The final bell of the year rings, and I quickly hurry out of the classroom along with the rest of my classmates. "Brynn!" Amara, or Mara, squeals. "We're graduates! Like actual high school graduates!"

"Yeah, let's get the hell outta here," I laugh, grabbing her wrist and running out to my car.

"Slow down woman," she laughs. I open the drivers door and get in, watching as Mara gets in the passenger seat.

"Stop staring at me. Gosh, stalker much," she jokes.

"Yup, I've been following you around since you were born. I know everything about you," I say in a creepy voice.

"You're right, let's get the hell outta here. This place has changed you," Mara says.

I drive out of the parking lot, getting stuck in never ending traffic. "We would have been better off walking today," I groan.

"Probably but whatever. We never have to do it again," Mara squeals. I love her to death but all her squealing is staring to hurt my head.

I turn on the radio so we have something to do, and it seems like seconds pass and we're out of the parking lot. We pull up at the pack house with all the other teens, and it's crazy getting out of the car.

Mara and I run into the forest, shifting immediately. It's been a tradition of ours since we shifted at thirteen. We chase each other and play in the lake, drying off in the sun afterwords.

Snap.

"What was that?" Mara asks, looking around.

"It was probably just someone else in the forest, forget about it," I say, laying out in the sun. We go back a couple hours later and part at the pack house. Mara lives there, but I live with the rest of my family in a house a couple blocks away.

"See you tomorrow," I say, hugging her and walking off. The sun was already setting as I jog to my house, reaching it in minutes.

"I'm home!" I call as I walked through the doors.

"We're just about ready to eat!" My mom calls from the kitchen. "How was the last day of school?"

"Crazy and exciting," I laugh, helping her by draining the spaghetti noodles in the sink.

"That's good. Can you watch the little ones tonight? Your father and I are going on a date and out of you older ones, only you and Violet are staying home," she says.

"Of course. I mean I have no life," I joke. My mom and I both break out into laughter.

We set up dinner at the huge table and my mom calls everyone down. It sounds like a herd of elephants as the rest of my family comes running in from all parts of the house. Everyone takes a seat at the table, and then we dig in.

My parents had wanted a big family, and that is how they ended up with ten kids, me being the oldest.

After me came Hayden, who was sixteen. He was the current jock of the family, playing a different sport each season. Although he was a jock, he had a heart of gold.

Next came Violet, who was fifteen. She was really into art and kept to herself most of the time. She was one of the sweetest, nicest people you would ever meet in your life.

Ryder was fourteen, following in Hayden's footsteps as a jock, except for he could be a complete jerk. He was only going into ninth grade but I know for a fact he's already hooked up with multiple different girls, most of them already in high school.

Levi and Lexi came next. They were only twelve but they were already some of the best pranksters in the pack. They could make you laugh a ton but if you were their victim you'd be in big trouble. They were attached at the hip and the only time they were ever apart was if one of them was going to the bathroom or showering.

Ben came next, and he was eleven. He was the clown of the family and had a heart of gold, just like Hayden. If you were having a bad day, he would be the one that would cheer you up.

Xavier was ten, and he was probably the sweetest of us all along with Violet. He was quiet and kept to himself like her as well, but he would always be there to help you in a time of need.

Ellie was eight, but she was a better writer then me already. That was exactly what she wanted to do when she grew up and she would do a damn good job at it. She was an exact replica of Violet, the only difference being that her hair was a lighter shade of brown.

The youngest one was Carter, and he was five. He was a complete rascal and could barely be controlled. He had no knowledge of rules and and did his own thing most of the time.

"How was everyone's last day of school?" My mom asks after helping Carter get his food. A loud chorus of 'goods' is her answer.

Dinner is over quickly, the older ones wanting to get back to what they were doing and the younger ones wanting to go play.

I help my mom do the dishes and then go up to my own room until it's time for my parents to leave, using the last hour or so of peace I have left by myself.

"Brynn, we're leaving!" My mom calls. I close my laptop and hop of my bed, heading downstairs to the playroom. Carter, Ellie, and Xavier are playing some kind of game in there. Ben is sitting on the couch with a joke book in his hands, his eyes roaming over the jokes before he would flip the page. Violet's in her corner of the room, sitting at the drawing desk that's there just for her. I make myself comfortable on the couch, pulling my hair up in a messy bun with the spare ponytail on my wrist. I look at the clock and see that it's just pass seven.

"Carter, are you gonna take a bath tonight?" I ask. The little rascal nods his head before turning back to the plastic food at the little table. "Okay, you can play for an hour and then its bath time then." He nods again. It would probably still take a lot of convincing at eight to even get him in the bath though.

And it is. He fights and fights until I tell him he can watch one more episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates after he takes a bath. He's in and out in ten minutes after that, and by the time I finish wiping up the puddle of water on the floor he's back in front of the TV, curled up with his blanket and stuffed giraffe, Spot. Spot was a gift from Mara when he was born and he has hardly let go of the thing since.

After his show's over, I put Carter to bed and pop my head into Ellie's room. She's curled up in the blankets on her bed, a book in her hand. "What's the book tonight?" I ask. Her eyes stay glued to the pages as she holds it up so I can see the cover. I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic.

She must have reached the end of the chapter because she grabs the book mark laying on the bed next to her and places it in the book. "It's super good. I just got to part where they hit the iceberg!"

"I remember reading that book when I was your age. It was one of my favorites," I smile.

"I like reading about the Titanic," Ellie smiles back, wrapping the blankets tighter around her as she situatea herself to lay down. "It's interesting."

"I did too. No idea why," I reply.

"It's just cool to read about it and learn about what happened," she says.

"Of course," I say, laughing a little. "Goodnight, El." I pull the covers up to her chin and kiss her forehead.

"Goodnight Brynn," she says. I shut the lights off and crack her door open. Everyone else can put themselves to sleep, so I go back up to my room and open my laptop. I play the episode of a Pretty Little Liars I was on and unlock my phone to snap my friends back.

Hours pass, my computer still playing and my phone still at arms reach if I start to get bored. My parents got home a couple hours ago and said goodnight. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one still awake.

There's a soft, quiet knock on my window that scares the living daylights out of me. I go over and open it, assuming it's Mara, but it definitely is not Mara.

It's a bronze skinned boy about my age, with dark messy hair and dark, almost black eyes. He's perched on the roof right outside my window, staring at me with an adorable lazy grin on his face.

"Mate," we whisper in sync.

What the actual fuck?