Rouges and Rebound

Cassandra’s POV

I spot him coming from a distance and quickly duck my head; it would not benefit me if I am caught especially when his face has ‘bloody murder’ written all over it. I quietly move through the crowd of graduation gowns making sure to keep my cap on so he doesn’t recognize me from the back of my head.

“Cassandra Collins!” he suddenly bellows and half the hall turns to look at him, I also turn and almost choke from laughter. He might look very pissed, but you have to give me props for originality. Parker is standing in his suit, a glare in his eyes which are trained at me, and bright red hair. I quickly put my hand over my mouth to hide my laugh, he looks just like I imagined. The red hair gives his anger the perfect flare it needs.

“Don’t you dare laugh!” Parker yells and comes charging at me. That’s my cue to get out of here. I immediately turn around and start running through the unhelpful crowd of students. You would think that given the situation they would make a pathway for my perfect getaway, instead, I have to dodge and bend my way through the human obstacles to get away from my angry best friend. I make it to the school field and start running across it; I just need to get to the other side and into the girl's locker room. I suddenly feel a shadow looming over me and I barely have time to turn when someone heavy lands on me.

“Ooof, what the hell!” I exclaim as my back and head make contact with the ground. I’m pretty sure if I wasn’t a werewolf I would have a concussion from that fall, “What the hell Parker! Get off me!” I yell and struggle under him.

He lifts himself but only enough to hover and glare at me, “You are in no position to make demands right now,” he seethes through his teeth.

A pause, how do you respond to something like that in a way that won’t lead to you losing your life? I suddenly give him the brightest smile I can muster, “Red looks good on you Parks,” I reach out and touch his ears, “All we need now is smoke coming out of this and you will be perfect.”

Parker’s cheeks turn red and he immediately jumps off me, “Come on Dria, I begged you,” Parker whines tugging at his bright red hair, “I pleaded, do my words not matter to you anymore?” 

“You lost the game fair and square,” I tell him, “Next time you play tic tac toe with me make sure to make a safe bet.”

Parker pulls at his hair and pouts, “This is so embarrassing. You are supposed to be my best friend!” Parker exclaims and I shrug.

I pick myself off the ground and dust the grass of my graduation gown, “All is fair in love and war…or in this case an intense game of tic tac toe.”

Parker collapses on the grass with a huff, “People were laughing at me,” he tells me.

“You have two options,” I lift two fingers, “You either ignore them which can be hard to do because come on, who wants to be laughed at.”

Parker looks up at me from staring at his hair, “What’s the other option?”

I throw my hands up, “You laugh with them!” I throw my hands up cheerfully and Parker gives me a strange look but I notice the side of his mouth tug upwards. I quickly join him on the grass, “Cheer up squirt, some day we can both show our kids these pictures and they can laugh at you while complimenting me for my genius,” I tell him putting my hands around his shoulder. 

I do believe introductions are in order. Hi! I’m Cassandra Collins, werewolf extraordinaire of the Trimoon pack. I have not exactly had the best life, my parent’s died in a car accident when I was just three and I had to move in with my grandparents. The way my grandmother tells it they met at a party between their packs and it was love at first sight, because grandmother likes to call the mate bond ‘falling in love’, my father then was a pack warrior in training and the moment he found his mate he had her move to his pack, few months later I was on the way. Grandmother used to say that mom lit up every room she walked into and when she opened a tiny bakery in the pack it was a hit because everyone loved her. I was born soon and was the perfect addition to the family.

The day they died was a sad day for everyone in the pack, they had left me with my grandparents and went on a trip to my mom’s former pack to make her moving to my father’s pack official with her Alpha. They died in terrible crash involving a truck that night, the car exploded and by the time help got to them they were only charred remains, grandmother always choked up when she got to this part.

My father’s parents took me in and have since raised me like their own child, I do not say it often but I love them to the moon and back. The thought of leaving them sounds scary, I might just take a year to be with them while I figure out what I want to do with my post-high-school life.

I met Parker the first day of middle school; he was the only one willing to talk to the awkward werewolf without parents who thought making an impression of Adam Sandler was the perfect way to get people to like her. We have been close ever since then and are now each other’s best friends. Parker has always stood by me despite being the number one loser in the whole school. 

I love him to the moon and back and I know he does too, even his parent and my grandparents know that too, and sometimes they make comments on how perfect it would be if we became mates one day.

 Parker pokes his index finger on my forehead bringing me back to the presen, “You have a screw loose Dria…but screw it let's go graduate,” he says and gets off the ground before offering his hand to me. I happily take it and reach out to pat his ruffled hair down, “Just make sure to get my good side, okay?”

I nod in acceptance and let Parker lead me back to the auditorium; the other students have already filled most of the seats so Parker and I settle for back seats. Parker adjusts his cap so most of his hair is covered though there are still red locks peeping out from underneath the cap, he asks me how it looks and I give him a thumbs up. Parker has always been self-conscious even more than me and I am the one who gets bullied almost every day.

I take time looking around and spot Parker’s parents in the audience, they are well-respected pack warriors and they hope that Parker would follow in their footsteps. I also spot my grandparents and smile at them; I might not have parents but my grandparents fill up the role perfectly.