Masked SheWolf (MSW book 1)

Chapter 29 - Michael

JUNE 2022 UPDATE: Go read "Lucy", a spinoff of the Masked SheWolf trilogy, now updating on Wattpad, and its "Behind the Scenes" companion book that includes character profiles and a complete recap of the trilogy, as told by the characters in interview format.

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I try to stay occupied so I don't get lost in my frantic thoughts. I don't want to allow myself to remember what happened, because I'm afraid I will start crying again. I've cried more than enough last night.

It's barely six in the morning when I get out of bed, but I just can't sleep anymore. A shower is out of the question, although I need one, because there's nothing stopping my thoughts when I stand under the water. I need to keep myself busy.

So I go to the kitchen first and clean everything in sight; from the dishes, to the oven, the floor and every surface imaginable. I even empty the fridge so I can shine it from the inside and rearrange the food in an obsessively organized way.

By the time I'm done, it's only eight in the morning. My family is still sleeping, so I move to the downstairs bathroom. It's the only one in the house that doesn't have a shower, so it doesn't take me long to finish with it. Plus, it's not as if I have any experience cleaning bathrooms or anything.

Since today's a Saturday, I don't think anyone might wake up before nine, which means I have just enough time to make them breakfast. If I'm a bad house cleaner, that's nothing compared to how terrible I am at cooking.

I burn the pathetic excuse for a coffee and basically spill it all over the counter I just cleaned. The pancake mix is too muddy. I throw it out without even trying to fix it. I put too much pressure on the oranges and end up breaking the squeezer. When I decide to make eggs, the shell falls onto the frying pan, and I have to pick out the broken pieces while it's hot. The yolk spills all over the egg white, and it ends up looking like an omelet. Thankfully, this one doesn't get burned. The toast is easy to make, and I get the jam jar to place it on the table next to it. Milk and various kinds of cheese also follow.

Just as I'm serving the omelet on plates I've arranged at the table, my family walks in. They must have woken each other up when they didn't find me in bed and come down looking for me. They care, I know they do, but they don't understand.

Nope, don't go there, I warn myself.

If I think about the talk with my parents, I might start thinking about other things that happened yesterday.

I try to smile as brightly as possible. "Morning!"

They stare at me like I'm a ticking time bomb, and they're afraid to set me off, if they so much as look at me the wrong way. That's a reaction I didn't expect.

"Hi," Mason is the first to tentatively reply.

"Um, honey," my mom says, "did you clean up?"

I hop on toward her. "I sure did!" I reply quite smugly. "Do you like it?"

"Oh, I'm really happy you decided to do some chores, it's just..." she hesitates, looking like she's worried whatever she has to say will hurt my feelings. "People don't... generally use this kind of bleach for dishes, and dish washing liquid is not really made to clean floors."

A little dejected, I look around at what I thought was an accomplishment for me. How did my mother know what products I used? Even I can't tell, and I have a better sense of smell than she does.

"Oh," I reply sadly. "Sorry."

"Breakfast looks great, though," Danny comments to try and cheer me up.