Rejected ✓

The Hike

"Your room is a mess," Jeanette scowled and crinkled her nose, stepping over my shoes. I looked up at her from my phone, the same look she had on my face.

"Then why are you in here?" I asked, dropping my phone on my bed.

It was midmorning, and I had just finished with breakfast. I decided not to leave my room, and feigned temporary sickness. Zach brought up a plate of eggo waffles, before going back to the mess downstairs.

"You're coming with us, we all know you're not sick," She snipped, standing in the middle of my room.

Sighing, I thought back to what the had decided we were going to do. They had wanted to go to the Royal Grove, the park behind my house. There were plenty of trails to go down, but I once again questioned why they would want to do it when it was cold.

"Chop chop," She turned on her heel, stepping over the miscellaneous items on my floor.

Huffing, I sat up and looked around my room. In no way did I want to go.

I got ready slowly, finding some clothes on the bottom of my closet. I pulled on a lightweight hoody, a tank top, and some jeans.

My hair was a brown mess. The only good thing about having my hair, was that you couldn't tell if it was dirty. Which it probably was.

Twisting it into a bun, I put in my contacts, and walked downstairs. There wasn't a reason to try and struggle with makeup.

My family were pushing around each other, getting together bags and lunch. I wanted to tell them that we were only going on a hike, not traveling up Mount Everest, but I figured it wouldn't help.

"Aren't you excited?" Zach teased, leaning against the counter next to me. I blew a piece of loose hair out of my face, glowering at him.

"Well I am," He continued, putting his arm around my shoulders. He found my unhappiness amusing.

My family loved Zach because he played into their game. They wanted him to jump, he'd jump. I envied that, because I simply wouldn't be a pet. Zach hated it, but he also hated drama within the family.

So, he acted like the golden boy of the family, even though they drove him crazy, and he got extra pie at night. I, was almost the black sheep, constantly pointing out the wrong, when everyone was focusing on the right.

We stood there for a few more minutes, before we were ushered outside the house. Zach was forced to ride with Aunt Laura, but only glared at me when I laughed at him from my car.

Zach didn't have a car because he totaled it acting like he was baby driver. My parents refused to get him another one until he finished his Alpha training.

I followed them out, but drove slower then all of them as to fall behind. The welcoming center was quite a ways inside the park, so the drive took some time.

Half way there I decided to call Maddie, figuring my misery should be spread.

The phone rung twice before she answered.

"Hey darling, what's up?" She said once she answered. I could imagine her lounging on her bed, and sighed.

"I'm about to go to my impending doom," I told her, looking at the thick forest I was passing.

Maddie laughed.

"Fun time with family?" She asked, and I nodded stupidly, before answering yes. Maddie knew how much a pain my family was, both my me telling her, and Zach.