The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5

by Stacy Claflin

"Alexis, there you are."

  I looked up and saw Amanda and Emma. "Oh, hi guys," I said, still deep in thought.

  "You okay?" asked Amanda. "You look like you saw a ghost."

  I shook my head to clear it. "No, I'm fine. I'm just exhausted from all of the attention. It's a shock to go from being invisible to being the center of attention."

  "Has Hailey done anything else to you besides egging your car?" Emma asked.

  I didn't realize that they knew about that. "Sorry that I didn't tell you guys. I've been so busy."

  Emma scowled. "We've noticed. We haven't even seen you since the dance. Are you too popular for us now?"

  "No," I said. "I've been so distracted with Cliff and with figuring out if I'm adopted and everything. You two are still my best friends." I burst into tears. Dang those transition emotions.

  "Oh," Emma and Amanda said in unison and they wrapped me in a group hug.

  "I told you not to be hard on her," Amanda hissed.

  "We just miss you," Emma said.

  "You guys should come over after school so I can show you my new clothes. And we can catch up."

  "Don't you have to work?" Amanda asked.

  "I dropped my hours after my parents took over my insurance and gas payments," I said.

  Emma pouted. "You never told us that."

  "Emma." Amanda glared at her.

  "It's okay," I said with quivering lips. "I know I haven't been a very good friend since the dance."

  "I've never seen you so teary," Amanda said. "Sure you're okay? Is something else bothering you, besides snubbing us?"

  I burst into tears again and buried my face in my hands. Brooke and those guys weren't kidding about the emotions.

  "Sorry," Amanda said sheepishly. "Bad choice of words."

  I took a deep breath, trying to regain control. "I think the bell is about to ring. Why don't we meet at my house after school?"

  Emma grinned. "That's the spirit. I can't wait to hear all about Cliff. I heard a rumor that you two went out to another fancy restaurant the night after the dance."

  My cheeks burned.

  Emma clapped her hands together. "Look at you blush. This is going to be good."

  After school, we were all in my room. "It's so good to hang out again," I told them. "I've really missed you. I know it's been less than a week but it feels much longer."

  "We haven't even seen you at lunch," Amanda said.

  "Watch out or I'll start crying again," I said, feeling it coming on again.

  "I can't believe that Brooke made all of these clothes for you," Emma said, browsing through my closet. She hadn't stopped looking at my clothes since I showed them fifteen minutes earlier.

  "I know. I was so shocked," I replied.

  "Is it like an early birthday present or something?" Amanda asked.

  I'd forgotten that my birthday was almost there. "Yeah that's it," I lied, not wanting to explain that I was going to be a vampire princess.

  "Why's she doing all of this?" Emma asked suspiciously. "It's been like two years since you two even saw each other. She shows up and suddenly gives you all of this nice stuff."

  "She didn't just give them to me," I said. "She made them. It costs a lot less to make things than to pay for the labels. Besides, she gets credit for a design class that she's in."

  "It just doesn't make any sense," Emma said. "She could make clothes for anybody. Why all of these for you?"

  "She said that she'd always seen my beauty and she wanted to help me see it too," I said defensively.

  Emma folded her arms. "Something's up. Either she's hiding something from you or you're hiding something from us."

  "Oh stop being jealous," I exclaimed. "If you only want friends who have less than you, go and replace me. Otherwise, try to be happy for someone else for a change."

  She stared at me. "Is that really how you feel?"

  "Of course it is," I snapped. "Amanda's the shy one and I'm the invisible brain. Compared to the two of us, you're a shining ray of popularity."

  "I can't believe this. After what a great friend I've been to you."

  "What have you done for me?" I demanded. "Graced me with your presence?"

  "You better watch yourself Alexis," she warned me. "You can end up with two enemies. You think that Hailey can do damage, but I've been listening to your secrets for years."

  I stood up. "Are you threatening me?"

  "What if I am?" She glared at me.

  "Stop it, you two," Amanda begged. "Would you listen to yourselves? We're friends."

  "She's jealous because suddenly I'm popular," I told Amanda.

  "I can't believe you," Emma shrieked. "I know that popularity changes people, but this is totally ridiculous."

  "Maybe it's not me that has changed. You're just seething with jealousy."

  "Unbelievable." she stomped her foot. "I'm outta here. You with me, Amanda, or is she going to give you a ride home?"

  "Guys, please don't do this," Amanda pleaded.

  "Face it Amanda," Emma said, "you're going to end up having to choose between us and you know she's going to leave you in the dust. This is the first time that she's even bothered to talk to us since she was crowned Princess. That's only because we ran into her at lunch."

  "I'm not going to make you choose," I told Amanda. "You can be friends with us both, even if Emma chooses not to be my friend."

  Amanda looked like she was going to cry.

  I can't wait to tell Hailey about this, Emma thought.

  I did my best not to respond to that, and thought of a way to use it to find out what was going on. "Emma, let's just get along okay? I don't want to make Amanda cry."

  "You think we can just kiss and make up?" Emma exclaimed. "You've really changed, and not for the better."

  "The only thing that's changed is that Hailey now hates me," I said, trying to provoke a response.

  "What does Hailey have to do with any of this?" Emma asked.

  I glared at her. "You tell me."

  "What?" she asked. "I…I…. How would Hailey have anything to do with this?"

  "I saw you talking with Hailey, Emma," I lied. I intended to find out what she was hiding.

  "What?" Amanda asked. "You were talking to Hailey?"

  How is it possible that she saw us? Emma thought. She wasn't at that party. Maybe I was too drunk to notice. "It's not like I'm dating her." Emma exclaimed. "I was just talking to her."

  "I thought she was your sworn enemy," Amanda said. "What's going on?"

  "So you didn't tell Amanda about the party that you went to?" I asked, continuing to provoke her.

  "Party? What party?" Amanda asked, looking confused.

  Natalie. She must have told Alexis. What a snitch. Emma thought. "Forget it, Amanda. It's nothing."

  "Going to your enemy's party is nothing?" I asked with fake innocence.

  "Emma, what's going on," Amanda demanded.

  "I said it's nothing." Emma shot her a nasty look.

  "It doesn't sound like nothing," Amanda said, getting in Emma's face. "Alexis and I are supposed to be your best friends. What is going on?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" I asked. "She wants to be popular at any expense. She's trying to cover her bases. If I'm not her ticket, then Hailey will be."

  Amanda turned to Emma. "Is that true?"

  She stared at Amanda without saying anything. I can't believe she figured it out.

  "Maybe you shouldn't have underestimated the smart one," I told her.

  She looked confused and then I realized that I'd just answered her thoughts. I'd need to be more careful.

  "It looks like you're speechless," I said. "I didn't even think that was possible."

  "I can't believe you, Emma," Amanda said, looking disgusted. "We've been through thick and thin. You'd turn on us just to be popular?"

  "We only go to high school once," Emma said. "I'm tired of being a nobody. I want people to like me and to want to be me."

  "I don't care about p
opularity," Amanda said. "Want to know why? People don't really care about the popular people. They only like them because they are popular. The friends that I have are true friends. At least that's what I thought. Popularity only counts in school. Statistically, popular people don't do as well in the real world. I'd rather have my success where it counts."

  "I don't care about life after high school," Emma exclaimed. "That's like a year and a half away. That's practically forever. I want to be popular and I want it bad enough to do whatever it takes to get there. There, I said it."

  "Make your choice, Emma," Amanda said. "You do realize that you could become popular with Alexis. She's the most popular person right now because she won Hailey's crown. Everyone's talking about her and to her. That's why she hasn't spent any time with us. I've seen her trying to, but people won't let her. They're practically begging for her autograph."

  "Alexis is popular for the moment," Emma told Amanda. "People might get tired of her and she could go back to being invisible. Hailey, on the other hand, has been popular for a long time and isn't going down." Without a fight.

  I clenched my fists but kept my mouth shut.

  "So who is it, Emma?" Amanda asked. "Us or Hailey? You can't have it both ways."

  "Amanda, don't do this," Emma said. "I'll be your friend no matter what."

  "Us or her," Amanda said glaring at Emma.

  "I'm sorry, Amanda," Emma said and stormed out of my room.

  NINE

  It was dark and I was back in the field where I'd been trying to explode light bulbs. I didn't have any light bulbs with me this time, and I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to do. I just felt the need to get out of the house and I figured that I would know what to do when I got there.

  I stood in the middle of the field ready to train for something, but I didn't know what. All that I knew was that I was ready.

  Running sounded good, and as soon as I had decided it, I was all the way across the field and back. I loved the adrenaline rush so I ran again, this time around the edge of the field. I went around the entire field three times in less than five seconds.

  I went back and stood in the middle of the field, and this time I felt amazing. I felt strong and confident. I could handle whatever Hailey, Emma, Tanner or anyone else dished out. I could handle it, and them too.

  A tree at the edge of the field caught my eye. It was tall and sturdy. I got the idea of climbing to the top to see if I could hide, and before I had even decided to try it I had already run to the base of the tree. I looked up at it, jumped ten feet to the first branch, and quickly made my way to the top. I nestled into the branches and looked at everything from a whole new angle.

  It was exhilarating and I was thrilled with the accomplishment. I was in awe that I could learn so quickly and without anyone helping me. At first, things were happening on their own, but now I was starting to learn things at the mere thought of them. What could be next?

  I started to climb down the tree branches, but when I was about halfway down, I heard footsteps and voices in the field. I moved a branch out of my way to see who was in the field. It was Natalie and a senior boy. What were they doing there?

  They sat down at the bottom of the tree. I decided to try to control my supersonic hearing and just like with the running all I had to do was think about using the power and it began working. That exact moment, I was able to hear Natalie and the boy as if I were sitting with them.

  "When can we tell people that we're boyfriend and girlfriend?" Natalie asked.

  He sighed. "Not yet. You know that I like keeping it secret. It's more special that way."

  "Why does it have to be a secret?" she asked. "I want to shout it out for everyone to hear. Don't you?"

  "It's more exciting this way. Let's not ruin this with a fight."

  My nose tickled as some smoke rose to me. It didn't smell like tobacco smoke. I wanted to see what else was going on 20 feet below me and hoped that I had heightened sight too.

  "As long as we can tell people soon," Natalie said, sighing.

  "Here have some of this," he said. I wanted to climb down to get a look at what he was giving her but I didn't dare. This was my first time climbing like this. I didn't want to slip or make noise.

  As they focused on whatever it was that he gave her, I became antsy to get out of the tree. If I couldn't practice my new skills, then I'd rather go home and study. My grades were going to suffer if I didn't focus on them again.

  I looked around for a way to could sneak away unnoticed, but the only thing that I saw was a cluster of trees behind the field. They were at least 30 feet away, so I couldn't get to them. I could run and climb but I didn't dare try to jump that far.

  I could hear smacking noises and I groaned. They were making out, and that meant that they would be there for a while. I was determined to find a way out, and fast. Would they be so into making out that they wouldn't notice me climbing down the tree?

  The noises were getting more intense and I was more anxious to leave with every passing second. I even tried turning off my supersonic hearing, but that didn't work. For some reason I could turn it on, but not off.

  "Hey, Braydon. Don't do that," Natalie said.

  "Don't be a baby, Natalie," Braydon said.

  "I'm not a baby," she exclaimed. "You need to respect me."

  "If you want to keep going out with me, you need to stop this virgin act. Stop talking and let's have some fun."

  "It's not an act."

  "Oh come on. You can't tell me you're a virgin."

  "It's true, Braydon. Slow down."

  "Look, I know you're only a sophomore, but I'm a senior and I don't expect to have to wait."

  "It's my body and if I don't want to right now I don't have to."

  "Dude, if you want me as your boyfriend, you need to have some fun," he said.

  "I'm not a dude. And you won't even let me tell anyone that we're going out."

  "You're ruining the fun," he said, and I heard the slurping noises.

  I heard a smack. "I said stop."

  "How dare you? You little whore."

  "Whore?" Natalie exclaimed. "I won't let you past second base."

  I heard another smack and Natalie hollered in pain. My anger had been rising through the entire argument. I wouldn't be able to contain it much longer.

  "It's your word against mine at school," Braydon said.

  "You wouldn't dare."

  "Not unless you stop being a baby and start acting like a woman."

  "Unbelievable. I'm leaving. I've had enough."

  "I'll tell everyone how easy you are," he threatened.

  "Then I guess you'll have to live with yourself knowing that you're both a jerk and a liar."

  I heard what sounded like a punch and a thud. She must have fallen on the ground.

  Without thinking, I raced down the branches and grabbed Braydon by the neck and shoved him into the tree trunk. "You will apologize to her and say only nice things about her at school, do you understand?"

  "What the—?" he asked.

  I squeezed his neck. "I said do you understand me?"

  He gagged a little. "Yes, yes, okay. Let go!"

  "If you treat her badly ever again, I'll see to it that you regret it for the rest of your life, got it?"

  He nodded.

  "Now take her home safely or I'll follow you home and kill you." I shoved his head into the tree to show him that I meant business. I raced back up the tree where I came from so that he knew I would still be watching him.

  My heart was racing and I hoped that Natalie hadn't recognized me. I didn't want to explain it to her. Let her think that I was some sort of pot hallucination or something. I listened to them pack up their stuff and walk back to his car in silence.

  Once the car had started up, I got down from the tree and raced around the field again to get rid of my excess energy.

  I stopped to catch my breath before heading back to my car. I heard something in the sky to the north.
I looked towards it, trying to decipher the sound.

  Crows.

  By the time I realized I was hearing hundreds of wings flapping, it was already too late to run away. They were overhead and starting to circle over me. I was frozen with fear, even though I had just scared a guy twice my size.

  The birds flew over my head in their typical circle. I could barely the moonlight off in the distance through them. I always ran away but this time I wanted to see what they would do. I was gaining confidence with each moment.

  One cawed, followed by another and then another, until they were all cawing at me. It was even creepier in the dark.

  "Is that all you have?" I asked.

  One crow broke from the crowd and flew right at me. I ducked away and it came after me again. Another crow came down and started after me.

  My heart raced as I moved to avoid each one. Their beady little eyes were glowing in the moonlight and their cawing was close to deafening so close to me.

  One by one, they were coming down from the group to chase me. It was becoming harder to avoid them. One bit me on the arm and another got me on the leg.

  I started hitting at them but it did no good. I decided to make a run for it. They bit at me as I ran through the crowd. Thankfully, I could run so fast because I was back to my car in just a couple of seconds.

  I had left the door unlocked, so I jumped in the car and closed the door as fast as I could. My heart was nearly pounding out of my chest.

  What was their deal? What did they want from me? I drove home as fast as I could and managed to calm down by the time I walked through the door.

  "Where have you been?" my mom asked, sitting in the kitchen. I was surprised that there was no rudeness in her tone.

  "I just needed some air," I said. "Is Natalie home?"

  "Yeah, she just got home and went to take a shower," she answered. "I really like that outfit, Alexis. Where did you get it?"

  "Brooke made it," I said.

  "I could always buy you some, you know," she said.

  "I think she's having fun and getting credit for a class."

  "I'm glad you two are becoming friends again. She's always been so good to you. I remember how crushed you were when she moved."

  "It's good to spend time with her again."