Chapter 6: Hate

Ace's POV:

I stormed off further into the woods. "Ace wait!!" Kyle yelled. He and Mike ran after me. I was pissed off. Angel and me got into a bad argument and I pushed her. Then she retaliated by punching me. I'm not gonna lie, she hits hard. "Ace!! Man stop!" Mike yelled. I rolled my eyes and looked at them. "Ace what the hell happened back there? Why'd you push Angel? What happened between y'all?" Kyle asked.

"Forget it." I said. "No we can't just forget what happened. What's up with y'all man?" Mike asked. "She abandoned me." I said. "What?" Kyle asked. "When we were kids, we used to stay at the same adoption agency. We've been inseparable. We became best friends. If either of us got adopted, then we would take the other person with us. Usually people would then dump us if they had to take two." I said.

"That doesn't really explain how or why y'all beefing." Kyle said. "One day, Angel got adopted. I wasn't around when she did. She said she tried to talk them into adopting me as well but they said no. She said that the head lady there said that I couldn't go with her and that she had to go on her own. Angel told me that she said that one of us had to be adopted and that we can't stay together forever so Angel has to leave." I said.

The events from that day came flooding back into my head. I remember it so clearly. "I tried to talk to Angel about her getting adopted and not me. She said that she had no control over it and that it wasn't her fault that I couldn't go with her. We got into a bad fight that resulted in her deciding that now she really wasn't gonna stay with me. We promised each other that we stay together no matter what." I explained.

"Dude that's not her fault. So what she got adopted and you couldn't come with? Not everything revolves around you Ace. She gotta adopted by a nice family. So what? And maybe if you hadn't been so controlling of her, she probably would've stayed. And you guys shouldn't have to stay together and miss out on being adopted just because you say so." Kyle said. I transformed into a wolf and ran away.

I didn't need to hear this. I ran away further til I came to the park. There was people around. I quickly transformed into a human then walked into the park. I looked around at all the kids playing and their parents watching them. Some parents were also playing with them. I frowned. I will never know what that feels like. I walked past the cars and walked all the way to town. I didn't want to be bothered by anyone.

"Ace!!" Someone said. I looked up and looked around. "Ah ha!! All aces!! Hand em over boys!! I win!!" A man said. I seen him collect his winnings from a group of guys. They all frowned and groaned in frustration as the man collected his winnings from them. I shook my head and kept walking. I made my way to a bar. I walked in and was immediately met with a bouncer. "ID?" He asked.

"I was just looking around." I said. "Sorry kid. You look young." He said. "Oh come on. I won't drink. In it doing anything illegal." I said. "Sorry kid. You gotta go." He said. "Hey! He's with me." Someone said. I looked over to see a man approaching us. "Hey man. There you are. He's with me. Come on man. Let me get you a drink." He said, as he pulled me away. I looked at him. "Do I know you?" I asked.

He then pulled me to the back and took off his cap. Turns out it was a wig on a ball cap. "Christian?" I said. "Hey Ace. What are you doing here?" He asked. "What are you doing here? You were just in the forest." I said. "I took my dog home and came out for a drink. Now what are you doing here? You were also in the first." He said. I sighed. "Me and Angel got into a argument and now I'm here." I said.

"What about?" He asked, curiously. "Long story short, she abandoned me when we were kids and I've held a grudge ever since." I said. "Oh Ace. Always so bitter." He said. "I'm bitter for a reason." I said, growling. "Well you can't stay mad at her forever. Y'all will drop it and go back to being friends." He said. "No. We won't. She acts like she didn't abandoned me but she did and she won't admit it." I said.

He sighed. "Whatever. I'll let you see for your self. You're wrong." He said, as we walked back out into the front bar. He had to bartender make two shots. I reached for one but Christian stopped me. "Uh uh. You're still too young." He said. "Oh come on." I said. "Get out of here Ace. Just do it. Go take some time to cool off." He said. "Oh come on Christian. I need a drink." I said.

"Do I need to call the bouncer?" He asked. I glared at him then walked out the bar and into the streets. I shook my head. Angel knows what she did. Why won't she admit it? She abandoned me. Why can't she see her faults? I continued walking down the street. I looked up and saw a Subway. I walked over to it and walked inside. I walked up to the counter and ordered a sub. I sat down and ate it.

The receptionist did try to flirt with me but I turned her down. I was in no mood to flirt. I got up and walked out the door. I looked up and saw it was evening. I looked around and saw couples are laughing, kissing, and flirting. I rolled my eyes and kept my head low. This is disgusting. I hated cutesy couples that always posted on Instagram about how happy and in love they were.

I don't know if they realize it or not, but they're making other people feel unloved and bad about themselves for being single. Like don't post your shitty happy lives on Instagram because you're gonna make other people feel bad for not being in relationships. I've been in relationships before but I'm not one to be the romantic type because I've always felt awkward and inclined to do cutesy shit that I'm not in to.

It's also another reason I dread Valentines Day. Instagram flooded with couples photos. I looked up at the sky. The semi pink and orange clouds looked amazing. It almost made me forget about Angel. I walked further down the street and looked around. I saw a group of girls talking and laughing. I saw a group of businessmen with briefcases. I saw a lady walking her two dogs while talking on the phone.

I walked into a neighborhood. I heard crying. I looked up and saw a little boy sitting on some steps that led into an apartment. I debated whether or not to help him or to just keep walking. I decided to just keep walking. I walked about ten feet past him before I heard vomiting. I turned around and saw him throwing up. I thought about Angel and how caring she was when i got sick.

She took care of me. This was back when we were kids. I walked back over to the kid. "Hey man. What's up? Why you crying?" I asked, curiously. He looked up at me. His eyes were red, his face was puffy and red. He looked terrible. "I'm just sitting out here." He said, wiping his face. "By yourself?" I asked. He nodded. "So you decided to come outside and cry out in the open?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Seems like you're either looking for attention or you're going through something." I said. He nodded. "It's the second one." He said. "Why? Why you out here crying?" I asked. He didn't say anything. He pointed to the door behind him. I walked up to it and listened. I heard yelling and shouting on the other side of the door. "Oh. Is that your parents?" I asked. He nodded. I sat down beside him.

"Your parents argue and you don't like that?" I asked. He shook his head. "Why are they arguing?" I asked. "My Dad is an alcoholic. He always hits my Mom. She always tells me to either go upstairs to my room or leave." He said. "Oh wow."'I said. "Do other kids' parents argue?" He asked. "Some of them, yeah." I said. He looked up at me. "Do your parents argue too?" He asked.

I shook my head. "I don't have parents. I don't know who my parents are. I forgot their names and their faces. I'm adopted." I said. "Adopted? What does that mean?" He asked. I sighed. "It means that my parents didn't want me. I've been put into foster care because I'm not loved." I said. "Is it lonely?" He asked. "Yes but I get by." I said. "I wish I was in foster care." He muttered. I looked at him.

"Don't say that. You should be happy that you know your parents. I would give anything to know who my parents are." I said. "When were you given up for adoption?" He asked. I sighed. "When I five." I said. I thought back to that day. I remember it so clearly. "What happened?" The boy asked. "One night, woke me up out of my sleep. They told me we were going to the movies. So I was excited." I paused.

The memories flooded back to me. "But they told me to pack up all my stuff. I was confused as to why but me being a kid, I didn't think about it. I packed up all my clothes and my stuff then we left. We went out into town. But they said that we had to go visit my aunt right quick." I paused and shook my head. "They pulled up to an adoption agency. I didn't know what it was at the time." I paused and smiled.

"They told me to go knock on the door and surprise my aunt. They told me to take my stuff with me. That made me question them about why I had to take my stuff if I was just gonna knock on the door. They told me that they wanted me to show her my new clothes and new toys. So I took my stuff and walked up to the door." I paused and looked at the boy. He motioned for me to continue.

"I knocked on the door then I heard tires screeching." I paused. I felt a lump in my throat. I swallowed it and continued. "I turned around and saw my parents speeding off down the road. A woman opened the door and saw me. I started crying because my parents left me. She let me into the building. I told her what happened and I then started laughing." I paused. Then I smiled.

"I started laughing because I legit thought that my parents would come back for me." I said, struggling to continue.I shook my head. "I really thought they would come back for me. I thought they were playing a prank on me." I said. I could feel myself getting close to tears. I shook my head and kept going. I can do this. "The lady told me that they were never coming back for me." I said.

I chuckled. "I really thought that she was in on the prank. I waited four hours for them. Then I finally came to terms and accepted the fact that my parents weren't coming back for me." I finished. I felt a small hand on my face. I looked down and saw the boy wiping away my tears. I hadn't even realized I was crying. I wiped my face. "That's so sad." He said. I nodded. "It is. But I'm grown up now." I said.

"Do you miss your parents?" He asked. "No. If they really loved me, they wouldn't have gave me up." I said. Suddenly the door behind us open. "You are such an asshole!!" A woman yelled. Then a man pounced on her, beating her savagely. "Mommy!!" The boy cried. I got up and started beating the man. I picked him up and slammed him on the steps.

I began to beat him. "Someone call the cops!!" Someone said. I grabbed the man and held him down til the cops came. The quickly arrested him then they arrested me. "Wait why are you arresting me?! What did I do?!" I asked, as I was put in the back of the police car. I was taken to a police station. I stayed there for about an hour before I was released. I walked out to see Kyle and Mike.

Then a woman appeared with her son. I recognized them. "Hey man." Kyle said. "Hey." I said. "Hey um.." The woman said. She sighed. "Thank you...for helping me." She said. "You're welcome." I said. "Yes. Thank you for helping my Mommy." The boy said, grinning. "Well we gotta go." Christian said, coming out the bathroom. We all walked out into the street. "Thanks again Ace for saving my Mom." The boy said.

"My pleasure." I said. I looked up at his Mom. "I hope you will leave him." I said. "I am but our divorce isn't final yet, plus he always seems to know where we live if we move." She said. "There's a such thing as tricks. Trick him into thinking he's got you at one place, when really you're at a another." I said. "Ma'am please move far away from your ex husband. He's just gonna continue to beat you. Here." Christian said.

He pulled out a notepad and pen then he wrote something down. "Here's an apartment complex I stay in. They have open houses you can move into." He said. "Thank you so much. God bless." The woman said. She and her son ran down the street and into their apartment. "Ace." Mike called. I looked at him. "Man you okay?" He asked. I nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine." I said.

"Ace why'd you run away?" Kyle asked. "I'm sorry. I just had to get away. And I didn't need to hear you say that it's my fault I drove Angel away." I said. "You kind of did." Christian said. I looked at him. "The boys filled me in on what happened between you and Angel. Kid, I think you're overreacting." He said. "I'm not. Angel abandoned me and now she acts like she did nothing wrong." I said.

"Cause she didn't." Kyle said. I rolled my eyes. "I'm not listening to this." I said, as I walked away. "Ace come on man." Mike said. "JUST DROP IT!!" I shouted. I didn't want to talk about this. We all went home and chilled. I couldn't be bothered with everyone so I walked out into the backyard and stared out at the lake. The green trees and water looked so calming.

"Hey Ace!" Kyle called. He and Mike walked over to me. "Hey." I said. "You okay?" Kyle asked, sitting down next to me. "Yeah I'm all right. Sorry for snapping earlier." I said. "It's cool man." He said. "Ace we care about you bruh. We just hate to see you starting something, especially when this incident happened years ago." Mike said. Sighing, I said, "Look I just hate the fact that she just left me."

"Well you have Douglas. And Christina. And us." Kyle said. I smiled. "Yeah I do. Wanna race?" I asked. They didn't say anything. I looked at them but they were looking up at the sky. "Yo. It's snowing?" I said. "Well we are in the mountains and it does snow a lot in this town." Mike said. "I know it's the beginning of the school year. It usually snows near October." I said. "Uh oh." Kyle said. "What?" I asked.

"Remember what happened last time it snowed early in the school year?" He asked. I tried to think. "No." Mike said. "Years ago, I heard Rachel and Christian talking, you know before she fired him. They said that if it snows early in the school year, that means a meteor is close." He said. "Oh boy." I said. "I wonder whose next." Mike said. "Doesn't matter. Let's race." I said, transforming into a wolf.

Kyle transformed into a bat. Mike transformed into a griffin. He and Kyle flew high in the sky. I ran below but I was able to keep up with them. We ran fast and far into the forest. I looked up and saw their shadows flying above me. I decided to kick it into high gear and run faster. They followed me as I ran. I didn't know where we were going but we were racing to get there.

Then we came to a clearing in the forest. We slowed down and transformed. We all laughed. "I won." I said. "Nigga what you mean you won? I cleared made it out here first." Kyle said. "Lies!! I was first. I was in front of both of you." Mike said. "For two seconds. Then I passed you." I said. "Man whatever." He said. "Both of you are wrong. I clearly won." Kyle said. Me and Mike disagreed. "Whatever. Stay mad that I won." He said.

"I clearly won!!" Mike said. "When have you ever won?" I asked. Me and Kyle laughed. Mike transformed and playfully attacked us. We transformed and fought back. When all was settled, we decided it was a tie. "Oh man. See, nights like this is amazing. Plus it's snowing?" Mike said. I looked down at the ground. The snow on the ground was getting thicker. "What do you guys think is gonna happen to Christian?" Kyle asked, suddenly.

"What?" I asked. "What are you talking about?" Mike asked. "Well I told you guys Rachel fired him a few years ago." He said. "I didn't know that." I said. "Me neither." Mike said. "Why she fire him? What he do?"'I asked, curiously. He shrugged. "She just fires him out of the blue. Then she said she wanted him found, no matter what. The way she said it....makes me think that she's gonna do something bad to him." He said. I hope not.