A Matter of Convenience

Eleven

~Isis~

Okay, I have no idea what compelled my feet to move in this direction. I swear, when I left my dad’s room, I just wanted to get some air. The next thing I knew, I was walking into Ericson Walker's room.

He and his dad are having some weird staring contest, and the room is thick with tension. I won’t lie; his dad has always rubbed me the wrong way. I could never put my finger on what the issue was, but it was there. Even my dad doesn’t really like to deal with him. Thankfully, the alliance between our packs was created way before him, or I’m not sure we’d have one.

Now he’s gone, and the tension has changed to something else that is just as uncomfortable. I’m seriously rethinking my decision to come in here. I don’t even know what I was thinking or what I hoped to come out of it. You wanted to talk to him about maybe helping each other.

Rona, how stupid does that sound now? We don’t speak, and we don’t even like each other. I let the words of others get into my head.

Just talk to him, or do you want to lose the chance to run our pack? Fu.ck, Rona has a point, but this is so crazy.

“Did you have a reason for being here, or were you just coming in here to stare at me?” Just like that, reality comes crashing down on me, and I really look at who’s in front of me. That smug bastard, I’d almost forgotten.

“I would never bother looking at you unless I need to; don’t worry about that. I was actually here to discuss something with you, but I think I made a mistake.” I turn my body, ready to leave, when a bit of sympathy hits me. “I hope you get better.” I turn my body and place my hand on the knob.

“Wait.” I stop and let out a breath. “What did you come here for? It isn’t like we are friends or anything, so I seriously doubt you came to see how I was doing.”

“Couldn’t it have been professional courtesy?” Ericson scoffs, and I lay my forehead against the door.

“We aren’t friends, and we aren’t professionally friendly to each other. I’m curious about what brought you my way. So enlighten me.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. I turn my head and lay my eyes on him. A memory hits me hard, one that put the final nail in the coffin for me.

*Flashback*

“I’m going to be the one to say it, Janet.” I turn to Lettie and shake my head. “No, Isis, don’t try to stop me. We’ve been doing this for months now and I’ve about had it.” Janet looks between us, confused.

Lettie and I have grown up together, attending the same schools. Janet started with us during sophomore year, and we immediately clicked. They are actually friends with me because of who I am, not my status. I can’t tell you how rare and refreshing that is. It’s made my last three years fun and carefree.

“What’s going on? What are you talking about?” I feel for Janet right now, I really do. I have to say, though, Lettie isn’t completely wrong. We’ve been hearing about this great love affair between Janet and Ericson Walker for months. I’m sure anyone would wonder why it matters, and I agree. The problem is that we’ve either seen or heard about Ericson being with some girl or another. I don’t get why Janet would act as if her love was so great when we all know that Ericson is cheating on her again and again.

I look at Lettie, pleading with her not to say anything, but she rolls her eyes at me and continues. “Janet. We never see you with Ericson, yet we see him with everyone else. How are you being so… so accepting of his horrible behavior? He isn’t being faithful to you, and you should leave him.” Janet’s eyes get big, and her bottom lip trembles.

“I… I don’t know what you mean. He would never do that to me.” Now, even I want to shake some sense into her. She can’t be this naive.

I pull her into Lettie’s car, forcing her into the backseat. “Let’s go, Lettie.” If Janet isn’t going to come to terms on her own, we will just have to force her to do so. Ericson is on the football team, and they should be at practice right now.

We sit silently as Lettie drives us to the school. We don’t all go to the same school, even though our packs share a clinic and are close together. There isn’t a shifter-only school between us, and the closest one is pretty far away. There are human schools in towns close to both of our packs. I attend Gulch High with Lettie and Janet. Ericson is at Wildwood High. Between our packs, they pretty much gravitate to one or the other, with few exceptions.

Lettie pulls into the parking lot of Wildwood High, where there are a few cars. We get out, almost having to drag Janet with us. We march over to the football field where practice was still going. Three of us sit on the bleachers, waiting for practice to be over.

As the time ticks by, Janet gets more and more nervous. It’s rolling off her in waves, and it’s suffocating. I don’t know what she has to be nervous about, but I guess we will all find out.

The whistle blows, ending practice, and the players go to grab water. Eyes float to the bleachers, and some of the players start to point and talk. It’s not long before Ericson’s attention lands on us, and he looks pissed. I look at Janet and see nothing but fear on her face.

Lettie looks at me and shrugs her shoulders. I have no idea what’s going on, but we will get to the bottom of things. Lettie stands as Ericson gets closer. “Hey, Ericson. We need to talk.” He points to Janet, a storm brewing in his eyes.

“GET THAT BI.TCH OUT OF HERE! STAY THE FU.CK AWAY FROM ME!” I jump to my feet and stand in front of Janet. I don’t understand what’s going on, but I know this is no way to speak to your girlfriend.

“Why are you talking to her like that?”

“STAY THE FU.CK OUT OF THIS!” I feel a tug on the hem of my shirt.

“Please, let’s just go. We should leave.” I turn to Janet and see tears spilling from her eyes.

“NO! He owes you an apology! How dare he talk to you like that!”

“THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! GET HER THE FU.CK OUT OF HERE!” Before I can respond, Janet jumps up and runs back toward the car. Lettie and I look at each other before Lettie takes off after her. I linger, wanting nothing more than to knock his head off. He’s staring at me as if daring me to make a move toward him. My fists are clenching and unclenching, and I feel anger coursing through my body. It’s the yelling of my name that breaks my concentration and sends me to the car in a huff.

*End of Flashback*