“How have you and Nia been?” I sat on her bed, watching as she squinted at her miniature mirror putting on her makeup. It was a topic I’d been avoiding. At the moment, I couldn’t picture the three of us hanging out together again.

Abigail considered, “She’s still pretty upset at me. I can’t say I blame her. I know I haven’t been a great friend lately, but it really is for her own good.”

“Yeah…” I knew Nia wouldn’t agree. Her emotions had been so heavy, it would take a while for them to ease. “I don’t think this is going to end well.”

Maybe an early admission would lead to the story ending. The longer I stayed here, the more I saw every mistake enacted. If simply admitting I couldn’t fall for Kade last time was enough to end the first tale, why was this one continuing? Were the thresholds different between them? It should have ended a while ago. The moment me and Justin had made our deal.

But that was all wishful thinking. It would never be that easy.

“It’s not. But it’s too late to back out now. You’ve already been given a spot, they won’t let you go now.” She dug through her bag, searching for something before pulling out her favorite lip gloss. The tube was a quarter full now, in desperate need of a replacement. “The two of us are going to be ok though. I know it.”

“Why were they so keen on you joining?”

“Me? That’s a good question. I think they were convinced Justin told me all their little secrets and this was a way to ensure I didn’t snitch. Ironically, I get the feeling Justin has told you far more than he ever mentioned to me.” She smacked her lips together, examining herself one last time in the mirror before putting everything away.

Her words were hard to believe, “You think so? I wonder why…”

“It doesn’t matter. We can’t rely on him.” She stood, expression fierce. “Him or Cyrus. The two of them have their own agendas going on.”

“I don’t think Justin is all bad. I know I know! He’s your ex and he sucks and all that but I honestly don’t think he’d going to do anything that would put us in harms way.” I raised my hands, trying to deflect her glare.

“I wouldn’t rely on him like that. If anything, he’s the least reliable of the four of us.”

“Even Cyrus?”

“Even him.” It was hard to tell if it was bias or not. I tried to compare the two, but it was impossible. I honestly didn’t want to think about Cyrus at all after our conversation last night. Abigail spun on her heel. “Come on. Let’s get going.”

“Yeah.”

“At least it’s Friday.”

“At the very least.”

It didn’t feel like a saving grace.

//

“They’re too eager.” Justin sat perched on the backing of a bench. I tried to keep equal distance between him and Abigail, but I knew I was still easing in her direction. His eyes were focused on the people around us. He looked dreadfully bored.

“I can’t believe I have to deal with you every day again.”

“You don’t have to be here.” He flashed a grin and Abigail flashed her teeth. “Cinder will be fine even without you as her steadfast warden.”

“I’m not acting as her warden.” She snapped, but Justin offered no reaction. I ignored them, mostly. Instead, I was watching the kids Justin had pointed out. They had to be freshman, I thought. They were whispering amongst themselves, these two girls, constantly glancing our way.

The meeting had gone so fast I hardly had registered any of the faces. But they seemed vaguely familiar, and based on what Justin had said, I assumed they’d been there for the meeting.

“Do you think they’re going to continue staring or come up and talk to us?” Justin was staring back at them, his gaze never wavering.

Abigail shrugged, “Dunno. Do you really think they’re dumb enough to be that forward?”

“Yeah. That’s how a lot of the previous recruits were in past years. Eager to prove themselves, with little awareness of their own safety or how their actions would be read. I think half the reason why new members don’t get the wolf is because of how boring it would be. You’d know by the end of the week.”

“So a part of you enjoys this then?”

Justin finally turned away, a lazy grin growing on his lips, “I might as well get some sort of entertainment out of it before this all goes sideways.”

“God, I can’t believe you. Didn’t the last werewolf leave the school and her family go under because the club members realized her family had been committing fraud?” She shook her head. “On the one had her family had what was coming, on the other hand, every one’s stories get warped.”

“Look, my own story is already warped. I can enjoy this because I’ve been there and done it. I have nothing left to lose at this point. There’s no secrets Everett and Ava don’t know about me.” I blinked at him in alarm, unsure if he was telling the truth or not. He only directed his smile at me, in a way I couldn’t read.

If that was true, his family and it’s secrets were a terrible thing to be known. The weight of knowing it myself felt like concrete in my chest. Maybe that was part of the reason why he avoided the club so often. He had eyes on him that knew all.

“U-um, excuse me.” A voice cut in, high pitched and hesitant. Justin smirked, like he’d expected this all along. Abigail rolled her eyes, and she eyed the two girls from earlier like they were gum underneath her shoe. Despite the atmosphere Justin and Abigail had created, neither of them ran.

The girl that had spoke was, somehow, even smaller than me. Her dirty blonde hair was up in a ponytail and fell to her midback. Behind her was a girl with dark hair and tan skin. Despite being taller, she crouched over, as though desperate to hide her presence. I got the feeling them approaching us hadn’t been her idea.

“What?” Abigail deadpanned, and the front girl only kept up her smile.

“Sorry to both you three, but you’re always in the Literature Club, aren’t you? I’m Ann.” None of us offered our names, despite my impulse to. I didn’t need to look at the others to know they’d looked at me specifically. The girl was not deterred. “And this is Bailey. We were just wondering about some rumors we heard.”

“Like?” Abigail was not wasting her time. She leaned back against the bench, hands resting in her lap, like she couldn’t wait for the conversation to be over.

Ann kept pressing on, “Well…I heard that whoever is the werewolf is chosen for a reason, right? So it’s like, we’re actually punishing a monster.”

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

I felt sick at how casually she asked. Justin, to my surprise, hopped to his feet, “Sure they are. The whole game is rigged and used to weed out people we don’t like. And you know who we don’t like? Those who are shit at subtly and can’t keep a secret.” Bailey took a step back as Justin loomed over him. His smile had taken on a cruel edge. “So what are your crimes? Why do you have the card?”

“W-what, we don’t—”

“Of course not. None of us holds the card. That’s the point of the game. We all lie about it and hope our sins aren’t exposed for all to see along the way. You two look like friends, doesn’t that mean you don’t want the other to see you in a bad light?” I could see how Justin fit in with the rest of them. I could understand why Abigail had said we couldn’t trust him.

Ann kept stumbling on, “L-look, neither of us are the werewolf.”

“And how can you be so sure? Would you be willing to show your cards?”

“That’s against the rules.”

He laughed, “Of course it is. This wouldn’t be much of a game if we were allowed to show our hand. But that means you have no proof, and neither does your friend. You could turn on each other easily like that. Especially since you’ve already decided not breaking the rules is more important than establishing trust.”

I hadn’t realized we’d broken the rules. To be fair, I hadn’t been paying much attention. Would we be disqualified if they found out? Or did they already have an idea about us? I watched the two girls exchange a glance, before Ann finally backed away. Justin was too much for them, it seemed.

“Sorry for bothering you.” Bailey grabbed at Ann’s hand and all but dragged her away. I watched them scamper off, and Justin only shook his head.

“This is going to happen all week.” It was hard to say if he was annoyed or ecstatic.

“You were pretty um, harsh?” Maybe that wasn’t quite the word for it. I didn’t know how else to describe it. Abigail only scoffed, but didn’t add further comment, much to my surprise.

Justin shrugged, “It’s better they learn now than later. There’s a reason why our club always ends the year with so few members.”

“Yeah, I was surprised Lisa wasn’t a part of it anymore, too. Was last year too much for her?” I searched my memory for that name, knowing I’d heard it brought up before. I got the feeling it was someone Abigail hadn’t liked.

“Well, her friend was outed as the werewolf and she put her foot down at that point. Wouldn’t you find it hard to stick around if it was Cinder being targeted so heavily?” We both looked at each other. I imagined Abigail would stay only so she could enact her own revenge. I couldn’t say I’d do the same. Justin went on. “Try not to get swept up by everyone whose going to be pestering you Cinder.”

The idea hadn’t even occurred to me until those girls had arrived, “I’ll be fine.”

“If you can’t be mean just be ignorant. Say you have no idea what’s going on and you’re just here for Justin.” Abigail patted me on the shoulder. “I’ll try to be around as much as possible but just in case…”

“I’ll keep an eye out, too. Do you think you’ll be fine on your own?”

I nodded. I’d kept heavier secrets, and dealing with strangers didn’t sound like it would be very difficult compared to that. Everyone was going to try to dig into everyone as a way to guess the werewolf. The key to getting in. The key to proving themselves. Keeping secrets wasn’t the hard part, but trying to make sure no one even thought there was a possibility of me being the wolf.

//

Although Cyrus hadn’t said anything about it, I figured his first target wasn’t going to be Everett. I finally was able to ignore him completely now. He went on as usual. It was a perfect display of two people who only vaguely knew about each other but didn’t care about the other.

I pretended I still wasn’t stuck on what he’d said yesterday. Or the times before it. I tried not to find a reflective surface just to pick apart every pore. I tried not to notice the callouses that made up my hands as I worked. I tried to pretend Abigail’s reassurances had any effect at all.

In cases before this, I truly hadn’t cared. The mirror was hardly something I looked at, and my appearance held little meaning to me. As far as I could recall, my lack of self-confidence was centered on my personality not my face. But Cyrus had focused on something I had only briefly considered. Beauty mattered.

Each fairytale character was described as the fairest in all the land. Abigail fit the description in all ways imaginable. And while I hadn’t been considering any of the faces around me to this point, all the key players in the stories thus far were attractive on some level. I felt like the ugly duckling who had never transformed into a swan. Was a fairytale picture perfect if it’s lead was not?

It was these thoughts that haunted me throughout class. I doubted it was reason enough to cause issue with managing to complete a tale, but it would certainly be harder to catch the eye of someone if their type was Abigail of all people. This was a kind of spiraling I wasn’t used to.

If only I could think Cyrus could kick rocks and mean it.

By the time lunch started, I was exhausted.

Part of me entertained the horrible idea of going up to Cyrus and asking him to his face if I was really so plain. It would be an immediate answer to the question of ‘did I have a chance with him?’ It might also end the tale at that. Quick and easy and without fanfare. Another story that ended right when it was beginning.

There was shouting. It tore me out of my head. I blinked, startled that I was already outside and heading to where me, Nia, and Abigail normally hung out. I’d avoided the place for over a week, but my body had started to take me there automatically. I glanced around towards the source and noticed a girl and a guy arguing.

“God, you’re awful!” She spat, eyes narrowing. “How the fuck could you do something like that?”

“I didn’t—”

“You did! You cheated on me!” I’d heard enough at that. As I spun on my heel and decided to get away from the couple arguing so close to the school steps, someone fell into step next me.

I blinked once, refraining from jumping. Maeve had a delighted smile on her face, “She’s lying.”

“U-um? Ok?” She giggled more at my confusion.

“Potential new members, those two. She’s hoping if he gets voted out as the wolf then she won’t have to see him again. It’s also a great excuse to break up, instead of admitting you just don’t like a guy anymore.” The force of her delight was enough to make me want to melt. “It’s only just started, but are you getting the feel for how the game is going to go?”

I was, to a degree. “I…couldn’t imagine.”

“Say, you don’t know anything about Ava and Everett’s families do you?”

“Ah, no. I don’t know anything about them.”

“I think that explains enough then.” She nodded to herself, but didn’t offer any further elaboration. She pulled on ahead, a skip in her step. I watched her, attempting to pinpoint where her mirth was emitting from.

There was no reason to follow, but I trailed behind. Just for the moment, “Say, Maeve? Why were you all inviting me to join?”

“Oh, that? It was a recommendation from a recommendation. I think you caught an eye or two without you realizing it. A genuine shy girl is so rare in this school, and it’s so cute to have a little lamb with us.”

She spun back around to face me, a wide grin on her face. My stomach twisted, “I can’t say I get it.”

“Of course not. You know, I like you as you are, but you’re going to have to grow some teeth for this. It’d be said if we lost you so early in.”

“But we…we don’t even know each other. How can you…”

“How can I say that? Is it that strange? I like to think I’m good at judging people’s characters. And I’ve watched you enough in class and during the club meetings to have a grasp of how you are.” Her eyelids lowered, as well as her voice. She slipped closer to me, her breath hot against my ear, leaving her final words only something I could hear. “You know, I’ve also seen you watch Cyrus most of the year. I thought it was a crush at first, but now I know it’s something else. Hey Cinder? Did you stumble upon a secret perhaps?”

I wretched away, hand going to cover my ear. Maeve kept her smile, bright as the sun hovering above. This was a battle, I thought, one I’d already lost. If a connection between me and Cyrus became any more obvious, things would fall apart. Everyone suggested it was better to pretend I hadn’t seen the fight between Cyrus and Everett, but if I showed that card now, then maybe they wouldn’t realize we were all helping each other out, or that we’d broken the rules on the very first day.

“…I did.” Her eyes widened a fraction, and true delight danced through them. “I, um…on the first day I…”

“You saw them get into a fight?” I nodded once, bringing my hand down and turning to look at her. “Ah, that makes sense. You were watching him even before you went to a club meeting for the first time. It must have been a memorable scene.”

“I wouldn’t say that…” It was, in the sense I couldn’t get the image out of my memory. My gaze fell towards the ground, wondering if this was the end of the conversation. I hoped sincerely it was.

Maeve leaned back on her heels, “I see, so that’s why…”

The world was dim as her eyes flashed when she turned back around. I stared at her back, “I um, I didn’t think it was any of my business, so…”

“It shouldn’t have been. But you know? I think it’s too late for you.” She giggled again, and without her expression paired with it I could feel how sour it was under the sugar coating. “You’re one of us now, whether you like it or not. You and you’re pretty little friend.”

I wasn’t. I offered no protest and she went on her way. The sounds around me rushed back in and I followed where she went down the path. I wasn’t going to hang out with Nia and Abigail like normal. I wasn’t going to go into the library where someone might find me. There was a new place to find. One where I could be alone with my thoughts for a while.

A place where I wasn’t just a pawn in a story.