Luna Raine

XVI. One Hell of an Adventure

Raine's POV:

I dried my hair with a towel to catch a missed call on my phone. I smile and return his call.

"You called?"

"I did," his voice flows into my ear.

"The reason?"

"Do I need a reason to call you?"

"It's highly suggested."

"Well, I was wondering why you weren't logged on."

I grabbed a toy and threw it to the other side of the room. Mister Oink squeals and race towards it. He grabs it and makes his way back towards me. I can see it, the proudness in his face. "It may come to you as a surprise, but I do have a life outside of gaming."

He gasps, "What? Since when?"

"Since today."

"You must feel so proud."

Mister Oink wiggles his curly tail. Immediately, I grabbed the toy and threw it to the other side of the room. He chases it. Who says pigs can't be trained. "As proud as an introvert can be."

"What happened that made you suddenly have a life today?"

"I'm going to the mall."

"Oh. Nice. Malls are fun."

"You sound like a mall person."

"Yeah. I love going out to crowded places, surrounded by complete strangers. Particularly places with overpriced items."

I threw the toy again. "Tell me something I don't know."

"You sound excited. A complete mall person." He threw my words back at me.

"I'm not big on crowded places." Can't blame me. I grew up in a small town. The most crowded place I've ever gone to would be the school and I'm forced to go there.

"Then, why are you going to the mall?"

"Because my friend wants to go. There's this grand opening for a witch store that made this new potion that gives clear skin."

"Puer?"

"What?"

"The store you're talking about. Is it called Puer?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"That company came up with this new product that gets rid of acne."

I snap my finger, then rub Mister Oink's stomach. "Yes. Puer. How do you know about it?"

"I saw a few advertisements about it. Plus, a few members of the pack had talked about it."

"Is it good?"

"I don't know. I never took it."

"Fair enough," I stood up and headed towards my bedroom. "But, yes. I will be spending my wonderful weekend in line."

"Sounds fun."

"Excited for what's about to come." I grab a bag from my closet. I can feel Mister Oink around my feet. "Are you going?" I stop walking towards my bed when the realization occurs.

What if Wolfie decided to go? He did say a few of his pack members did talk about it. Then, does that mean they will go and he's going to tag along? Should we meet up? What should I wear if we do meet up? I look at my closet.

"No."

I grab my jeans and sweats, "Oh. All right."

He chuckled, "Disappointed?"

"Not at all." I fold the clothes and set it inside my bag. "Reality may crush me and I have to find a new gaming partner."

He gasps, "I didn't know you were such a shallow person."

"Like a puddle of water."

He laughs, "I don't think you'll be disappointed with my looks."

"Quite the ego you have there."

"My ego isn't the only thing that's big."

I pause, looking at one sleeve of a shirt that's folded on my bed. "Are you talking dirty to me?"

"Depends. How do you feel about it?"

"What if I were to say I feel flattered?"

"Then, I would respond by saying there's more to come in the future."

"And if I was disgusted?"

"Then, I would respond by saying I was talking about my stomach."

"You're fat?"

"You got something against fat werewolves?"

"I never said that."

"Good because we exist and we matter."

I laugh at the thought of a large round wolf rolling in nature.

"I like it," he said.

"What?"

"The sound of your laughter."

I tuck my lip over my teeth, "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"This."

"What did I do?" He attempts to sound innocent.

"You're flirting with me and you need to stop it."

"It takes two to tangle."

"Nonetheless, I wasn't the one who started dancing."

"I wasn't the one who forced you to take my hand."

"What are you implying?"

"I'm implying that you may or may not have some sort of more than typical friendly emotions towards me."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because someone who doesn't like me wouldn't have laughed at all my bad jokes."

I tuck my hair behind my ear, "Maybe, I'm giving you a pity laugh."

"My ego isn't huge enough to deny a pity date."

I tuck a strand of hair back. Mister Oink smack his paws against my dangling leg, but I ignored him. He's been extra bad lately. "The answer is no."

"And why not?"

"I read about werewolves."

"Oh, so what you're saying is, you looked me up."

I exhale, "What I'm saying is that one day, you'll find your soulmate and when that happens you'll forget about me." And there's also the reality that we're from completely different worlds.

I don't want to do it.

I don't want to start something that doesn't have a happy ending.

Wolfie is a good gaming partner and I enjoy talking to him. That should be the end of everything between us. A casual friendship. Dive any further and you may drown.

"Did you read the part about rejections?"

I look down to see a thread on the blanket. I grab it and tug it off. "Don't do this," I said. "Don't bring up something that can't happen."

"Are you saying my feelings aren't strong enough?"

"I'm saying emotions can't be measured until the arrival of reality."

"The reality?"

"The reality is that there is someone out there that's waiting for their soulmate. You. And you don't want to meet that special person while holding some else hand. You're going to end up hurting more than yourself."

He swallows, "Why does it have to be someone out there? Why can't it be someone from the other side of the line?"

My lip twerk slightly, and I held tightly to the thread. "I got to go."

I can hear a pair of lips being smacked on the other side. "Right. I understand. Too pushy."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

I flop the phone on my lap and exhale. Hanging half of my body off of the bed, I look up towards the empty ceiling. Mister Oink smack my face then licks it. I grab him and curl myself into him. Mister Oink squealed but I didn't let him go. Eventually, he gave up and allowed me to cuddle him.

I haven't been alive for a long time, a bit over seventeen years, but many people would say I have an old soul. I don't understand why they would say that and neither did they. Perhaps, it's how I arrange my vocabulary or express my way of thinking. They said kids my age shouldn't talk this way or did whatever it is that I did.

Then again, losing someone important does change your perspective in life. It makes it a bit darker. You're forced to constantly think about the negativity with every positivity, the con with each pro.

My age does not reflect my behavior and it shouldn't. Many who believed otherwise are foolish.

And right now, with my knowledge, I came to a conclusion. This is it. I'm falling for Wolfie, some random guy I met on the internet. If mom was here, she would've smacked my head. She would have lectured me about the dangers of the world and how I should know better.

And that's it, I should know better.

It's common sense not to develop emotions for someone behind the screen.

Particularly someone who can find their soulmate any day.

But then, the ba-dump ba-dump inside my chest spoke otherwise.

It's irritating.

The beats he can wave and I don't even know his name.

Can you fall for someone just by hearing their voice?

I shook off the emotional dispute and curled into the blanket. Mister Oink got out of my grasp and hopped towards the edge of the bed. He circles once and laid down, his fat cheeks facing towards me. I stare at the bag and decide to pack tomorrow morning before our adventure.

And may I add, it was one hell of an adventure.