"NO."

"Yes. You said you trusted me," Jasmine reminded. She was at my house hours before school started. Great way to start my sweet sixteen, huh.

"BUT—"

"No buts!" she roared. I stared and groaned at the costume that laid on my bed. "It's your birthday, but you promised me."

"No I didn't," I recalled.

"Whatever," she dismissed. "You really don't like it?"

"Hell no I don't like it," I whined like a baby.

"So you oppose it," she said. I looked over to her and a smile was on her face. I rolled my eyes. "Think of it this way, you can go all out. Do what people don't expect from you. I mean you are sixteen now. Go crazy."

"Whatever," I laughed throwing a pillow at her. She gave me a cajoling look, but I glanced to the bed and bit my lip.

***

"Whoa."

"Shit."

"What the—"

"Where've you been all my life?" another boy commented randomly. His friends pulled him away as I approached The Group. Mason was dressed in regular clothes; the closest Halloween relation on him was a Spider-man shirt. Eli was dressed as some gangster. Wes was dressed in all black (well more than usual) and his hair seemed to grow over the weekend to cover his eyes as if he wanted to fully submerge himself into gothic culture, but he surely pushed his hair out of his face when he wanted to see me clearly. And Chase...well he was standing around in cut-off shorts and no shirt whatsoever. The only thing the boys had in common was their dropped jaw.

"Strutting in the signature/suggested style of 'everything she would oppose,' Miss Alicia Lindros!" Jasmine announced as she skipped up from behind me in a fairy costume.

"Why the hell would you oppose that?" Wes asked with his eyes wide. I stepped near him and grabbed the end of his shirt.

"Well, do you like it?" I asked seductively. I spontaneously and shamelessly decided that if I was going to dress the part, I was going to act the part as well.

"You know I do."

I turned my back to him, but made sure to touch my backside to his front.

"Well then maybe that's why," I answered in a giggle. They still stared with a hypnotized look. Even Chase. I eyed his perfect chest. "Why are you half naked?"

"I'm Jacob Black," he said with a smug and crooked grin. I had to laugh. "Where's your sister?"

"Why would that matter?" I asked in a seductive voice as I ran a hand down his hot muscled arm to mess with him. "I'm here."

"Damn," Eli commented. Jasmine smacked his shoulder and I laughed. I was sure to put some distance between me and Chase.

"So why are you half naked?" Chase asked me. I rolled my eyes playfully.

"Because of her," I said, pointing to Jasmine. She flashed a smile and bowed.

"Thank you. Thank you very much," she said.

"Bravo," Wes clapped. I hate him.

"But what exactly are you supposed to be?" Chase asked, flicking my ponytail that was highlighted with pink and purple streaks.

"Everything she opposes," Jasmine reminded.

"Umm a sex goddess?" Eli asked. Jasmine smacked him again. I was wearing shin-high boots with a leopard print dress that reached just beneath my ass and cut down low along my cleavage. In addition to that I had my hair as described before WITH cat ears and a small tiara. I hated every part of this. Every. Part.

But I guess if I was suffering behind the façade, I might as well have some fun.

"Jasmine, I commend your decision," Wes said. His eyes looking over certain areas. I rolled my eyes and continued with my role. I ran a hand down Wes' chest and played with the loops of his black jeans that was under his black and blue hoodie, so it could look wrong from some point of view.

"And what are you supposed to be? A bad boy?" I asked.

"If that's what you want me to be, babe," he said down to me. His hands moved to my waist and he pushed me lightly into the locker. A shiver ran down my spine and he noticed.

"Alicia?" someone choked my name. I looked to see Riley standing there with the same look as every other guy even though his was partially masked by his shades.

I stepped around Wes and wrapped my arms around Riley's neck.

"That's my name, don't wear it out," I responded.

"You look..." he stammered, trying to find a word. But the bell rang instead.

"Like my girlfriend," Wes' voice finished before I was pulled away from Riley by my waist. I was pulled to Wes' side as his arms snaked around my waist and the slutty character I was pretending to be decided that Wes Knight would be the one I played today even though Riley's stares told me of his disapproval. But he could only turn around and stalked to class.

***

"UGH," I groaned as more notes dropped out of my locker. I bent down to pick them up, but of course that meant crouching down so my ass wouldn't be showing as I bent over. Because of this ridiculous costume, people coincidentally started remembering my birthday. Considering how I was dressed, most guys would pass me and whisper "Birthday sex," but only if Wes wasn't around. I had begun messing with him because he was a vendetta, but surprisingly, I actually liked him being around. He hung around long enough for me to realize he truly did bury his jerk side and trade it for a softer "boyfriend side" which was a shock to me. Originally, I felt bad that I was playing with his surprisingly real emotions, but as the day progressed, the toying stopped and I was starting to feel things other than hatred and repulsion towards him.

Like the other times in the day when Wes ushered me places, I felt a suddenly hand on my hip, but I didn't have a sense to smile at the presence because it didn't feel like him. I was right because it turned out to be Micah.

"Ugh," I said, pushing him away from me.

"Nice outfit," he said. I noticed that he dressed in plaid and a cowboy hat.

"You should be saying that to Zoey," I mumbled.

"Oh trust me, I did," he said with an arrogant smile. I scoffed and shoved all of the birthday cards into my bag before standing up. He grabbed my arm and twirled me around. "But maybe I was focused on loving the wrong Lindros sister..."

"You don't love her," I said first. "If you did, you wouldn't have cheated on her."

"I'm kidding," he rolled his eyes. "I've treated her right ever since she forgave me and now she's the one that—"

"That what? That cheated?" I finished. "Yeah. I know."

"Then why don't you believe me?" he asked down to me.

"Maybe because you're the one trying to play me right now," I answered. He smirked.

"Then maybe you're right," he said before starting to lean in. Before I could bring my knee up to his groin, he was thrown into the lockers on the other side of the hall by someone behind him. I looked to see Riley. Somehow uninjured, Micah walked away.

"I may not be your boyfriend, but I can protect you just as well as he can," was all Riley said. I didn't even have a chance to reply before he began walking away. What the hell just happened? And why was there a big ass body dent in the locker Micah was thrown into that mimicked when Eli had thrown Riley?

***

"Happy Birthday!" Jasmine and Zoey squealed at the festival after school. They handed me a huge bag full of candy.

"Shh!" I shushed.

"Dude. It's just us," Jasmine reminded in a whisper. "And judging by your 'birthday sex' attention today, everyone knows anyways."

"Whatever," I mumbled. Jasmine and Zoey were called by their other friends and then left me to walk around alone.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday?" I heard a voice ask as arms wrapped around my waist.

"Why didn't you give me a definite answer about coming tonight?" I responded. I looked up to Chase.

"Because I'm not here," he whispered. I gave him a confused look before laughing. He released me.

"How'd you figure out it was my birthday?" I asked. He shrugged.

"You hadn't celebrated it any other day in October," he answered.

"I didn't even celebrate it today either," I reminded. I forgot I had even mentioned it to him.

"This outfit is enough celebration for just about every male at school," he laughed.

"I know," I groaned. As we walked, we met up with Wes, who was looking guilty as ever.

"Hey," Wes greeted. They talked about something and I decided to take this time to pull out something from my birthday bag to eat. I found a candy-covered apple. I bit into it and looked around at the festival.

Chase had gone his separate way by this point after being called by his non-Group friends so Wes and I were now distant from the actual festival. It was nice walking with him and he had eventually slid his hands into mine just like he had sneakily managed to find a way to have contact with me all day...Only, I didn't have a feeling to rip my hand away right now. I just continued eating my apple.

"Has anyone told you that you're a good kisser?" Wes suddenly asked me.

"How and why the hell would I be told that?" I asked. He of all people knew I hadn't kissed anyone. He was the one teasing me about it four days after he met me!

"Because you can judge how a person kisses by how they eat an apple," he informed. Huh?

Suddenly, Wes's hands went to my waist and he stopped me. With a look to my eyes, he started to lean down. And then our lips touched. I kissed back as our lips moved in sync and I completely forgot the fact that I had never kissed anyone in my life. My hands went to his high shoulders and he ran his tongue along my bottom lip. But then I pulled away. I knew I was blushing.

"Uh..." another voice said. We looked to see Chase standing there. With his shadow, I couldn't read his expression, but I knew it would be weird and I immediately felt embarrassed. "Wes, we gotta go. Eli needs our help..."

"Eli?" I asked.

"Stay out of it," Wes immediately told me. He gave me a sympathetic look before departing, but not without giving me a kiss on the forehead. It was at this point that I only had two thoughts running through my mind: the first was centered around my curiosity involving Eli that would lead me into following where they went...and the second was the realization that Wes Knight was the jerk who stole my first kiss and I was the idiot who kissed back.

***

"Look at the moon," Chase said to Wes. That was the first time they talked on this whole walk or should I say hike because it had been an absolute trek through the forest. I was following them carefully and they haven't talked the whole time and I knew it had something to do with Chase catching me and Wes kissing. I looked up into the sky and saw a gibbous moon through the trees' branches. Anything else was unseen.

"You know it's almost full so why the hell would you try pissing me off?"

"I piss you off every day," Wes reminded. "And plus, you can deal with it."

"Apparently not," Chase replied. A howl broke out through the forest and the boys started to jog at the same time. I was right behind them, hiding behind nearly every tree.

"What the hell did Eli do?" Wes asked. Before he answered, some sound of something broke out with a bang. The two boys took off in a sprint and I followed the best I could. Then I saw them collide with someone—an out of breath Eli.

"Dude. What happened?"

"Hunters," he said out of breath. Hunters?

"Whose hunters?" Chase asked concerned.

"Ours," Eli answered. They're being hunted?

"That f*cking—" Bang. All three boys dropped into a stance lower to the ground and then I saw the hunters they were talking about. Two figures were armed—one with a crossbow and the other with a rifle over his back. When I looked back to the boys, they were no longer there, so all I could do was hide behind the thickest tree I found.

"I hear 'em!" one voice yelled. I heard the leaves rustle and looked as the guys sprinted away at an amazing speed. I still followed as I tried to keep my distance in the opposite direction from the Hunters. Then...I lost sight of all of them.

"Hello?" a voice called. Even though I had lost the hunters far enough away, who in their right mind would be greeting dangerous people? Suddenly there was a rustling sound and then I was seeing Wes in the distance, holding onto the newcomer's collar yards and yards away.

"This is our territory," Wes said down to him a bit too loud for my tastes considering there were armed persons lurking in these trees.

"You sure? Because you're on the line," a familiar voice replied. Now I frowned because I recognized that to be Riley.

"And you're on my nerves," Wes informed. He dropped Riley and then pushed him. "Why the f*ck would you do that?"

"Come again?" Riley asked. And then a branch snapped. We looked deeper into the dark forest and saw a figure appear. When I looked back to where the boys were, Wes was gone. Riley turned around, cautious to all areas.

And then it happened. With a single gunfire, the hunters returned and shot at Riley, but wasn't killed...he was hit, but not at all injured since the bullet ricocheted off of him somehow and grazed me. My leg was burned with a sensation that I couldn't comprehend, but I clamped a hand over my mouth so I wouldn't make a sound. I was never repulsed by blood, but I almost became nauseous.

"Uh...uh...I think we're hunting the wrong thing," the hunter male said. Immediately, they started in a sprint in the opposite direction from where Riley was. I was still in an abundant amount of pain and I felt blood rushing out. I looked for help, but Riley was gone as well. Great. I might just die in a forest on my sixteenth birthday because I was too nosey—

"What. The. Hell. Are. You. Doing. Here?" a voice startled me. I didn't say anything as I hugged into Wes' warm body because it was the only thing I could do. He only picked me up in a cradle and began walking without saying all the disappointing things he probably wanted to. My head was in his chest and my hand was still over my bleeding leg that went numb like the other extremities of my body. Even my vision started to double so I closed my eyes.

"Riley needs to rethink his decisions," I heard Eli's voice say from a distance.

"I don't think he decided that..." Chase's voice said. And then I'm guessed Wes walked into view. "What the—"

"Someone decided to follow us," Wes informed.

"Alicia, why the hell would you risk—"

"She didn't know," Wes defended.

"Maybe if you weren't busy making out with her, she wouldn't have noticed we had to leave," Chase muttered.

"You did what?!" Eli exploded. I felt Wes sigh and even though I did the same behavior, hoping I could escape this situation, my wish was granted because my vision blacked out.