Chapter 6 We Should Be Friends

• Erica's POV
• I stand outside of the dining room, leaning up against the wall trying to calm my emotions. I can hear raised voices inside of the dining room and I take that as my cue to get back to my room. Pushing off against the wall I begin to make my way back to the bedroom.
• Just as I am about to round the corner, I hear the door to the dining room slam. Out of curiosity I peek my head around the corner and see the girl with bouncy blonde hair pacing back and forth in the hallway.
• "Are you okay?" I yell out to her as I watch her anger build.
• The girl looks up and stares at me with tears in her eyes. Quickly she wipes away the tears and comes strolling over to me. I wait for whatever insult she is going to hurl my way but she surprises me.
• "Me?" She says as she points to herself. "I should be asking you the same thing. You are the one that was rudely disrespected in there."
• "Oh that..." I try to say with a bit of humor in my voice. "I am used to that when I come here."
• The girl holds out her hand and flashes a bright smile in my direction. "I'm Ashley."
• "I'm Erica," I say as I clasp my hand in hers.
• "I am really sorry for what happened in there," Ashley says, refusing to let go of my hand.
• "It's okay," I respond quietly. "I know what I am, or rather what I am supposed to be."
• I hear chairs scuffling in the dining room and I pry my hand out of hers. "It was nice meeting you," I say as I try to walk away. "I am sure I will see you around the pack house as I am working off my debt."
• I turn the corner and I can hear the patter of Ashley's feet running to catch up to me. "You really don't like the triplets do you," she asks once she catches back up to me.
• "I don't dislike them," I lie. "They just like to give me a hard time."
• "Oh, no." Ashley says with a smirk across her lips. "You hate them. I can tell."
• "Hate is a really powerful word, but accurate." I laugh. It feels good to finally admit to someone how much I dislike the triplets.
• "We should be friends," Ashley says with a bright smile on her face.
• "Why would you want to be friends with a rogue?" I say quietly keeping my eyes glued to the ground.
• "Are you kidding me!" Ashley squeals loudly. "Meeting you is like the most exciting thing that has ever happened in my life."
• "I don't think Luna Alice would appreciate us hanging out," I laugh.
• "I don't care what she would or wouldn't like," Ashley flips her bouncy curls behind her shoulder. "Come on." She drags me off in the direction of the main part of the pack house.
• "I don't think I am supposed to be on this side of the pack house," I hesitate but Ashley's grip on my arm is impossibly strong.
• "Oh hush," she whispers. "You are with me."
• Ashley leads me to the room that I used to consider my own. She opens the door and I find the subtle grays and whites of the room replaced by hot pinks and bright purples. I stand with my mouth gaping open at the difference in the room.
• "Do you like it?" Ashley squeals as she continues into her room. "Aunt Alice let me decorate it myself."
• "It's really... bright," I respond feeling like I need a pair of sunglasses if I am going to be spending any time in this room at all.
• "Exactly, Aunt Alice hates it." Ashley ushers me into her room and sits me down on the chair in front of her vanity. "I have some new make-up tips I want to try out and your skin is the perfect canvas."
• Before I have a chance to protest Ashley is aggressively applying make-up on my face.
• "So..." she begins and I already know what she is going to ask. "What's it like being a rogue?"
• Yep. That is exactly what I thought she was going to ask. "I wouldn't really know," I answer hesitantly. I don't know if I should trust this bouncy blonde in front of me. Looking around the room I make sure that the door is closed. "I don't have a wolf."
• Ashley's eyes widen as she looks at me. "But aren't you like twenty?" She leans in and whispers quietly.
• "Actually... I turn twenty in about a week," I tell her quietly.
• "Why didn't you shift when you turned eighteen?" Ashley asks curiously while she continues to paint my face.
• I shrug my shoulders and wrap my arms around myself. "I don't know. But the triplets can never know. They would never let me live it down."
• "When is your birthday? We will have to celebrate?" Ashley continues to apply my make-up like nothing ever happened.
• "It is on the thirteenth." I grumble.
• "You know that is the same day as the triplets?" Ashley responds with a bored tone in her voice.
• "Don't remind me," I groan. Every birthday I can remember, except for the last two, I have had to share with the triplets. I do not look forward to sharing another one with them. Especially not their eighteenth birthday.
• "They are having a massive party for the night of their first shift," Ashley tells me as she puts the finishing touches on my make-up.
• Holding up a mirror I am stunned at how I look. Instead of the sad, unhappy girl that has been staring back at me for as long as I can remember. A full grown woman is staring back at me. Ashley has given me a light smokey eye that accents my blue eyes perfectly. She has added only a little bit of blush to my cheeks but she has managed to cover the sprinkling of freckles that are spread across my nose.
• "Thanks," I say in awe. "You will have to show me how to do this one day."
• "Anytime," she says cheerfully as she flops on her bed. "Want to have a sleepover?"
• "I can't tonight," I tell her but I don't have a good excuse why. "But maybe some other time."
• Luckily Ashley doesn't push the issue.
• As I walk back to what I now realize is the servants' side of the pack house, I think about how nice it would be to actually have a friend. Just as I reach the door the triplets come barreling out of my door with smug looks spread across their lips.
• "What were you three doing in my room?"
• "Nothing," all three of them answer at the same time before they take off running through the halls.
• Rushing into my bedroom I see that my luggage is opened and my things are scattered all over the room. I immediately look through the pocket where I keep my intimate items and it is empty.
• "Shit," I groan, knowing that my bras and panties will be all over the pack house by morning.