3. EVA: EXPLORING

I fell back onto the bed with a groan.

Who fuck knew that settling into your dorm room would be so much work?

Turning my head, I looked across the room at my sister who was still busy. She lingered over the simplest things and it was starting to get on my nerves.

So maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to force her to come along with me—not with her hang-ups—but Dad wouldn’t have let me off pack ground without her.

I’d probably be skipping class most of the time anyway.

I found humans extremely interesting which was basically the only reason why I applied for college.

Ariana had a hard time understanding that not all humans were the same. She used to love being around them just as much as me, but things changed when she was kidnapped.

Sometimes I wished that it had been me instead. But we couldn’t change the past only the future.

Sitting up, I glanced around the room with my lips tugging up into a smile.

Our own fucking home.

Well, it wasn’t exactly home, but we had our own room in a place that was far away from Dad. I loved him with all my heart but he was nosy and very overprotective at times.

“What do you say we explore town a bit?” I asked my sister.

She froze for a few seconds and then continued unpacking some of the books she brought along.

“Dad said—”

“Do you always listen to what Dad tells you to do?”

“Yes, because at this stage he knows better than we do,” she said. “It’s almost dark out.”

I got up and walked over to her. “We’ll be back before dark.”

“You’ve said that before.”

“Come on, Ari. We’re only going to a store to pick up something to eat and fill the refrigerator. We won’t be gone long, promise.”

Ariana lowered the books onto her desk and turned her head to look at me. I wiggled my eyebrows at her but got no reaction. The smile slipped from my face and my brows dipped down into a frown.

“You didn’t eat at the reception, did you?” I asked her.

“I wasn’t hungry then.”

“Shit, sis.” I threw my arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly. “Why didn’t you say anything? Dad would’ve gotten you—”

“I really wasn’t hungry,” Ariana said as she pulled out of my hold. “I am hungry now, but I don’t want to eat out.”

Not eat out? She was beyond fucking crazy. Eating out was the most exciting thing about the human world. There were so many choices and the food was absolutely delicious.

Especially the pizza.

My mouth watered just by the thought of a greasy, cheesy pizza.

“We can get something for you at the supermarket but I’m ordering pizza,” I told her.

Making my way over to my side of the room, I picked up my bag that contained my wallet. Stuffing my phone inside, I turned to Ariana to see her doing the same.

She gave me a small smile. “Let’s go.”

“Yes!” I squealed with a clap of my hands.

Rolling her eyes, Ariana walked over to the door and pulled it open. We walked out of the room with the thin straps of our handbags over our shoulders.

I pulled the door closed and slipped my hand into Ariana’s to tug her along behind me.

Dad said that he would make arrangements for cars so we wouldn’t have to walk everywhere but I knew it was going to take some time to get it sorted. He was staying in town until everything was done. We made plans to have breakfast which I was not looking forward too.

Ariana was anal about certain foods.

It hadn’t always been like that. She only ate certain foods but it all had to be new and sealed or made by a family member she trusted otherwise she’d throw it away.

Dad suspected that it had something to do with the kidnapping although we weren’t certain of that.

She always changed the subject when I tried to ask her about it. After a while I gave up on trying to understand it and just accepted her strange habits.

“You’re not going to ditch me for some party, right?”

I smiled at her. “Not tonight.”

“But you will eventually.”

“Probably.”

We took the stairs because the elevator was packed. Two floors down and we finally exited the building.

I was a bit surprised to see so many people still lingering around. My eyes darted around as we walked. I recognized a few faces but none of them knew me. . .yet.

As soon as classes started I was going to introduce myself. Everybody was going to know my name by the end of the month. The smile slipped slightly as insecurities filled me.

What if the humans were as mean as they had been in all those movies we watched? What if they didn’t like me? What if they liked Ariana more?

“I have no plans to make any friends,” Ari muttered.

“How do you know what I’m thinking about it?”

She squeezed my hand. “I always know what you’re thinking about.”

“No you don’t.”

Ari giggled. “True. You’re my twin so I know you well enough to know how your mind works. You always worry about things you have no need to worry about.”

We turned the corner and headed up the street towards town.

“What if they don’t like me?” I voiced one of many worries.

“Eva, I know for a fact that everybody’s going to love you.” She pulled her hand from mine and threw an arm over my shoulders. “What’s not to love about you? You’re smart, funny, attractive and super sassy.”

“Flattery isn’t going to get you anywhere, little sis.”

“Little sis?” she exclaimed like I knew she would. “I was born two minutes before you!”

I scoffed. “You have your information mixed up, Ari. I was born a few minutes before you.”

“No you weren’t!”

I wrapped an arm around her waist before I bumped my hip against her bony one.

“I was and Dad will confirm it too.”

“Fine. I’ll ask him tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

Silence fell between us as we both got lost in our own thoughts. I glanced at Ari to find her looking around nervously.

I was a bit nervous myself but I wasn’t going to show it. It wasn’t the same as our pack. There everybody knew everybody. We knew that we were all the same.

In the human world we had no clue whether the human’s were truly human or whether they were like us or different. We weren’t the only shifters, Dad had told us that.

But I’d never met another shifter.

“There’s a pizza place.”

Ari’s soft words pulled me from my thoughts. I followed the direction she was pointing in and smiled.

“Let’s go there first.”

We crossed the street and entered the crowded shop. Ari’s arm dropped from around my shoulders but she slipped her hand into mine and pressed her body close to my side.

“Are you sure you don’t want one?”

She nodded. “Positive.”

I ordered a small pepperoni and cheese pizza for myself and told them that I’d be back in a few minutes to collect it when a group of teens entered the shop.

We could go to the supermarket while they make my order. It was better than risking Ariana having a panic attack.