Forgotten

Chapter 26: Confusion

I'm not happy with this chapter. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'll need to scrap this one later... but since this entire story is a rough draft, I've decided to include it... so, if you hate it... I already know. 

Alex:

My mind wandered back to that kiss throughout the following day. As we split up to head to our classes, Cedric gave me a brief hug. Did he know that I'd kissed Rylan? Would he be upset if he had known? After glancing up at him, I decided he must not know. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, inhaling softly. "Are you okay, Alex?" When I started to nod, he sighed, "We'll talk after school." That announcement made me nervous, but I agreed as Rylan gently tugged on my hand, signaling that he wanted us to get to class.

During physics, Kane sat sideways in his chair. He slid my shoe off with one of his fingers, and absentmindedly massaged my foot while listening as Mr. Lucas explained the lesson for the day. Kane's fingers were relaxing as they gently rubbed against the arch of my foot, but would he be so casual if he'd known about the kiss?

I slumped forward, dropping my chin into my hand. I probably should have been taking notes, but I couldn't concentrate on anything.

Absently twirling a few strands of my blonde hair around a finger, I let my gaze wander around the room, stopping on Kane. I was startled to find that his pale blue eyes were focused on me and not on the front of the room. His phone was in one hand while his other hand rested on my foot, still lightly massaging it. His lips turned up in a small smile when he noticed my attention was on him. I felt my cheeks heat up, forcing myself to look away.

I was so lost in thought that I jumped when my pocket vibrated. My fingers slid down to my pocket, watching the teacher as I moved. Since he kept his back to the room while writing on the whiteboard, I slowly slid my phone out of my pocket. Kane noticed my movements and gave me a pointed look. Raising a brow at him, I silently asked what his look was about. His gaze dropped down to my lap, where my phone was resting, and then jumped back up to my face. He shook his head, giving me the feeling that he was telling me not to read the text I'd just received. How did he know what my text said?

Before I could type in the third number on my lock screen, my phone disappeared from my fingers. I lifted my eyes to scowl at Kane, but he hadn't moved. The smirk on his face had me correctly guessing who had taken my phone. Turning slightly in my seat, and pulling my foot away from Kane's lap, I watched Rylan pocket my phone. I held my hand out to him, hoping he'd give me my phone back. Instead, he slid his fingers against my palm, holding my hand in his own.

I was so confused. Trying to figure out what he was doing didn't seem to help. He ran his thumb along my palm. I couldn't wait until school was over. Maybe he'd tell me what was going on, or maybe I'd have it figured out by then. I wasn't hopeful about that, though.

A quick glance at Kane showed that he was watching my hand intertwine with Rylan's, but he didn't seem upset about it. Maybe he just didn't like me like that. Kane's tongue fiddled with the black ring in his lip, and I faintly heard the metal of his tongue piercing clink against the lip ring.

Pulling his phone out, Kane glanced at the front of the room before tapping something out on it. Rylan let go of my hand, scowling at his screen before typing a reply. Were they seriously texting each other? And yet they took my phone away? Why?

I huffed out a breath, folding my arms against my chest. I sat through the rest of class avoiding eye contact with both of them.

Cedric and I walked to the lunch room together, his fingers wrapped around mine. Did this mean anything? Would he be jealous if he knew that Rylan had done the same thing earlier? Or maybe he'd be jealous if he knew that Rylan had kissed me? Tears pricked the back of my eyes and Cedric picked up the pace, pulling me into the lunch room. "Alex, what's wrong?" he asked as he pulled me to our usual spot.

I opened my mouth to respond, but I wasn't sure what to say. He passed me an apple, still waiting for me to speak. When I didn't, he sighed, moving closer to me. "I don't know what to say," I finally admitted.

"We'll figure things out. Don't worry, Little Red." He pulled me against his chest, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. I liked all of the affection the guys were giving me, but it still scared me.

"I can't seem to stop worrying." I bit into the apple, leaning against him. He rubbed his jaw against my cheek, and I glanced up at him in curiosity. "What-?"

"You'll just have to trust that we know what we're doing, Red." He cut me off, rubbing his chin into the crook of my neck and shoulder. I giggled, squirming. He hadn't shaved for a few days, and the dark scruff along his jawline tickled.

"What are you doing?" I was finally able to ask. Was there a specific reason he was touching me like this, or was this just something that friends did?

"Sorry." His voice was a growl in my ear as he continued, "I can't help it. My wolf just likes touching you." My eyes went wide. Was that a normal thing for werewolves? Or just for Cedric? Maybe I should ask Rylan later. I should probably talk to him about that kiss, as well. Cedric's teeth nipped against my neck and I shivered. I felt like I shouldn't enjoy it, but I liked when they touched me.

Rylan dropped down in the seat across from us. "Knock it off, Ric. People are going to think we're sharing her if we all continue to touch her like that." I felt my cheeks heat as he pulled some food out of his bag. He tossed a ham sandwich in my direction, but I passed it off to Cedric.

"But-" Cedric started to respond.

Rylan finally glanced up at him. "I know. And you can touch her in other ways. Subtle ways."

I listened to them talk about me as if I weren't there and wondered if they thought I was a tease. I didn't mean to be. Maybe I shouldn't let any of the guys touch me. Did I want that? Even before I asked myself that question I knew the answer. No, I didn't want that.

Lunch passed quickly with the others showing up a little late. They'd been held after class to fix something on a project they'd turned in. After school was over, I finally got my phone back, complete with the text message I had yet to read. I turned it on, flipping through my messages until I found the new one.

We're slowly getting information about your parents out of your would be attacker. Another day or two and we'll hopefully have everything we need to find them. –Gavin

"What... I mean, I don't understand..." I glanced up to Rylan, hoping he'd explain what the text meant.

"My dad has the guy who was hiding in your closet. They've been questioning him all day, and although he's been mostly refusing to talk, they've been able to get a few interesting things out of him. We received similar texts about it earlier, but we didn't want it to worry you while we were at school." He opened the car door, letting me into the back seat. Kane climbed into the passenger seat.

"So, the guy in my closet was connected to my parents?" I asked slowly, just to make sure I was understanding things correctly.

Rylan nodded once. "Yes."

"Don't worry about it, though." Kane added. I wasn't sure if I could just stop worrying about it. Kane turned to Rylan. "Can we do something relaxing to get her mind off of it tonight?"

"Like?" Rylan's tone sounded suspicious, and I hoped Kane's idea wouldn't be something that could get us in trouble.

"A sleepover? And maybe we could go get some frozen yogurt?" he questioned, and then turned back to me. "You like fro yo, don't you?"

I nodded. I wasn't sure how that was supposed to keep me from worrying, but if that's what the guys wanted to do, I was game.

"Good. Then that's what we'll do," Kane replied, not bothering to wait for Rylan's response.