Tasting 115

115–The Friend Turned Foe

Nora:

“Have a great day. I’ll take you out for a long ride after school,” Ryker whispered as I got up from

behind him and handed him back the helmet.

“To where?” I raised my brow, watching his eyes over the helmet. They looked so enticing with his

bushy eyebrows in view and his two- colored eyes staring at me.

“That will be a surprise,” he uttered. Even though I couldn’t see hist lips, I could tell he was smirking.

He rode away while I remained in my spot.

I had just turned around to reach the gate when I saw a familiar face rush into the school.

“Natalya!” I called out to her, and I was sure she heard me, but she rushed so fast that she left me

behind. Once in the school, I looked around for her, but she was nowhere in sight.

“Hey! How are you doing?” April came out of nowhere when I was standing next to the lockers,

hoping Natalya would show up to gather her stuff.

“I am great, thank you!” I replied, still looking around anxiously.

“What is going on? Who are you searching for?” She followed my stare and looked through the

crowd, then turned her attention back to me, raising her brow suspiciously.

115–The Frend Turned For

“Natalya! I saw her come to school today,” I informed her, and April narrowed her eyes at me.

“Really? Then where is she?” she questioned, also joining the search.

“I don’t know. But she didn’t respond to my calls,” I uttered in confusion. Why was she acting so

indifferent toward me?

It’s not like I hurt her or anything. If anything, I had been doing my best to make sure she was

comfortable and safe.

“That girl is so weird. Don’t worry, if she came to school, we will bump into her. I just checked her

schedule. She has the same classes as we do,” April patted my back and led me to the classroom.

Sure enough, just as she had guessed, Natalya was sitting at the back with her head down and her

face buried in a book.

“Go see your bestie!” April knew that as soon as Natalya was back, I would be spending time with

her. She let go of me with a pat on my back, and I did exactly what she had expected. I sprinted to

Natalya and sat down with her.

“Hey!” I greeted, trying to stay positive despite all the accusations Ryker had made against her.

If it was true that she stole that sample from Sila’s library and left it in my bedroom to get me in

trouble, then I had no reason to be friends with her.

“Hmm!” she replied with a bit of attitude.

“What is going on? Where have you been? I have been looking everywhere for you,” I said, feeling

irritated that she was upset with me for that night. I was sure that was what had upset her.

“I was away,” she replied, and I recalled what April had told me about

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115 The Friend Turned For

her.

“You were with your family. I thought you didn’t have anyone in the pack,” I uttered, and she swiftly

turned her back to me. This was the first time she looked me in the eye after avoiding me for so

long.

“Were you investigating me?” Instead of replying to me, she started angrily glaring at me.

“Huh? I went to look for you, and they told me you left to be with some family member. You told me

you have no one, so how come this. person appeared out of nowhere?” I didn’t want to apologize

for anything when I hadn’t done anything wrong. I went there to check up on her, and that topic

came up. She should be explaining herself to me instead of getting upset that her lie got exposed.

“He is a distant uncle that I didn’t want to count as family, but I’m stuck because I have no other

option. So I’m sorry if I didn’t want to bring up the bastard of an uncle I have as my family member,”

she shrugged, giving me a glare that instantly made me feel like I was the reason she was now

upset.

“I was just worried, Natalya. You could have shared it with me. You left out of the blue and then

didn’t answer any of my calls. I was worried about you,” I explained myself.

“Oh, were you?” The way she raised her brow and then sized me up and down was so judgmental.

“I was,” I almost whispered.

Soon the teacher arrived, and we could no longer continue to talk. But her behavior was so odd. I

couldn’t wrap my head around what had pissed her off so much that she went from being a scared

little kitten to a wounded tigress.

115–The Fried Turned For

After class, I had to stay behind to fill in some forms, and as expected, Natalya didn’t wait around

for me. She instantly left to change for the training session.

After I was done, I went to the changing room. Just as I was finishing up, I found Natalya entering

the empty changing room.

That was odd..

I thought she would avoid me like she had been doing since morning, but here she was, walking

back in to face me. She stood facing me, her arms crossed over her chest.

“What’s up?” I asked, frowning as I tied my shoes.

“Can you and April stop investigating me? I am back now,” she said in a hissing tone.

I straightened my back and watched her face in silence for a few seconds before deciding to

confront her. “What happened to you? You told me you wouldn’t let that night ruin our friendship. So

did you lie to me? Did my friendship ever even mean anything to you? Or was I just a ladder for you

to climb to reach my stepbrother?” I had been thinking about it a lot ever since she went missing on

me.

I wondered if her friendship was genuine.

She stared at my face with the same intensity before she stole the words from under my feet with

one sentence, “Huh! Says the one who is screwing her stepbrother.”

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