Chapter Nine

Cambry's POV:

I've been avoiding Peyton ever since he kissed me. I even canceled on him the next day, telling him my parents are keeping me busy... which was a lie... My parents went to yet another meeting, but I enjoyed it because I stayed in my room the whole day, laying in bed, thinking about that one kiss. Ugh.

I've been avoiding him for four days, to this day. It physically hurts me, and I have no clue why. Every time he sends me a message, I almost text back, but not doing so because I have no clue what to do anymore... He kissed me after telling me about his encounter with every other girl he's met... and I fear he'll do that same thing to me, I mean why wouldn't he? It's not like I'm anything special, I mean hey, my parents even gave up on me.

But, it seems like there's a pull towards him, and I have no clue why. Maybe it's like a werewolf thing where you meet a werewolf, hang out with them a lot, and start feeling a pull... but that didn't happen to Lea or Tar... Ugh, now I'm even more confused. Wait, what about his mate? Oh my god, they'd be so pissed at me... does he even have a mate? Oh my god... what if he's a rogue. That would be terrible, both for my dad's business and for me... my dad does a lot of business with werewolves... so he'd be so pissed at me for losing clients... maybe it'd be best if I stayed away from- wait for a second, but didn't Lea and Tara say him and that Spencer guy were friends... Alpha's wouldn't befriend rogues, it's too dangerous... ugh, too much thinking... I need a drink.

As I walk down the stairs, I start to wonder if their alcohol cupboard moved and if the key that opened that miracle cabinet was still in the same spot.

Once I stepped into the kitchen, I grabbed the step stool, and brought it towards the cupboard, after grabbing the key from under the cookie jar. Then, I get into the cupboard, happy that they didn't move the alcohol. I grabbed the dusty bottle of red wine and tried my best to blow the dust off. This doesn't mean they don't drink... I know my parents aren't saints... this just means that they've been traveling a lot.

"What are you doing?" My best friend screams, almost making me drop the bottle.

"Fuck," I say, hugging the bottle to my chest. "Don't ever do that again," I tell her.

"Sorry," She says. "But like seriously, what are you doing," She asks.

"I'm going to drink some wine," I say. I'm trying to keep my and Peyton's kiss a secret.

"And you didn't think to ask me to join you?" She asks, giving me an 'are you serious' look.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were at school," I say.

"Ugh, just give me the bottle," She says, grabbing the bottle out of my hand before grabbing two wine glasses.

"Hurry," I tell her, watching as she pours the red beverage into the glasses.

"Here," She says, handing me one of them, now full, glasses.

"Thank you," I tell her before taking a sip of the expensive wine. My parents always get expensive alcoholic drinks, no matter the cost. They think it's better than the cheap stuff, but I don't agree. The first time I ever tried alcohol was a sip of my dad's whiskey at the age of 6, which he wasn't aware of. It wasn't too bad, but it did burn my throat... the second was when I was 8, it was a cheap bottle of champagne, I know because my parents argued about it being so cheap before one of our many parties.

"What are you thinking about?" Lea asks, spooking me out of my thoughts.

"Life," I sigh, taking another sip... until I heard the door handle. "Shit," I say, eyes wide open. "Put it away," I tell her, grabbing our glasses and chugging both of them before putting them in the dishwasher.

"We're home," My mother calls before walking into the kitchen. "Oh there you are, I thought you were upstairs," She says to me.

"Yeah, Lea and I were talking," I tell her the partial truth.

"Hunny, don't forget to tell them about our party this Friday," My dad says, before starting to whistle. The sound of his whistling slowly fades as he gets further and further away.

"What?" I ask, staring at my mom in surprisement. "You're kidding, right?" I ask, eyes, again, wide open.

"You're father and I have decided to host a party this Friday, and you two girls, along with Tara, will be attending," My mom says, leaving the kitchen before I could start fighting with her on the matter.

"She's gotta be kidding right?" I tell Lea.

"She isn't kidding, sweetie," Lea says, leading me to my room.

"There's no way that they're going to be able to send all of the invites by then, not to mention, who'll even be able to make it," I say, almost forgetting my parents' new friends. OH MY GOSH! Peyton! I don't want to see him, I can't, I want to avoid him until I go back to England... I have to, that kiss... it can't happen again, that kiss will ruin me forever. Then what'll happen when I go back to school... what's going to happen between us? Nothing... because he and I can't be together... he might have a mate coming eventually, I can't ruin that for him.

"What are you thinking about?" Lea asks.

"How we are definitely not ready for this damn party," I say. I'm definitely not ready... to see him.