Chapter 7

3 years later...

I laughed as I watched Maria try to control herself from basically strangling my ballet partner; Astelle. The vibrant blonde didn't even notice the death glare directed at her and yapped on about how she was getting fat and she would probably fall on her butt if she dared to even perform a sauté.

"And oh my gosh, I looked in the mirror yesterday morning. The under of my butt had folds and it was sweaty and sticky and reminded me of a rolled pig..." Astelle rambled

"Okayyyyyyyyyy! I think this is where you girls get off. Y'know a lady has stuff to do, like not listen to talk about butt sweat." Maria interrupted, the sign of begging very evident in her eyes

Astelle gasped like the drama queen she is and scrambled out of the pick up truck parked not too far from our infamous dance hall.

"Ava! Get your ass down, you know how Cassie doesn't like us being late." she shouted and ran towards the entrance, not even bothering to check if I was following her. Typical Astelle.

I watched on from the passenger seat and waited until she had disappeared from sight before turning to Maria. She had a huge scowl on her face and it only made laughter to bubble out of me once more. She faced me with a glare.

"It's not funny! That girl talks more than Mrs. Kennedy and you know how that woman talks." Maria scolded

"I do know that." I replied quietly, my voice had never been anything but that

"Why do you keep her around as a friend anyway? She could get you into trouble you know." oh, she had already done that; many times actually "I swear the next time she talks about butt sweat..." she trailed off, a horrified expression crossing her face

"You act like you don't love her like your own daughter." I said smiling. She began to pout.

"Well I do. But..."

"But nothing! You were the one that told me Astelle was good for me, no matter how childish or loud or obnoxious or body conscious she is."

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Get out of my car Ava before I shove you out."

I lent in and kissed on the cheek, right above where her dimple would appear whenever she smiled or laughed.

"As right as I always am, I know for a fact that you love me too Maria." I said, wiggling my eyebrows

"Smart ass, of course I love you. I just wished you didn't make me forget that i'm the older one in this relationship."

"Where's the fun in that?" I asked, feigning shock and a bit of surprise

"Ava Rosewood, get out of my car right now or I swear to God..."

I didn't need to be told again. I grabbed my bag and jumped down from the truck, being careful as well because despite the fact that I was now 21, I was still a shortie cake. That was what Ben called me. I walked speedily towards the entrance and didn't look back, the temptation to poke out my tongue at Maria too strong.

I entered the building. Not even half bothered with the fact that I was a bit late. Knowing what was happening now, Cassie was narrating a story of her childhood whilst the dancers stretched. I entered the familiar room, extremely lit and adorned with clear mirrors and steel railings around the room. I spotted Cassie next to the music player talking loudly enough for everyone to hear, but I bet no one was actually listening attentively.

I dropped my bag near Astelle's and brought out my ballet shoes, lacing it up like i had always done for the past two years since I had started dancing. Looking around the room, i fell in love with it all over again. This room had become the number one place where I could express myself and forget that the world existed.

It was exactly 3 years 2 months and 13 days since I had run away from my pack and my killer of a mate and my life had made a significant change since then. Ben and Maria had taken me in as their daughter and had given me their surname 'Rosewood'. They had only two children; boys, who both didn't come near home often given the nature of their jobs. They both worked in Des Moines, whilst Lansing was far away from there, even less populated. They only visited during holidays and when they had leaves from work. They were very family oriented and took me as their little sister.

It had taken me a few months, even close to a year to get used to the new lifestyle. I was still quiet and always mee. Maria and Ben had been so worried. They found out I wasn't exactly educated and had bought me so many books. Enrolled me in a school online and ensured that I understood whatever I learnt, which wasn't very difficult. I found books and learning all together very interesting and Ben was happy to find out that I was a quick learner. They also put me on some supplements a few weeks after I had arrived her to boost my diet. Despite all of Maria's efforts, I was incapable of getting as fat as a wild boar like she wanted me to. My ribs and cheek bones no longer protruded as they used to though and that made her a bit happy.

It felt different being with them. They reminded me of a family, one that I had never had. And I was very much grateful that they never mentioned the fact that I was a werewolf. They knew of course. I didn't hide anything from them. I remember so clearly the look of shock that had been prominent on Maria's face as Ben had held her, as they both watched me transform to Keira. I had thought they would faint or even ship me off to an institute where they would have me tested and kept there for the rest of my life. I was wrong and was a bit surprised to find out that Ben had actually a few werewolves in his lifetime and that he knew of the various packs in America. Maria wasn't as calm though and she had swatted his head with a plastic spatula.

"Ava!" I heard and was pulled out of my thoughts

Astelle stood in front of me with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. I saw that she tried to hide it, but there was a hint of worry in her eyes.

"I've called your name like 3 times already." she grumbled

I smiled sheepishly, a bit guilty.

"Astelle, I know you worry, but I promise I'm not going to go numb on you. Neither will I go deaf." I said

Astelle Jennings was and still is my best friend. With a huge afro colored in platinum blonde and vibrant honey doe eyes. Her father was adopted by Americans but was actually a Melanesian but her mother was from New York, she had tan skin and a head full of light brown hair. That would explain why Astelle had smooth dark cocoa skin. People always marveled at her looks and I could count the number of times people who weren't from around here would ask her questions about her hair, if it was fake or not. She had even gotten spiteful remarks most times but unlike me, Astelle was loud and very opinionated. No one dared to pick a fight with her and no one dared to look at her twice if she ever said not to.

I had met her right here at the dance studio, two years ago, when it was my 3rd day. I had fallen down and shrunk in as everyone laughed. She had stepped up that day and told them to fuck off. Safe to say we've been best friends ever since.

"I know you idiot." she said and rolled her eyes "I just wanted to be sure you weren't lost yet."

She cared so much for people around her and was selfless to a fault. But that didn't mean I didn't have to learn to tone down my werewolf hearing around her. She was so loud most times, it left a ringing in my ears.

"Get your ass up." she said and whispered that I had a fine ass under her breath

"Telly, do you remember why it's not good to whisper around me or even bother to try lowering your voice?" I asked, the side that loved to poke at people coming out to play

"Stupid werewolf hearing!" she grumbled angrily before stomping off, looking like she was a little kid in the body of a 22 years old woman

I laughed and stood up, joining the other dancers as they stood in their positions. I stood in front with Astelle and rolled my eyes as she gave me a stylish middle finger.

"All right people, I want to see you lift those legs and shake what your momma gave you!" she instructed and clapped her hands "Ava, you know what to do. Remind everyone what we're here for."

I assumed position in front and stood en pointe in front of everyone. They moved backwards to give me space and I took in a deep breath. I had become a good dancer it seems and Cassie always wanted me to dance first before taking the whole class along. When she began to do it, I had been uncomfortable, I still was uncomfortable but I escaped the watchful eyes when I began dancing. Cassie put on a song that we had dutifully been practicing a routine with and I spread my arms as I began to move.

The song started out slow and so did I, twirling around the room and gently rotating my feet to the beat. When it picked up, I moved faster and twisted my hips as I carried my legs up, doing a split in the air. I dropped down to my feet and performed a bit of interpretative dancing, allowing my eyes to close and getting lost to the music. I was glad Cassie was more into using contemporary songs that had diverse beats for our dance lessons.

I stood up on my toes again and went on to perform the various ballet moves designated for adequate parts of the song. I heard whispers amongst everyone, different ones speaking of how I moved like I was a feather and how I seemed to command the music to dance with me. It made me smile a little and as the song moved to a close, I did some a pirouette; turning 4 times, my movements fast then getting slow and finally angled my body to an arabesque penché.

I opened my eyes when I heard the applause and stood upright, smiling shyly at the small crowd. I moved and stood next to Astelle whom ruffled my tied up hair. I sulked because it always took me a long time to tie up my hair, given its stubborn and naturally frizzy state. She blatantly guffawed in my face as I blew a few tendrils away and some of my anger disappeared. As I looked at my culturally and genetically diversified friend, I remembered again that I would give everything I had, to see my best friend laugh like that.

...........

"We're home!" Astelle shouted as we walked through the doors of the place I had learnt to call home. I flinched.

"Not so loud, you'll wake the dead." I said

She flipped me off and I moved towards the kitchen as I dropped off my bag on the living room chair. What I saw basically made my heart to flip, or more like who I saw.

"Freddie! Donovan!" I heard Astelle squeal from behind me

She rushed past me to hug them both and even though I was surprised, a smile crept up on my face at the sight of Donovan's wince.

"Oh my God! You're both home. I can't believe it. Ava didn't even tell me." she said, shooting me a glare. I put my hands up in defence

"Hey hey! I didn't even know." I said

"That's right, she didn't." Freddie said pulling me into a hug "We decided to come surprise her and our lovely parents."

I giggled.

"Surprise us or surprise only me?" I asked hitting his chest playfully

I knew it didn't hurt him at all and I knew that both Maria and Ben knew they were here once he shrugged with no apology. He was a second of Maria; with jet black hair and a slightly less defined jawline than his twin brother. He also shared her blue eyes. Donovan on the other hand was a blonde and had dark brown, almost black eyes. The only thing they shared was their height and their love for mechanics, which was why they had both gotten jobs at one of the biggest tech companies in USA.

"It was dad's idea. We told him we both have leaves and he suggested coming here to practically make you shit our pants from the amount of screaming you'd have done." Donovan said and Astelle scrunched up her face

"That was way too much information." she said

"This coming from the woman that talked about rolls of fat and butt sweat earlier." Maria said, coming into the kitchen

She embraced both her sons but I guessed she had already seen them. I glanced at Astelle and laughed when I saw her looking as horrified as she felt.

"That was a private conversation Maria!"

"It's not private if you're basically shouting it into ears of people." Maria said, rolling her eyes

Donovan and Freddie both stood next to me as we watched them both go back and forth. At times, I considered it a curse to have two fiery women in my life and in one house. But then again, trading them out was not an option. Their small fights were like normal day routine. Everyone had become used to it.

I turned towards the kitchen door as Ben walked in and steadily stayed clear of them both, making his way over to us.

"They're at it again." he stated, not really asking, as he planted a kiss to my head

"Is there any time they're not?" Freddie said as Donovan nodded

"It could be much worse." I chipped in

"You guys wanna come out back and have some burgers?" Ben asked

Freddie being the glutton he was didn't even need to be asked twice. He went straight out the door, most definitely headed for the backyard. I shook my head and placed my hand in Donovan's, dragging him out with me.

"I thought werewolves aren't supposed to eat human food." he whined and I pinched his arm

"For the umpteenth time you big baby, I eat like everyone else!" I scolded

He just didn't like the fact that he would have to clean up after we were all done. He always did when he was home, Freddie did less somehow.

"Race you to the grill!" he suddenly said, taking off

I stood wide eyed before cursing at him loudly, a laugh still coming out of me. This was home.