I had no choice but to jump off the bench, reaching for the diving football. I caught it between my teeth, tasting its leathery fabric with dirt in it.

Yuck!

I landed on my hands, feet, and shook the ball in my mouth. I wanted to tear the ball apart until I noticed a lot of eyes were on me.

My squad paused at me while standing off the bench. Some of the audience gazed at me too, making my spine curl.

"What the total hell, Jessica!" Tiffany exclaimed.

"You caught the ball like….. A dog!" Malaya shouted.

Oh, my god! I couldn't believe I totally done that!

Sometimes my inner werewolf instincts kicked in whenever I see a ball fly past me. And sometimes I lose control whenever I totally get pissed off.

I still have the magical wolf tattoo on my back, which helped me contain my inner beast. It does work, but I suppose it couldn’t keep all my wolf habits in line. Controlling my instincts felt like controlling a wild dog on a freaking leash.

I spat the ball out and rose onto my feet, rubbing the drool off my mouth. "Sorry….. I-"

"Great catch!" Tiffany's boyfriend, Brian, rushed up toward us from the field.

I gotta admit, Brian was super hot. He has a square chisel face with short blonde hair that made him look like a hero from an action movie. Muscular and tall enough to carry any girl in his bulky arms. Tiffany sure knew her taste in guys.

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“Thanks,” I said, biting my lip.

He held out his hand toward me while grinning. “Can I have the ball back?”

“Oh!” I placed the football in his palm. “Here you go.”

“Go get them, baby!” Tiffany shouted, shaking her pom-poms up.

Brian blew her a kiss and sprinted back to his team. I rolled my eyes, imagining how awkward if they would kiss in front of me. My other friends wouldn’t care, but my skin would cringe at them. Why couldn’t anyone get a room and smooch in there? At least Mark and I enjoyed making out where no one could peep on us. God, those memories still hurt me.

Tiffany, having a boyfriend, never bothered me. But sometimes seeing them happy together reminded me of my happiness with Mark. So I pretended to be annoyed in order to stay loyal to my friends.

Tiffany and Brian dated for only a couple of weeks. They met like a typical teen couple in a high school romantic movie. A football player and cheerleader falling in love at first sight.

Since Brian was our popular quarterback, of course, he would get our cheer captain. He was a typical jock who loved sports more than schoolwork. Yeah, he acted dumb sometimes, but he was very strong. Totally strong. And Tiffany got him all to herself.

Good for her.

I sat down and watched the game with my squad. Hopefully, I won't make another embarrassing stunt in front of everyone again.

"So what party is it this time?" I asked Tiffany, catching her cherry vanilla scent from her long red hair.

"A Halloween party," she answered. "My baby is setting it up tomorrow. It's totally going to rock!"

"Where?"

Tiffany giggled. "He'll tell us after the game."

Hmmmmmmm.

Brian never threw a Halloween party before. He usually threw parties at his house whenever his parents left for business trips. They usually have days off on holidays, especially on Halloween. Maybe his parents left town so they could have their own Halloween treat without their annoying son.

"Oh, my god!" Holly shouted. "He got the ball!"

I saw Brian running across the field with the football on his left arm. Two Hawk players charged in front of him on their field side.

Oh goodness! Was he totally about to make it?