Chapter 2 #2
The quiet kid who used to sit in the back of our elementary school classroom, always scribbling in a notebook.
The boy who barely said two words to anyone but would share his snacks with anyone who asked.
He was so shy back then. Closed off. I remember trying to include him in our games, but he'd always drift to the edges, watching instead of participating.
He's certainly not shy anymore. That's for damn sure.
"You two know each other?" I gesture between them, still trying to recalibrate my mental image of the quiet kid I remember with the confident Alpha standing in front of me.
"Unfortunately." Sage sighs with theatrical despair. "Our parents are business partners. I've been stuck with him since birth, basically. It's a curse I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy."
"You love me."
"I tolerate you. There's a difference."
"You cried when I went away to hockey camp for two weeks."
"I did not."
"You absolutely did. Your mom sent my mom pictures. I have receipts."
Sage's cheeks flush a furious red.
"Those pictures were doctored. Fake news. Slander."
"Sure, babe."
"Don't 'babe' me, Nakamura. I will end you."
Watching them go at each other is like watching a ping-pong match. Fast. Ruthless. Weirdly entertaining.
And familiar.
Fuck, it's so familiar. Why am I basically having memory loss of my childhood? Do I need to start journaling again?
This is what I lost when Sage disappeared.
Not just a best friend, but the easy camaraderie.
The comfortable chaos of having people who knew you before you became whoever you're pretending to be now.
Miss Phillip clears her throat pointedly.
"As delightful as this reunion clearly is," she says, her voice laced with gentle sarcasm, "I do need to take Ms. Rose to finalize her paperwork. The administrative office closes in an hour, and I'd prefer not to have her wait until tomorrow."
Sage deflates slightly. "Right. Yeah. Sorry."
"Can we wait?" Jace asks, his teasing demeanor softening into genuine interest. "Outside the office, I mean. We wanted to catch up with MaeMae here, and we haven't eaten lunch yet."
Miss Phillip considers this for a moment, then nods.
"That would be perfectly acceptable. The administrative office is in the east wing, third door on the left. There are benches outside where you can wait if you wish."
"Perfect." Sage turns to me, her green eyes bright with something that looks like hope.
"Is that okay with you, Mae? We can catch up after you're done with all the boring official stuff.
Get some food. Talk about everything that's happened since.
.." She trails off, guilt flickering across her features. "...since I disappeared."
My stomach chooses that exact moment to announce its presence.
And by 'announce,' I mean it lets out a growl so loud and ferocious that it sounds like a small animal is dying inside my abdomen.
The hallway goes silent.
All three of them stare at me.
Oh, great. Perfect. Add 'embarrassing bodily functions' to the list of humiliations today.
I can feel my face turning approximately the color of a fire hydrant.
Jace is the first to break.
A snicker escapes him, quickly stifled behind his hand when Sage whirls on him with murder in her eyes.
"Shut up!" She smacks his arm with impressive force. "Don't tease her for being hungry! If I wasn’t hungry, I'd already be kicking your ass."
"Ow! Okay, okay!" He rubs his arm, still fighting a grin. "Sorry, MaeMae. That was rude. My apologies to you and your very vocal stomach."
"I hate you," Sage informs him.
"You love me."
"I tolerate you at best, and right now we're dipping into 'active dislike' territory."
He turns to me with an apologetic smile that actually looks sincere.
"Seriously, though, we haven't eaten either.
Our classes don't start until tomorrow, so we've got nothing but free time and empty stomachs.
We could hit up the cafe together once you're done with paperwork.
The regular one, since I'm an Alpha." He shrugs.
"Can't exactly waltz into your fancy Omega-exclusive spots. "
I consider the offer.
Part of me, the part that's been burned too many times to count, wants to decline. Wants to retreat to my tiny room in the pack integration house and hide under the covers until this whole day feels less like a fever dream.
Friends always leave. People always disappoint. Why set yourself up for more hurt?
But another part of me, the part that's been lonely for so goddamn long, perks up at the prospect.
Sage was my person once. My ride-or-die.
The one who never judged me for my frizzy hair or my braces or my obsession with figure skating routines.
She disappeared, yes. But the pain in her eyes when I mentioned it tells me there's more to that story.
A lot more.
Maybe she didn't leave by choice.
I think about what Miss Phillip said earlier. About hoping the next six weeks would be life-changing.
Maybe life-changing doesn't just mean facing down my childhood bullies and rediscovering my passion for the ice.
It can also mean opening myself up to the possibility of connection again. Of friendship. Of having people in my corner who actually want to be there.
Scary thought.
Terrifying, actually.
But you came here to be brave, didn't you?
To be the bold Omega who doesn't let her past define her future?
I take a breath.
"Why not?" The words come out steadier than I expected. "I should probably try to make some friends while I'm here. Or reconnect with old ones, I guess."
Sage's face splits into a grin so wide it rivals the sun.
"Yes! Okay. Amazing. This is going to be great, I promise. We have so much catching up to do. Like, thirteen years' worth of catching up."
"That's a lot of catching up," I admit.
"Good thing we've got time." Her eyes are sparkling now, the guilt replaced by genuine excitement. "I want to hear everything. Your job, your life, why you're here, whether you've kept up with skating, if you've got any cute Alphas chasing after you..."
Cute Alphas.
Images flash through my mind unbidden.
Storm-gray eyes and a cocky smirk.
Amber eyes and dimples for days.
Storm-blue eyes and a jersey that smelled like safety.
Nope. Not going there. Not discussing my insane roommate situation over lunch with my long-lost best friend.
"That last one's a complicated question," I mutter.
Sage's eyebrows shoot up.
"Oh? Complicated how? That sounds like there's a story there."
"There's definitely a story," Jace agrees, studying my face with renewed interest. "You've got that look. The 'my life is chaos, and I'm barely holding it together' look. I recognize it. See it in the mirror every morning."
"You do not," Sage scoffs. "You've got the most boring, stable life of anyone I know."
"Excuse you, my life is very exciting. I'll have you know I tried a new coffee order last week. Hazelnut instead of vanilla. Revolutionary stuff."
"Wow. Call the press. Alert the media. Jace Nakamura has discovered hazelnut."
"Your sarcasm wounds me."
"Good. Suffer."
Miss Phillip clears her throat again, louder this time.
"The administrative office," she reminds us all. "Closing. In an hour."
"Right!" Sage grabs Jace's arm and starts dragging him toward the east wing. "We'll be waiting! Don't take too long, Mae! Your stomach sounded really angry, and I don't want it to start eating itself!"
"That's not how stomachs work!" Jace protests as he's hauled away. "You can't just make up science, Holloway!"
"Watch me!"
Their bickering fades as they disappear around the corner, leaving me standing in the hallway with Miss Phillip and the lingering scent of fresh-cut grass and sandalwood.
Miss Phillip is watching me with an expression I can't quite read.
"Friends of yours?"
"Old friends," I say slowly. "From before."
"Ah." She nods like that explains everything. "Those are the most complicated kind."
She's not wrong.
We start walking toward the administrative office, and my mind is spinning with everything that's happened in the last few hours.
I came to Valenridge University expecting nothing. Expecting six weeks of anonymity and ice time and maybe, if I was lucky, a temporary reprieve from my parents' bonding deadline.
Instead, I've been attacked with a slushie by a jealous Omega.
Confronted my childhood bullies. Discovered that I'll be living with three Alphas whose scents make my hindbrain do somersaults.
Toured a campus that feels more like a dream than reality.
And reunited with my best friend from another lifetime.
And it's not even dinner time yet.
The fear is still there. Curled up in my chest like a familiar weight. The voice that whispers, you're not enough, they'll leave eventually, and why even try?
But there's another voice now.
Quieter. Newer.
The voice that watched Sage's face light up with recognition and felt hope stir in places I thought were dead.
This time will be different.
Where you don't have to do it alone.
I think about the rink. The figure skating club. The professional team in the works.
I dare envision Sage's wild hair, Jace's teasing grin, and the way they bickered like siblings who couldn't decide whether they loved or hated each other.
I think about three Alphas waiting back at the pack integration house, their scents still clinging to the edges of my memory.
Six weeks.
To figure out who I am without the weight of my parents' expectations crushing me.
To reclaim the ice and remember what it felt like to fly.
To prove that Nerdy MaeBell is gone, and the woman who took her place is someone worth knowing.
Miss Phillip holds open the door to the administrative office, and I step inside.
One thing at a time, Mabeline. First, paperwork. Then, lunch with old friends. Then... everything else.
The paperwork takes exactly eighteen minutes.
Efficient. Painless.
Miss Phillip wasn't kidding when she said it would be quick.
When I emerge back into the hallway, student ID in hand and meal plan activated, I spot Sage and Jace immediately.
They're sprawled on a bench near the water fountains, still arguing about.
.. something. I can't make out the words, but Sage's hands are flying through the air expressively while Jace looks like he's two seconds away from either laughing or screaming.
Some things never change.
Sage spots me first, her face brightening as she jumps to her feet.
"Finally! I was starting to think the paperwork ate you."
"It tried," I admit. "But I escaped."
"Our hero." Jace stands, stretching like a cat. "Now, can we please go eat? My stomach is starting to file complaints."
"Says the guy who mocked Mae's stomach literally twenty minutes ago."
"I apologized! And besides, my stomach is much more dignified. It doesn't growl. It makes polite requests."
"Your stomach made sounds like a dying whale last Tuesday during Professor Chen's lecture. The entire back row heard it."
"That was a cough."
"That was your intestines staging a protest."
I can't help it. I laugh.
It bursts out of me before I can stop it, surprising all three of us. It's not a polite, restrained laugh. It's a full, genuine belly laugh that makes my eyes water and my ribs ache.
When was the last time I laughed like this?
I honestly can't remember.
Sage and Jace are both staring at me now, matching grins spreading across their faces.
"There she is," Sage says softly. "There's the Mae I remember."
My laughter trails off, but the warmth it left behind remains. Settled in my chest like a small flame against the cold.
Could this be what I've been missing? Not just the ice. Not just a purpose. But people. Real people who know the messy, awkward, imperfect parts of me and don't run screaming in the opposite direction.
"So," I say, wiping the corners of my eyes. "Lunch?"
"Lunch," Sage confirms.
"Thank god," Jace adds. "I was about to start gnawing on my own arm."
"Drama queen."
"Takes one to know one, Holloway."
They start walking, still trading barbs, and I fall into step beside them.
The fear is still there. The doubt. The years of learned caution that tell me not to get too close, not to hope too much, not to let anyone see the parts of me that break.
But walking down this hallway, flanked by ghosts from my past who turned out to be very much alive, I feel a spark ignite in my chest.
Perhaps bold isn't about being fearless.
Being bold is about being terrified and doing it anyway.
I take a breath.
Square my shoulders.
Let the warmth of this unexpected reunion push back against the shadows.