WHEN FLUFFY WAS THE MASTERMIND

4 MARCH, THURSDAY, AFTER SCHOOL

I had to wait all the way till school was over before Fluffy explained everything to me. You know how I had felt there had to be a good explanation for this? Yeah, I was wrong.

In a nutshell, what happened was that my friends had all concluded that in order to fight for their individual true love and happy ending, they would have to combine forces and employ the most stoopid overcomplicated gratuitous scheme ever known to mankind. Trust me, it would put Lycan plots to shame.

Had you ever tried to share a single connect the dots activity sheet with four other pups under the age of 6? Yeah. In order to unravel this multi-leveled, largely entangled, completely revolutionary scheme, we will have to follow each colored line at a time.

Hopefully, all the lines would meet somewhere and the picture would make sense.

It took Fluffy all of the Talent Time Rehearsal time to explain it to me, so this might take a while.

It all started with Marcus' broken heart. The guys figured that the best cure for a broken heart was to go fishing. And as luck would have it, Abigail's birthday pool party would be the perfect fishing hole.

Of course, everyone knew that swimming pools didn't have fish. So they decided the best course of action was to bring their own fish.

"You're going to bring fish to Abigail's party?" Suddenly the entire plan sounded a little exciting.

{Did I say fish?} Fluffy smiled, {I meant dates.}

Ah. Oh. Yeah. Ahem. I knew that.

Anyway, Fluffy decided to explain more literally after that.

Ivan was going to come to the party with Janice. So now, Marcus was going to come with Leia, have a good time, and make Janice realize what she had lost out on.

If Marcus played his cards right, he'd be dating Leia after this. If he played it more than right, he'd be dating both Leia and Janice, but Fluffy didn't think it was likely to happen, {He's still new to the game.}

WTH... Don't teach nice guys like Marcus stupid games like that!

Actually, Fluffy leaned over because this was for my ears only, {Janice only agreed to go out with Ivan because she wanted Marcus to give up on her and move on. She blamed herself for Marcus' and Henry's fights.}

But they were always fighting!

And Ivan was only going with Janice because he was frustrated with Zara's constant rejection. The both of them had an agreement to help each other.

Fluffy knew all this because he asked Janice and she told him.

{Then why didn't you tell Marcus?} I hissed at Fluffy through the mindlink.

{She made me promise not to tell anyone.} Fluffy smiled.

{Then why are you telling me?} I asked.

{Because you're my alpha. I can't keep secrets from my alpha.}

I just can't win, can I? I pushed his smiling face away. We were mindlinking anyway, so there was no need to put our heads together like we were whispering.

Anyway, Fluffy thought Ivan and Janice's plan was most intriguing. {Vampires are always playing mind games. Humans are always playing heart games.}

The guys found Jasmine in class rather upset after THE TALK with Liam. It's official, they had broken up.

It was obvious to the guys that Liam actually still liked Jasmine a lot though. They left immediately to drag Liam away from his football game so that Henry could confront him...

{Wait, Henry did what?} I asked. And did they guys just take one look at Jasmine's crying face and stormed out of the class... leaving her crying alone in class? Yes, yes they did.

But only because Henry was leaving Winderhill and he was counting on Liam to take car of Jasmine. He refused to be the irresponsible alpha that would leave Liam and Jasmine hanging at his departure. He was also the kind of alpha who believed that everyone would fall apart without him.

Liam admitted that he really still loved Jasmine but was convinced that she was too good for him. No matter what the other guys told him, he wouldn't change his mind.

"I'm just a warrior, but Jas is obviously Luna material." Liam had insisted.

So now, Henry would take Jasmine to the party a la Ivan with Janice.

{Who's stupid idea was that?} I demanded.

{Mine.} Fluffy proudly told me.

So now Jasmine was supposed to go to the party with Henry and do everything in her power to make Liam jealous. And when he confronts her, she would admit that she preferred to be with him.

There was even a really sappy script that she had prepared. Fluffy had a copy because he had offered to proofread for the budding playwright. I shook my head, {I'd rather not read it.}

It was probably mushy... And private.

Liam was going with Kyrstal because when Fluffy informed him that Jasmine might be going with Henry, he had to go too - just to make sure she was alright.

And he didn't want to look like a stan, so he needed a date.

And Krystal? Krystal just needed a date. Because you know, she was chasing this too-cool-to-care dude who was definitely dating other girls too, so she couldn't lose out.

Like it was a competition...

Anyway, Fluffy assured me it was a win-win situation.

{Wait, so why did you guys tell me to choose if it was already set?} I asked.

{Ah, not exactly set, pretty alpha.} Fluffy explained, {Scary Alpha was sure you'd prefer to go with him. But don't worry, I knew you'd choose me.}

I would not! (Although I did.)

Anyway, me choosing Fluffy was the best choice and just made the plan easier.

Was it even possible for this plan to get more complicated? O.o

Back to the intricate plot, where were we? Ah, right. Zara.

Zara was heartbroken that Ivan was dating Janice now. Leia was the first to comfort her, "Now you know how I felt."

So Zara was going all out with EJ. Krystal believed it was crucial for Ivan to walk in on them "going all out." EJ was the kind of guy who like to go all out.

I was starting to think Fluffy was saying "going all out" the way he said "fish."

But then Fluffy said that Zara had chosen EJ because he was cute. She could pretend he was one of her hamsters...and then I didn't know what to think anymore.

I pressed my lips together. This entire plan was like a spontaneous disaster about to happen and I was almost afraid to ask, {What's our part in this plan?}

Fluffy beamed, {My part is to make sure everyone finds their happily ever after at the end of the night. Your part, Pretty Alpha... is to stay by my side. I'm told you're very lucky.}

No amount of luck was going to save this plot, Fluffy. I mean, I'm not a planning expert, but even I could tell that this plan was going to be the Titanic.

{Do you at least have a backup plan?} I asked.

Fluffy smiled, {Do not worry. In the very worst case, we'd all have an unforgettable night.}

Which was like saying, after the Titanic cracks its hull, we'll make a blockbuster movie about it.

In what way did I think this guy would be my pack's strategist to map us towards a better future? My yellow brick road might not be the single clear path that I had hoped for it to be. With Fluffy in charge, it might be more like a yellow brick maze with multiple entry and exit points.

"Hey, you two. Stop messing around. We're on." Henry growled.

He kicked Fluffy's chair when he passed us, "Don't try any funny business or I'll tell James."

Fluffy only smiled, "Don't worry, Scary Alpha. I'm just a dog."

"And I'm just a hamster." EJ chimed in.

And then they laughed and fooled around all the way up the stage because they were idiots like that.

The Talent Time Rehearsal was just as Harvey said it would be. We spent a long time waiting for our turn, and most of the acts just went up to adjust and test their instruments or whatever. If there was a music track, the PA team would test it to make sure everything was working.

Jules and Ramona were the busiest because they were the MCs for the event and had to take note of all the acts and when to talk more when it took longer for the next act to set up.

Our act had the biggest setup because we were the ONLY full band. The other contestants were either dancing or one or two instruments.

We had to bring in a full drum kit and a bunch of amps and mic stands etc. That's why we were coming up last. The teacher in charge decided that we'll play our set and just leave everything here till the prize giving was over.

At any rate, the winning item had to do an encore so I guess having all our stuff still on stage would make it more convenient for us. Because we were SO going to win this.

We made sure not to play too well though. Just the sound checks. I didn't sing, just did a mic check. EJ even passed me a tambourine. Did I ever tell you what IDIOTS my wolves were? But the tambourine was funny. I tested it on stage too.

After that, we had to pack everything up again and the teacher told us to put it all in one of the backstage changing rooms.

"Those look expensive. Don't want any of it to go missing." The teacher said. He gave Henry the key.

"Thanks Mr Sinclair."

"That's not fair." A blond hair girl complained, "Why do they get special treatment?"

"Well, they have expensive equipment..." Mr Sinclair tried to explain to the blond girl and the small crowd of contestants who had gathered to see what was going on.

"I have an expensive violin." The girl indicated to the violin case slung on her shoulder.

"But you can bring that home." Mr Sinclair explained again. He sounded a little annoyed now, "The drum set and keyboard and speakers are difficult to transport."

"I'm bringing my violin home too." Fluffy smiled his beautiful smile.

The girl looked at him and then huffed a little before her friend tugged her arm to leave, "Come on Anna. Don't make a scene here."

"Bye bye pretty girls!" EJ waved and called out to their departing backs. Anna turned to glare and her friend pulled her harder to get away. I think they were the duet - violin and piano. There was an old but tuned piano on the side of the assembly hall, so they were using that in their performance. They didn't really play more than tune the violin, so I can't tell if they were any good. BUT WE WERE A FULL BAND!

So that was it.

"I guess we're done here." I said when the guys finished packing in our stuff and Henry locked the door.

"Yeah. Let's go." Henry checked his watch - which probably cost as much as Anna's violin, come to think of it, "We need to hurry. What time does Sam have to be home again?"

"Dinner time." I said.

"Seven." Marcus said, checking his phone.

Yeah. What he said.

"Both your cars are waiting at the foyer." Marcus' phone was amazing because it could tell him things like that.

"Alright, let's hit Gold City." Henry said.

"Yay!" EJ celebrated the extra outing like he celebrated everything else in life, "Let's go shopping!"

"Don't mess around." Henry growled, "We need to settle our band outfits and I'm on a tight schedule."

"Don't worry Scary Alpha." Fluffy smiled, "EJ and I look good in anything."

"We look good in nothing too!" EJ boasted.

"Nobody wants to see that!" Henry pretty much snapped. He was far less patient than Mr Sinclair.

Fluffy and EJ laughed. Henry shook his head, "Throw them in the dungeons for another night, Sam."