Claws (Rewritten)

Seven

Adelyn

"Okay, Chloe and I have waited long enough - what's this secret?" I demanded after finishing the burger I'd gotten from the cafeteria. Not as good as a take-out, but it was our only choice.

Markus had finished late and so we didn't have enough time to go out into the city before Chloe's lecture at two.

Caleb smiled. "Oh, I don't think you've suffered enough, just yet."

I glanced at Chloe pleadingly, and she turned in her seat to face Caleb. "You have to tell us or I'm making you both walk back home."

Markus held up his hands in surrender. "You got us. Tell them, Caleb, for our own sakes."

"You're seriously letting me break the news?" Caleb asked, looking shocked. "You're not going to beat me to it in excitement, or anything?"

Markus gave him a blank look in return. "I will if you don't hurry up."

Without hesitation, Caleb turned to face us. "I told Markus about me feeling a little trapped. And, obviously, it has nothing to do with you guys, I'm just used to never staying in the same place for this long. Markus had an idea--"

"We're going on vacation. A squad-cation, to be specific," Markus cut in, sending an apologetic look to Caleb, who had rolled his eyes at the intrusion. "Sorry, you were stalling and I couldn't help it!"

"What, all of us?" I asked, leaning forward over the cafeteria table.

Caleb shrugged, his eyes alight with excitement. "If you want to."

Chloe was smiling brightly at the idea. "When would we go? In the reading week?"

"For the entire Christmas break," Caleb corrected. "And, before you ask, the destination is as of yet unknown."

I gasped dramatically, having a brilliant idea, tapping Markus' shoulder to get his attention even though I already had it. "Why don't we all choose a place to go? We'll have, like, five weeks to go to them all."

"I love that idea!" Chloe agreed.

We talked about it for the rest of our break, and once Chloe went to her lecture, we talked some more.

"I'm so tempted to just drop out and travel for a year," Markus commented to himself.

"You should've gone on a gap year, then, and not rushed into university just so you could see me," Caleb retorted, resting his head in his hand, with his elbow on the table, and fixing the werewolf with an innocent smile.

Markus shot him a look. "I'm not that obsessed with you. Besides, I wanted to go to university. All by myself. No alterior motive at all."

Caleb and I shared a humoured look before returning to our work.

I was way too excited at the prospect of a friend holiday to just let it go so easily, though. Not five minutes into working, I put my pen down. "We're seriously gonna go for the entire break?"

Caleb, upon noticing a familiar look in my eyes and knowing that I wouldn't let it go, sat up and discarded his work, too. "It's entirely up to you guys. I just need to get out soon. It doesn't matter where, and it doesn't matter for how long."

"Have you spoken to your father and Daniel about it, yet?" I asked, frowning lightly.

"We're going to have a little problem, there," He admitted.

"Not to mention my pack," Markus added, his voice barely above a dismayed mumble. "Getting them to agree to university in the same city was bad enough."