IS IT JUST ME?

I joined my family for breakfast with a forced cheer that Mum mistook for me putting up a good attitude about having to go to school when most of my pack was on term break. I guess I wasn't as pro as Fluffy at masking his feelings.

Fluffy, on the other hand, masked it so flawlessly, I was almost convinced that it had been a one-sided fanciful dream on my part. He had pretty much floated in like a cloud glowing in the sunshine.

"Thanks." He smiled when Mum put his bowl in front of him. Today was cereal for breakfast, thus the bowl. The rest of it was self serve from whatever you found on the dining table.

"You're in a good mood." Mum noted as she poured out coffee for him. Fluffy drank it black, just like Dad.

Fluffy beamed, "I had a really sweet dream."

Oh really? I swallowed my skepticism with whatever half chewed cereal I had in my mouth. Honestly, I could barely taste it. I choked because the cereal still had hard bits, and glared at my bowl.

"Are you alright, Lala?" Mum asked, "You don't have to rush."

I nodded and unglamously coughed out the last bit of cereal, chewed properly and swallowed again.

Omo. Did Fluffy see that? I took a quick side glance, but Fluffy was leisurely sipping coffee as he scrolled down his screen.

Dad looked up from his screen too. I guess they were both sorting their Alpha inboxes and reports for the day. I watched them and didn't miss reading reports at all. While watching, I accidentally noticed how Fluffy's hair cut short like that was kinda cool.

Gah! Wth was wrong with me? I glared back at my cereal. You aren't being yourself! Get your head in the game! Focus on the food Sam!

It's been a long time since I last had cold cereal, like it was definitely a Before Ki staple. It used to be my favorite cereal. When did Lucky Charms taste like cardboard?

"Do you want me to make some eggs for you, Kai?" Mum asked because Fluffy hadn't touched his bowl.

I finished up my cereal, drinking it straight from the bowl. Mum forgot she was offering to cook Fluffy eggs. She even forgot to close her mouth or to not stare at someone who's eating.

"La?" Mum looked properly shocked.

What? Lala, the silly girl, never drank her cereal straight from her bowl. (Let me tell you that Sam ALWAYS finished her bowl of cereal this way.)

"Just coffee is fine." Fluffy answered so Mum snapped out of it and returned to her usual fussing, "I'm not sure you should be drinking coffee on an empty stomach."

"I'll grab something when I get to campus." Fluffy smoothly countered.

"Oh Kai! Do you have class today? It's Monday." Mum frowned because she always kept tab of our school hours - even after Kai started college at Black Forest University.

"I wanted to sit in a special lecture series." Fluffy answered, and then he tapped Dad's arm, "Have you heard of Professor W.A. Chimay? He's lecturing at Black Forest this month."

"Is that so?" Dad was immediately interested, "I didn't know you were interested in Lycan History and Culture. It's a good opportunity if you can attend a lecture or two. He's a master scholar and considered the foremost authority of our times in regards to our lycan heritage."

Fluffy's smile widened just a little bit, "He's also the Fire Pillar of the Snow Moon Pack."

"Sir Wolfgang?" Dad's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, more specifically, Sir Wolfgang Alexandre Chimay." Fluffy smiled.

Oh. I didn't know Wolfgang had a middle name, or a last name for the matter.

"Then you must meet him." Dad said.

"I'll see if I can invite him over." Fluffy offered with his usual smile.

"Oh." Dad thought about it, "Right, good call Kai. We can proceed with our plans quicker this way."

Why? Was Fluffy in that much of a hurry to get to the Undo Point?

TWANG ~ My heart suddenly grew strings. That was the sound of my heartstrings being pulled. My heart was otherwise empty… Oh look, my heart turned out to be a guitar. Twang twang twang. For me, the stars are aligning, for her its bad timing~ Twang twang twang. I know I was the one who wouldn't accept him, but…

Gah! WTH! I was seriously messed up. The quicker we got back, the better.

Anyway, while my heart was internally plucking out a love song and my mind was fuming about its infidelities, Dad and Fluffy were making proper plans to deal with our situation.

"I'll get Ben to call the meeting once I've set up with the Prof." Fluffy said.

"How confident are you that Sir Wolfgang would come with you?" Dad asked, "Perhaps the formalities…"

"Under the usual circumstance, Sir Wolfgang would never come." Fluffy cut Dad off with his usual smile, "But our circumstances is somewhat unusual, and also, I know what to say."

What? What was Fluffy going to say?

Dad nodded, "I'll leave it to you then."

What? No! This was Fluffy we were talking about right? How can you leave what to say to Fluffy? But Dad seemed to believe otherwise, "Right. Let Lucas know too. Good call, Kai."

Kai smiled, "That's why I'm your favorite son."

Dad blinked, and then he growled, "Rascal."

Kai and Mum laughed, and then both men went back to their screens and coffee.

"Oh dear," Mum realized all on her own, "You're late for school La."

Wait what? Oh right!

"I'm late for school!" I can't believe it!

"I blame the holiday mood." Mum laughed. She wasn't worried at all.

"I'm going to miss my bus! My perfect attendance record! My chance for student council!" Lala totally freaked out. Everyone knew the student council were only the most popular girls in the Lorent Girls' School, AND the only girls who got to hang out with the Lorent Academy Boys to organize combined school events.

My high school life was ruined!

"Kai, would you be able to send La to school on your way?" Mum asked.

Suddenly I realized why Mum was so calm about it. With two older brothers who could drive, it wasn't like I would actually be late.

"If you do, take my car." Dad said.

Kai paused. I froze. Wait, I can't go to school with Fluffy! That'll be like sitting in a confined space of a car for the entire ride with just the two of us. That'll be like awkward to the power of infinity! That'll be like…

"Okay." Fluffy's smiling mask was firmly in place, "But I'd need to go straight to Black Forest from there, so you won't see your car for the rest of the day."

Was he avoiding me too? Twang twang twang! I know I wanted to avoid him, but he wasn't allowed to avoid me! I decided to stop here and just go collect my school bag and things.

"Oh, Kai!" Mum smiled ruefully, "If you think we're allowing you to send your sister to school on the back of your bike…"

"That's fine." Dad waved it off, and then noticed Mum's expression and clarified, "I mean, it's fine for you to take the car for the rest of today. If I need a ride, I'd go with Luc."

It's not fine. Parents, you don't know this, but Fluffy was my soul mate. This was a serious problem!

"I can just take a bus." I said, "It's my own fault I'm late."

Mum smiled kindly at me, "Your dad says its fine. Let Kai take you to school today. Don't worry, if he makes you cry, I'll scold him properly when he gets back."

Wow, Mum was seriously extra nice to me. I guess in her eyes, crybaby Lala was the weakest of her four pups.

Mum sent Fluffy was warning look. He didn't stop smiling, "I'll behave."

I wanted to cry already.

Nothing in this timeline was going the way I wanted it to.

Fluffy stood up, "Come on, La. Let your beautiful brother send you to school."

I decided it would be best to just go, "Okay. Thanks."

I pulled my school bag across my shoulders, "Bye Mum, bye Dad. See you later."

The faster I got away from my parents the better. There were some conversations that I'd rather never have with my parents, and it turned out that Fluffy being my soul mate even though he's my brother, and technically this only happened because we had gone back in time and messed with fate and I actually had another soul mate… who probably wasn't my soul mate in this timeline, BUT I was going to undo everything, so don't worry, everything will be fine, and the future will be wonderful.

Anyway, I wasn't going to say it.

"Have a good day in school, La." Mum called airily. Just keep walking, Sam. Don't turn around.

"Come to my office when you get home." Dad said. I turned around then.

Mum looked surprised. I guess Dad forgot that unlike Sam, Lala very seldom stepped foot into the Alpha's office.

"I ah…" Dad fumbled when he realized his slip.

"We're settling some details for Kev's birthday party. Dad'll tell you more about it tonight." Fluffy quickly came to the save, "You don't have to do anything this year, Mum."

"Oh." Mum said and looked confused.

"Look forward to it!" Fluffy promised before quickly signaling me to follow him to safety. Was it that obvious that I was trying to make my escape?