Shift

Forty-Four

  Alex 

      I threw open the door to Ava’s cabin, wanting to tell her everything. I just needed her as my friend again. She obviously wasn’t going to ever be completely over the two other guys, but I just needed to talk. I was going to try my best to make things go back to normal. Then, we’d see where it took us.

           I tossed the bag of Ava’s clothes that Roman had given me onto the chair.

           I stopped dead in my tracks. In front of me was one of the most stunning girls I’d ever seen. Her long blonde hair flowed down her back like a river. She spun around, her beautiful golden locks flipping. My heart roared in my chest. Her eyes were beautiful pools of dark green with dark brown lashes surrounding them. A pink blue rose to her porcelain cheeks when she realized I was looking at her.

           “Alex,” she mumbled.

           I raised my eyebrows, realization dawning on me. You just don’t forget a girl who looks like that.

           She was the one girl I’d ever ditched Ava for- the one that I’d gone out with when it was supposed to be movie night.

           “Victoria,” I recalled.

           She nodded slowly.

           “You two… know each other?” Ava asked, confused.

           We both answered, “Yes.”

           “How?” Jace asked.

           A blush crept up my neck. “Uhh, remember that night that I didn’t show for movie night?” I muttered. “Well, Victoria and I were-“

           “Victoria is the girl you went out with that night?” she demanded, arms crossed.

           Jace broke into a chorus of “It’s a Small World.”

           I mumbled, “Uh, yeah.”

            Victoria raised her eyebrows. “You ditched Ava for me? That’s really sweet and totally ass-like.”

           “Yeah… I know. It never, uh, happened again,” I admitted.

           Ava mumbled, “He felt really bad.”

           “It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all, it’s a small, small world!” Jace sang.

          I gave a nervous chuckle. “Uh… Yeah, you could say- sing- that, I guess,” I muttered. Awkward, I thought.

           “Well, this is awkward,” voiced Ava. I grinned. She knew me so well.

           “Yeah…”

           “Maybe we should give Victoria and Alex some time to get reacquainted?” suggested Jace.

           “Or, you know, not,” I mumbled.

           I felt Victoria’s gaze on me. “Excuse me?”

           “Sorry… I just… thought that maybe you wouldn’t want to… You know after… Uh… Sorry.”

           She smiled. “You human boys are too cute. It’s adorable when you get all nervous. Don’t worry about it. Let’s go for a swim, Alex.”

           After a glance at Ava, she mouthed, “Go!”

           I nodded, my mind already wandering to what that great body of hers would look like in a bathing suit.

           Ava was very, very far from my mind as Victoria and I climbed onto a jetty in the low-tide water.

           She unbuttoned her shorts and pulled them down, kicking off her flip flops. She tried to get her shirt off, but it seemed to be stuck. “Alex, could you…”

           I smiled and nodded, grabbing the edges of her tank top and pulling it over her head.

Ava

           I was happy that Alex had found someone; really, I was. I didn’t want to hold him back. I had enough **** to deal with, and I didn’t want him to have to deal all my ****, too. One person per ****, please.

           I grabbed Jace and pulled him to me. The truth was, Alex and I might’ve gone out to college, moved to the suburbs somewhere across the country, and had the two kids, dog, and house with a picket fence.

           But that wasn’t what fate had in mind for me. I was obviously not destined for something like that. Har har har, laugh at me now, but if magic is real- shouldn’t destiny be? I mean, I was a true believe that a fate was simply one’s fate, no matter what the circumstances. Even if I wanted to believe otherwise. 

           Yet another knock sounded at the door. I groaned and opened it up. Roman pushed past me, not bothering to excuse himself. I rolled my eyes and plopped down on the couch. “What’s up?” I asked, a hint of annoyance in my voice.

           Jace came out of the bedroom, his gaze immediately falling on Roman, wondering what the **** he was doing here. “What?”

           Roman sighed and said, “Joseph named you Alpha. Did he ever give you a note?”

           A flicker of…something ran across Jace’s face. “No.”

           “Oh. Well. Then, read this.”

           He shoved a piece of paper into Jace’s hands and walked out of the doorway before Jace could even unfold the note. All that was left was that note and the sound of pounding footsteps on the bridge.