Becoming Alpha

Chapter 8

Kelly listened to their car pull away from the house before she walked further into the hallway.

She did not understand what had happened in the end but before Callum got weird, she had been enjoying their company. It made her unusually sad to have ended it all so suddenly and coldly.

She was headed for the stairs when Stefanie walked out of the living room with her arms folded over her chest and a frown on her face. The woman had so much make-up on, she looked like a doll.

“So, you already have boys dropping you off at home I see,” she said with a voice full of accusation.

Kelly chose to ignore her and continue on her way. There were just some conversations that she found not worth the effort and this was one of them.

But Stefanie wasn’t to be put down so easily. “That is what happens when a girl discovers boys…all the respect goes flying out the door,” she commented in a bitter tone.

Kelly’s steps paused on one of the stairs. She turned and looked down at the woman. So many answers went through her head but none went past her lips.

‘So long it doesn’t kill me, I don’t care.’ She repeated the statement in her head over and over again until she was sure her brain got the message. Then she turned around and continued to her room leaving an irritated step mother at the bottom of the stairs still waiting for her response.

When her father got home an hour later Kelly knew the matter was not yet over. She could hear Stefanie shouting at the top of her lungs about being disrespected and not considered as a mother.

It was a laughable situation and Kelly would have laughed if she was not sure the woman would get her way. Her father had a soft spot for his wife and all her drama, so it was only a matter of time before he knocked on her door.

Less than twenty minutes later, the knock came. Kelly exhaled and tried to calm herself as she put away her books and went to open the door.

Daniel Blackdeer stood at the door already scowling. “Your mother says she tried to give you good advise and you disrespected her. What do you have to say for yourself?”

Kelly wasn’t sure if her father’s statement left much room for her to explain or vindicate herself. He sounded as though he had already accepted Stefanie’s version of events and she was just going to be on the receiving end of the matter.

She walked back to her desk and sat down. If her father was doing to lecture her there was no point making the whole thing less comfortable by standing in the middle of her room.

Daniel continued to talk when his daughter decided not to respond. “I am doing my best to find you a good mother who can be there for you where I can’t…but you are not helping, Kelly.”

“Did she tell you what the advice was about?” Kelly asked quietly.

Her father threw a hand in the air in a show of frustration. “That is another thing we have to discuss. Since when do boys start dropping you off at home? Have you started…doing that already?”

‘That’ would be s*x. Kelly knew her father would never say the word in the same room as his daughter even if the roof was burning over their heads. Which always caused funny awkward situations in the kitchen most mornings, because Stefanie always made comments about the night before. No matter how pathetically coded the older woman tried to make the conversation Kelly always knew what her step mother was talking about and her father’s embarrassed silence always confirmed it.

“My class mates only dropped me off from school on their way home,” she explained.

“According to your mother it was more than that.”

Kelly frowned as she wondered what web of lies Stefanie had span at her expense. In that moment she really hoped her father was already looking for wife number five, because wife number four was going a little too far for her taste.

She folded her arms and leaned back in her chair. As far as gestures went, it was a loud one and her father’s frown only deepened. She could see him work his jaw continuously as he tried to come up with what to say next.

Daniel was held between a very pissed off wife and his only daughter. It was not a between a rock and a knife kind of situation. It was more a problem of pleasing the current wife and losing his only child’s affection and respect. It was not a position he wanted to be in after a long day of negotiations at the office.

He flipped ideas in his head for another minute then finally decided to settle for a middle ground that he believed would solve everything.

“You will apologize to your mother and from now on she will be picking you up from school so that we avoid any more boys giving you rides.

Kelly looked like she would have rather pocked her eye with a needle then go with that idea. But like always she held her tongue and just gave her father a nod. She was not going to argue, she was going to just let everything be no matter how bitter it tasted.

***

“Did you enjoy your pizza?” Suzy asked Kelly the moment she ran into her on Monday in the school cafeteria.

Kelly froze at the food counter and looked over her shoulder at the girl. The pizza outing had not been a secret, she hadn’t even thought to consider it as one. But the tone in the other girl’s voice made her frown and wonder if indeed Suzy was the right person to keep company with.

Deciding to play dumb, she raised her brows and asked as innocently as she could. “Pizza? When?”

Suzy didn’t miss a beat. “Friday last week with the boys.”

Clearly there was no side stepping the conversation so she turned back to the food selection and answered over her shoulder. “Yes, we had that one with a lot of bacon and hot chicken. It was nice to finally know where I can get a decent pizza in this town.”

She selected her usual sandwich and soda before she moved to sit at one of the empty tables. Her butt had barely touched the seat when Suzy was on her again.

“So, what was that exactly? Was it like a date?”

Kelly exhaled exaggeratedly and looked at the girl. She wished the subject could just be dropped. There was nothing to tell and she did not want to make a mountain out of an ant hill. She had other things to worry about such as Stefanie picking her up from school.

So far, she hadn’t seen all the boys. She had only run into Mattias during Biology and he had been as friendly as ever. But the one she wanted to see was Callum.

She had a class with him after lunch and she wondered if he would still act strange and pissed of, or if he would smile at her and talk as they had before everything flipped last Friday.

She was still lost in her private thoughts with an irritated Suzy watching her and waiting for her response when a heavy silence fell over the cafeteria.

Even without looking she knew the boys had just walked in. Suzy straightened in her seat and pasted a smile on her face. Gone was the irritation and accusation she had been throwing at Kelly just seconds before.

Kelly shook her head in disbelief. There were too many hypocrites and liars in the world. And definitely far too many in her life as well. She made a mental note to stay as far away from Suzy as was humanly possible. Such a chameleon was dangerous to keep near by.

Suddenly her back prickled and she felt and invisible heat wrap around her from behind. Someone was standing directly behind her chair and judging from Suzy’s face it was someone very hot and mesmerizing.

Kelly could only think of one person who fit the bill. Callum. And right on cue the guy leaned down and placed his hands on the back of her chair in a possessive manner.

“Why don’t you find another table to enjoy you lunch from? This one is taken,” Callum addressed Suzy quietly.

The girl dared to look at the two other empty chairs at the table. Just then Oscar and Mattias stepped forward and lowered themselves in the chairs. Callum raised his brow in an expectant manner. He expected the girl to get lost and not say another word.

It only took her another frozen second then Suzy jerked and got up. She barely remembered to pick her tray of food before she left.

Once she was gone Mattias took the seat she had been occupying and Callum took the one next to Kelly.

Kelly looked at all three guys now seated at her table then at Suzy’s retreating back and smiled. “A little high handed but nice,” she commented.

“She is not a good friend,” Oscar whispered as he too watched where the girl disappeared to.

Mattias nodded his agreement and began his habit of sweeping his eyes over the entire room like he was looking for threats. Kelly watched him for a second. She wondered why he always did that. She had noticed the same behavior at the pizza place last Friday and every time they shared a class.

She decided to shrug it off, at least for now. She had something better in mind. She turned in her seat to face Callum. He looked relaxed and in a good mood compared to the last time she had seen him.

Kelly raised her brow at him and asked, “Shouldn’t you be explaining or apologizing at the very least?”