Ms. Randall let me leave work a whole hour early, business was slow and there wasn’t much left to do so she let me leave.

Daniel and I picked up a few things from the store for the party before we decided to head on over.

After Daniel told me about werewolves, it was easier to point them out now that I knew. Just spot the tall, muscular, tan, gorgeous person in the room and they were bound to be a werewolf.

It also helped that they stood out amongst the crowd like a sore thumb, they looked down at the rest of us in a mixture of disgust and disdain. The crowd was split pretty fifty-fifty, half-human and the other half I’m assuming are the werewolves from the werewolf school Daniel told me about.

Oh yeah I forgot, they don’t like humans, but the minute they see Daniel and I enter, they immediately straighten their posture… and their faces. They bent their head back a little to show… their chins? Their necks?

I nearly freeze in my steps as I see them do this.

I’ve seen this very action done before, many times, but where?

I wrecked my brain, my memory, trying to remember. I felt my chest tighten when I finally realized where.

Keenan.

I’ve watched people react this way towards Keenan all the time.

Was he? Could he be...?

No. There was no way.

But it would explain so much…

NO! I don’t need any more reason to fear that monster, as if I wasn’t terrified of him already.

I refuse to give him any more space in my head.

I’ll never see him again, so it doesn’t matter.

Everyone’s eyes trail from Daniel to me, and they look both surprised and confused, I feel my face go red again from their obvious staring.

Sensing this, Daniel wounds his arm around my waist and draws me closer to his side.

Then the pointed looks and whispering begins.

Gee, thanks, Daniel. That really helps.

Just as Lucy promised, this party was the biggest party of the year. Granted, it’s the only high school party I’ve ever been to, but it was HUGE.

There were so many people that I was almost immediately separated from Daniel by everyone jumping to talk to him.

I found myself alone in the kitchen with Lacey, the only place that seemed vacant… for now at least.

“Oh hey, Angeline!” Lacey greeted me with a big smile, mixing different kinds of alcohol into a huge punch bowl.

“Happy birthday Lace, need any help with anything?” I offered, feeling weird just standing around.

“Yeah, if you want, you can help me with the dip.”

` We prepare the ingredients and start mixing them together.

“So….” Lacey started, “do you have any questions, now that you know what we are?”

“Well he answered most of them already, but there is one thing I can’t wrap my head around. It just seems so… unbelievable.”

“What is it?”

“Something like a mate? That you guys have a soulmate?”

“It’s true, when and where we meet them, it’s up to the goddess herself.”

“But… how do you cope with a decision being taken away from you, the right to choose? What happens if you were to fall in love with someone of your own free will? What if you’re already with someone else before you meet your soulmate?”

“Well, we don’t see it like that. We don’t see it as we’re stuck or trapped or something. Although I admit there were times where I thought I was developing feelings for someone I knew I could never have, even if I had, they wouldn’t matter. Once the bond comes along, any romantic feelings you have for anyone else would diminish. Maybe not instantly, but the bond is impossible to ignore, trying to would only hurt you and your soulmate. It’s why we can’t date before we meet our mates. It saves us from all the unnecessary heartbreak and drama.”

“But... what if they hurt you?”

“A mate could never hurt you, at least not intentionally, their wolf would never allow it. Why do you ask? Are you… scared of Daniel?”

“What? No! Of course not.”

“Good, because we’re glad he’s found you,” she says, laying her hand on my forearm. “We worried for him, we were sad that he would never get to experience the bond. He thought he was doomed, set to be alone forever. But we’re happy that you make him happy, not everyone would’ve been so accepting of us. Just promise that… you won’t break his heart. He’s a really good guy.”

My eyes widened in surprise and as always, I got really flustered, “oh you must be mistaken, we’re not dating. We’re just friends.”

Lacey gave me a pointed look, “but you like him don’t you?”

I blushed and looked down, “we-we’re just friends.”

“But you see him more than just a friend don’t you?”

“It- it doesn’t matter because he’ll never like me back.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well for starters, just look at me, and second, I’m not like you guys, I’m just an average human.”

Lacey rolled her eyes, “you’re being ridiculous Angeline. You must know how pretty you are.”

I snorted.

“I’m serious! I’m not saying this now because you’re suddenly little Ms. Hottie, and all the talk at the moment.”

I’m what?

“You’ve always been cute in a very naive Bambi type of way, you still give off those vibes, but now you’re curvaceous! Like who knew you had such a bod beneath all those oversized T-shirts!”

My cheeks, once again, flared up in mortification. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh, sure. I’m just saying that that hourglass figure is a sin, no wonder you covered it up, most of us girls would kill for those assets, just saying.”

I shook my head, she’s lost her mind.

“There you are Angeline, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Daniel says entering the kitchen.

“I was just helping Lacey make the dip.”

“I’ll see you two… later.” Lacey said behind Daniel’s back, waving her eyebrows suggestively at me.

My god, she really did lose her mind.

“I have something to give you,” Daniel said as he reached into his pocket. He holds out his palm to me and I just stare at him confused.

“Here, I know it can’t replace your mom’s necklace, and I know it can’t fill the void in your heart. But I hope it does make it a little easier.”

He lays a little necklace in the palm of my hand. It was gold and heart-shaped with a silver D encrusted on the heart.

I gasped.

“I have my own here.” He pulls out a necklace from under the collar of his shirt. His looked just like mine, but his necklace was instead encrusted with the silver A instead of a D.

“A token of our friendship.” He said and smiled, his stupid gorgeous boyish smile.

I couldn’t stop the tears that weld into my eyes.

This is possibly the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Without a second thought, I just… kissed him.

I took his face in my hands, reached up on my tippy toes, and just kissed him.

Then I immediately I jerked my head away, “oh my God Daniel, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thi-”

He silences me with another kiss, this time wrapping his hands around my waist and pulling me closer.

I can tell you how long we stood there kissing each other, first slowly, then with more earnest, completely lost in each other.

Once he pulled away, I was completely breathless. He touched his forehead to mine.

“Angeline…” he whispered.

“Yes?” I looked into his eyes, and I saw an emotion I couldn’t name.

“Be my girlfriend.”

It didn’t even sound like a question.

Oh my God. Is this really happening? He wants to just skip dating altogether and just make me his girlfriend? HIS GIRLFRIEND?!

“A-are you sure?”

Daniel chuckled, “of course I am. I’ve never been more certain.”

“Oh, okay, then yes. I will be your girlfriend,” I smiled softly, happy but terrified all at once.

And we began kissing again.