Insider (Outsider Series)

by Micalea Smeltzer

  “Night,” she said, puttering into the kitchen. Her slippers made little scuffling sounds.

  Caeden closed my bedroom door and said, “So how was your first carnival?”

  I took my shoes off and tossed them in the closet. “Besides the whole Ferris wheel thing it was pretty great.”

  Caeden winced. “Sorry about that,” he said as he pulled his shirt over his head.

  “It’s not your fault,” I wiggled into some pajama pants and hid in my closet to change my shirt. I hated how embarrassed I was to be naked in front of Caeden. I mean, he knew what I looked like and I knew what he looked like without clothes, but it was still so embarrassing.

  I pulled off my shirt and bra and yanked on a baggy shirt that I realized was Caeden’s and not mine. Oh, well.

  I found Caeden lying on my bed with both the dogs. He was talking to them and petting Archie behind his ears.

  It was like our own little family.

  I sat down on the bed and unwound my braid. I grabbed my brush off the bedside table and ran it through the tangles.

  “Let me do that,” Caeden said and put his hand over mine.

  “You’re going to brush my hair?” I looked over at him.

  He blushed. “Yeah.”

  “Okay,” I handed him the brush. He scooted over to sit behind me so that I was resting between his legs.

  Caeden was careful not to pull my hair and made sure to get out every tangle.

  My eyes quickly became heavy and I had to stifle a yawn.

  He finished and put the brush back on the table. He lifted my hair of my neck and kissed the sensitive skin there. I shivered.

  Caeden reached over and flicked the light off and wrapped me in his arms. I tucked my head under his neck. He kissed the top of my head and mumbled lowly under his breath, “I love you Sophie, so much, and I’ll never let anything happen to you ever again.”

  Nineteen.

  “I spy with my little eye, Sophie the she-wolf!” yelled a voice behind me, signaling the howls to commence.

  “Why on earth did you have to suggest that nickname to them?” I hissed under my breath to Caeden.

  We were walking around downtown waiting for the parade to start. It was boiling hot outside and my shoulders were turning red. Now I knew why I had never attended a parade before. Plus, all the people served to make me feel claustrophobic. Apparently this town spent all year waiting for this one day. I guess that’s a small town for you.

  One of the guys came up behind me and squeezed my shoulders and then smacked a kiss on my cheek before darting away.

  “Hands off my girl,” Caeden grinned.

  “Ah, she-wolf’s got a body guard. We better run boys,” Shane said.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll give you a head start,” joked Caeden.

  “We don’t need a head start,” Evan said.

  The rest of the guys fell in step with us.

  “Are you excited for the parade, Sophie?” asked Cam.

  I shrugged and struggled not to trip over something in the grass. “I’ve never been to one before so I guess so. It just seems like a lot of hype for nothing.”

  Cam gasped. “You’re kidding? Apple Blossom is like the greatest thing ever.”

  I laughed. “Sorry guys, it’s just not my thing.”

  “You’re crazy,” Brody said. His gaze drifted away and focused on a pretty blonde. “I’ll see you guys later,” he waved half-heartedly.

  The other guys snickered. “Poor Brody. When will he learn that Em is never going to go out with him?” Tyler asked.

  “Never,” Kyle snorted.

  “Do you and Caeden have seats for the parade?” asked Riley, tucking his long sandy hair behind his ear.

  “Yeah,” I said. “In the bleachers. What about you guys?”

  “Us too,” he said. “Guess you can’t be rid of us just yet she-wolf,” he winked.

  I shook my head and decided to just ignore my teammates and enjoy my time with Caeden.

  “Ooh,” I stopped in my tracks. “Is that cotton candy? I’ve never had cotton candy.”

  “You’ve never had cotton candy?” a chorus of voices rang out.

  “Um… no,” I blushed.

  “Then you have not lived!” Evan cried.

  Caeden steered us towards the booth. “Two cotton candies,” he told the girl and pulled out his wallet.

  She swirled the magical fluffy confection around and around. She handed me a pink one and Caeden a blue one. “Thank you,” I told her with a smile.

  Caeden nodded to a shady patch of grass underneath a huge oak tree.

  “We’ll meet up with you guys later,” Riley said and they disappeared into the crowd.

  I waved and plopped down in the grass beside Caeden. The shade made it feel ten degrees cooler so I was thankful. I crossed my legs underneath me, Indian style, and leaned against the thick wood trunk of the tree. The sun was bright and would’ve normally blinded me but my shifter eyes adjusted to the different shades of light. There was enough room for Caeden to lean against the tree too, so he sat behind me.

  Our spot in front of the tree allowed us to look over at the huge high school that sat next to the parade route. It was a huge stately school with so many steps leading up to the doors it made me dizzy just to look at them. Its football field was located in the front and several dads were currently using it to toss a football with their sons.

  Caeden bumped my shoulder with his. “Earth to Sophie,” he waved his hand in front of my face.

  “Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.”

  “Happens to all of us,” he smiled and his eyes crinkled in the corners, just the tiniest bit.

  I pulled a chunk of fluffy cotton candy off of the stick and stuck it in my mouth. It felt like I had stuck a fluffy, sugary, ball into my mouth. As it dissolved the sugar coated my tongue like sand. It was very sweet. I took another bite.

  “This is really good,” I said to Caeden.

  He finished the last bit of his. Blue sugary fibers stuck to his fingers and he flicked them into his mouth, one by one, to lick it off.

  I think I drooled a bit.

  Caeden noticed and grinned, his dimple flashing.

  Darn him, and his sexy grin. It was only making things worse.

  I forced my attention back to my cotton candy and was tempted to give it to Caeden just to see him lick his fingers again.

  Nah.

  I grabbed another piece of fluff and shoved it into my mouth.

  Caeden playfully flicked the ends of my hair.

  “Why do you like to play with my hair?” I giggled when one of the strands touched my cheek.

  “It’s soft,” he said and then broke out in a grin. “Why do you like my scruff?”

  “I just do,” I rubbed his cheek. “Although this,” I flicked a piece of dark brown hair from his eye, “is getting way too long.”

  Caeden pulled a baseball cap out of his pocket, shoved his hair out of his eyes, and stuck the cap on backwards. “Better?” he grinned.

  “Not as good as a haircut,” I finished my last bite of cotton candy and smiled.

  He grumbled, “I hate getting my hair cut.” He fingered one of the curls escaping the confines of his hat.

  “Do you want your hair down to your shoulders?”

  “No,” he said. Finally, “I’ll get it cut.” Caeden picked up a piece of grass and tore it to pieces. It sprinkled to the ground like flakes of confetti. He glanced around at the thickening crowd. “The parade’s starting soon. We better get our seats,” he stood and offered me a hand. I took it and he hauled me up and into my arms. He kissed me quickly and let go, a grin plastered on his face. “This Apple Blossom is already way better than last year.”

  “Why?”

  “You’re here,” he grinned.

  I felt my knees turn to jelly. I never thought I’d be one of those girls who swooned over their boyfriend but Caeden was completely, and undeniably, swoon-worthy.

  Bleachers are this
way,” he nodded in their direction, as if I hadn’t noticed them.

  We weaved our way through the thick crowd. I think the whole town had turned out for this. There were even people that were very obviously tourists, as they snapped pictures of the old buildings. I didn’t know who would want to visit this place. To me, it seemed like the smallest, most boring town ever. But I had lived pretty much everywhere, so I guess I just didn’t appreciate it.

  People began to line the streets and I wanted to scream at them, ‘it’s just a parade’, but I didn’t think they’d appreciate that.

  Caeden and climbed onto the top seats of the bleachers, as luck would have it, next to my teammates. The pack was supposed to be sitting with us but they were still M.I.A.

  “She-wolf!” cried Cam.

  I rolled my eyes. “Are you guys going to yell that every single time you see me?”

  They looked at one another and nodded. “Yeah, pretty much,” Shane said.

  I saw that Brody was back with them and obviously deflated. Poor guy. I don’t think whatever-her-name-was is worth his time. He’s a nice guy and could do way better.

  Evan leaned towards Caeden. “Do you know who the Grand Marshall is this year?”

  Caeden shrugged. “I’ve got no clue.”

  “I hope it’s some hot chick,” Kyle said, “last year they had freakin’ Mario Lopez. All the girls were like, ‘Aw, look at his dimples!’”

  I laughed. “Caeden’s dimples are the only ones I want to look at,” I poked his cheek.

  “Ick,” Tyler gagged, “ya’ll make me sick.”

  I stuck my tongue out at him and turned to Caeden. “Mister, you better not be checking out some hot chick on a parade float,” I poked his chest.

  “It’s usually a car not a float,” he grinned.

  “Same difference!” I threw my hands in the air.

  “What are you two arguing over?” Chris asked as she a Bentley decided to grace us with their presence. They were both rumpled so I figured they’d caught a quick make out session somewhere.

  Chris slid onto the bleachers beside me and I said to her, “I told Caeden that if this Grand Marshall person was a hot girl, he couldn’t look.”

  Chris laughed. “You know Caeden only has eyes for you.” She turned to Bentley, “But same goes to you, anyway, no looking.”

  Bentley laughed and shook his head, rubbing the side of his face.

  “Anyone know where Bryce and Charlotte are?” Caeden asked.

  “Uh-” Logan said as he sat down, “I saw them over there.” He pointed to several stands setup with various odds and ends things to buy.

  “Oh that can’t be good,” Caeden shook his head.

  “Why?” I asked.

  Caeden smiled. “Bryce is probably the only sixteen year old boy who still needs a parental chaperone at these things. Lord only knows what he might blow his money on.” He shuddered.

  The parade was seconds from starting when Bryce and Charlotte showed up. Charlotte had a purple Asian umbrella fanned around her shoulders and Bryce’s face was painted up to resemble—a wolf.

  Caeden let out a sigh of relief beside me.

  I gave him a questioning look.

  “This year is mild,” he explained. “Last year he was covered in henna tattoos and fake piercings. He nearly gave mom a heart attack.”

  “He’d give me one too,” I laughed.

  “I don’t know how any of us have survived Bryce,” Caeden chuckled. “He’s definitely one of a kind.”

  Kyle tapped Caeden’s shoulder. “Isn’t your little brother the one who sang the Fergie song at the top of his lungs during that assembly last year.”

  Caeden buried his face in his hands. “That’s the one.”

  Shane snickered. “I watched that on youtube.”

  “He did a dance too,” Tyler said, and began to, I guess, mimic it. The other guys joined in and they began to sing the lyrics to Glamorous.

  “Oh God,” Caeden croaked. “Youtube?”

  They finished mimicking and Shane said, “Yeah, it’s on youtube. It’s got like a million hits or something.”

  “A million?” Caeden squeaked.

  “I’m tellin’ ya, your brother should be a fucking comedian,” Tyler said.

  “Or euthanized,” Caeden muttered under his breath.

  I smacked his leg. “Be nice. You know you love him and wouldn’t change a thing about him.”

  Caeden grinned. “I know.”

  Just then the sound of the band reached us as they rounded the corner.

  It amazed me how they managed to march in such perfectly straight lines, while carrying such heavy instruments. Even with my shifter abilities I would’ve tripped over my own feet and brought the whole thing down.

  The band passed and soon a line of cars was going by. The people in the cars waved to the people in the crowd. They all seemed pretty ordinary to me, no celebrities yet.

  More cars and more school bands came by. I yawned.

  Caeden bumped my knee. “Having fun?”

  “Loads,” I smiled brightly.

  Caeden laughed. “You are such a little liar.” Straightening his baseball cap, he said, “I’m sorry, I know this isn’t really your thing.”

  I shrugged. “It’s nice though, you know, to do something like this. A small town thing. But-”

  “Not that exciting,” he added, just as some horses drawing a carriage walked by.

  I smiled in response. Sometimes, I think, Caeden knew me better than I knew myself. It was nice to have a boyfriend that was so in tune to me.

  Eventually the parade came to a close. I didn’t recognize the celebrity, someone older, but I was thankful that it wasn’t some ‘hot chick’. My teammates, however, all groaned.

  “Dude, that was a waste of fucking time,” Evan said to Kyle.

  Kyle shook his head. “I think it was still fun. Best thing that happens here all year.”

  Evan shook his head and looked over at me. “Sophie, you down to play some soccer?”

  “Sure,” I said, “we don’t have any plans.”

  “Awesome,” Evan grinned. “I have soccer balls in my car.”

  Twenty.

  Four weeks until graduation.

  Thirty days.

  Wow.

  I wiggled in my auditorium seat. The principal was holding an assembly to speak with us about graduation and announce the valedictorian.

  I knew what he was saying was important but I couldn’t focus.

  Caeden put his hand over mine so I’d stop tapping the wooden armrest.

  After going over expected behavior and dress for graduation the principal finally got down to business.

  He smiled and spoke into the microphone, “I know you’re all wondering who your valedictorian is going to be. Let me tell you now, it was a close race. This is a very smart and talented graduating class and in my eyes, you’re all winners. But the person with the highest GPA, and therefore giving the speech, is…” he paused for dramatic affect. I held my breath and silently prayed. Sophie Beaumont, Sophie Beaumont, Sophie Beaumont. “Caeden Williams.”

  “What!?” I screamed and every student and teacher in the auditorium turned to look at me. My cheeks flooded with color. I hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  Bentley snickered and Chris laughed. Logan’s lips quirked at the corner.

  Caeden grinned at me and winked. “I told you that you didn’t need to worry about my grades.”

  I bit my lip.

  “You?” I squeaked. By now the principal was trying to clear the auditorium but I was rooted to my seat.

  “Me,” Caeden’s grin grew bigger. “I’m that awesome. Boom.”

  I shook my head. “But you never do any homework.”

  Caeden threw his head back and laughed. “We’ve been over this before. I do my homework while you’re sleep. Besides, I just like to watch you sleep. You talk.”

  “Do not.”

  “Oh yeah,” he smirked and leaned toward
s me, whispering in my ear, “you say my name over and over again. Some times you even say that you love me. You smile too.”