Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (12 page)

“Arianna,” Alex acknowledged, slightly
bowing his head when he and his sister reached us, “This is my
sister, Amy; Amy, this is Arianna, Jason, and Austin Gray.”

“Hi, Arianna,” Amy greeted with a bright
smile and a sweet, melodic voice, “Alex, you didn’t do her justice.
And Jason,” she smiled at him before turning to Austin, “I believe
we’ve met before, Austin Gray.”

“We have,” Austin answered with a chuckle
and I glanced at him to find the coy, flirty smile on his face that
he so rarely used despite its power.

“That’s something you don’t see every day,”
Jason remarked almost silently at my ear and I shook my head in
shock.

“I was going to go introduce them to
everyone,” Jack stated just before I darted my attention back over
to find Alex right in front of me.

“I saw you watching my sister… and I saw
when you realized she was my sister,” Alex commented, his deep aqua
eyes staring intently at me as I sucked in a deep breath to try to
calm my racing heart. “When you saw her eyes… is when you realized
who she was; am I right?”

I felt my hand twitch, ready to reach back
and grab Jason’s hand and had to curl it into a fist at my
side.

I can’t rely on him, I can’t. I can’t keep
relying on Jason; I’m giving him the wrong impression.

“Anna, are you okay?” Jason whispered at my
ear, his fingers brushing against mine and I gave up and grabbed
hold of his hand, feeling my heart instantly slow.

“I’m fine, Jay,” I whispered back, looking
up to find Alex with his head tilted to the side, watching me
curiously. “I’m sorry… you asked me a question….”

“It wasn’t that important,” Alex dismissed,
glancing at Jack, “Is it only me that makes you nervous,
Arianna?”

“I…it’s the crowd… I don’t… don’t do well
with crowds,” I reasoned, and he curled a sly smile as he
laughed.

“If you say so, Arianna,” Alex decided, “So
you wouldn’t be interested in meeting the rest of mine and Jack’s
friends?”

“Alex,” Jack sighed, shaking his head, “Quit
giving her such a hard time….”

“What hard time?” Alex sarcastically
chuckled, but he hadn’t looked away from me again and I squeezed
Jason’s hand tighter, “May I speak with Jason, Arianna?”

“What’s up?” Jason asked, stepping directly
up beside me.

“Alone,” Alex added and I bit the inside of
my cheek when Jason squeezed my hand before letting go and followed
Alex a little bit away.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Jack remarked,
leaning against a tree, his right foot planted flat against the
tree’s trunk beside his left knee and his hands tucked into the
pockets of his designer jeans.

“What do you mean?” I questioned and he
shifted those playful emerald eyes over to me, a grin on his
face.

“He’s trying to figure out your buttons. He
does that when he likes someone… especially when he has an instant
connection with someone that he doesn’t really understand. He’s
trying to figure out why he likes you,” Jack explained and I stared
back at him in shock, “He’s right though… you get nervous around
him… it’s not the crowd, Arianna. You didn’t grab Jason’s hand
until Alex approached you.”

“Okay… so maybe he makes me more nervous…” I
faintly admitted, my gaze falling to the dirt at my feet, “If I
asked you something… would you answer me honestly?”

“I guess it would depend on the question,”
Jack replied as I walked over to stand in front of him, inspecting
his emerald eyes.

“What’s going on here… with you and Alex and
Amy and the weird, wolf-related names everywhere…?” I asked it
quietly, but felt an instant tension in the air and caught the
split-second flash of fear in Jack’s eyes.

“What are you talking about?” Jack countered
nonchalantly, and if I hadn’t seen his initial reaction and felt
the tension around us, I would’ve completely believed him. “You
said something about wolf-related names…? Like what?”

“Romulus and Remus, Fenrir, London High
School, Ainu, Asena… I’m sure there are others… I’ve always had a
bit of a fascination with folklore and mythology though…” I listed
thoughtfully and again spotted that blink-of-an-eye first reaction
of panic in his eyes.

“Well, we figure our ancestors were into
mythology because we also have Ceres, Demeter, Flora, Pomona, and a
bunch of other mythological names around,” he rationalized and I
bit the inside of my cheek to keep from continuing the conversation
as I shrugged my shoulders.

“I guess,” I dismissed. It was obvious I
wasn’t going to get complete truths out of Jack, and it was also
obvious that he wasn’t the only one who knew something. The tension
did lessen, which I was thankful for; but all I could think was
that sure, those were other mythological names, but they were all
goddesses of plant-life, which there was also an abundance of
around town.

“So what made you decide to move here?” Jack
inquired and I had to fight to keep myself from jumping mid-air
since I’d completely forgotten he was there while I was thinking
about things.

“One thing just led to another and here I
am,” I evasively responded. That time he didn’t try to hide the
emotion that flashed across his eyes because he was amused by my
answer. “Is there a… um… bathroom…?” I faltered across the words
and his eyes widened as he pushed off of the tree.

“Yeah, sorry! I totally forgot this is your
first time here… you just kinda fit in…” he trailed off before
turning and pointing towards a building just a few yards away,
“Right there; it’s unlocked and everything. One of the many perks
of going through the right sources to have a bonfire, they leave
the bathrooms open.”

“Thanks,” I faintly laughed, glancing to
find Austin talking to Amy, well really, it looked like he was
flirting with her and I felt just the slightest pang of jealousy,
and Jason was with Alex. They were both within sight of the
bathroom so I pushed my way through the crowd and over to it.

When I pushed the door open, I found a
rather pretty girl with long blonde curls touching up her makeup in
the mirror. Her golden eyes looked up at me in the reflection
before she turned to face me with a smile.

“Arianna Gray, right?” she asked and I
nodded.

“Anna’s fine… everyone called me Anna at my
old school, and my family, too,” I stated and her brows pulled down
in thought.

“Really? Alex said it was Arianna… I’d think
he would’ve told us if you went by something else…” she considered
and I shrugged.

“He said he liked my full name better,” I
revealed which made her giggle and nod.

“I’ll tell everyone it’s Anna,” she decided,
setting her makeup down and holding her hand out to me, “I’m
Elisabeth Davies.” I shook her hand and felt a smile creeping onto
my lips, “Lissa, or just Lis is fine, so’s Elisabeth.” One of the
stalls opened and the girl that stepped over to the sink to wash
her hands had straight fiery red hair to her shoulders and bright
green eyes, “That’s Samantha Arnold, or Sam.”

“Hi, Anna,” she greeted with what I felt was
not a genuine smile up at the mirror and I nodded.

“Hi,” I sheepishly replied.

“I imagine she didn’t just wander in here to
talk to you, Lis,” Samantha hinted and Elisabeth dropped my hand
suddenly, her face absolutely shocked.

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized, “We’ll see
you back outside.”

“Yeah, sure,” I answered calmly, a smile
back on my face before I ducked into one of the stalls and waited
self-consciously until I heard them leave.

I nearly screamed when I walked out of the
bathroom building and Alex appeared at my side. All that I really
did was stumble a few steps which caused Alex to reach out and
lightly grab my forearm to steady me.

“Let’s try this again… am I the only one
that makes you nervous?” he queried with a glint in his deep aqua
eyes as I bit the inside of my cheek again.

“You’re the only one, so far, that makes me
more nervous than this crowd alone,” I whispered, my arm trembling
until he let his hand fall back to his side.

“Was that so difficult?” he softly pressed
and I shook my head, still chewing on the inside of my cheek, “Do
you want to go meet my friends?”

“What did you talk to Jason about?” I
evaded, heading back towards my brothers as Alex fell into step
beside me. I realized only a second later that the struggle I had
gone through to make my way through all of the people on the way to
the bathroom wasn’t happening on the way back. Though nobody was
really turning to pay us any attention, and no one stopped their
conversations, they still moved out of the way as Alex and I passed
them.

It’s Alex… he’s the leader… that’s why
everyone moves out of his way… why he’s so sure of himself… why he
stood up to Austin like he did.... But leader of what, exactly?

“I was asking him about you,” Alex stated
and I darted my eyes to him, “You rely on Jason a lot, but he
doesn’t mind. I like the littlest Gray’s way of thinking. I respect
him.” My eyes widened in shock and he laughed softly. “What brought
you here, Arianna?”

“I don’t know what you mean…” I murmured,
looking away to spot Jack leaning against the tree again with Jason
talking to him, his young eyes keeping track of my every move.

“I mean Jason’s watching you like a
bodyguard watches his charge; Austin was yesterday, but my sister
has distracted him tonight,” Alex reasoned and I chanced a look
over to find Austin shamelessly flirting with Amy then, but I also
noticed he shot split-second glances in my direction more than
once.

“They worry,” I evaded, but Alex lightly
grabbed my arm and pulled me over towards the bonfire and away from
my brothers.

“It’s more than that… you can trust me,
Arianna,” Alex pressed, but I started chewing on the inside of my
cheek again.

“I don’t know you, Alex…” I muttered,
refusing to look at him even though I felt him staring at me, “And
this place is weird… I don’t trust anything about it yet….”

“Weird how?” he questioned and I froze,
despite his hold on my arm. The tone in his voice sent a chill
running down my spine and made goosebumps on my arms.

“Nothing,” I lied, looking over my shoulder
to find Jason following us and Jack behind him trying to slow him
down.

“Are you really going to choose lying to
me?” His tone was even worse and my nerves were shot.

“Nothing’s weird… Jack explained it
perfectly logically,” I elucidated but I could swear Alex’s hand
started to get really hot just before Jason slipped his hand into
mine and leaned up next to my ear.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You seem really
tense…” he worried and I clung to his hand tightly, “I think you’re
safe with Alex, Anna….”

“What makes you think that?” I countered
with a faint laugh, wanting to pull my arm out of Alex’s grip which
had settled into a more than natural heat, but afraid to do such a
thing. So instead, I found myself pulled past the bonfire and over
to the bank of the lake with Jason trailing beside me.

“Alex seems like a nice guy,” Jason reasoned
with a shrug.

Appearances can be deceiving…
“I only
feel safe with you and Austin, Jay,” I countered quietly and Jason
lightly squeezed my hand but the heat on my arm intensified as Alex
led me over to a bench swing and pulled me to sit down on it beside
him and Jason squished into the tiny space on my other side.

“Jason, could I please speak to your sister
alone? You don’t have to go very far,” Alex requested, but Jason’s
blue-green eyes stared intently at me. “Arianna, please. I promise
I’m not going to hurt you or anything stupid,” he turned his pleas
on me but my eyes darted down to his hand on my arm which he seemed
startled to discover there. He also seemed to realize that his hand
was ridiculously hot, because it suddenly cooled before he pulled
his hand into his own lap. “Please.”

“It’s okay, Jay,” I recited and Jason
squeezed my hand again before he stood up and walked only a little
ways down the bank where I could still easily see him. Immediately
after he was gone, I scooted to the other side of the swing while
Alex lightly took hold of my arm, and I darted my gaze back to him
worriedly, but he was inspecting the faint red mark that his hand
had left.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered, his eyes furrowed
but I just stared at him.

“Then you admit… you did it…?” I murmured,
his aqua eyes darting up to me were briefly startled, “I know you
did it… I just don’t get how… it’s not… not humanly possible.”

“Openly express your thoughts to me and I
will tell you what I can,” he bargained while Elisabeth walked over
with two canned drinks and held them out to us.

“Since you haven’t introduced us to Anna
yet, I figured she hadn’t made it to the drinks yet,” Elisabeth
commented as I took the can to discover it was my favorite soda,
looking up at her in shock. “I introduced myself to your brothers
earlier. Jason told me that was your favorite.”

“Thank you, Lissa. I’ll bring her over in a
few minutes,” Alex remarked and Elisabeth barely nodded her head
before she disappeared again and Alex took his unopened can and
pressed it against my arm. The cold was such a shock in comparison
that I flinched, but the can was almost instantly not so cold.

“My thoughts… really?” I mumbled and he
nodded, “The names… the road names and the lake name… they’re
wolf-related, mythological… Jack said there were other mythological
names… but the ones he told me… they were all goddesses of plant
life, of which there is a strange abundance around here…” I was
staring down at my soda while I spoke, despite the fact that Alex
was watching me, “Twice… when we’ve been driving, I swear I’ve seen
something running, keeping up with the car, just within the tree
line… and Jack… when we got here tonight, reacting like he’d heard
someone call him when he looked at you… but you were too far away…
and you…” I paused, gripping the can tighter, “You are the leader…
of something… And the whole, no going off alone after dark… and you
and Jack changed the topic when I mentioned the full moon… and did
it again when I said something about alpha males… but you offered
to take me outside after dark… so if the danger at night is wild
animals, like everyone says… how would I be safe with you…?”
And
I had a weird dream about wolves last night, roaming around like
they were human
. I decided not to tack that part onto the end
and make myself sound completely insane, not that I didn’t sound
crazy enough already.