Blood Moon Falls (Book 1 in the Original SOCIETY Series) ✔

☙5❧

Aunt Penny noticed that I was a lot quieter than usual the following days. At dinner, she kept frowning as she was serving herself green beans and asked if there was something that happened at school I wanted to talk about. Her gaze studying me carefully.

I immediately froze, my fork pausing from pushing my own green beans from one side of my plate to the other.

Thoughts of what had happened earlier during the week were running through my brain. It had only been four days since I overheard the newcomers discussing that they had been responsible for murdering Raymond and his family and then being chased through the woods with the wolves before being threatened to keep my mouth shut.

If it hadn't been for Langley, I'd be in a missing person's report by now. Or on a milk carton. 

I had been avoiding the group of six as much as possible; changing seats in homeroom was one so now I was sitting in the middle row and some other unfortunate soul was seated beside Auric and his posse. 

My excuse to Mr. Harris was that I wasn't able to see the board from where I was seated and was supposed to go and get glasses soon. How I'm going to get out of that one, I'm not sure yet. Then there was the seating at lunch where I would keep my back facing the group's lunch table while Christa was chatting away. I made sure we were seated at the furthest table possible.

In the other classes that I had at least one of the six in, I rearranged my seats to keep away from them. When it came to arriving and leaving school, I had to be adamant about catching the six leave before actually heading home myself. Usually I'd leave with Christa, but lately, she's been ditching me to either go to parties that she was invited to, or she would attempt, once again, to talk to the six whom I was trying to avoid at all possible costs.

My whole life was slowly turning upside down because of this one secret that I couldn't tell a soul.

"I'm fine," I told my aunt.

She looked skeptical of my answer, squinting her eyes at me and nodded, "You sure?"

I nodded back, raising my brows. 

"Just a lot of homework and stuff in the middle of the year. Which reminds me that I should probably go and finish the butt-load that I have." 

I got up from my chair, picking up my plate and taking it into the kitchen; Newt following behind after jumping up from his bed beside me. After scraping the scraps off my plate, washing it and putting it back in the cupboard, I told my aunt goodnight and that I was going upstairs. Aunt Penny turned around and raised her brows to ask if I was sure that I'd be okay while she was away.

My aunt had to go into the city for a conference since she recently went back to work. She'd taken months off because of me, but after discussing with her boss that she was needed back at work or they'd replace her, I told her that I'd be fine on my own for a few days. Aunt Penny insisted that I stay with Christa's family but Christa was ignoring me again and her mind was elsewhere. 

I just didn't feel like telling my aunt that I was on the verge of losing my best friend.

The conference was supposed to be for three days, and Aunt Penny's boss was sending her even though she was responsible for administrative work for the lawyers at the firm. Something about her work ethic being more reliant than the actual lawyers. Go figure.

"It's totally cool, Aunt Penny. I know the rules; no going outside after dark, call you when I wake up and before I go to bed, and no riding Silver until you get back."