Pride, Mates, and Past Mistakes

And All Because of a Family Friendly Movie

*Sierra*

 

I'd missed movie night.

That was the first thought that entered my mind when I woke up on Monday morning. After a whole year filled with Saturday after Saturday of movie night, for the first time in a whole year, I had finally gone a Saturday without movie night.

Gosh, it felt weird.

Stumbling out of bed, I threw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, not really looking to stun with my outwards appearance, because no one would be home. Casey had put up a fight that she wanted to stay home today, ('I haven't seen my best friend in a year and I ask to miss just one day of school and you say no?!') but I forced her to go because today was the east-wide standard exam day at our school, and it was mandatory for all school-going kids.

Since I'd only gotten back last Friday, I hadn't been enrolled in school yet. I started tomorrow.

Wow, I though in surprise, I was going back to school.

And to be a junior, at that.

After a whole year of internship, defense trainings, and a firm, locked down schedule that was repeated, day after day, all this sudden change—Nolan's attempted apology, Dominic checking me out and offering to spend time with me, Mandy and Haddy talking to me, almost having a normal conversation with Deanne, the pack treating me like some guest— it was all way too unnerving.

Needing something that I was used to, I walked out of the room, set on going downstairs to the T.V. room and watch a movie to make up for Saturday.

I poked my head into the long hall before stepping out. Sure, everyone might have been at school, but I definitely wasn't taking any chances—I was not in the mood to make conversation with some random person from the pack.

Why? Because my whole weekend had been filled with the repeat of the same conversation:

Everyone would start off with an overly bright, happy, "Hi!", immediately followed by the question, "When did you get back?" which, after I answered, would be promptly followed by a "Why'd you come back?", and after I'd answered that one, they would finish the conversation with a "It's nice to see you back", or "I'm glad you're back", and the occasional "I'm so glad you're back, I missed you!" (There was always a strong urge to snort at that last one).

The pack mothers, however, were a whole different story. My mom being one of the Lunas, had connections with everyone. Because of that, all the pack moms had apparently seen it to be their obligation to personally welcome me like some long lost child, cooing and fussing over me like I was covered in bruises and cuts, some, like my mother, even bursting into tears at happiness. I'd always been close to the pack parents, what with me being socially disabled, and at group events when Casey wasn't around, I'd spend time with them instead.

The rest of the pack, on the other hand, acted like they didn't even know I'd come back till they saw me walking around (although they did, thanks to the impressive of news-distribution abilities of Deanne, Mandy, Haddy, and Dominic), and they'd all greeted me like long lost friends, like none of them had ever bullied me.

But I remembered. I remembered every single one.

Of course, whenever Casey was by my side, people usually avoided me and resorted to simply staring at me from afar, which was beginning to get truly annoying, like when the eyes of the whole pack watched eat your cereal in the morning.

All those years of creating that nameless reputation within the pack—for nothing.

Oh, gosh—I could only imagine how bad school would be like.