Page 32 of Black Hollow: Awakening

“Group?” Alden repeated mockingly. “I’m friends with Liam.” That much Will already knew. He just still didn’t understand how that had happened. Blake and Liam had nothing in common. “Abby lives next door to me and we’ve known each other a long time. And Norma just happens to possess some impressive abilities.” Uh-oh. More ambiguity. If Blake weren’t such an antisocial bastard, Will would have concluded that he and Norma were friends with benefits. “You can’t even control your abilities yet, so why would I hang out with you?”

“So you only associate with people you need for something. In short, you use them.”

“No. I associate with people when I have no other choice. In your case, I have a choice, so just accept the fact that you won’t be my friend, let alone my boyfriend, which you probably secretly dream of, and leave me the hell alone.”

“Right,” Will scoffed, growing more and more irritated by his attitude. “Because everyone is dreaming of dating you, is that it?”

“No, you are. I heard you talking about me with your idiotic friend.”

“When did I… Okay, maybe it happened,” Will admitted after a moment’s thought. “But for your information, I never wanted to date you. Ever. I was enchanted by you, but now that I understand why, I see even more clearly how insufferable you are.”

“Excellent. Can we finally end this conversation, then?”

“So it’s because I’m human?”

“Yes.”

“So it’s just racism?”

“It’s… What?”

“Seriously?” Will hissed in outrage. “You have a Black friend! Maybe you should talk to him about why prejudice like that is not cool!”

“It’s not racism!” Blake seemed no less irritated. “Do you call a wolf a racist for not hanging out with a rabbit? Just accept that to me, you’re an inferior species and stop bothering me!”

“As it happens, the only wolf I know has no problem talking to me.”

For a moment, Blake was silent, and Will almost thought it was because of his argument, but when the vampire finally spoke again, it became clear it was something else.

“Did you just refer to a werewolf as a wolf? Do you realize how offensive that is?”

“And do you realize how offensive it is to call a human a pig?”

“I didn’t call anyone a pig! I used a metaphor! Can your tiny human brain even grasp that concept?”

“Oh! Who’d have thought a non-racist would consider the word human an insult!”

“It is an insult! From my perspective, not yours! Just accept that…!”

Something slammed on the tabletop and both of them jumped, looking up. Liam was standing next to them. He had apparently slammed his hand on the table.

“Hey,” he said casually. “Don’t want to interrupt you, it’s actually pretty funny to listen to, but if you keep this up, you’re going to draw everyone’s attention, and that’s a bad idea.”

“We’re done,” Blake and Will hissed in unison, glaring daggers at each other.

Liam chuckled.

“Nice to see you agree on something.”

Will was so furious about the conversation that he stewed over it for the rest of his classes. He promised himself he would never extend an olive branch to Alden again. He had tried. Dammit, he’d tried to find a single positive quality in that asshole, but he had found nothing.

When he got home, he saw his roommate in the living room.

“Hey, Dan,” he said wearily.

“Hey,” Danny muttered, his eyes glued to the TV screen.

“Weren’t you supposed to be at work today?”