We ran through the forest, following the trail of Dan and Dave. Eric howled beside me and I had to join him. One wolf howling was lonely. Two wolves howling was song. Dan and Dave would know we were coming, but they would've known either way. It was a game to go find them, to chase them. Our song wasn't going to change that. We ran for awhile before we caught up with them. Dan made a small noise which made us pause. I sniffed the air and realized why. They had found a deer. Eric growled softly at me. They didn't want me in this. They would get the deer for me. I pouted and yipped at him, but Eric growled again. I cowered back away from him and shrank down, showing him that I would obey. The boys ran off, chasing after the deer, leaving Seth to stay with me. They never left me completely alone, especially while we were out here. I whined softly at Seth, who replied by nipping at my side, starting a game of tag. We ended up playing and chasing each other all the way back to the treeline. I didn't really want deer my brothers wouldn't let me help them with anyway. I shifted back behind my tree and found my clothes again.

"I'm headed back to the house," I told Seth. He nodded in wolf form and walked back with me, like an extremely large puppy. I sighed. I couldn't even walk back to the house, where two more shifters were waiting for me, without an escort. He left me at the backdoor and went loping back to the woods to find the rest of the boys and the deer.

I trudged back inside, hoping to avoid mom and her insistence that we talk about high schools. I couldn't make a decision until after tomorrow, but school started in a month, and we would have to decide soon after I turned 15. I really only had two options, St. Xavier, where my brothers went, or St. Ignatius, which was an all-girls high school. I was unfortunately leaning towards the all-girls school, just so I would have a fresh start. I didn't want to be constantly plagued by my the achievements/troubles of my brothers through all of high school. I already got comments all the time about how I was Eric's sister and bound to be great at science (like that was ever going to happen...) or Dan and Dave's sister and better not cause trouble in their class, etc. It was constant growing up, and I knew that the only way to avoid it was to go to a different school than my brothers, and they couldn't go to St. Ignatius. My parents, however, wanted me to be protected by my brothers while at school. Like anything was actually going to attack me. And I could take care of myself. Even if I couldn't take them as a karate-trained girl, I could shapeshift. . .

I snuck up to my room, hoping my parents hadn't heard me come in. I didn't want another round of them trying to convince me to go to St. Xavier. They could always order me to go there, but they had promised me the freedom of choice, like they had my brothers, who had gotten the choice of either St. Xavier, or St. Francis, the all-boys school. Unsurprisingly, they had all chosen the school the had girls in it. Once I found out that they had all gotten a choice, I had fought my parents hard to be able to choose for myself as well.

I managed to make it to my room without my mom noticing, for which I was grateful. My bed was right next to the window and I could see out into the forest. I pulled out a book to read, and flipped my laptop open to see if anyone was online.

-Nervous?- Melissa messaged me as soon as I got online. She was my best human friend. I'd known her since first grade.

-Not really. I don't think I'll be Chosen- I typed back quickly. I couldn't tell her that I was a shifter and couldn't be Chosen.

-I was a nervous wreck before I went. It's ok to be scared-

-Nah, not worth worrying about- I didn't want her worrying about me

-Have you picked what high school you're going to?- I asked her. She was torn between schools too.

-Aren't you going to Ignatius?-

-Yeah, much as my parents hate it. They want me to pick Xavier- she knew my problems, but not the real reason behind them.

-Not sure my parents want to send me to a private school...- tuition wasn't cheap at the private schools, though the education was much better.

-No word on financial aid yet?- I asked her

-Not yet. They said I should hear tomorrow-

-Good luck-

-You too, try not to worry-

I wouldn't be worrying, but she didn't need to know that. I scrolled through Facebook and Tumblr for a few minutes, before going back to my book, trusting that my computer would beep if anything important happened. I knew I didn't have to worry about tomorrow, but that didn't mean I was looking forward to it and it was nice to escape into a book for awhile.