Renegade [ONGOING]

13

Renegade

I am frozen in shock. My cellphone falls to the ground. But I don't pick it up, I sit on the grass with an open mouth and wide eyes.

"Renegade? Hello? Are you still there?"

My eyes dart to the device laying on the grass. I attempt retrieving it, but my clumsy fingers accidentally terminate the call. These things are made too sensitive.

Ailith! Help! What do I do!?

I genuinely need advice. I've never been put in such a cringe-worthy situation before. And Tory really had to do that at a time like this?
I ask Ailith for help again.

I don't know, human. Ailith growls.

How can you not know? You've been around for much longer than me!

Doesn't mean I had vampire princes asking my human counterparts on dates.

Can you be helpful for once and speak up!?  I yell internally.

Nah bitch, you're on your own.

She snarls and hides in the darkest corners of my mind, where I can barely feel her presence.

Weird. I thought.

Usually when I yell at her, she yells back. Giving me a huge headache.

I groan and switch my phone off. That way, Tory won't be able to reach me and I can say that my battery died.

But how will I avoid him at school? He is not in any of my classes, but he is friends with my brother. I am bound to see him. Especially since I did not accept nor reject his request.

I take in a deep breath to calm myself. There is a good chance that I am overthinking this.

Tory might have asked me to go out with him as friends. Friends go out together. On dates.

Right?

~

"He said what?" Tamreen gasps.

As soon as Marco had returned from visiting his father, I herded the two into my room so I could explain everything that had happened in the last two days.

And they seem to be as surprised as I was.

"Should I say yes? I mean, I don't want to hurt his feelings but I'm not ready for a relationship and everyone knows that. Moreover, it's dangerous to be going out when it's pretty clear that we're going to be going to war soon. Plus, we have to be on the lookout for the shapeshifting creatures." I groan into one of my pillows.

Tamreen rubs my back in a soothing manner.
"If you say yes, I'll support your decision as your friend. If you say no, I'll still support your decision. They are your feelings at the end of the day. You cannot control them, neither can you force feelings for someone you don't like."

"Also, wouldn't it be exciting to find out that you two are mates? After all this war stuff?" Marco suggests.

I sit up and glare at him. If Tory and I were mates, I would most likely reciprocate his feelings, especially since I am nearly eighteen years old. I would feel a small pull towards him.
In all honesty, I just want to avoid this romance crap altogether.

"That only happens in movies and novels. You think Tory and I will fall in love before the war happens, then while we fight side by side in battle we confess our undying love -" I pause to let what I've just said sink in.
The two give me a silent stare that implies that I continue.
"- If we win the war, we'll get married and have hybrid pups or if one of us dies, the other becomes a hermit. Creative, Marco Barnes, you should be a filmmaker or a writer."

Marco rolls his eyes and mutters a "whatever". He slumps into my comfortable green beanbag - gifted to me by Queen Darcy, who loves the color green.

I have made my decision. I take my phone and decide to message Tory instead of calling him. I hesitate as I enter our chat. He has been texting me since I hung up during our call earlier.

'I'll go on that date with u. When & where?'

Almost immediately, he texts me back. He wants to keep the venue a surprise, therefore he will be picking me up tomorrow evening.

I relay Tory's message to my two friends. Tamreen jumps off the bed and starts pacing around the room. Her arms flail around as she talks at a rapid pace.

"...What are you going to wear? What are we going to do with your hair? Which accessories should you put on? Makeup is a no-go, you're pretty enough without it. And -"

"Stop." I cut off Tamreen's rant by throwing a dart at her. The dart pierces the mounted board, which is a few inches away from where Tamreen is standing, her body is rigid.  

Marco laughs and takes a picture of Tamreen's shocked expression as she stares at the cigar-sized dart that whizzed past her nose.

"Renegade, are you trying to kill me?" She starts to laugh.

"No. Listen. I'm not going to dress up fancy for Tory, neither am I shopping for new clothes when I have a full closet. He didn't even say where he's taking me." I cross my arms like a petty middle-school kid.

"Renegade, it's time to submit your homework to your teachers. Raider, Brett, Marco and Tamreen have all already submitted theirs to their teachers."
My mother's firm voice says in my head.

"Got it, Mom." I mind-link her back.

I head over to my desktop and email the necessary documents. I hate this remote learning.

Because it is too dangerous to travel to school with the threat of war with the dragon shifters, all packs and covens in the North American continent are on lockdown.

To add to the crapload, the Anjelica Halo High school Board decided to have students stay at home and receive virtual classes.

To make matters worse, all foreign students have until the end of the week to get home. Tiffany's father had already hired a jet to transport her back home to The Philippines.
Tamreen will be going home by teleportation in a few days.

"Before your date, let's tame this Savage hair. I have some oils and other products." Tamreen says excitedly as she strokes my wild locks.

I don't complain because I should at least make an effort to look nice.
To a certain extent...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Some people out here be doing the most for their first dates.
Am I the only one who relates to Renegade's messy and untameable hair?