I can't believe we're on chapter 40 already!

Chapter 40 - Ara snaps

The only eventful thing about the next morning is Kris eating breakfast with them before he leaves for work. Tao and Chen are discussing a movie, Baekhyun is on his phone, Kyungsoo is quietly eating his cereal, and Sehun is barely awake as he stuffs his mouth with waffles. 

Kai hasn’t been down for a while, but then he enters the kitchen and goes straight to the fridge. He ignores Ara completely, and the girl bites her lip and looks down at her bowl of cereal.

When they’re done eating and leave the house, Ara decides to sit in the back of the car, not wanting to cause Kai any more discomfort. Sehun takes her spot instead, but he notices the tension between her and Kai, and he keeps throwing her curious glances through the rear-view mirror.

They reach the school in no time, and Kai immediately enters the building, leaving the rest frowning to themselves. Ara ignores the pain in her heart and smiles at Chen who starts talking about his favourite classes so far.

During lunch hour, Ara decides to go to the lavatories, and Tao and Chen wait for her outside while the rest make their way to the canteen. There’s no one else in there, and Ara sighs, splashing her face with water.

She takes a step back and looks at herself through the mirror before shaking her head and reaching for some paper. She’s about to leave the stall after drying her face when she feels her fingers tingling, and she frowns, holding them up.  

“Ara, you done?” Tao opens the door and peeks his head in, and Ara jumps, huffing out a surprised breath before nodding, following him and Chen to the canteen. The boys are halfway finished with their food, and Ara once again feels her appetite disappearing when Kai ignores her completely.

“You’re officially on the team,” Sehun says to Chen, and the latter grins, wriggling his eyebrows. “Like, I thoughts you were gonna , but you know how to control the ball.”

“Plus, I scored like four goals on my own,” Chen says arrogantly, and Sehun snorts, rolling his eyes.

They boys continue their discussion, but Ara doesn’t pay them any attention, lost in her thoughts. And then, the weirdest thing ever happens; her phone vibrates.

Ara frowns, pulling it out of her blazer pocket, and she feels her eyes widen when her mother’s name flashes on the screen. Her mother never calls her, and Ara wonders how she even got her number in the first place.

“Hello?” The boys have stopped talking now, their attention on Ara, and even Kai has stopped eating, his eyes focused on his lunch tray, ears perked up.

“Ara, honey, when do you get home today?” Ara blinks in confusion, wondering why on earth her mother would ask that, cringing inwardly at her sickly sweet tone.

“I’ll be done at three, why?”

“You have to come home for dinner, Wonbin wants to meet you again.” Ara can hear her mother’s fake giggle, and that only confirms her suspicions about Wonbin being with her. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun both look alarmed, and Ara feels her heart beating faster when Sehun puts his spoon away, brows furrowing.

“I can’t, I-I have something-“

“That’s great, honey, I’ll be seeing you at five on the dot,” her mother interrupts, her tone threatening despite the laugh that follows, and Ara doesn’t have time to reply when the line suddenly disconnects.

“You’re not going.” Kai grabs his bag and stands up, and Ara feels her stomach flip because that’s the first time he has talked to her in almost two days now. “Don’t reply to her calls.” And then he leaves.

The bell rings and there is a heavy cloud of tension hovering over the pack as they gather their things and start towards their next classes, and on the way there Ara keeps thinking about Kai’s words.

She feels annoyed, angry, she doesn’t like being bossed around like that, and who is Kai to prevent her from seeing her mother? Ara shakes her head and forces those thoughts away; Kai is her mate, it’s inevitable that he’s possessive. But that’s still not good enough a reason for Ara.

“Honestly, Miss Han is the worst teacher so far,” Chen mumbles, and Ara snaps out of her thoughts. Tao and Sehun have found a spot at the back near Kai while Ara and Chen are sitting in the front row. 

Ara feels herself getting more and more annoyed when she thinks about Kai’s behaviour, and she feels like just snapping and calling him out for acting like a child. But she doesn’t, and she keeps her emotions bottled up until they’re done for the day.

“I call shotgun,” Tao yells, jogging out of the classroom with Sehun hot on his heels, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, slinging an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders. Chen has linked his arm with Ara, and they’re walking behind Kai who’s lost in his thoughts.

You’re not going. Ara keeps remembering how bossy he had sounded in the canteen, and she feels her jaw clench in anger. If he has got a problem with her, he should fix that first before he goes around controlling her life. They make it to the parking lot and everyone mount the car before Kai pulls onto the highway.

“This is my favourite song, guys,” Tao yells over the heavy bass, grinning at a sulking Sehun through the rear-view mirror. Ara is squeezed between Kyungsoo and Chen, and she keeps thinking about the phone-call in addition to Kai’s annoying behaviour, and she feels her blood boiling in anger.

But then, thankfully, Chen leans his head on her shoulder, and Kyungsoo interlaces their fingers, both of them projecting love and warmth, and Ara closes her eyes and sighs.

Kai finally pulls up in front of the pack house, and they all leave the car. Kris had returned earlier to take Luhan, Lay