The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 22

CAULDER

\tThe weekend flew by much too fast, and I wasn't ready for school today. It was our senior year, and the school year was almost over. School felt like more of an inconvenience now. The real world was knocking at my door, and going to classes to learn about things I couldn't apply to the real world almost felt like a waste of time. There were real world threats lurking around the corner, and classes and homework felt like a waste of time because of it.

\tIt was almost time to go, but there were no signs of Remy anywhere. I knocked on her door, since it was unusual for her to not be awake before me. She and I hadn't talked for the rest of the weekend, and it felt strange. It wasn't uncommon for us to spend the weekend apart doing our own thing, especially because she wasn't the partying type, and I was. The strange part was not talking to her. Normally we spent time catching each other up on our lives, but that hadn't happened this weekend.

\tRemy didn't seem like herself, and I couldn't blame her. She was going through something strange and probably scary, and I was sure being targeted would mess with anyone. However, I knew being kept in the dark was making things worse. It meant I was part of the problem, but I didn't know how to fix it. Telling her the truth would only put her at more of a risk.

\tRemy didn't respond to me, so I knocked again. Still no response, so I tried her door handle. Her door was unlocked, so I opened it slowly and peeked my head inside. She was a lump under her blankets, and the slow up and down of the blankets showed me she was still fast asleep. I moved over to her bed and shook her shoulder.

\tShe flew forward with wide eyes and panic written all over her face, and she looked ready to fight. When she saw it was just me, she fell back into her bed with a groan. I laughed at her crazed state.

\t"Rough night?" I snickered. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she looked like she barely got any sleep at all.

\t"Stop laughing at me, jerk," she snapped, trying to bury her face.

\tl grabbed her arm and pulled her up, but she made her body dead weight. "Come on. We're going to be late if you don't get up."

\t"I don't want to go to school," she whined. She turned her head, making eye contact with me. She looked absolutely exhausted and worn out.

\tl let go of her arm, and she fell back onto the bed. I sat down on the edge. "Did you get any sleep at all?"

\tRemy finally pushed herself up. "A little. I couldn't sleep much last night."

\t"I'm worried about you," I admitted. "You don't seem like yourself." I looked down at my hands, ready for her to start blaming me for keeping secrets from her and not trusting her.

\tShe crawled out of bed and sat next to me. There were no hostile vibes coming from her. "Honestly, I'm a little scared. Hearing that thing call my name shook me to my bones. It had such a dark energy coming from it, and I just have this feeling this isn't the end of everything."

\tl pulled Remy into a hug and held her tightly. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

\tShe squeezed me back, but she didn't say anything. After a moment, she let go of me, and her mood felt lighter. "Okay, we better get going now, because if I don't get coffee before school, I will not survive the day."

\tl chuckled and shook my head. As I stood up, I ruffled her hair. "Okay, better hurry then. Harper and I will be downstairs waiting."

\t-

\tl parked the car at school, and Remy was the first one to jump out, rushing into the building. She had never been late for school, and we were getting to the point that we were almost tardy. I had been tardy plenty of times, so I wasn't in a rush. Harper was also much slower to exit the car. I watched her, and she seemed nervous as she unbuckled.

\t"Everything okay?" I asked.

\tShe bit her lip and looked down. I could feel her energy vibrating, and it made me want to hold her to calm her down. She looked over at me. "There's going to be a lot of girls in there staring at me once they replace out we're dating."

\tl grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Then let them stare. I don't care who knows. Don't worry about other people."

\tShe smiled at me, even though she didn't look convinced. "Okay, let's go."

\tWe got out of the car, and I moved around to grab her hand. I walked confidently into the school building with Harper's fingers intertwined with mine. Several eyes looked in our direction, which wasn't surprising at all. I had never held hands with the girls I was with. I didn't give anyone a second glance as we walked through the hallways. I didn't really care what others thought. People would whisper because of my history, but I would prove them all wrong.

\tl walked Harper to her classroom, knowing I was going to be late because of it, but I didn't care. This was just another step towards showing Harper just how serious I was about this relationship.

\tWhen we got to her first class, I leaned in and gave Harper a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later, okay?"

\tShe blushed and said, "Can't wait."

\tl left her at her classroom and started heading towards my own. The hallway was mostly empty, since almost everyone was already in their classroom. When I finally made it to my first class, I saw Julie leaning against the wall. Julie was just one of the many girls I had dated in the past, but she was one of the shorter-lived ones. Her attitude was too much to deal with, so I had dropped her pretty fast. She had never fully let it go, though.

\tl tried to walk past her, but she stepped in my way. "What are you doing?" I asked, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

\t"I've just missed you," Julie said, grabbing my arm. "I was thinking we could do something after school. Maybe something that requires less clothes." She stroked her hand on my arm, and it made me want to gag. I hated every second she was touching me. \tl shrugged her arm off me. "No thanks. I have no interest in doing anything with you ever again." I tried to side step her, but she just got in my way.

\t"I saw you with the beta's daughter. Why are you bothering with her when you could get someone as hot as me?" She put her hand on my shoulder and pressed her chest against me. I may have fallen for something like this in the past, but Julie throwing herself at me just grossed me out now.

\t"No thanks. I'm with Harper now and have no interest in anyone else. I'm late to class. You should go, too." I stepped away from her again and went straight to the classroom. I could feel her eyes on me like daggers, and I had a feeling this wasn't the last time she would be an issue.

It-

\tHARPER

\tAfter class, I went to my locker to exchange my books, and I was a little surprised when I saw Julie leaning directly against my locker. I raised my eyebrows as I approached her, wondering what she wanted. She had never bothered to speak to me before, except to make snide remarks here and there.

\t"You're in my way," I said.

\tJulie wasn't a nice person. She had a reputation of bullying other girls when they didn't fit her standards, and I had no interest in socializing with her.

\t"I could say the same thing about you." Julie made no motion to move.

\tl reached past her and started unlocking my locker. "I don't have time for this."

\tShe pushed me out of the way, stopping me from getting to my locker. "Look, I don't know what you think you are doing with Caulder, but you know he's never serious about girls. From what I heard, you're too prude to be with someone like him, so he's just going to drop you when you don't give him what he wants."

\tMy jaw clenched as I stared Julie down. "What Caulder and I are is none of your business. Now move. You're in my way."

\tShe stood her ground and crossed her arms, emphasizing how plush her chest actually was. She was much bigger than me in that department, and she had long, beautiful legs. When it came to looks, she surpassed me without a doubt. However, her personality was nothing to brag about.

\tl knew she was one of the girls Caulder had hooked up with in the past, so she was probably just jealous. I was sure she wouldn't be the last girl who approached me this way, so I didn't want to let it get to me.

\t"I'm just warning you. Caulder gets bored easily, so it won't be long before he moves onto the next girl. I just don't want someone as naive as you to get your hopes up. You're just going to be temporary at best." Even though Julie was considered to be conventionally pretty, her scowl made her look hideous to me.

\t"Thanks, but no thanks. Pretty sure I know Caulder better than you, so don't try anything. You'll regret messing with me." I bumped Julie with my shoulder to get my stuff. She huffed and stormed off when I didn't give her the reaction she wanted. I knew exactly what she was doing, and I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of giving into her taunts. However, part of me still worried that she was right about Caulder. His history told me she was right. He got bored with girls easily, never lingering on one for too long. \tHowever, he had never held anyone's hand before either or taken them on a proper date. I knew Caulder had a shady past, but he had never lied or tricked anyone. He was very upfront with his intentions with the girls he was with, and he had made it clear to me that I was not just another girl on his list. I decided it was worth trusting him to see if this could actually be something serious.