Emily stared dumbfounded as Annabelle's words kept replaying continuously in her head.
With a shake of her head, she blinked at Annabelle who has been waving her hand in front of her face
"I'm disappointed," she said and closed her notepad, caressing her temple.
"What's the matter, are you ill? Should we go to a hospital?" Annabelle asked as she stared at her.
"Annabelle, you are making me sick," she complained hesitantly, not wanting to offend Annabelle. She noticed Annabelle's change of facial expression before she rested her head on her arms.
"Was it because of my plans of escaping?"
"Exactly, Annabelle, that's it."
"But what's wrong with me trying to make an escape plan for myself?" she asked, voice shaking as tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall.
"You'll put me into trouble, my life would be at stake if you escape, and I can't let that happen," Emily said and turned to the other direction, knowing that Annabelle wasn't happy, but she couldn't help it. She was obeying the instructions of her master.
The sound of the bell made Emily stand up, and she began arranging her things.
She was so happy that the boring class was over and it was time for fun.
"Let's go," she said to Annabelle and began walking out of the class.
"Annabelle," she whispered when she didn't see her behind her.
She was still seated on her chair, with her head resting on the desk.
"What is it?" Annabelle asked without raising up her head.
"Let's go meet my friends in the cafeteria," she said gently, but Annabelle shook her head.
"Go alone, I'm not going with you," Annabelle said and secretly cleaned away her tears.
"Annabelle…"
"Leave me alone, I don't want to talk to anyone."
"Annabelle, hear me out. I'm only taking orders. If it was in my power, I could have helped you leave since you aren't willing to stay, but this is above me. Please… I'm trying to keep you safe, so come with me."
Annabelle wasn't still happy or in the mood of talking to anyone, but she couldn't remain in the boring class, so she got up and left the classroom with her.
~
Walking into the cafeteria, she followed behind Emily, who walked towards her friends that were seated round a table.
"Hello, Emily…" they all greeted when she sat down, and Annabelle sat beside her.
"And who do we have here?" one of Emily's friends asked.
"She is a newbie," another of her friend replied.
"Hello."
"You are beautiful."
"What's your name?"
"Your phone number, please?"
"What's your rank in the pack?"
"Guys calm down, calm down, guys, okay? She isn't running away. I'll do the introduction," Emily tried calming them as they kept asking too many questions.
"This is Annabelle, the newbie, and Annabelle, these are my invisible friends," Emily introduced before sitting down with satisfaction.
"We aren't invisible," one of them said as they stared at Annabelle.
"I know, and stop staring at her like that guys, what's wrong?" she asked, knowing that they've found something odd about her.
"You are acting strange, Emily," one of them said, and the rest nodded.
"I'm actually babysitting someone, so I'm not feeling too good," she said as she touched her nape, checking if her body temperature was okay.
"Wow, that's a good job," one of her friends said, which made her glare at her as though she wanted to kill her.
"And besides, newbie, you haven't wolfed it out, have you?" one of them asked the question that was on their minds as the rest stared at her.
"She is a late bloomer, and she hasn't reached eighteen, so there isn't any need to worry," Emily said quickly before Annabelle could say a word and expose herself.
She wasn't ready to risk anything.
"Nice to meet you all," Annabelle finally spoke, smiling pretentiously after Emily had eyed her to say something.
"So you can talk?" A boy in the group asked, which made the rest of them laugh.
"Actually, I have a mouth," Annabelle said as she chewed on her cookies.
"That is obvious indeed," the boy said as he chewed on his snacks.
"Can I have your number?" Another boy that hasn't said a word since the conversation has been going on asked.
"Sure…" Annabelle said and was about to call out her number but got interrupted by Emily.
"I don't think that would be necessary, guys," Emily said as she gave signals to Annabelle not to give him her number.
"Yeah... I think that won't be necessary," Annabelle said as she smiled a little bit.
"Chill, Xavier, it's not a big deal," Emily said, ruffling his hair before sitting up, which made them burst out into laughter.
"You could hang around with us anytime you want," they said to Annabelle before going their different directions after the bell rang.
"Annabelle, go keep our things in the locker, we'll be leaving," Emily said as she held her throbbing head.
"Are you okay?" Annabelle asked as she stared worriedly at her.
"No, I'm not, we need to leave immediately," Emily said, groaning.
After packing their things, Annabelle ran out of the class in search of the lockers.
She was about to tell Emily that she didn't know where their lockers were but decided not to ask her but just search for it since she was in pain.
"Excuse me," she said to a girl who was having a conversation with some group of girls.
"Can you direct me to where I can find locker 40 and 50?'' she asked as she waited patiently for her reply.
She didn't want to waste Emily's time, so she won't regret allowing her to leave on her own.
"Aren't you a newbie?" The girl asked, staring at Annabelle.
"I'm in a hurry, does anyone know the hallway to locker 40 and 50?" she asked the other girls, totally ignoring the question she was asked by the first girl.
"Just go straight, and you'll find it," one of the girls responded cheerfully.
"Thank you," she said and was about to walk away but was stopped.
"You are a late bloomer, and you have no idea what we do to people like you who haven't wolfed out. You'll regret ignoring me; you just put yourself into a pot of boiling oil, and I'll roast you," the leader of the girls threatened, and with an irritated scoff, Annabelle walked away.
She couldn't waste her time with people like that, and besides, Emily was waiting for her.
"Let's go, Emily," Annabelle said when she returned.
They walked out of the school premises, waved a cab, and got home.
They alighted from the cab when they were close to the woods, and they strolled to their house.
~
"Are you even ill?" Annabelle asked as she sat beside Emily, who was seated on the couch in the living room.
"Don't I look like I'm ill?" Emily asked with her eyes closed.
She felt as though if she bent her head downwards, the headache would worsen.
"You do, but are you really leaving?" Annabelle asked.
"It's only for a day, I'll be back, cutie. Lucas will be coming over to take me home," she said and peeked, seeing Annabelle's sad face.
"Don't worry, Annabelle, it's only for today. But I'll make sure I'll be very healthy before I come back."
"Okay," Annabelle said with a sigh as she walked to open the door for Emily's mate that had rung the doorbell.
"Good day, Luna," he greeted with a bow.
"Come in," Annabelle said as she opened the door wide for him, and he walked in.
She wasn't comfortable with the way they called her a Luna.
"Lucas," Emily called with a weak smile.
"How did it go?" he asked as he squatted before her.
"It was terrible," she whispered, but Annabelle didn't fail to hear it, and she knew they were talking about her.
"Are you ready to go home now, babe?" he asked as he smiled at her.
"Yes, baby, take me home…"
He carried her and walked out while Annabelle locked the door and stared dumbfounded at the closed door.
''Where did that come from?'' she grumbled as she headed upstairs.
All she knew was that those lovey-dovey couples were up to something.