Mated To The Enemy

6. Weird Vibes

Nina’s POV.

It’s Monday and I felt like s**t. The alcohol left my system and I no longer had a hangover. But I felt like my sleep wasn’t good enough. I was sipping coffee hoping it would make me feel a lot better. Ever since I woke up this morning I have been having flashbacks of the get-together on Saturday.

OH MY GOODNESS!! Why do I have memories of having a make-out session with Sam? I really hope it was all a part of my imagination. He is a good friend and I’ve only known him for a week. Sam, Sally and Ryan were on their way to pick me up from school this morning. Just as I finished washing my coffee cup, I heard a car horn from the front of my house. I grabbed my bag and walked out the door. Nevins came right behind me and hopped into Liam’s car, which was also parked in the front.

“Good morning beautiful,” Ryan said in a sarcastic, flirty type of voice. I am now so totally used to him being like that. I’ve known him to be that type of guy that flirts with you, but he’s nothing more than a friend.

I’d been really worried about the day he wouldn’t be like the him I’ve now come to know.

“So had fun on Saturday?” He said and I felt embarrassed.

I think I really did kiss Sam and it wasn’t my imagination. By the way, Ryan was acting and talking, just sort of told me he knew. I'm pretty sure Sam told him about our kiss and make-out session. Even the vibe between me and Sam felt weird. I turned to look at Sally. She looked oblivious to what was going on. She just had her head down on her phone and was texting away. Fifteen minutes of total silence and we finally pulled up to the school.

“Hey, Nina, is it okay if I talk to you for a minute?” Sam asked, “In private?” he added, and I nodded my head.

Ryan and Sally jumped out of the car and walked to stand in front of the school. I looked at them and they just stood under the tree we all meet in the mornings and afternoons. It looked like Ryan had started a conversation with her, which took her attention from the phone. Then I saw Sally look our way with a happy-looking grin on her face. I bet Ryan told her about me and Sam kissing at the party.

“So,” Sam said, making me turn to look at him. “About Saturday night at your place” he started, “I hope you don’t feel too awkward about the kiss. Well, kissing,” he said, and I started to feel like I was turning red.

Only you couldn’t see it because of my skin tone, but I could feel it. “Oh no it's all cool,” I said awkwardly.

“Look, I know you just moved here and all. But I like you and I don’t regret us kissing... Well made out. But even though we.. well, most of you were intoxicated, I also want you to know I was not trying to take advantage of you, I really like you, ” he said. “So would it be okay if we started to date? Or maybe if I could take you on a date?” he said nervously as he finished and waited for me to say something.

I didn’t want to hurt his feelings or ruin our friendship. I did like him too, so I guess one date wouldn’t hurt anyone. We are planning on staying here for two years.

“Yeah sure. How about a date first before we make anything official? A date would be great! Where did you have in mind?” I said to him, “You know, since I don’t really know any great places around town”, I added. “How about on Friday at seven o’clock? I’ll take you out to dinner somewhere. It’ll be a surprise”, he said, and I nodded in agreement.

“So we better get going, the bell to homeroom is going to ring soon,” I said as we both got out of the car. “So just to be clear, one date then we can discuss if we want to make it official?” he asked me. “Yeah,” I said and he put his hand in my hand, as we walked over to Ryan and Sally.

The bell then rang and the four of us walked to our homeroom. While Logan, Chris, Will and James followed behind. Right after homeroom, I said bye to Sam as I went to English. Ryan and Sally were okay with us going on a date. Sally was more than happy that I was going on a date with her brother. Something about that he doesn’t have an interest in dating many or any girls.

“So, Mateo is tied up with …..uh a family matter, he will get here at lunchtime,” Ryan said as we sat down in our seats.

The way he said that was like he didn’t want me to know the real reason. Sally’s facial expression just showed that she knew what Ryan was talking about. I shrugged it off, even though it felt like I was being left in the dark.

“So you’ll meet him in the cafeteria,” he said, while looking at me.

“Okay,” I said, “Oh and I just told him that you agreed to go on a date with Sam. He was the one that encouraged Sam to just ask you out on a date anyway”, Ryan finished.

“Oh”, I said, had to feel surprised that someone I hadn’t met yet, encouraged Sam to ask me on a date.

We sat in silence as we continued in our English class and did the same in history. The bell rang to indicate that it was lunchtime. Just as I walked out, I felt a hand grab my hand. I turned and saw Sam smiling at me. We walked to the cafeteria together with Ryan and Sally leading the way.

“Mateo just arrived, he is picking up his schedule. Then he’ll meet us at our spot”, Ryan said.

We all sat at our usual spot in the Cafeteria. Sam sat down next to me and put his arms around my shoulder. It felt strange with Sam doing what he did. I guess he must have felt nervous to even do that move. I just let it be even though I was used to Ryan doing something like that. But it was not his intent to do it in a s****l way, but in a friend type of way, so I left it. We talked for a bit while we all ate our lunch.

Sally just had to show me the video of me chugging on the weekend. I felt embarrassed and Sam must have seen it from my facial expression. So out of nowhere, Sam placed a kiss on my cheek. Which was totally unexpected, then all of a sudden there was a loud growl. I looked around me and just assumed I was hearing a wolf growl. But I didn’t see a wolf, so it must have been a part of my imagination. The next thing I knew, I saw a guy walk up to our table. He had dark black hair with brown skin, golden brown eyes and what looked to be a hint of…. Black?. He looked handsome and I felt really attracted to him.

What am I thinking? I got a hot guy with me being all lovey dovely and who was going to take me on a date on Friday. Yet here I am checking out another guy... Another totally hot guy, damn! He was the hottest guy I have ever seen. Wait, what the heck are you saying, Nina? Ughh! I was not showing it but I felt frustrated that I was attracted to this guy. As I stared at the guy, I swore it looked like he was angry. He looked like he was fighting to hide that anger but I saw it. I’m pretty sure everyone else has seen it too.

“Hey Mateo!” Sam said to the guy as he stood up to hug him.

“Mateo, this is Nina,” he said as he turned and put his hands on my back to move me close to him for Mateo to see.

“I took your advice and asked her out. She said yes,” Sam said with a smile.

“Hi Mateo, nice to finally meet you” I said as I extended my hand out to shake Mateo’s hands.

“Nice to meet you too” he replied, but didn’t shake my hands.

Instead, he just sat down next to Ryan, who sat across from us. I sat back down and Sam followed as he placed his arms around my shoulder again. For some reason, I swear Mateo was getting more angry. I don’t know if he had a bad morning or if he just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. We continued to eat and talk until the bell rang for our next class. Sam walked me to the one class I didn’t have any of my friends in. That class was woodwork. I chose to attend that class because I enjoyed creating things out of wood. I know not many girls would say they enjoy woodwork, but I do. Plus, it's like a reminder of when I used to watch my father do woodwork with my brothers. It felt like I was keeping a part of my father's memory alive. Sam was about to give me a kiss on the cheek when Mateo showed up.

“Oh hey, Mateo, what do you have now?” Sam asked. “I’ve got woodwork” he answered with a bit of anger. “Oh okay, you and Nina are in the same class together. Well, I’ll see you two later”, Sam finished, gave me a quick kiss on my hand, and then walked off to his class.

I took a seat in the back and Mateo sat down next to me.

“So, did you enjoy your time traveling?” I vaguely remember Sam saying at the party he was looking for someone important.

Then Sally may have mentioned something about Mateo in Basin Dale. Even though I am sure he heard me ask him, he seemed too mad to even answer my question. For the next forty-five minutes, we sat in silence. I felt like he was mad at me, but we only just met. What could I have done? I then came to the conclusion that he was just the type that was always mad at everyone. The bell rang for my last class of the day; Music. James, Logan and Chris were all waiting outside my woodwork class. The boys and I were about to walk to Music when Mateo spoke.

“Where are you lot going?” he asked, or more like demanded.

“Uh…. Music” I said “Do you have music too?” I asked him and he shook his head. At that, we walked off to our class and Mateo walked in the other direction.

Finally, the bell rang for home time, and the boys and I walked to the front of the school. We saw everyone waiting for us and Mateo standing beside Sam with his arms crossed. Something was off, everyone was letting off some sort of weird vibe. Sam didn’t look at me or even try to acknowledge my presence. Sally and Ryan seemed to act like we weren't standing in front of them. While Will was full-on staring at me while biting his lips. I have never seen Will look like that or Ryan, especially Ryan. He would always play flirt with me every chance he got. James, Logan and Chris were as lost as I was, it was all over their faces.

“Hey Nina, I'll give you a ride home. The boys wanted to catch up.” Sally all of a sudden realized my existence.

She grabbed my left arm and started to lead me away to Sam’s car. “

I'll call you tonight Sam” I said, turning around to look at Sam. He didn’t answer back. Instead, he looked like he froze with fear. Okay, all my friends have been acting weird ever since Mateo returned. The drive to my house with Sally was silent for the first five minutes.

“So you like my brother?” I said, breaking the silence, as I remembered she was my brother's mate. “Yeah, I do and you like mine”, she answered awkwardly.

“Yeah, we actually have a date on Friday. Oh, that’s right, you already know,” I said with a smile.

“Cool” okay she is acting super weird now, especially with the answers she is giving me.

She is always super talkative, no one can shut her up. This morning she was all happy about me and her brother dating. Now it was like she was one of those girls that couldn’t talk about who her brother was crushing on. We soon got to my place and Sally said bye and just took off. I walked up to my room and threw my bag across my bed.

My friends are not acting like my friends today. I mean, I know I just met them and that I've only known them for a week. But I did get to know them all very well within the week. They were all fine at lunch but after the last period, they were acting weird. And Mateo, he has been angry every time I even look at him today. What is his problem? He wouldn’t talk to me unless it was for the whole group to hear. Okay well, I guess I’m going to have to find out for myself.