Inevitably Yours

QUINN

Michael never responded to my message, and I didn’t sleep Saturday or Sunday night. By the time I got to school Monday, I had no energy for my friends. I skipped my locker and went straight to my first class, grabbing a seat all the way in the back corner so I could lay my head down without being noticed. Now that we were into the school year, Mr. Ganbar realized that his class was easy for me and didn’t bug me too much about my perceived lack of attention.

There was still plenty of time before class started, so I set my bag on the floor next to me and tried to make myself comfortable at the desk.

“There you are!” I heard Christy say exasperatedly. I slowly lifted my head to see her weaving through to desks to get to me. “Guess what?” She paused when she got a good look at me. “You look like hell,” she commented.

“Good morning. I’m awesome. What am I guessing?” I responded.

She started bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Saturday went amazing! Aubree and I talked like all day yesterday, and there is more!”

“Please tell me more,” I said, keeping the sarcasm from my tone.

“Jaxx asked for your number! He’s smitten with the cool, quiet blue girl!” she said, clapping her hands.

“Christy, why is that good news?” I asked her, rolling my eyes. She sat down at the seat in front of me, sitting backward in the chair to face me.

“Um, best friends and best friends. Like how cool would it be for us all to go out together? It would be like perfect!” she said super fast. I could see the sparkle in her eye and knew her head was spinning through some perfect world with all of us.

“I need you to take a deep breath,” I told her. “I am thrilled you are getting along with Aubree so well. He’s really nice, and I like him a lot, but I told you I don’t want a boyfriend.”

“Giving Jaxx your number does not equate to a boyfriend,” she sighed. My classmates started slowly coming into the room. “He just wants to talk to you.”

“An unmated, almost 17-year-old male wolf wants to talk to a she-wolf? You know we have hormones worse than humans, right?” I deadpanned.

“You are being a wet blanket,” she pouted.

“There you are!” Reese called, coming over to me.

“I’ll see you at lunch. Just think about Jaxx, okay? It’s not a bad thing to have more friends,” she said, standing.

“You are more than enough friend for one person,” I teased her. She stuck her tongue out and winked as she headed out of the classroom.

“That girl has a nice a*s, but I would never have pegged you two to become friends,” Reese said, taking the seat in front of me as he watched Christy exit the classroom.

“She has a mate; get her out of your mind,” I said, laying my head back down.

“You can’t sleep, Q. I need to copy your homework,” he said panickedly. I kicked my bag at him, and he got the hint. I closed my tired eyes, not sure if I wanted to risk falling asleep or not.

–

The rest of the day dragged on, and I was only able to dodge Christy during band because her flag coach held her back for extra practice. When I got home, I hit my bed and finally found sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night with a gross feeling in my stomach. I calmed down when I finally heard Sapphire again.

“You aren’t very nice when you’re tired,” she said.

“Nice of you to return,” I countered.

“Jaxx seems like a nice guy,” she continued.

“Sure, he’s plenty nice. Maybe a little smart but nice,” I replied.

“If you want to make the mousey one happy, then just hang out with him. Then her mate can also get close to her,” Sapphire said.

“So you are no longer team Michael?” I asked.

“No, I am still team Michael, but he isn’t around. We can’t mope around about it forever. Hanging out with new people is good for you,” she reasoned.

“I really don’t think I can do any more love life drama,” I sighed. I got out of bed and headed to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. Waking up from such a hard sleep always made me feel gross.

“You shouldn’t worry about it so much. Everything will happen how it is supposed to,” she said.

“You have to be the most annoyingly assured person ever,” I accused.

“Not a person. 100% wolf,” she said cheekily.

–

The crowd cheered as we played the final note of our halftime show. The director’s whistle rang out in time, and we all began to move off the field in unison.

“Let’s go get cocoa; it’s cold tonight,” Christy linked me, and I did my best to keep moving my foot normally, even with the annoying brace. Marching with it on was not an easy task.

“Sure, sounds good,” I replied.

We got to the stands, and I stowed away my instrument before heading back down the bleachers to meet Christy. Her nose and cheeks were pink, but I could see the slight bit of sweat on her from running around the field during the show.

“Ready?” she said, grabbing my arm.

“Yea,” I smiled as we headed into the crowd toward the concession. Her phone started to chime in her hand. “Who is trying to get your attention?”

“I don’t know….” she said, looking down at her messages. Her face looked very confused.

“You probably shouldn’t walk and look at that thing. You’ll end up just as hurt as your best friend,” someone said. I looked up from her to see Aubree and Jaxx standing to the side of the bleachers.

“Aubree!” Christy squealed. She let go of me and rushed over to him. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Thought we would check out this whole flag twirly thing you do,” he smiled at her. There was this unmistakable look in his eyes, and I genuinely wondered how she hadn’t realized what was going on yet.

“What is that massive thing you carry around?” Jaxx asked me, pulling my attention away from the budding couple.

“Oh, uh, a saxophone,” I told him.

“I wouldn’t think they would let a little thing carry something so big,” he smiled at me. “It’s impressive.”

“Small is not synonymous with weak,” I frowned.

His face dropped. “I didn’t mean it like that!” he corrected quickly. “I think it’s really cool, actually.”© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“Thanks,” I shrugged. “So, are we getting cocoa?” I directed it at Christy.

“Oh, yea, we don’t have a lot of time. We need to get in line,” she said.

“Let’s go,” Aubree smiled at her.

“He’s so freaking dreamy,” Chisty linked me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her so she wouldn’t just stand there staring at him while the time ticked away.

“Easy girl. Take it one step at a time,” I replied. “Cocoa first. Then finish the game, and you can suck his face the rest of the night.”

Christy burst out laughing, and the guys gave her a questioning look. “Nothing,” she smiled. “So, what are you guys doing after this?”

“We were hoping there might be a couple of she-wolves that might like to keep us company after this game,” Jaxx said.

“Oh, my gosh! That sounds like so much fun! Quinn, what do you think?” Christy gushed.

“Um, I don’t know.” I peaked at Aubree, who was giving me a pleading look.

“He thinks you are the key to her,” Sapphire piped in.

“I am not her keeper,” I rebutted.

“Pleasseeeee,” Christy begged.

“Sure,” I said with a tight smile. Jaxx and Aubree both lit up.

“Yay!” Christy said, jumping up and down.

“When can you guys leave?” Aubree asked.

“We have to finish the game in the stands and then put all our stuff away. We need to change too,” Christy said.

“I don’t know. I sort of dig this nerdy chic thing,” Jaxx said, smiling at me. Christy laughed.

“We have regular clothes. So maybe thirty minutes after the game ends?” she went on.

“We can just wait in the parking lot for you,” Aubree told her.

“Perfect!” she said happily.

We managed to get our cocoa and sip it down before the guys walked us back over to the stands to finish our obligated time with the band. Christy snuck up to sit with me instead of the rest of the flag team.

“Thanks for going with me,” she said.

“Of course,” I told her.

“I think I really like him. He’s so different from….” she trailed off for a second. “He is always asking me about my day and how school is going. He genuinely seems like he wants to talk to me and never acts like I am bothering him. I didn’t know how good that would feel.”

“That’s amazing,” I told her, feeling truly happy for my best friend. “He seems like he cares about you.”

“It’s so weird. I know I still have some time before knowing who my mate is, but I don’t know if I could imagine being with anyone else but him. He is so easy to be around,” she said.

“So, do you want to date him?” I asked her. She bit her l*p.

“I do, but he would already know if I was his mate, and I am close to finding mine. Should I even entertain it?” she asked uncertainly.

“Christy, does he make you happy?” I asked her blankly.

“I get this fluttering feeling in my stomach every time I see him,” she said shyly.

“That sounds like happy to me. Talk to him about the mate thing. He might be okay with whatever happens in the future,” I told her.

“How did I end up with such a smarty pants as a best friend?” she asked, nudging me.

“I guess it was inevitable,” I smiled back.