from the whole introduction, Emi must have been mortified. I was bitchy, but Emi was genuinely shy. Despite how perfect she was, smart and beautiful, she was terrible at human interactions. It was one of the reasons she was the subject for intense bullying.

After Kat walked away, I could see Emi fighting the urge to place her face in her hands. Mom reached over and rubbed her back soothingly and whispered supportive words.

"This is just how small towns are. It's different from the city." Emi nodded and my mom kissed her on the cheek. Emi smiled and laid her head on her shoulder.

Mom and Emi began to chat lightly with each other, talking about their days and such. It was loose, shallow conversation. If Emi got too much into detail, she would let her little incident at school slip, and my mom would begin a rampage. I guess Emi just thought it was best to leave my mom out of the loop, but I couldn't blame her.

Emi was my mom's favorite.

I knew my mom loved me, she loved me more than almost anything, but there was something about the two of them. I couldn't say it was because they were similar; Emi wasn't really like anyone in our family, but she and mom always just clicked. They would binge shows together, go shopping together, plan parties, go on drives, just everything together.

I stayed mostly silent throughout the meal. I was too busy thinking about the whole Candance ordeal.I know Emi told me to let it go, but my need for vengeance was too strong. I wouldn't let my actions cause my sister harm, if I was in the same situation, she wouldn't stand for it. Besides, Candace was a total bitch… Right?

On the car ride home from lunch, my mom adjusted the rearview mirror so that she could get a clear look at me in the backseat. Her amber eyes met my blue and she raised a sharply arched brow.

"You were awfully quiet at lunch Elaine. Was something the matter?" Her tone was… dangerous, I needed to proceed with caution.

"I was just thinking, that's all." She hummed and Emi looked down at her phone nervously.

"About what?"

"Just a lot of things." Keep it vague, and she wouldn't be able to catch my scheming.

"I feel like you're scheming." Damn.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I gave birth to you, and you've always been this way. You're planning something.." Damn. "Whatever it is… Don't."

She smiled and winked at me. Cute, but still a warning.

When we got home, I went back to my room to do some homework. I actually liked spending time in my room alone. Mom, who was attempting to buy my love at the time, let me choose the color for my walls, a new bedspread, and two new pieces of furniture for my room. The walls were an ocean blue, and my new desk and dresser were white with gold trimmings. My room may have been small, but it was tidy with pictures of marine life and a couple of bean bag chairs.

I put in my headphones and began to work on some math.

It wasn't until my mom knocked on my door at 6pm, I was snapped out of my concentration. She walked in, her face covered in a thick green facemask, and rubbed my back.

"Your sister and I have been in the living room with popcorn, watching Desperate Housewives. I know you're oh so busy with whatever you're in here doing… But would you like to join us?"

"I don't knooow…" I rolled around in my desk chair "You know how I feel about scandalous housewife drama."

She laughed and swiped at my nose. We both let out laughter fizzle out for a moment, then mom's tone became a bit more somber.

"Elaine…" Her voice was soft, and she was giving me this sad little look. Her eyes, sort of wet and glossy. "I know things are hard. I know I've been arguing with your father, and I know you miss him. The two of you are so close. I feel...guilty." Her voice wavered, and I knew right then and there she was going to cry.

"Mom, it's okay. I'm okay." She sniffled, and I placed my forehead on hers. Her face mask was cold, and getting all over my skin, but I didn't mind.

"I'm always so hard on you, and your stupid father let you get away with everything. I think that made me extra hard on you." I knew this was hard on my mom and I knew she loved my dad still. If she didn't, she wouldn't spend so much time arguing with him on the phone.

"Your sister isn't as vocal as you, but I know that you both are not as happy as you could be. I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry. I just wish… I could…" I trailed off.

"Talk to your father more." I nodded. "Yes, yes of course. Well I suppose you have been really good lately." She reached into the pocket of her silk black robe and pulled out my cell phone. "You can have this back, but you have to come into the living room with your sister and me."

"Sure, fine, whatever." I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed her tightly. She pulled away from me, and I began to wipe away the facemask from my skin.

"And you have to stop planning whatever terrible thing you're planning." Damn.

"What plan?"

"Exactly, keep it at that." Mom ushered me into the living room where we spent the remainder of the night eating snacks and talking about nothing.

It was a little bit before eleven when I finally made it back to my room to get some sleep. I was a night person, but all this 'fun time' really drained me. I was ready to climb into bed and get some sleep. I walked over to my window to close the curtains when I froze.

I swore, for just a second from out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the trees. It was big, dark, almost blending into the shrubbery of the wooded area outside of my window. I blinked a couple of times, and rubbed at my eyes. I walked up to my window, clearly seeing my reflection in the glass. Placing my fingers underneath the white window frame and slowly opened it. The cool night air flooded into my room, and I was met with silence. I peeked my head out, and squinted my eyes.

As my vision adjusted to the night, I saw nothing. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light in my room, or maybe all this wooded nature was making me go crazy. I wasn't sure, but what I was sure of, was that there was nothing, currently, in the woods. I popped my head back in and shut my window. Placing my hair into a loose braid, I climbed into bed and closed my eyes.

As I began to drift off to sleep, there was the striking and piercing sound of a wolf's howl.

*Hope you enjoy the chapter. I will be slowing down with the publishing, but please feel free to leave a comment on the story to let me know how y'all feel about it!*