THE WOLF IN THE SHADOWS

Chapter 9

My mouth was hanging open.

My mouth was dry. R.Jay motioned for me to say something.

"How? When? Why?" I asked.

"Who?!"

He laughed a cute guy-ish laugh. "It happened when I saw Clara."

"You like Clara?!"

"NO!" he yelled, then clamped

a hand over his mouth. "I just

think she's kind of hot," he

shrugged.

I was smiling like an i***t now.

He rolled his eyes. "I just didn't

feel so gay when I saw Clara.

Then, when I saw those guys

with you..I mean, I still thought they were cute, but not in a gay way," he shrugged again.

"So, like in a bisexual way?"

"Yeah. But, I'm just straight, I'm not gay and I'm not bi. Soooo, that means I might have a chance with Clara!" he pumped up his fist in a very guy way.

I snorted. "If you tell the rest of them that you're not gay anymore, then you might," I said. If she still doesn't like Peter afterwards.

"Well, come on, boyfriend," I

teased. "Let's go show the world!"

I said. I looped my arm through

his while he groaned and I came

out of the closet, smiling.

"He's not what?!" Mel, Clara and Darren yelled.

"He's not gay anymore! He's not bisexual either; he's just plain

straight now," I smiled.

"Which means-" Clara started.

"He needs new clothes! How

about we go shopping again

tomorrow right before Elyssa goes to meet Loren?" Mel finished. I doubt that's what Clara was going to say. I'm thinking she was probably going to say he can have a girlfriend now. I mean, who wouldn't go after him now that he's straight?

"Sounds good to me," I said,

looking at R.Jay.

"Yeah. Cool with me. I'll be there the whole way. Cause you know, I'm a guy and I'm straight," Darren teased. I hit him lightly on the chest with the back of my hand and rolled my eyes.

"Perfect!" all of us girls yelled.

The guys rolled their eyes.

I caught a glimpse of Clara gazing at R.Jay. I smiled to my-self. If she likes him so much, why doesn't she just ask him already before he gets his cute butt taken? "Alright. Time for bed," I said, waking Clara from her little dream.

Everyone groaned but got up to

put on their pajamas. Me, Clara

and Mel somehow ended up with

the same kind of pajamas.

I have on a black tank top that

says "Wild One!" with a giraffe

on it. I also have on some pink

and black stripped shorts. To top

it off, pink fuzzy pig slippers! So

comfortable! I know, I'm a dork.

Clara had on a white and green

tank also, with green and white

polka dot shorts, and to top that

off, green fuzzy frog slippers!

And Mel, the ultra county girl,

has on a white and pink tank that

had the word, 'Bear Sleeping' on it and a bear on the shirt with

matching pink shorts. And cow

slippers!

We laughed at our Pajamas, and the guys rolled their eyes.

Speaking of them, Darren had

on nothing but his boxers.

R.Jay....well. R.Jay just had on his

boxers too! And who knew he

had a rocking body?! He's always

covered it up with clothes, so who knew?! Clearly Mel didn't know because she's gaping at him with an open mouth.

The sleeping arrangements were made. I slept in my own bed with Mel beside me. R.Jay and Clara slept in the same bed, (how cute!?) and Darren decided to sleep on the floor.

'Goodnight, everyone!" I whispered and yelled.

They giggled and said, "Good

night, Elyssa!"

After that, everyone kept saying goodnight to everyone else like how they do in movies without ever ending and keep saying goodnight to everyone.

I woke up to Bright softly snoring beside my head. I lightly laugh, pushing him off, knowing he really wasn't asleep. He barked and rolled off of my bed with his

tongue sticking out. I sighed, and

looked around seeing everyone

getting up and stretching.

"How did you guys sleep?"I asked, copying what they were

doing.

R.Jay was the first one to answer. "Good." He smiled. "How about you?"

"Perfect." I smiled back. "You

definitely should have slept good

because it's time to go shopping,"

I said, glancing at the clock.

"Really?" he said and groaned

like a normal guy would. I pointed to the clock to answer his question.

"Wow, it's 12:53," Clara said.

Everyone started to go through

their bags and search for clothes

and their under garments and

toiletry.

"Clara, you can go into Andy's

bathroom," I said.

She nodded. When she was done and she came back into my room, smelling of raspberry and oranges, she smiled. "His room is so cute, and his bathroom is totally green!"

"Yep. He picked it out himself,"

I said.

When we were ready, my Mom

let us take her truck. "What?"

Mel asked. "I know how to drive,

jeesh," she said, putting the key

into the ignition.

"Shot gun!" Darren yelled and literally jumped into the passenger seat. Clara and I exchanged glances then busted out laughing.

"First things first. You need

a total makeover. No more goofy hair, but you can keep the

adorable eyes," Mel said as she

drove.

R.Jay rolled his eyes and chucked. He's already starting to be a guy again. Not to mention he sat next to Clara....or Clara sat next to him. Whatever, they were sitting next to each other!

We arrived at some unknown

place that Mel drove to. Who

knew that she knew about

Wisconsin? When we got inside,

she stopped us in our tracks and

pulled R.Jay out. "Okay. You come

with us," she said. "I know the

perfect person to help you with

your makeover," she said and

smiled. Clara and Darren rolled

their eyes while I laughed.

"Oh, darling!" Mel yelled as she

ran to go air kiss someone.

"Oh, Mel, the last time I saw you was back at our home town!

What are you doing here?" the

guy asked.

"I came to give someone a make over. My friend R.Jay," she pointed to R.Jay beside me. "Guys this is Beck. Beck this is Clara, Elyssa and R.Jay, who I expect for you to have him looking sexy," she wiggled her eyebrows.

"Oh, honey you know me!" they laughed. We all rolled our eyes. "Come, come, come. We must not keep our fans waiting," Beck said and shoved R.Jay into a seat.

"I wonder how it's going," Clara said from beside me.

Of course she does, I thought.

Just then, Beck cleared his

throat and said. "Ladies and

gentleman. There might have

been slight difficulties with this

one. But nonetheless, I got him all good and fixed up and bad-boy delicious," Beck wiggled his eyebrows. "May I present you;

The new R.Jay!"

Out came R.Jay. Our mouths

dropped open.

Loren's POV

I woke up, yawning and stretching and the sun beaming

down on my face. I covered my

eyes and went to go close the

damn curtains.

I yawned again and threw on

some clothes, going down-stairs

to find Cqari, Kenny, Brady Aaron, and my dad playing video games.

What the hell time is it? Shouldn't they be eating and crap? Sitting at the dinner table like a normal family would.

Who the hell am I kidding?

This family is no where near

normal.

"Hey, Loren," my Dad said. "I

heard you went out with Elyssa," he said.

I cursed under my breath

and made a mental note to slap

someone. "Uh, yeah. Where were

you when she came over?"

"She came over, too? That must

be her scent I smell all over your

Mom," he chuckled. I sat down

next to Aaron.

"Yeah, she hugged her like 10

times," I rolled my eyes. "I, um,

I'm going to go see her again

today," I said.

"Cool, you better tell me everything that happens," he joked around. I rolled my eyes again. "But, don't be shitty with it."

"Alright, pops." My stomach

growled so I made myself useful

by fixing me some Cheerios. It's

good for you, ya know.

"Hey, Loren, are you still going to

see Elyssa and tell her what's up?" Brady came to the table and sat across from me.

"Yeah," I said, in a half-mouthful. I swallowed. "I have to tell her everything."

"Do you think she's ready?"

"That's the thing," I answered.

"I don't know. It seems like she is.

She saw my eyes glow once."

"Told you!" my Dad yelled from

the living room. I rolled my eyes.

"Then, I almost formed when you guys howled like a dumb-ass," I said, glaring at Brady.

"Hey!" Aaron said. "That was

only Brady!"

"Whatever!" Brady yelled back

to them. "Well, whenever you feel

the need to tell her. If you want

her that bad, then-"

"She's ready. She has to be.

She's going to be shocked and

pissed as hell, but it's time we let

her know the things no one else

would tell her," I shrugged and

finished my cereal.

"But, what about her being your-"

"I'll get to that part when she

feels like she's..............I don't know, in love with me. If I tell her that right away, she'll get really pissed."

Brady shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to just try."

I looked at him. "Actually, it would hurt."

Brady nodded.

I went upstairs to go to my

room and get dressed. On my

way there, I heard Cqari laugh. I

wonder what the hell she's up to.

"Yeah, I told you already!"

she said, it sounded like she was

smiling.I went by her door, and

listened hard. "No. When? Really? That must have sucked. Eeep! Is he that cute? My brother would kill me. Hold on. Loren! I know you're by the door, get away!" she yelled.

"Damn," I mumbled. How does

she do that? I sighed and went

into my room.

I hopped in the shower, and

my thoughts exploded. What will

be Elyssa's reaction? What will she say? What will she do? Will she hate me?

Sighing, I scrubbed my-self,

then hopped out, putting a towel

around my waist. I dug into my

closet, pulling out something to

wear that I would be comfortable

in.

"Hey, let's go shoot some hoops!" Kenny yelled.

"Fine with me."

"Sure."

"I'm an old man, I don't think

so," my Dad said.

We laughed. "Yeah, right.

You're a wolf, so you're always fit. Come on, Dad," I said, pulling him off the couch.

I grabbed the ball by the door,

and we went to the back. "It won't be even, so someone has to

be out until the next game."

"That's my cue," Dad said and

sat down on the bench. We rolled

our eyes.

"Alright. Kenny, pick your big

man."

"You, of course," he snorted.

My dad got in the middle. "I'll

be the ref for this round. First

team to get to 60, gets.....60 bucks."

"Yeah!" we yelled. Well, this ought to be fantastic.