Chapter 18 - The druid

Ara had a certain routine she liked to follow on every regular day. She would wake up at seven, go straight to the bathroom and brush her teeth. If it wasn’t ice cold, she would shower, and sometimes even wash her hair if she had the time to blow dry it. 

She would then change into her uniform and go down to eat breakfast, alone, because her mother left every morning at 6. After eating in silence, mentally feeling sick because she never really got to see her mother, Ara would put on her shoes and leave the house for school.

Today was not that type of day. Arms were squeezed around her waist, warmth surrounding her from every corner. She was lying on someone’s chest, and there was a body practically draped over her back. Soft snores and heavy breaths filled the silence in the room, and Ara felt the sounds lulling her back to sleep.

It didn’t help when someone started rubbing her arm, soothing circles almost sending her back to the land of dreams. Ara’s eyes suddenly snapped open, and she shot up straight, elbowing Chanyeol in the face.

“School!” There were a series of groans, someone even shushed Ara, and the girl frowned and quickly stood up. “How did I even fall asleep?” She fixed her uniform skirt and quickly jogged to the hallway, grabbing her phone from her coat.

There were no messages nor texts, and Ara mentally wondered if her mother even noticed her absence. She pulled on the coat and ran back into the living room where everyone was still sleeping.

“Guys, it’s 8.30, we start in 30 minutes, and unless you want detention, I suggest we get our asses moving, come on!”

Ara didn’t care that she was shouting, and she hurriedly removed the blankets from Sehun and Baekhyun who were cuddling on the one-seater. Sehun shot her an annoyed glare, Baekhyun groaned in agony and tried pulling the blanket back, but Ara threw it onto Tao who was sleeping next to the coffee table, Suho squeezed between him and Kris.

“Guys, come on! It’s our senior year, we really can’t afford absences or detention!” Kyungsoo sat up, tiredly rubbing his eyes, and Ara noticed that thank God, he was awake, so he could take care of the others. “Kyungsoo, wake them up, please!”

Kyungsoo nodded at Ara, and the girl shot him a grateful smile before running into the kitchen to prepare some kind of breakfast. She started throwing together peanut butter sandwiches for them all, hearing Baekhyun and Sehun tiredly groan and trudge down the hallway to the toilet. A few minutes later, the four of them were gathered in the hallway, putting on their shoes and coats.

“Hey, wait, where’s Kai?” Sehun asked, chewing on his sandwich while pulling on his bag.

“Haven’t sensed him all morning,” Kyungsoo mumbled, and Baekhyun muttered a confused “me too”. Did Kai leave for school without them? Ara frowned and followed the boys out of the house, gently closing the door so the others didn’t wake up, although she was pretty sure her shouting had awoken them. Kai’s car was still parked in the driveway, and this only made everyone more curious.

“Where do you think he went?” Sehun asked, frowning at Kyungsoo, and the latter shrugged.

“Maybe just a quick run? Maybe he sensed something? Him being alpha does give him certain abilities we don’t have, so…” They found the car key placed