"Jos, I'm sorry but I don't want to stay, I want to go right now" I say tiredly. I don't know why but after I say that she and Lucas lose it.
"You can't go!" Jos shouts "I mean… You haven't tried the cake!"
"Exactly!! The cake! Is chocolate cake! Really good!" Lucas also shouts.
That picks my interest, I love sweets "cake? Why do you have cake here?".
"It's my birthday cake! I'm turning 18 tomorrow but we had to do the party today" Lucas follows.
"I see. I'm sorry, I didn't know, I promise I will buy you a present later" I say seriously.
They sigh relief, I think they really want me here, that alone is weird, I'm not necessarily the most charismatic person you can find.
We keep talking and I realize Lucas is a really decent guy, he's flirty but not pushy. He places his arm around me, placing it in my shoulder and at this point, I'm too tired to care. As long as he doesn't try anything weird, he can put his arm in my shoulder.
The two guys from before returns and he's looking at us, he seems angry. I feel Lucas flinch and he slowly moves his arm away.
The taller guy sits in the chair in front of mine and just… stares. Are we playing? Does he want to know who can stare longer? That sounds fun, let's do it.
I look back at him with my stoic face. We stare at each other for what I guess was an uncomfortable amount of time. None of us blinks and we keep staring. My curiosity peeks, I want to know if the translucent wolf is also staring but I don't look away, I want to win.
The shorter guy pats his shoulder, and he looks away, I can't help but smile, I won.
"So… Lucas" the shorter guy speaks "Who's your friend here?" he points at me and that makes me squint my eyes at him.
I can talk too, you know? But well, I guess that's alright, it's not a big deal and I don't want to talk to them either.
"Ah… she's Alice… she just moved here" Lucas says weakly.
Why is he acting so… submissive? He looked like your typical high school leader when we met, seeing him so willing to answer is weird.
"Alice" the taller guy mumbles my name, I'm not paying a lot of attention at him, I'm seeing the wolf. He's looking at me with… adoration? Can wolves do that? Well, I guess a weird paranormal wolf can.
"Nice to meet you" I interrupt the conversation and I flinch. Not because I'm afraid of talking but because I was not talking to them, I was talking to the wolf.
I don't do slips like that since elementary school. I always avoid talking to things others can't see when I'm not alone but I just couldn't ignore the wolf.
Good thing is, we're in a situation where we're introducing ourselves, so this didn't turn awkward.
"AH fuck! Sorry, we were talking as if you weren't here" the shorter dude says apologetically.
"I'm Dylan and my friend is Nicholas but just call him Nick, he will like it if you do" he nudges his friend's arm and he… growls?
Well, the wolf growls, Nick only glares at him. They turn to look at me again. "Nice to meet you" I say calmly and continue to eat completely ignoring the conversation unfolding in front of me.
I finish the steak, it was delicious. The moment my plate is empty someone puts another steak on it. I look up and I see Nick smiling cockily at me.
"You should eat more, you're too skinny" he says after putting mashed potatoes on my plate as well.
The portions he's giving me are massive but the food tastes good, I'll eat as much as my stomach can allow me.
"Mate, feed mate! Feed her more!" the wolf shouts as if he's complaining and I look at him. So he's the one forcing him to feed me. That's weird, why is he so fixed on making me eat?
"Thank you" I say tiredly.
I'm curious and tired, that's never a good combination. Should I ask about the wolf? I don't think that's a good idea but curiosity is eating me alive.
The hours' pass and I just listen to the conversation. I avoid talking as much as I can until Nick directly talks to me.
"You don't like to talk, do you?" He says while smiling.
"I don't" I answer, I really just want to go but I haven't eaten the cake and that's literally the only reason I stayed. I refuse to go without eating it.
He chuckles at my answer "Talk more with her! Let's take her with us! She will love the pack! She will love us!" the wolf shouts and Nick is pressing his temple with two fingers as if he had a headache.
The wolf keeps praising me for silly things, for example about the way I grab the fork or how I look cute with an oversize hoodie, among many other things. I chuckle, he sounds like an excited toddler in a toy store.
He keeps calling me mate though, he also says I will love them forever… I don't like that he thinks I'm going to love them for no reason.
"Nick?" I decided to ask at least one thing.
"Yes?" he looks at me happily, I don't know why he's happy but the wolf fills me in.
"She talked to us! She said your name!! she does want to speak with us!" he says that while hoping in his place and moving his tail.
I ignore the wolf and ask "Are you English or Australian?" He doesn't have an accent but some people lose it after being in other countries for a long time.
He seems confused but still answers my question "No, why?"
Well, there goes my theory that the wolf is calling me friend. "No reason, thank you for answering" and he smiles. He tries to talk some more but once he realized that's not going to happen, he shuts his mouth and crosses his arms, he looks annoyed.
At this point of the day, many of the guests already left, the only ones left are I guess close family and friends. I'm honestly grateful for that, the loud music was killing me.
"Guys! It's time for the cake!" a middle-aged woman shouts from inside the house and I practically hop from my seat.
I look at Jos expectantly, hurrying her with my gaze and she laughs.
"Alright, alright, let's get you cake" she gets up and walk towards me.
I start walking with Jos, our arms intertwined and Nick, Lucas, Dylan, and Lucas's friend starts walking behind us.
I completely forgot Lucas's friend's name. I'm sorry unknown guy, I will try to remember tomorrow or maybe after the cake.
"Taylor, hurry up man!" Lucas says.
Great help Lucas, Taylor I will try to remember your name from now on but honestly, I hope I never have to speak with you again.
We enter the kitchen and the woman has a massive chocolate cake in front of her. She looks at me and smiles.
"Who might this young lady be?" she says sweetly. This house is full of extroverts, all of them seem eager to meet new people.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Alice" I look behind her, there was a tall middle-aged man smiling tenderly at her, he's just as tall as Nick and they look awfully similar, with black hair, brown eyes, same nose.
"You're the daughter of the guy that came here from that big company, right? He's the manager of the factory? I think his name was Frank" he now talks to me and I nod.
"He was brought here as the branch manager, it was sudden, so we had to move fast" I explain and smile. I'm proud of my dad, the town is old but not small, also it has a lot of resources, and my dad was picked to be the boss, which only shows how good he is at his job.
"Well, you seem like a nice kid, Frank is lucky to have a nice daughter like you" he smiles "The guys could learn a thing or two about you". Isn't he exaggerating? I literally just greeted them.
"Dad!" Lucas shouts and so does Nick. Well, that's unexpected, they're siblings?
"I didn't know you were siblings" I say calmly and Nick smiles at me.
"Unfortunately…" Lucas says annoyed and Jos hugs him. I'm interested as to why they're flirting again before he was avoiding doing so.
Nick smacks his head and Lucas glares at him. "Guys! Where are your manners?" the middle-aged woman reprimands them.
They're so loud, I just want my cake and go home. I look around and freeze, a woman is walking towards us.
I remember Sophie's words 'cute hair like mine! And…. And… she has blue eyes like the ocean!'. I know it's her...
"Auntie Kat!" Lucas goes to her "You didn't have to come, you can stay in bed if you want to" he says sadly.
I take a look at her features, she looks tired, as if she hasn't slept in days but she doesn't look hurt, at least not physically.
"I'm alright Lucas, I didn't want to miss your birthday party" she smiles weakly.
What horrible timing, I could've met her anywhere and I had to meet her here where there's a lot of people I will have to see again.