Chapter 5 CHAPTER 5
Ariel kept her hood pulled low as she walked down the hallway, her hands tucked deep into the sleeves of her sweatshirt.
Her mind was still stuck on the night before.
On Zack.
On the ridiculous things he had said.
The way he had looked so serious while telling her the most unbelievable lie she had ever heard.
Werewolf.
The word still made her scoff quietly to herself. As if her life wasn’t already hard enough without him turning it into a stupid joke.
She was halfway to class when a group of boys from the football team brushed past her.
“Hey,” one of them called out, slowing his steps. “Isn’t that Miller’s girl?”
Another boy laughed. “Why’re you hiding your face?”
The first boy grinned. “You just landed yourself the school’s star quarterback.”
Ariel stiffened but kept walking.
“Locker room kiss and all,” the boy added casually as they moved on.
Ariel’s heart dropped.
Megan had been walking down the hallway with her usual group of girls, laughter on her lips - until she saw Ariel, then she heard the word kiss. She stopped so abruptly that one of her friends bumped into her back.
Megan spun around and grabbed the boy by the collar.
“What did you just say?” she demanded.
The boy raised both hands. “Whoa, relax.”
“What do you mean kiss?” Megan’s eyes burned. “Say it again.”
“Hey, it’s not me you should be mad at,” he said quickly. “It’s your boy for moving on so fast.”
“What do you mean moving on?” Megan snapped.
The boy shrugged. “What happens in the locker room stays in the locker room.”
“Spare me the bullshit,” Megan barked.
He swallowed. “The two of them kissed – last night.”
Megan went very still.
“You know what day it was - and what that means,” the boy added quietly enough only for Megan to hear. “She’s bound to him now.”
Megan released him slowly.
Her gaze locked onto Ariel’s retreating back.
Ariel barely made it ten steps before someone grabbed her arm.
“Hey!” she gasped.
Megan shoved her hard. “You think you’re clever?”
Ariel looked around, confused, panic flaring. “What are you talking about?”
“You trapped him,” Megan hissed. “You planned it.”
“I don’t even know what you’re talking about,” Ariel said, her voice shaking.
Megan didn’t listen. She nodded to her friends.
Before Ariel could react, hands grabbed her from behind and shoved her through a side door. She stumbled, lost her footing, and fell forward as the door slammed shut behind her.
The equipment room was dark and smelled of dust and metal.
Ariel scrambled to her feet and ran to the door, pounding on it. “Let me out!”
Laughter answered her from the other side.
Her chest tightened as the reality sank in.
She slid down the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. Her breathing came fast and uneven, each breath sharper than the last.
She didn’t understand what she had done wrong.
Her eyes burned.
Why was life so cruel to her?
She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking slightly as memories rushed in uninvited. Her aunt’s cold voice. The way she had explained away bruises from her aunt’s beatings as clumsiness. The loneliness that never seemed to end.
Ariel began to hum softly. Her calming tune.
The same tune her mother used to hum while cooking dinner, her voice warm and gentle, filling the house with comfort. Ariel could almost hear it now, feel the memory settle around her like a blanket.
“I miss you, Mom,” she whispered.
Her voice cracked. “I miss you so much.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks, silent at first, then heavier, harder to stop.
Across the school, Zack froze mid-step.
The feeling hit him like a punch to the chest.
Pain.
Fear.
Grief so sharp it stole his breath.
“Ariel,” he whispered.
Without thinking, he turned and ran.
He didn’t stop to ask questions. He didn’t slow down. He followed the pull in his chest, the sound of her sobs echoing in his head like a beacon.
He found the equipment room door locked.
Zack slammed his shoulder into it once. Twice.
The door gave way.
Ariel flinched at the noise, scrambling backward - until she saw him.
Zack stood in the doorway, chest heaving, eyes wild.
“Ariel,” he said again, softer now.
She stared at him through tears. “How did you….?”
“I felt you,” he said. “I heard you through the bond. I could hear you sad and crying in my head. That’s what happens when we are bound together.”
“Stop,” she said shakily. “Just stop with the bullshit.”
Zack froze. “Ariel…”
“No,” she snapped. “Are you in on this with Megan? Is that it?” Her voice cracked as anger rushed in. “One of you locks me in here, and the other comes rushing in like some hero, pretending we’re bonded?”
Zack’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t know she locked you in here.”
“Oh, really?” Ariel shot back. “So this is just another coincidence?”
“I told you yesterday,” he said, forcing himself to slow down. “The kiss wasn’t a joke. I wasn’t messing with you. We’re bonded.”
She laughed bitterly. “You expect me to believe that?”
“I didn’t want this,” Zack said honestly. “I didn’t want to come here. But I couldn’t ignore it. I felt you. I heard you crying. It was like something grabbed me and dragged me here whether I liked it or not.”
Ariel shook her head. “You’re good,” she muttered. “I’ll give you that.”
Zack ran a hand through his hair, frustration spilling through. “I didn’t sleep last night.”
She looked up despite herself.
“I lay there for hours,” he continued. “Listening to you talk. To you yelling and tearing me apart with Jenna.”
Ariel scoffed. “That proves nothing. Anyone could guess that. Everyone knows Jenna’s my best friend.”
Zack held her gaze. “You kept saying I was pranking you,” he said quietly. “That I thought you were stupid. That I was doing all this just to mess with you.”
Ariel scoffed. “Because you were. And saying that doesn’t prove you heard me through the bond - or whatever. I already said these same things to you last night at the parking lot.
“What if I can tell you something else that you were thinking,” he continued, not raising his voice, “Something only you know.”
Her chest tightened. “What are you talking about?”
“You didn’t say it out loud,” Zack said. “Not even to Jenna. But when you thought about the kiss… you didn’t hate it.”
Ariel’s breath caught. “That’s not…”
“You thought I was handsome,” he said simply. “You thought it wasn’t that bad. That if it hadn’t happened the way it did, you might not have minded it.”
The words hung in the air between them.
Ariel felt heat rush to her face, sharp and humiliating. She turned away, hating herself for the truth of it, for the way her mind had betrayed her in a moment she hadn’t even meant to linger on.
She had never said those thoughts out loud.
And yet somehow, Zack had said them exactly as she had thought them in her mind.
