Wolf Chase [24]

Massie closed her eyes as she added a final layer of hairspray to her tresses, freezing them into their spiral shape. Since early morning her hands had been hard at work for this glamorous look, craftily manipulating her hair with a curling wand. By now—an hour later—her arms felt heavy and strained, but the result was undeniably fantastic. Her shiny locks rippled behind her in luscious waves as she moved her head from side-to-side, they looked like the type to be in a hair commercial.

This was only the beginning. A thin layer of make-up was smoothed over her face, and she had been extremely mindful of keeping it light. The cakey look never suited her, and her clear skin didn't need much to hide, only a slight buffing to hide any unevenness. Her natural glow was subtly amplified by the latest highlighter, which for a moment she considered adding more to give Sebastian the ability to pinpoint her whereabouts by her blinding shine from any part of the halls, but she figured his other senses did a good enough job of that.

Her outfit consisted of a stylish two-piece with long bottoms that made her behind look like she's been doing squats since the start of her youth, and a top that showed a small sliver of her belly. As expected, her outfit included her favorite color by being purple and white striped; she added cute white wedges to match. Her foot finished healing three days ago, allowing her to get a much-needed pedicure and wear whatever footwear she liked. Truly, she was a sight for sore eyes, and she couldn't wait to show off her look at school, especially to see the reaction of a specific someone.

After spraying two pumps of her favorite perfume, she was good to go. Stepping out of her room she encountered Lydia who—unlike usual—actually stopped to take in her attire. If her sister was impressed, then this was a good sign.

"Wow, you really don't play games when it comes to your birthday," she said, slightly taken aback by her extreme efforts. Lydia wasn't the type to drawn much attention to herself, preferring to blend into the background and go otherwise unnoticed.

Massie shrugged. "Today is a very special day little sis. Not only am I eighteen, but I also have matura. Maybe this year I'll be getting a werewolf husband."

Massie wondered if going from premature to matura made her more irresistible than before, something that would be an appreciated advantage when dealing with a stoic male like Sebastian. She understood werewolf men were drawn to her because of it, yet it wasn't as though any had dropped on one knee to mate her. The majority of the Cult were just friendly and open to spending time with her. She was glad of this, although judging by her sister's negative reaction, Lydia wasn't receptive to her own possession of prematura.

Rather, she rolled her eyes, clearly put off by her prediction. "Go ahead and get your wereman, babymaker. Unlike you, I desire a future that doesn't tie me down to this place," she said distastefully.

Massie waved her hand dismissively. To each their own, who was she to dictate her sister's love life? Staying in Dark Falls did not sound like a bad thing to her. She very much liked it here.

"I'll be a great babymaker. A young, beautiful, happily married babymaker," she replied, purposely adding an extra-dose of fluff to make her sister more irritated.

Massie laughed heartily when Lydia stuck a finger in her throat and fake-gag. "I'll be waiting when you change your mind, living in my own upscale condo in the city making tons of money."

The birthday girl shook her head. Massie supposed being wealthy had its own appeal, at one point she did picture herself marrying a rich billionaire and being a house wife in one of those popular shows. However, she dated a rich kid once and was too put off by his delicate and needy character, she much preferred Sebastian's rough and raw persona over her previous suitor.

Massie patted her sister's shoulders, feeling like a grown adult teaching a toddler the dos and don'ts of life. "It's not all about money Lydia. What good is living in a huge expensive home if you're all alone. At least if I marry I'd have a fun family to go home to every night, and people I enjoy spending time with. However, if things don't work out, I'll happily free-load over all your riches my genius sister."

Not knowing how to reply after such a statement, Lydia resigned to staring at her thoughtfully. After a few moments, she murmured, "whatever."

Massie grabbed the siderail of the stairs. "You're a book-smart girl, but when it comes to matters of the heart you're too guarded. Learn to risk it a little."

Lydia huffed. "You have the ability to make werebabies and suddenly you're a love expert now? Give me a break, you don't even have a man yet. What are you going to do if in the end of your nonsense he doesn't even want you?"

Massie lifted her hand, stopping her from going any further. So far, this was the second time someone told her she was in over her head. "I'm walking away from your negativity now, especially since I believe I have a chance with Sebastian," she said, decidedly brushing the criticism from her thoughts.

"You're in for a rude awakening, chasing after some handsome, popular guy that probably won't give you the time of day. And if he does, it's only for a moment before he turns back to a better option. I bet he doesn't even like you, he's probably just being nice!"

"My goodness Lydia, did anyone hurt you recently?!" Massie countered semi-jokingly, completely baffled by her sister's words.

Despite their harshness, Massie was not hurt by them. If anything, she was curious as to why her younger sister was so strongly opposed of her feelings for Sebastian. While she wasn't previously supportive of them, she hadn't been so vehemently against them the way she was now. It sounded off coming from her, she usually allowed Massie to freely pursue whoever she desired, regardless of any reservations.

"I'm warning you before you get hurt!" She screamed back, lifting her hands in agitation. "Liking this Sebastian guy has brought you trouble. Don't forget how you got into that accident, it could have turned out way worse for you! Besides, I've seen him in the hallways with some brown-haired chick behind him sometimes. Judging by the way she looks at him, I'm pretty sure they have history. I can guarantee he'd prefer one of his own over a girl with matura."

Massie expelled a large puff of air, she knew the girl Lydia was referring to was most likely Keisha, the beautiful dusty-skinned, blue eyed girl who was probably as into Sebastian as herself. She recalled Emma mentioning Keisha was very territorial over Sebastian, even though they weren't dating. In her sister's eyes, she could see how it could appear like they had some sort of relationship, and at the end of the day Massie didn't have knowledge of their past to make a good judgement call on that.

"Listen. I get it. I'll be the first to openly admit Sebastian hasn't necessarily done much to return my affections. At the same time, that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. What's the worst that could happen, him rejecting me? I pretty sure I'll eventually get over it, it's not the end of the world if a guy ends up not liking me Lyd."

Lydia's eyes flashed with fury. "You're an idiot! You're placing your heart on a platter and basically saying 'Here I am! Stab me if you please! Run me over if that's not fun enough for you!' Why would you do that to yourself?!"

Massie eyed her sister critically. "When I asked if someone hurt you, I was sort of joking, but now I think I might be on to something. This sounds like a case of misplaced anger. Who's the guy?"

"No one." Lydia's response was so quick, Massie knew she was lying. To further prove her assessment, her sister began to twirl a ring on her finger, a habit she did when she became nervous.

"Guys are bound to piss us off at some point, but I hope he's cute," Massie continued, paying her no mind. "I was kind of hoping you'd be into Micah, he's a nice boy."

At the mention of his name, Massie noticed her sister visibly recoil. "Why on earth would I bother?" She answered coolly, her voice hard and distant. "He's got some werewolf girl after him, just like Sebastian. It's why I'm warning you to not waste your time."

The birthday girl frowned, immediately sensing waters ran deeper than Lydia let on. What exactly had happened between Micah and Lydia? As far as she remembered, Micah was a cute, sweet teenager. She remembered him originally telling her Lydia was mean to him, and she encouraged him by saying Lydia generally did that with boys she liked.

"Are you guys in bad terms, what's going on between you two?" Massie asked, taking a delicate step in her direction. For a moment, a look of pain crossed Lydia's features, but immediately she saw her sister build a wall, brick by brick, until all that was left was a façade of indifference.

"Nothing's going on Mass. I stupidly allowed myself to grow feelings for him, but in the end I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. I don't want to talk about it anymore," she answered definitively.

Sensing her sister would not divulge more information, Massie decided not to push on the matter any further, at least for now. At a more opportune time she would get the full details, and in a time when Lydia was not so on edge and determined to cover her frustration and sadness. Wanting to somehow comfort her, Massie pulled her sister to her chest and enveloped her in a hug, one which Lydia did not immediately respond to, but rather glared in her direction.

"I told you I feel fine." She grit.

Massie shrugged. "It's my birthday, shouldn't I be showered with affection? I'm amazing, I deserve this hug."

As expected, her statement made Lydia relax her tensed shoulders and return the gesture. "Happy birthday big sis," she mumbled quietly.

Massie ran her fingers through her sisters wavy locks. Unlike her, Lydia rarely bothered to straighten her hair or even curl it for any special look, preferring instead to wear her hair as natural as it came. Because of this, she had little to no split ends, and Massie was able to easily detangle her tresses. After a few moments, Massie stepped back and looked at her sister in the eye.

"I may be a little boy crazy, but always remember there's other fishes in the sea. Regardless of what happened between you and Micah, you still have the Wilton genes in you, which means by default you're awesome, beautiful, and amazing. Don't close your heart off because of an experience you had with one guy."

Lydia stayed quiet, unresponsive to Massie's statement. Deciding she would let her words sit, Massie planted a kiss on her forehead and headed to the stairs. She hoped whatever animosity had built up between them would dissolve and somehow fix itself. Lydia had never had a boyfriend before—much less a love interest—so her first one was bound to have her level-headed sister in a tizzle.

A part of her couldn't help but also ponder Lydia's words. Was it truly so wrong of her to openly display her preference for Sebastian? Especially when he himself did not show much interest. On this she did agree—doing this placed her in a vulnerable position. Nonetheless, she figured it was harmless. The moment he fixed his attention elsewhere on some girl, or specifically told her he didn't like her, she would move on. For now, she'd freely wear her heart on her sleeve.

[o-o-o]

"Oh. My. Gosh. You look so hot! Happy birthday!" Emma congratulated, giving her a gift bag.

"Seriously, you look like a super model!" Lily agreed. "Here you go birthday girl!" She handed her three helium-inflated balloons with birthday engravings, a swirl of colors came from every direction.

Massie accepted their gifts and hugged them, appreciative of their thoughtfulness. "Aww, thanks for the gifts ladies! And I'm glad to hear my early morning efforts were not put to waste." She gave them a 360 degree turn for extra effect, generating more 'wow's and 'so pretty'.

To add to her joy, Emily's usual presence was nowhere to be seen. This was convenient, as she rarely ever had something positive to say, especially where it concerned the purple-eyed beauty. She most likely avoided joining the duo and went to class early to bypass congratulating her, but Massie hardly felt miffed by this.

Throughout the day Massie did not cease to receive congratulations everywhere she went, including from people she was not friends with. Her outfit—alongside the gifts her friends gave her—made it obvious today was her birthday. The countless compliments and words of praise boosted her already high esteem, yet in spite of this her heart anxiously hammered with anticipation. She wanted to see Sebastian. Everywhere she went in the halls—even while appearing to be giving her attention to the countless faces, she was in reality more focused on her peripheral view, hoping to catch the familiar band of friends.

Much to her disappointment, she failed to see Sebastian and was even finding it difficult to pinpoint anyone from the Cult. It was almost as though they were purposely avoiding her. Granted, she usually did not catch Sebastian until social studies, but at least she was accustomed of getting a glimpse of Noah flirting with some random chick, or Jordan waving at her from a distance before he entered a class. Nonetheless, for the first-half of the day, Massie didn't see any of them with the exception of Keisha—whose form of congratulation was wrapped in the form of a seething glare that clearly said 'I don't like you', before disappearing around a corner. To this day, Massie still didn't understand her vicious behavior. What did she ever do to her?

It wasn't until math class that she crossed out the idea of them avoiding her, Jordan was absent. By the time she arrived at social studies it was clear Sebastian was absent too. At lunch, no one failed to notice that the table where the Cult usually congregated was abnormally empty, and by the looks of it even Keisha decided to skip lunch and bail. What was going on?

"Out of all the days they could've chosen to be absent, why did they have to choose the day where I look absolutely fantastic? I mean really, all of them? What a waste of a spectacular outfit." Massie grumbled, a peeved frown marring her features.

Emma patted her shoulders, comforting. "I don't know what to tell you. This isn't the first time this happens, there have been other days when none of them show up."

Lily nodded in agreement, taking a small bite of her mozzarella stick. She was the slowest eater out of all of them, making her the only one who had yet to finish her lunch. "It's kind of weird actually. Either they're all present, or they're all absent—with the exception of Keisha of course."

Massie placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin above her fist, wondering why that was. "It's like all the guys do something and the girl isn't invited. What a drag, if I were her I would force them to let me join. I mean look at her, she probably cut the remainder of school and went home."

Massie's gaze steered to the empty table. Despite its availability, no one thought to sit there. Even in the Cult's absence people refrained from impinging on their supposed space.

Emma shrugged. "Most likely. This rarely happens though. I think this is the third time during the school year, it's a shame it was on your birthday."

Massie expelled a large puff of air. Her fingers reached to touch her perfectly sculpted hair; the hairspray had done an excellent job at maintaining her hairstyle throughout the day. By now, her hair did not feel as hard by the hold, but softer.

"Aside from my birthday, I can't think of any other event I would look this good for." Massie said thoughtfully.

Had she been attending one of her previous schools—where girls dressed like they were walking the runway—wearing something like this every day would not be out of place. In Dark Falls, however, the people dressed rather plainly and washed-out. After strolling through their fashion center, most of the outfits were simple every-day wear. It didn't surprise her that their citizens were an outward expression of that.

"Actually, we have the Winter Wonderland dance coming up in a few weeks." Lily supplied, finally finishing her last mozzarella stick. She wiped her hands with a tiny napkin nearby and gave her an excited smile. "It's the event of the school year since we don't have prom."

Massie felt like someone hit the brakes too hard and caused her a minor case of whiplash. "Wait, what?! How do you not have prom?!"

It also sounded weird to her that they would have Winter Wonderland in a place where they did not have snow year-round.

Emma looked up in thought. Judging by her lack of frustration on this topic, it was obvious she was not as disturbed as her by this school's lack of event. "Our graduating class is so small. Rather than spending our budget on a huge extravaganza for a few seniors, we do an annual big dance for the entire school. Everyone can come, from freshmen to seniors. It much more fun to be honest; every year we can look forward to it instead of just waiting for one big dance."

"Wow...I never would have thought of it that way," Massie considered, her thoughts shifting in their favor.

The remainder of the day was a blur to Massie. Although it was her birthday, she didn't know what she would do today. Her family was not one to make a big deal of birthdays, so she knew there was nothing waiting for her at home. After speaking to Lydia this morning, her mother and father kissed her on the cheek and gave her an envelope with money so she could spend it on whatever she'd like. Although some would find such gift to be thoughtless, Massie preferred it this way. She doubted her parents would choose anything she'd like anyway.

Perhaps she could go shopping. Although the clothes around here would do little to impress her, she did need to buy new headphones and a charger for her phone, items which were currently tattered from regular use and wear. The remainder she would place in her vacation fund, its where she usually put most of her wages. Had this been any regular day she would work at the Dark Falls Diner, but seeing she was so close from recovery Kristen insisted she take an additional week off. At the time, it had been a no brainer—she said yes. Now, she kind of wished she had rejected the kind offer. Somehow, work had warmed up to her and she found herself enjoying it, especially the awesome tips.

Had she worked, would Hailey have been there tonight? She especially enjoyed working with the sweet girl. Figuring she would find a way to distract herself for the remainder of the day, Massie finished putting away the things she wouldn't need in her locker. She took out a binder filled with all her homework assignments—which thankfully happened to be few—before finally closing her locker shut.

"Massie." A voice called out her name.

That's weird, it almost sounds like—

"Sebastian?" Massie's eyes widened. Of all the people she expected to see, he was definitely not one of them.

Today he was wearing a plain white shirt that accentuated his smooth bronze skin, making his handsome features more prominent than usual. The hair on his head looked slightly damp, as though he just finished taking a quick shower.