My Mate, My Best Friend

"Isn't he just so fucking sexy?!" My best friend Carlie squealed from beside me.

I looked over and saw Daniel Benson standing at the end of the hall with two of his friends. Jeremy, who was to his left, and Lucas, who was to his right.

She's been crushing on him since 10th grade, making it two years in a row now.

"Why don't you go and tell him that?" I say as I look at her unamused, this being the millionth time we've had this conversation.

She yelled back, "Don't be an idiot, Lauren! I can't just tell him that!"

I smirked as I said, "Besides, don't you think Jeremy's way hotter?"

She gasped exageratedly before saying, "How dare you compare that Godly being to that hideous rat!"

I sighed and said disappointedly, "What did I tell you about calling people rats?"

"..Not to do it," she said sounding like a child who just got scolded by their parent, which is kind of what's going on right now.

Carlie began crushing on him after he helped her pick up her books when she tripped on her own feet. It was like a scene out of a cheesy Romance movie, but they haven't had any other interaction since. She's just been watching him from a distance. But maybe that's for the best. He's a werewolf, so he's going to find his mate soon enough. It'll be hard on Carlie, but that's the way things are. All werewolves can find their mates after they turn 18.

Speaking of mates, it's almost my turn to find mine. When I was little, I dreamed about finding my mate. I used to think that having a mate was the best thing in the world. I thought it was going to be like those princess movies where the prince saves the princess and they end up living happily ever after. Now that I think about it, I feel like cringing. I was so naive back then.

"Lauren! Did you not hear the bell ring? Let's go to class!" Carlie yelled as she pulled my arm, dragging me to our first period.

When we entered the class, I took my seat next to Carlie. We had English, which was one of the only subjects I liked. The main reason I like this class is because we basically just read the whole period. Afterwards, we do have to write an essay about the book, but since I enjoy the books it's not so hard.

Our teacher Mr. Castel began speaking. He gave us our instructions, then went to sit at his desk to use his computer. I doubt he was doing any work. He was either playing games or watching porn.

I opened my copy of Animal Farm, which was the book we were currently reading. We were to finish it by next week and have our essay turned in. I continued where I last left off, on chapter 8. I hardly got any reading done before Carlie started bugging me.

"Lauren! I'm soo bored and we've only been here for like ten minutes!"

We have block schedule, so our classes were around two hours long. On Mondays and Wednesdays we have odd classes and on Tuesdays and Thursdays we have even classes. Then, on Fridays we have all classes, so the periods only last around 50 minutes.

"Why don't you start reading your book instead of complaining?" I ask annoyed.

"I don't get it at all! Why are the animals talking? Any why are the pigs the smart ones?" She asks looking at me with pure confusion.

I began explaining to Carlie, "The animals are meant to represent people during the Russian Revolution. You see, when-"

"Arghh! Stop! You're gonna make my brain hurt! For Pete's sake, this is English class not fucking History!" She yelled, and I'm pretty sure it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

A few heads turned our way, then went back to minding their own business.

"Just read the damn book, Carlie. If you don't, I'm gonna tell your mom you're failing English," I say as I turn back to my book.

"No, no, no! Please, don't tell my mom! She'll give me that look. I hate it when she does that! It always makes me scared that she's gonna come after me and strangle me!"

"Then finish you're work! This is why you're failing!"

I knew she was doing that adorable pout of hers, but I won't give in. It has no effect on me anymore.

I've gotten better at handling her. She used to be waay out of control, but now you could say I've got the bone to tame the dog... Not that I'm calling her a dog or anything, although she does sometimes act like one.

I was pulled out of my thoughts when I heard my name whispered from the back of the classroom. I scanned the back of the classroom, and my eyes met Daniel's. My heart jumped when my eyes met his beautiful blue eyes, which were an unusually light shade of blue. They went perfectly with his sharp features. His jawline was brought out well, with a refined nose hooked over deliciously perfect lips that naturally...- Wait.. Did I just use perfect to describe him?! Gahh, what's wrong with me?!

He must've known I overheard him because he quickly looked away and began "reading" his book. I looked away too and pretended to read my book.

I quickly glanced at him a while later and saw him staring at the back of Carlie's head, lost in thought... Wait, what?! Was he nervous because he thought I caught him staring at Carlie? Was he staring at her and not at me? Ohh.. I feel stupid now, thinking he was looking at me. That made me a little sad, but I ignored the feeling. Carlie will be excited when I tell her I caught him staring at her. She'll be happy to hear her obsession wasn't so one-sided.

***

Carlie and I sat down at our usual table with our nasty school lunches. I swear, everyday it gets worse. I poked the packaged, month-expired beans with my plastic spork and gagged. A horrendous smell was coming out through the bag, even though it was closed. I pushed it aside and looked at Carlie, who was contently eating her nasty expired beans. She literally ate anything. One time, she found a dirty, half eaten gummy worm on the floor and ate it... She worries me sometimes.

Nathan joined us at the table. He's been our friend since last year. There's not much of a backstory to it. He transferred to our high school during the middle of 11th grade. He was lonely for the first few days, so we took him in. Now, he's actually pretty popular. He's in a lot of clubs, and he's on the school's soccer team. He decided to stick with us, even after he became popular, and I'm happy he did. He can be fun to push around sometimes. Also, he's one of the few people who can handle Carlie. Oh, and he's also a human, just like Carlie.

"Hey Whoren, hey Calories," he said casually as he took a seat next to me.

"Hey Gaythan," Carlie and I said as he pulled out his lunchbox from his backpack.

When he opened his lunchbox, a heavenly smell made its way to my nose. Carlie and I both snapped our heads in his direction.

"Is that-" I started.

"Your mom's homemade pizza?!" Carlie yelled out, loud enough for the whole cafeteria to hear.

"Ye~p," he said cheerfully as be took a bite right in front of us.

Some drool dripped from Carlie's mouth and landed on the table.

"Close you're mouth, Calories. A dick's gonna fly in," he said as he took another bite of his delicious looking pizza.

"I'm gonna fucking strangle you!" Carlie said as she started running towards Nathan.

He immediately stood up and began to run from Carlie. I watched as the two chased each other around the cafeteria, causing everyone to look up and watch them in amusement, some even pulling their phones out to record.

I looked over to Nate's lunch. The pizza smells so good. And it looks so good too. I grabbed the pizza he had taken a few bites out of and finished it. They were too distracted chasing each other around they didn't notice. Then, I grabbed his second slice and finished that one too. I grabbed the third slice, and just as I was about to take a bite, Carlie yells from across the cafeteria.

"Gaythan, look! Fatass Whoren is eating all the pizza!"

They both start running towards me, and I immediately stand up and run out, taking the last slice with me of course.

I ran out the cafeteria while eating the pizza. After finishing the last bite, I come to a stop and look behind me. Gaythan and Calories are no where to be seen. Hehe, I got away with it.

..Or maybe not. I hear footsteps approaching me quickly, and I turn around to see Gaythan running towards me. Before I could run, he jumps at me and tackles me, dropping me to the floor. I landed on my back, and Nate was holding me down.

"You ate my pizza!" he cried out.

I reached up and patted his head.

"Oh, Gaythan. You shouldn't have left me alone with your pizza. How could I resist?" I say teasingly with a smirk on my face.

He glared at me and said, "You're buying me chips tomorrow."

I heard someone running towards us from where Nate came from. Carlie appeared in front of us, panting as if she just ran a marathon. She placed her hands on her knees and caught her breath.

"Jeez, Gaythan. What are they feeding you? Those are some fast legs you got there buddy."

When she looked up at us, her eyes widened in shock.

"Eww! Did I just walk in on you guys making out?!"

"What?! No!" I say as I push Nate off and sit next to him.

My heart almost stops when I see Daniel walking down the hall with his friends. His eyes are glued onto me as he walks, glaring at me the whole time. He looked like he wanted to to kill someone. Most likely me.

Was he pissed because I found out that he likes Carlie? I looked at his friends, and Jeremy was smirking while Lucas was patting Daniel's back.

We all remained quiet while they walked by, even Nathan. When they finally exited the hall, we all sighed, letting out the breath we were holding in.

Nate stood up and reached out his hand to help me up. I took it, and he pulled me up.

"Why was he looking at you like he wanted to kill you?" Nate asked with a confused look on his face.

"Probably because I know something he doesn't want me to know," I replied as I looked at Carlie.

She was still looking at the exit they left through, as if she was waiting for him to come back.

"What?! Seriously?! Tell us!" Nate said excitedly, ready to gossip.

"..Well, I caught him staring at Carlie during first period," I said.

Carlie's head immediately snapped from the exit to me. Her eyes revealed a hint of surprise, disbelief, and happiness all at the same time.

"No way! Are you serious?!" She yelled as she ran up to me and grabbed my shoulders.

I nodded, and she squealed. My wolf Alex was joyous seeing Carlie so happy, but at the same time she was a little sad. I didn't exactly know why, but I decided not to ask her about it. She probably didn't know why either.

The bell rang, and we ran back to the cafeteria to get our stuff before reluctantly parting ways. Except for me and Nate. We had History together. I noticed how joyous and giddy Carlie was. She must be happy, knowing that Daniel was secretly watching her... Actually, that sounds a bit creepy now that I think about it..

I mentally prepared myself for History before entering the class with Nate. This was going to be a long two hours.

***

The bell rang and everyone ran out before Mr. Jenel could tell us, "The bell doesn't dismiss you, I do."

Nate and I found Carlie outside. We headed to the parking lot, where Carlie and Nate had their cars parked. I rode with Carlie, since we lived a few houses down from each other while Nate lived on the other side of town.

We said our goodbyes to Nate and hopped into Carlie's car. Hehe, Carlie's car. Doesn't that sound weird?

After a ten minute drive with loud music and horrible singing, we arrived at my house. Carlie pulled over and I got out, closing the door behind me.

"Bye, Carlie. See you tomorrow," I said while waving.

"See ya, Whoren," she said and drove off.

I turned and faced my house. I immediately felt uneasy and anxious. Alex growled angrily as she remembered what we had to go through every day.

I reluctantly entered the house and was greeted by a drunk Rafael. After both of my parents died when I was 11, I was left in his care since everyone thought he was best suited to take care of me. And I agreed at the time. Rafael was my mom's adoptive brother. He was always nice to me and would play with me, even if I wanted him to play dolls with me. Whenever I accidentally scraped my knee or cried because I fell, he would buy me ice cream and find a way to make me laugh. He was young when he started taking care of me, only 21 years old. After he was rejected by his mate when he was 23, he started acting coldly. Most people were surprised he survived after being rejected by his mate, but I know he would have preferred not to.

After I closed the front door, he began yelling.

"Where the fuck have you been?! I need you to come and clean up the broken glass in the kitchen!"

"I'm not your fucking maid! Clean up your own mess, asshole!" I yelled, feeling my anger rising already.

"What did you just fucking say to me?!"

He started running to me. I immediately ran up the stairs and into my room, scared of what he might do to me this time. I slammed the door behind me and locked it.

"Open this door right now, you bitch!" he commanded as he pounded on the door.

He gave up after a while, and I heard him angrily go down the stairs. I sighed in relief and threw myself onto my bed.

He's made my life a living hell. I hated him so much, I don't think anything could ever make me forgive him.