I can't tell if you know where this arc will go, but maybe you're catching on that Cinder and Wolf's crises are connected.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf: Part Seven

The next day, in the middle of the school hallway, Thorne kneels on the ground. His arms are wrapped around Cress's legs and his head is pressed against her hip. Dramatic tears stream down his face as Cress runs her fingers through his styled hair to comfort him. Kai, Winter, and Scarlet stand beside the couple, staring at them strangely (but Winter finds the scene adorable).

"I'll be so alone!" Thorne yells as if he doesn't have three friends beside him who aren't going to Luna.

"I'll be alone too," Kai says, also as if he didn't have three friends around him not going to Luna.

"I'm here," Winter says, waving her hands at the boys (one for each of them).

"Same but I'm not comforting either of you," Scarlet states, pointing at Thorne and Kai.

"But let me tell you about Artemisia some more," Winter says, getting Cress's attention. "People won't care that you exist and likely never will, everything will look good but it's likely fake, and there's good selfie lighting everywhere."

Kai scoffs a little. "Of course, there's good selfie lighting everywhere."

Winter nods, smiling. "I'm not making that up."

"I believe you."

"Being in Artemisia is like staring into the sun. It's blinding but then it burns like hell, which is a bad choice of words based on my experience but you get the gist."

Kai notices Cress's face fall in worry. "Winter, you're scaring her."

Cress shakes her head. "It's fine. I'm scared of everything."

-o-

Cinder lost track of how many laps she ran in gym class. She's been so focused on her upcoming trip and the existence of her biological father that the laps felt like nothing. Truth be told, Cinder never cared about having a real father since Evret had that role for a long time. But now? Now there's a real face who had no lasting remarks on her except her conception.

Cinder skids to a sudden stop when she sees her gym teacher a few feet away from in front of her. He definitely stood on the track to get her to stop because she went over the requirement and could stop. She almost ran him over and continued another lap.

Cinder didn't want to stop but she got excused to get some fresh air so that's what she did. She walks into the yard and the paces around to catch her breath. The wind cools her off and she looks ahead and spots Wolf smoking at the side of the building.

Cinder looks at Wolf who hasn't seen her yet. She realizes that she didn't tell him about her trip yet because he hasn't been around. She should've asked him first since he's been having a Lunar crisis for a while.

Sometimes, people have to be alone to discover what really matters. In this world, no one ever knows what to do and everyone's just as clueless and full of spades as everyone else. Everyone has to figure out all by themselves. Even after people think they've figured it out and done it, they'll never know if they were right or wrong.

"Where in the stars were you?" Cinder asks as she approaches him. When was the last time she saw him? The mall?

"Thinking," Wolf responds. He takes a breath. "You know, you can't just decide to be happy about things."

"But you're choosing to be miserable." Cinder reaches forwards and grabs his cigarette. She puts it on the ground and stomps on it, ignoring his curses towards her. "You're not allowed to smoke here and those killed my mother."

"What's your point to both of those?"

"Come to Luna with me."

Wolf pauses, looking at her for a moment. He expects laughter from that joke but she's serious. This must be the news Scarlet was keeping from him since it wouldn't be right coming from her.

"Stars no," Wolf responds. "I have no interest in returning to Luna."

Cinder is taken aback, now mimicking his shocked expression when she brought it up. "Really? You identify as a Lunar yet have no interest in going back to the motherland?"

"So sue me for all my aces. I'm very complicated."

"What if I need protection from Blackburn haters? I've been in Artemisia for longer than here but what if my returns causes pitchforks to be sharpen?"

Wolf gives her a face. Cinder's playing her worst cards. First with his cigarette and now that excuse. "The best protection is being an entire ocean apart."

Cinder rolls her eyes. "You go on and on about how proud you are to be a Lunar and here I am, offering you an all - or most - expenses paid trip back to the motherland and you're saying no? You're literally The Boy Who Cried Wolf except it's Wolf Who Cried Lunar."

"Stars no."

"What if I told you that we're going to find my biological father?"

"Send him my regards."

"Cress is coming."

Wolf laughs a little. "I want to stay back and watch Thorne cry."

"Kai will suffer, do you want to see that?"

Wolf makes his hand into a fist by his side. God, he doesn't want to see that. "But if I go, Scarlet will suffer."

"No, she won't."

"Yeah, you're right." He groans because Cinder's smiling in his peripheral vision. "I need to smoke."

Cinder smiles as she watches him go. He's not going to do that since he's heading back inside the school. She knows that he's almost got him on board. People who are so fascinated about their passions are so complicated because they have a tricky combination of narcissism and insecurity. Wolf's a tough boy who won't admit to her that he's suffering or that he needs help with this. If it's anything involving Scarlet, he'll do absolutely anything. When it's himself, he'd rather run himself over.

But Cinder won't let that happen. As Wolf would often say: they're Lunars. They have each other's backs.

-o-

"This is a great idea," Winter says, knocking on Wolf's door.

After school, Winter and Cinder waited for Wolf to get home first. They followed his car, keeping a far enough distance so that he wouldn't notice. Once they were approaching his house, they pulled over at the curb of the previous block. They sat idle in their car for about thirty minutes, waiting for him to settle before they drove up to his place. And now, they knocked and are waiting for someone to answer. They expected it to be Wolf but, to their surprise, it's his mom.

Cinder and Winter are frozen. This could either go really well or really bad.

Maha smiles at them. "It's the beautiful Blackburn babies." She turns around into the house. "Ze'ev, your friends are here!"

Cinder and Winter know that Wolf is probably leaping out the window and running for the stars. He likely saw their car in the driveway and disappeared.

"Mrs. Kesley," Winter starts, "Cinder is taking a trip to Luna for the long weekend to go see her biological father. I'm unable to go and she invited Wolf to accompany her but he said no."

"I'm paying for everything," Cinder adds. "I don't expect anything in return. I just want the company. I know Wolf wants to come but he's saying no."

Before Cinder could continue, she sees Wolf approaching the door. He stands behind his mom, giving Cinder a dirty look for being here with her plan with Winter and talking to his mom about it. He knows how convincing they are, especially Winter. In response, she smiles a little evilly at him.

"This is a trap," Wolf tells his mom. "Don't trust them."

"You're saying no to a trip to Luna?" Maha asks him. Cinder gestures a hand towards her, showing Wolf that she had the same reaction.

"I don't want to go back."

"Why not?"

Wolf bites his tongue, unsure of what to say because he doesn't even know the answer. Instead, he looks at Cinder. "Are you crying Wolf by asking me to go with you?"

Cinder scoffs. "I don't cry."

"I don't have to do this just because you're telling me to."

"Everything about our friendship says otherwise. Look, I wouldn't keep pestering you if you didn't want to go."

Winter nods. "You're just stressing and if you stress too much, you're basically putting yourself through it twice. You'll regret not going and you're not living if you're regretting."

"I find my dad and you find your identity. In a way, we both find ourselves and Cress has an adventure. We all win."

Wolf thinks about how he should've jumped out the window. "I don't want to be away for so long."

Cinder opens her arms, annoyed at how stubborn he is. He's impossible. How does Scarlet do it? "It's four days, not four years. Trust me, Wolf, nearly seventeen years in Artemisia went by in a blur so imagine what four days will feel like. Or, better yet, experience it and tell me if I'm wrong."

"Experience is the best teacher," Winter says. "Travelling is the best education."

Wolf narrows his eyes at them because of his mom's nodding along with their words. "You two are annoying."

"Anyways," Cinder says, brushing her hands on her school skirt. "I've presented my case. I will get back to you."

"Please, don't," Wolf begs.

Instead of agreeing, Cinder waves goodbye before heading back to the car. Winter thanks them both, mostly Wolf's mom before heading to the car. Maha closes the door and looks up at Wolf with a frown. He knows that it isn't because of you're rude to your nice friends, it's because of everything else she doesn't know about. Wolf figures that he has to tell her everything from the start so that his mom will be caught up. And, possibly, she'll sympathize with him and let him stay home.

"Ma…" Wolf mutters. "Cinder is Selene Blackburn."

The look on his mom's face at the end of that sentence is something he'll never forget.

If I was Wolf going through that existential crisis and got offered a free vacation, you'd better believe that I'd be packing my bags.