Page 91 of Baseball and Shifters

I give them each a final hug, pressing quick kisses to cheeks and jaws, then I wave them off with a grin.

I don’t let them see the way my hand tightens around the strap of my bag once I turn away. The way my fox flutters in my chest with nervous energy as if she knows something I don’t. Because I’m just being silly, Trent is gone, and my dad is banned from campus so nothing bad can happen here.

Right?

Maya and Aubree walk on either side of me, gushing about all the stuff they have planned for tonight. I feel a weight leave my shoulders as we enter the lobby of the dorm. When I step into our dorm room, I’m immediately greeted by the scent of popcorn, and some sort of fruity drink.

“You’re here! Everyone get your pjs on. Movie starts in ten minutes!” Dallas orders.

I head to my room and change into a comfortable pajama set before wiping the makeup off my face and throwing my hair into a loose messy bun. When I step back out, I see that the girls made me a spot on the couch, with my own blanket and a few pillows to snuggle with. Once I’ve settled in my spot, Maya presses play and we dive headfirst into the movie.

It’s ridiculous, a predictable plot and enough second-hand embarrassment to have us screeching and laughing through the whole movie. The end credits roll, and we move onto the spa portion of our night. Maya busts out a sugar scrub she madefrom scratch and Aubree brings out her whole assortment of polishes and nail gems.

Soon our hands and feet are silky smooth, and our nails are freshly painted. We trade stories while our nails dry and laugh until our sides ache. Dallas confesses that one time, in her freshman year of high-school she tried to flirt with a cute senior and got so nervous that she shifted into her otter form and ran away before she ever said a word. Maya nearly chokes on her soda trying to stifle her reaction.

The night is perfect.

For a few hours, I don’t feel like the girl with a criminal father, or the abused girl whose mother died too soon. I’m just Rachel, just me.

By the time we’re ready to turn in, it’s nearly midnight and we’re all passing around yawns. Dallas is the first to turn in, but the rest of us soon follow. I make my way to my bed for the first time in weeks and as I lay there, I feel… lonely. I curl under the covers, trying to center my breathing. Closing my eyes, I try to reach for sleep.

But it doesn’t come.

I haven’t slept by myself in so long I think I’ve forgotten how. Eventually I give up on sleep and open my eyes. Reaching over to my bedside table I grab my phone, the screen lights up and the time reads just after two in the morning.

Maybe I’ll sneak back over to the guys’ dorm… just to sleep.

I push the blankets back and sit up. I grab my hoodie off the chair by my desk and slip it over my head before slipping on my shoes and quietly opening my door. I stop by the kitchen to leave a note letting the girls know I’ll meet them at the game on the counter and sneak out of the dorm as quietly as possible.

The cool night air hits my face like a whisper, soft and crisp. Campus is quiet, the courtyard between the dorm buildings empty, almost eerily so. I walk slowly, my hands tucked inmy hoodie pocket, eyes trained on the path ahead. There’s something comforting about the path to the guys’ dorm. It’s familiar now, like a well-worn path home.

As I near where the path turns toward the dorm, something flickers on the edge of the tree line between the buildings.

I freeze.

Squinting into the dark.

A shape, low to the ground, just beyond the trees disappears behind the underbrush.

My heart stutters.

It could’ve been a deer. Or a raccoon. Or nothing at all. Taking a cautious step off the path, I squint harder, trying to see into the dark forest.

Then I see it again, for just a second.

I want to believe it’s nothing. That I’m just tired. It's just a trick of the moonlight, my eyes playing games. But still, I look.

I step off the path completely, pushing closer to the tree line, trying to make sense of what I see.

I’m laser focused on the tree line when a pair of arms wrap around my middle. I open my mouth to scream but a hand comes up, covering my mouth with a sweet-smelling cloth.

“Shhh…” A familiar voice growls in my ear. “Go to sleep.”

The world tilts.

I struggle, legs kicking out, but everything is slipping away.

My vision blurs and my fox thrashes in my mind.

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