THE WOLF IN THE SHADOWS

Chapter 5

Loren's POV

The next day, my pals spent

the night at my house. Cqari was

not happy about it, but I told her

she can go 'Suck it,' and she hit

me with a cup. But she stayed

anyway, silently in her room on

the phone.

"So, where's Elyssa?" Aaron

yawned.

"I don't know. Can you clean

up a little bit? I don't want to be

embarrassed," I teased and he

threw a pillow at me.

"I'll go get her later. Right now,

just clean up and we'll play video

games or something," I said. Brady and Kenny yawned and started picking through their bags for things to wear.

I got my phone and called Elyssa.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Hey, Elyssa, it's Loren."

There was a long pause.

"How did you get my number?"

She managed to say.

"I looked into the school's books.

I'm sorry if it's creepy, but I was

wondering, do you want to hang

out? I mean if you're not doing

anything...."

"Oh....um. No. I mean, I'm not

doing anything," she said in a

hurry. "So, sure, I'll come over."

I smiled. "Great, I'll pick you up

later, just be ready."

"Okay."

In the meantime, I was

searching through my closet, wearing a towel, when Cqari came into my room.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"I heard Elyssa's coming over."

"Yeah, so?"

"I want to help you get dressed." She folded her arms.

"Yeah, right."

"How do you know if she'll like

the way you dress? I just want to

pick out pants, shirt, and shoes.

That's it."

I sighed, deeply. "Fine. If you'll

leave me alone."

"Yes!" She pushed me out of the

way of my own closet and started

rummaging through it. I rolled

my eyes and just went to dry my

hair.

When I came back from

combing my hair, she had an

outfit laid on the bed. I had to

admit, it was pretty cool.

I rolled my eyes. "You can thank me later," Cqari smiled and left out of the room, flipping her hair as if she was all that.

I put on the outfit and thought

I actually look good! I fixed my

hair, and went into the living

room where everyone was

ready, and Aaron had the remote

controls in his hands.

"Dude, nice outfit!" Kenny

high-fived me.

"Thanks."

"Ready for me to beat you in

2K16?!" Aaron said to Brady.

"It's on!"

Elyssa's POV

Loren's coming to pick me up

in a few minutes! Good thing

I was already ready. I actually

didn't have time to do my hair, so I put it up in a clip.

Since it's super hot today also, I

had on a green spaghetti top,

with a bow in the middle under

my breast, white short shorts,

green low converse, and to top it

off, I painted my nails white. Not

actually white; a milky color.

Then there was a knock on the

door.

"I'll get it!" I ran downstairs and opened the door to a half-smirking Loren. He looked at me up and down, before grabbing the clip in my hair and letting my hair flow around my shoulders.

"What was that for?!"

"The clip was in the way. You

look better like this anyway," he

smiled.

"Oh...thanks. Mom, I'l be back

by dinner!" I yelled.

"Okay!" she yelled back. I closed the door and walked by Loren's side

"So, what are we going to do

today?" I asked.

"Well, what do you think? Want

to go to a park?" he asked.

I hesitated, thinking about

those green eyes I saw last time.

"Sure."

He smiled. I'm just now

realizing what he's wearing.

"Nice outfit," I smiled. Actually

he looks sexy in it!

"Well, thanks."

We reached his house, which

was not really a long walk. He

opened the door for me and I

stepped inside.

As soon as I entered his house,

my mouth dropped. There were

two cute boys on the sofa, eating

chips, playing 2K16. I know I'm a

game freak. I know what type of

game they're playing. When they

saw me, they smiled. I smiled back.

Then another boy appeared

from the kitchen. I'm guessing

he's related to Loren because he

kind of looks like him.

"Okay, how many cute boys do

you have in your house?" I asked

Loren.

Everyone laughed and Loren

rolled his eyes. "just 3. Aaron and

Brady on the couch are my friends. And Kenny here is my cousin," he smiled.

I was right. He's related to Loren.

"Loren, who's the hot babe?"

Kenny mumbled under his breath.

I smiled.

"She can hear you, and this is

Elyssa."

Everyone's eyes widened.

"That's Elyssa?!" They yelled

together.

"Yes, the one I was talking about," Loren said, through his teeth. Everyone moaned and groaned, and dug into their pockets, pulling out their wallets.

Then they gave Loren 20 bucks.

"Um....am I missing something

here?" I said.

"Nope. It was just a silly bet,"

Loren said putting the cash into

his back pocket.

The boys groaned and pouted.

"Loren, the bet was bogus and

you know it," Brady groaned and

winked at me.

"Brady," Loren growled. Okay, did he really growl?

Brady smiled. "Just rolling the

dice, Loren. Just rolling the dice,"

he said.

I looked at Loren with confusion on my face.

Then a little girl, who also looks

like Loren came into the room

with a smile on her face. "Elyssa,

this is Cqari. My little sister."

I smiled and lift out my hand

for her to shake. "Hi." But instead

of taking my hand, she hugged

me. I was a little confused and

uncomfortable at first. But then

for a little while,I felt safe like she'll protect me or something.

So I hugged her back.

"Loren has told me so much

about you!" she said.

"Really?" I looked at Loren,

surprised that he would talk

about me to his family. His cheeks got a little pink.

"Okay. Time to go," Loren said,

turning to the door.

"Loren!" a woman yelled.

Loren groaned. "Are you

really going to leave without

introducing me to our guest?!"

Loren turned around and

forced a smile onto his face.

"Mom, this is-"

"Elyssa!" His mom had her arms

out-stretched to me. What's with

everyone hugging? I mean, I don't blame them; that's how every family is supposed to be.

I looked at his mom more

closely. Everyone looks alike;

lightly tanned, brown, shiny hair,

and same glowing green eyes.

His mom embraced me.

She was very, incredibly warm

and smelled like cookies, and

bubblegum, just like how moms

smell. Like my mom, she smells

the exact same way. His mom let

go of me, and cupped my face

in her hands. "Look at you," she

said, as if we've known each other and haven't seen each others in years. "You are gorgeous!"

I heard Loren snort from beside me. "It's great to finally meet you, Elyssa! Oh, you're as cute as Loren said you were!"

Everyone giggled. "Mom,"

Loren groaned. "NOT Cool!"

"Oh, hush, Loren," I said.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs.

Lexington."

"oh, please, call me Lina!"

"Sure thing," I smiled. She

hugged me one more time before

saying, "I'll let you kids go on now. Will I see you again any sooner, Elyssa?"

"Of course you will," I smiled,

again.

She smiled and kissed Loren

on the forehead. "Be careful, and

look after Cqari; she's coming

with you."

Everyone groaned.

We got out the house. "Hey,

there's nothing wrong with

Cqari," I said.

"Thank you!" Cqari said.

"You haven't been with her

for almost your whole life," Brady mumbled. Cqari threw a rock at him.

"What park are we going to?" I

asked.

"It's a park right around the

corner," Brady said, and threw a

rock back a Cqari, but she dodged it and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll get you next time."

When we reached the park, we

sat on the benches and started

talking about random stuff.

"I don't think so," Brady said,

shaking his head.

"Of course you don't think so.

You never think!" Kenny said.

"That's not really nice," I said.

"You're so mean," I pouted.

Kenny groaned. "Sorry, Brady."

Then he turned to me. "Happy?"

"Yep."

Loren and Cqari laughed.

"You're lucky you're hot, people will listen to you," Kenny mumbled. Did he forget already

that I could hear him? Oh, well.

Then there was a quaking sound.

"Hey, look, Geese!" Cqari pointed into the air. The sun was in my eyes, so I couldn't really see. Loren looked at me, then he put his cap on my head.

"Can you see now?" he asked.

"Yeah. Thanks." I smiled at

him. It was a nice gesture.

"No, problem. You look good

in it," he said. When he realized

what he just said, his cheeks

turned pink. I laughed. Without

the hat on his head, he looked

incredibly cute with his hair

blowing in his face from the

wind.

Brady picked up a rock, and

threw it at Cqari, but I stopped

it just in time, so it wouldn't hit

her head. She wasn't even paying

attention.

"Brady," I half-growled.

"Sorry."

I smiled and threw the rock back at him and it hit his chest.

Brady threw it back, but I dodged out of the way and it hit Loren.

"Hey!"

"Whoops! My bad!"

Then everyone started ducking

for cover. That gave me an idea.

"Hey, let's play hide-and-seek!"

I know, I'm a geek.

"What?" Aaron dropped all the

rocks that he had in his arms.

"Oh come on, it's not like we're

gonna live forever!"

"If only you knew," someone

mumbled. I ignored that Comment.

"Come on! I'll Seek!"

"Sure," they agreed.

"You'll never find Kenny; he's

the bomb at it."

"Oh, trust me, he'll be the first

person I'll find," I said with a

smirk on my face, and Kenny

returned that smirk and lifted his eyebrow. I turned my back on

him and started counting.

When I counted to 50, I tried

my best to look for Kenny. He just

thinks he's a bad-ass. But I can

sense him. My senses are telling

me exactly where he is. It's like

my mind had directions, and my

feet were bringing me to where

he is. Clearly, my feet brought

me to a big tree. I looked up, and

surely Kenny was leaning his

back against one of the branches.

"I found you Kenny!" I said. He

jumped down, groaning.

"Dammit! How did you do

that?!"

"I don't know. Lucky guess,

I shrugged my shoulders. Then

I sensed something else, and

walked behind the tree that

Kenny was in. I waved at Cqari. "I

found you."

She laughed and said. "Come

on, I have a feeling I know where

Brady and Aaron are!"

"You guys go find them, I'l go

find Loren," I said. They glanced

at each other and smiled. I rolled

my eyes and did what my senses

told me to do. My senses brought

me to a bench. I smirked and

sat down. "Oh where, oh where,

could my.....Prince Charming

be?" I said out-loud, and sighed. "I Wonder......."

"He couldn't possibly be behind

this raggedy old bench. There's

no telling what's behind it; all

kinds of creepy crawlies. I just

hope they don't bite him and

turn him..non-hot," I smiled to

my-self. "Well, I guess I'll just go to Kenny and tell him that I'm single and I'l go out with-"

Loren sprained up from behind the bench, with a half-angry look on his face.

"You're going to go out with Kenny?" he said through clenched teeth.

"HA! I made you come out!" I

laughed.

His eyes widened, and he started to laugh. "Oh, you're good."

"I know."

Loren jumped over the bench

and sat down next to me, very

close; our bodies were even

touching. "Oh, yeah. I believe you

called me hot....and Prince Charming?" His eyebrow rose

and he smirked.

My face got hot. "I was just trying to get you to come out. End of story." The words came out fast, so that proves I'm guilty.

"Sure, you were," Loren said

with sarcasm in his voice.

"Okay, fine," I sighed. "I admit,

you're hot. I actually always

thought you were hot, I mean

who wouldn't think you're not.

And for the Prince Charming part, it's basically the same thing, I'm calling you hot-"

What the hell am I saying?! I

shut my mouth, so nothing else

stupid would come out of it. I

risked a glance at Loren to see

a smirk on his face. My face got

even hotter. "I said too much,

didn't I?"

"Nope," Loren said. "You said

just enough," he smiled. I smiled

too, and leaned my head against

his shoulder. I don't know why,

but it just happened. I felt like I

belonged with him, like we were

meant to be together somehow. I

just..... can't explain my feelings

for him. Oh, and was he really

going to get mad if I would go out with Kenny? Wow. I mean, there's nothing wrong with Kenny; it's just that he's Loren's cousin.

And I don't really have feelings

for Kenny. I'm not going to lie to

my-self. I really like Loren. Plus

his family seems cool.

Oh, just wait until I meet his

dad.

Loren's POV

She just called me hot! Bonus!

"I think you're hot too, well,

sexy, if I may say. Especially with

the cap on, I'm trying not to-" I

stopped.

"Trying not to what?" she asked.

"Nothing."

Trying not to do you right

here, right now. I did not want

her to hear me say that. So

embarrassing. She'll think I'm a

rapist or something.

"So we think each others hot,

what now?" she asked, lifting her

head up to look at me. God, she

looks beautiful.

"I have no idea," I said. I have

to do it. I can't wait any longer.

I bent my head down as my

eyes went to her lips, and her

eyes went to mine. She brings her

head up also. We were just inches

away from kissing, when she

gasped and looked into my eyes.

"What?" I asked.

Her eyes were really wide. "Your

eyes.......they're.........glowing," she

said.

Fuck!