"Oh, you're just in time!" Lisa says happily, placing a large bowl on the counter. "Some of the helpers are almost here."

"Sweet," I reply, assisting her in getting out all the necessities for cooking. Cayton is in the backyard, setting up tables and stuff with Warren. I'm glad I had avoided running into him once more, but I can only imagine the tension that must be forming outside.

While I was getting ready, I tried prying out information from Cayton. More importantly, some information on the mysterious conversation between him and his father. He wouldn't tell me, all he said was "He has his own problems he needs to work through." Then he assured me that nothing his father could say would affect anything.

I had a hard time believing the last part, but for the sake of argument I didn't say anything. It already is affecting things. Not between Cayton and I necessarily, but between him and his father. I don't like the fact that in five minutes, I came between Cayton and the man he has looked up to his entire life. Not that Warren's attitude is reasonable, but I don't want to be a problem.

I took forever to curl my hair and put on makeup so I could have more time to pry, but eventually there was no more hair to curl and I refused to make my face look like an art project.

I push all that aside though; I have to worry about the three hundred other people I have to meet. I can only hope it goes better than meeting Warren.

"Sweetie, can you get the door?" Lisa asks, motioning her head to the front door. Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I take a deep breath and march to the door. With a warm smile, I open the door.

"Hello," I sat sweetly to all the kind smiles. A woman with two small daughters, most likely both under eleven, and who I assume is her mate all stand on the doorstep.

"Hi there!" the smallest girl, with curly blonde hair pulled into pigtails, greets. "I'm Zoey."

"It's nice to meet you Zoey, I'm Macy." I look up to the rest of them and step aside, allowing them to come in.

And for the next hour, I greet just about everyone who comes through the door. Some of their reactions were a little strange. It's like they're meeting the Queen of England or something. However, the best part is that I received absolutely no disgusted looks. Unless they didn't show it.

Within the hour, everyone who is going to help make the food is here, along with a couple of others who went to the back to help out. The kids who came took free rein in the game room, except for the adorable Zoey who seems to have become my new shadow.

Despite Tami's 'condition', she convinced Trenton to let her come. It wasn't much of a secret that she was pregnant, since most of the women here have been through pregnancy. But since Trenton was oblivious to the fact, everyone agreed to keep quiet.

"No, too much butter!" Tami scolds, yanking the bowl of butter from my hands. I scowl at her. My incompetence with cooking has been known for a bit now, and most of the girls have just smiled and helped me out. But Tami is a perfectionist and will have none of it.

So far, everything is going great. I'm enjoying myself, and the women of the pack are all friendly. I've met Cassia and Marissa, who are eighteen-year-old twins that are pretty much exactly like me, along with the lack of ability in the culinary area. Heather, who is Zoey's mother, and probably one of the wisest women I have met. Darcy, who makes the best blackberry cobbler on the planet. She let me have a taste, and, well, there were six, and I ate an entire one by myself, and she let me keep another for later. Then there's Veronica, Carter and Hunter's mother. Nice lady, don't know how Carter came from her.

All the others haven't had much interaction with me. Not in the sense that they were rude. It's just most are busy, and it would be hectic if 50+ people were trying to all gain my attention.

"Oh give her a break. This stuff is practically a foreign language! What exactly is an egg white anyways?" Marissa defends me, even making a show of reading the cookbook like it's some hieroglyphic message.

"Yea, and what does it mean to baste the chicken?" Cassia adds, tilting her head to the side as she examines the cookbook with her sister. I smile, glad that I'm not the only one who is utterly clueless. Tami simply rolls her eyes and grabs the cookbook from Marissa, who smiles at the exact same time Cassia does. I've always wondered if it was true about twins 'special abilities', and these two seem to prove it.

"I'm going to give you a quick lesson, so pay attention, ok?" Tami says. All three of us nod, and Cassia pulls her black hair into a ponytail, her face going completely serious.

"Let's do this thing," she says.

I want to stop laughing, I want to get off the floor, but I can't. Marissa and Cassia are right next to me. Even Zoey is tittering from her spot on the stool, farthest away from the catastrophe by Tami.

Tami was in the middle of the so-called 'lesson' and she had me mix the ingredients with the electric mixer. I may or may not have had the setting too high, and Tami may or may not have gotten the mix all over her.

It was an accident, but damn was it funny. Considering that, somehow, she got the worst end of the deal when I was the one controlling it.

She didn't find it funny however.

"I-I'm s-sorry," I try to get out through my hysterical fit. I latch onto the counter and hoist myself up, clutching my stomach from the pain of laughing. Once the mixing went amiss, most of the others left, probably knowing that Tami isn't in the best state to be angered.

"If you were anyone else, I would most likely punch you in the face," Tami says angrily, grabbing a paper towel and wiping the gunk off her shirt.

"What happened in here?" Lisa comes in, with the salad bowl in hand. She looks at Marissa and Cassia who are still laughing on the floor, then me, then Tami. A small smile plays at her lips and she shakes her head.

"I may not be the best at cooking," I admit sheepishly, suddenly a bit embarrassed.

"It's ok sweetie," she assures, placing the bowl on the counter. "Can you make Kool-Aid for the kids instead?"

"That I can do."

"The stuff is in the dining room on the table," she says. "Cassia, Marissa, would you help Tami clean up?" They immediately stop laughing and get up from the floor. Though it's a question, it's meant as an order.

I head towards the dining room, finding it already occupied by the girl from the restaurant, decorating cupcakes by herself.

"Oh, hi. Bethany, right?" I ask, going to the table where five large pitchers filled with water, and all the sugar and kool-aid mix are. She looks up from the cupcake she's working on, looking slightly surprised at my sudden entrance.

"Yes, Luna," she says respectfully.

"Please, call me Macy," I say, grabbing the first pack of mix. Tropical punch, my favorite. "Luna reminds me of Spanish class, and I don't want to relive that." Bad things happened in that class, bad things...

She smiles slightly, then returns to her cupcake, which she is decorating with orange icing.

"Macy!" Zoey hollers, skipping into the room. She gives me a toothy smile, which I return as I rip open the package of powder.

"Zoey!" I say back, pulling out a chair for her to sit in. She happily climbs up, watching the entertaining- sarcasm people- show of me making Kool-Aid.

"Why's it blue?" she asks.

"Cuz it's tropical punch," I reply, measuring out the correct amount of sugar.

"So it's blue?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

You see, Zoey's at that age when every other thing that comes out of their mouth is 'why?'. And as patient as I can be, after a while it starts wearing thin. My last resort, and something I might feel slightly guilty for later, is to turn the conversation onto Bethany.

I whisper a sorry in my head before I do.

"Hey Bethany, what kind of cupcakes are those?" I ask. She stops what she's doing, and looks up from the array of marzipan flowers.

"Um, some chocolate, some white?"

"How come it's not just chocolate?" Zoey asks, hopping down from the chair and going to stand next to Bethany, looking at the cupcakes with wide, awe-filled eyes. "I like chocolate." All questions about the colors of Kool-Aid are forgotten as she bombards questions about 'why are their flowers?' and 'why is the icing different colors?' I think Zoey has a thing with food coloring.

I know patience is key with a young child, and Bethany proves that she has more than I do. She answers each question with a smile, and never shows a hint of annoyance. If I were her, I would have probably checked out by then.

Zoey is a sweetheart and a real cutie, but geez can she talk up a storm. She reminds me vaguely of Trina and her talkative quality, and for a moment, I miss the little squirt.

My fingers curl around the bathroom counter with so much pressure my knuckles begin turning white.

And no, it's not because I'm nervous, it's because these heels are ridiculously high and I'm training myself to walk in them. Seriously, what was I thinking when I bought these?

Oh that's right, I wasn't. Tami was. She over-estimated my skills.

I can walk on them, though I'm a little wobbly, but I'm not too keen on falling flat on my face in front of everyone.

Letting go of the counter and standing as straight as I can, I take a step backwards, keeping an eye on the mirror to see if I look ridiculous walking. I don't, for which I mentally applaud myself. I take a deep breath and smooth out the skirt on my dress, adjusting the top and making sure my face is free of any makeup smudges.

"I'm ready," I say to Cayton, who is leaning against the wall by the door waiting for me, as I walk out of the bathroom. His eyes scan down my body, taking in my appearance before he nods in approval.

He holds out his hand for me to take, which I gladly accept with a bright smile. He gives my hand a reassuring squeeze and looks down at me, complete admiration in his eyes. Just that simple look makes my heart pick up speed and I feel a faint throbbing on my neck where his mark is. I use my free hand to touch it, wondering if something's wrong.

Cayton's eyes look to where my hand is resting and a smirk appears on those perfect lips of his, which I feel the sudden urge to attack with mine.

Whoa, since when did I get so needy? I question myself. Seriously, it's more than an urge, almost a need, and a little disturbing. Not the act itself, just that I'm almost desperate, so suddenly.

"I think we should go before things get out of hand," I say more to myself, but of course he heard, and his smirk only grows. "And don't respond, just nod and walk," I order, knowing he was about to say something that would more than likely make me blush.

He gives me a quick kiss, and I find myself suppressing a pout when he pulls away so quickly.

"Let's go, you have some people very excited to meet you," he says with an excited grin. I bite back a laugh, because I've never seen Cayton so excited.

As we get closer to the back door, I feel a bit of my uneasiness coming back. Mostly because an image of me hitting the deck face first plays in my head.

Carter is waiting impatiently by the door, shifting from foot to foot. Something's off about him, almost like he's a bit on edge. I look up at Cayton, who must have noticed as well because he's looking at Carter with a slightly raised brow.

"Hey, you're blocking the door," I say. It's almost as if he didn't realize we were here, because his eyes flicker over to us, before he shakes his head. I do notice how his eyes had changed from their usual dark blue color to an even darker blue, but I don't quite know what that means, so I hope Cayton caught it.

In no time at all, the infamous cocky smirk is back on his face, as if he had been this way the whole time.

"Took you long enough shrimp," he says. I scowl and stomp my high-heel clad foot childishly.

"I am not short!" I cry for what feels like the millionth time around him.

"Compared to us, you are," he points out. "Even with heels on." I open my mouth to argue, when I realize that even with six-inch heels on, I'm only about eye level with Cayton's nose.

"Are you going to open the door or not?" I grumble, mad that I have nothing to counter with.

"Wouldn't want the little lady hurting herself by opening a big door, now would I?" he says in a posh voice, grabbing the doorknob and pulling it open for us. I roll my eyes at him, allowing Cayton to lead me towards outside.

I halt as soon as I step over the threshold, my eyes widening as I look out into the backyard. Two hundred people is a lot more than I thought. It's like a sea of people in my own backyard. A vast, endless, sea of judgments.

"Oh god I can't do this," I say fleetingly, turning to run back in the house, only to run straight into Carter. Cayton refuses to let go of my hand, and Carter refuses to move, taking a step to block me every time I try to dart around him.

"You're so dramatic," Carter laughs.

"Move move move!" I say hastily, trying to push him out of the way with my only free hand. I thought I was going to meet everyone individually or something, not showcased to everyone at once!

Suddenly, Carter whistles loudly, and all the chatter and noise from behind me ceases.

"That's your cue shrimp," Carter says only loud enough for me, and I glare death at him.

There's no turning back now. I can feel everyone's eyes on me, so after I'm sure I've got my promise of death across to Carter, I completely change my mood and put on my best smile—albeit it comes off more as a nervous smile more than anything. I unconsciously press closer to Cayton as he leads us to the edge of the deck, giving me a full view of everyone.

Thankfully, I have Marissa and Cassia standing in the crowd, waving like lunatics and giving me thumbs-ups, which eases a bit of my anxiety.

I miss Cayton introducing me due to Marissa and Cassia entertaining me by shoving each other, trying to stand in the spot with the best view. Only when I hear everyone starting to cheer do I check back in to my surroundings.

It takes me a slow second to realize that they are indeed cheering for me, but when I do, I don't have to fake a smile. I even go all Miss America and wave.

"I told you they would love you," I hear Cayton whisper in my ear, and it's easy to detect the smile in his voice. With the deafening roar, I barely catch it. I nod to show that I heard him, and then he catches me off guard and kisses me. Not that I'm complaining at all.

Everyone starts cheering louder, but soon the noise is fading away as I wrap my arms around his neck, and pull him closer. PDA isn't something I normally participate in, but hey, he initiated it and who am I to say no?

"You guys enjoy yourselves," I faintly hear Carter say to everyone, yelling over the noise.

Cayton pulls away before things get too heated, and I take a second to catch my breath and calm my flustered face.

Now the real party can start.

For the first two hours, Cayton and I stay hand in hand as people come up to us and congratulate us, introduce themselves and such. Cayton knew every single one of their names, and I realized that I would have to remember them as well. That might be a challenge, considering I don't remember what I had for dinner last night.

After an overwhelming amount of names, Marissa, Cassia, Tami, and another girl named Renee, insist I come with them, while a group of guys whisks Cayton away to start a game of football. I was almost reluctant to let him go, but I knew I would be just fine without him. Besides, he needs some guy time.

"I just love that dress!" Renee compliments.

"Good thing I convinced you to buy it huh?" Tami says, wearing a new shirt since I ruined the last one.

"If by convinced you mean forced, then yes, I am."

"And might I say, that was a very steamy moment up there on the porch," Marissa says, a teasing tone in her voice.

"Someone's going to be happy tonight," Cassia says in a singsong voice, grabbing a cup and pouring herself a drink from the refreshments table.

"Yea, I'm going to be really happy to sleep," I say, the meaning behind their words completely flying over my head. My eyes widen a bit when I realize what they're saying, and I search for something to change the subject with. My non-existent sex life is something I rather not discuss. They all give me a curious look, except for Tami who is the only one who knows that Cayton and I haven't done anything like that.

"Um," I'm about to start on the topic of trees, the first thing I saw, when my eyes land on a familiar blonde. "Hunter!" I gasp, running over to him. He has his back to me slightly, talking with a group of friends when I surprise him by jumping on his back.

"What the-" he stumbles forward before catching himself, and realizing it's me. "Oh, hey Macy."

"That's it? 'Hey Macy'? It's been so long boy, I've missed ya!" I say, hopping off his back.

What's it been? Two weeks maybe? I'm not really sure; time isn't something I keep track of in the summer. All I know is that it's been a sufficient amount of time for the signs of his training to show. He's definitely grown an inch or two, and bulked up some.

"Aw, I've missed you too," he teases, messing up my hair, I'm sure as some kind of payback for always messing his hair up. I scowl and swat at his hands, which gains a few laughs from his friends standing by.

"I love how I'm older than you and you treat me like a child," I grumble. "Now be a good boy and introduce me to your friends."

He introduces me to Luke, Rowan, and Mason. Luke, complete charmer from what I can tell. Rowan is more respectful, and it takes me five times to convince him that it's ok to call me Macy. And Mason, well, he didn't say much.

"Macy, what are you doing with this toe nail?" Cassia says, directing her words and disgusted look to Luke, who just smirks. Marissa joins her sister's side, both giving him the same look. It's creepy how identical they are, even if they are twins.

"As always, it's nice to see you Cassie," Luke says.

"It's Cassia you hoe," Cassia sneers.

"Whoa, what the hell is up with those two?" I whisper to Hunter, who just chuckles.

"They despise each other. Long story," he chuckles. I nod before giving him a pat on the back, signaling I'm going to get out of here before I witness a murder. By the look on Cassia's face, that's what this little meeting could amount to.

Not much happened after that. I ate my body weight in food, conversed with enough people to last me a lifetime, and got trapped into a game of hide-and-seek with Zoey and most of the children. I was a little distracted a lot of the time, watching the football game that was going on in the center of the yard. Lisa must have planned for this, because she made sure the tables and chairs were all set up around the perimeter, giving just enough space in the center.

It's Cayton's team versus Carter's, and Cayton's team is kicking ass. It could be contributed to skill, but that distracted look Carter had earlier tells me that his mind is somewhere else.

He's completely out of it, so much so that someone manages to tackle him to the ground more than I would have expected. I had to laugh. My mind twisted it into my personal payback, delivered by someone else.