The Runaway

Chapter 2 : Portland, Oregon

I woke up suddenly, every thought in high definition, my heart pounding. My eyes took in every ray of light and without a doubt, I knew I had slept for too long. I heard noises, probably coming from my family. I turned to my side only to see who was talking. It was Luisa, my sister and my mother. I groaned in despair, as the bright light coming from the sun was starting to burn my eyes. Luisa immediately got up and pulled down the shades on the window where the sun was coming in through. I thanked her.

"Would you like a croissant with chocolate and hazelnut spread?" She asked me with a gentle voice.

I nodded yes and sat up straight crossing my ankles. I folded the white cotton blanket that was covering my whole body and put it right next to my feet.
My sister handed me a plate with the croissant, kindly opened the table for me and grabbed the blanket from the dark carpet made out of polypropylene. How weird is it for me to know a lot about carpets? But out of nowhere, I started hearing some weird noises as if someone was jumping in a video game. I stood up and started looking around my surroundings, just to see Luca playing on his smartphone. I immediately stomped right up to him and ripped his phone away from his hands.

"Hey, I was trying to break my record!" He growled with a pissed voice.

"Keep quiet. Dad is trying to sleep, he had a rough night yesterday. Wait no, we ALL had a rough night yesterday, except for you I guess. We're all trying to rest and clear our minds while you suddenly think it's a good idea to start playing video games. At least show some respect towards mum and dad. And don't you ever, I repeat ever, growl at me again. I'm your elder, capiche?" After saying that, I slapped his forehead with my backhand.

"Capiche, MUM" he replied to me trying to imitate my voice.

"Valentina!" said my mum said harshly. " No need to scowl at brother. Watch your tone. Who. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Young.
Lady? Respect does not only apply to the elders, OK?"

"Mum, you always defend him, ALWAYS." I replied with anger in my tone.

"Valentina, where is this behaviour coming from? Now go back to your seat and give your brother his phone."

I sighed roughly and gave Luca his phone back and apologised.
After the occurred situation I returned to my seat, finding some magazines in a pocket next to my seat. One of the titles caught my attention. "The Lives of American Teens" it said. I decided to read it since I was going to start high school in Oregon and I'm not used to American slang.

I read the magazine, making weird faces here and there. I flipped the pages and started reading "Hot Right Now". One the hot movies were "The Diary of a Teen Lycanthrope." It amuses me how humans think none of this exists. Well, being a lycanthrope I knew the person who wrote this was one too. Turning the page, something caught my eye. It was my friend, Kyara Romano. Well, she's more than a friend, she is like a sister to me. I realised that I would probably never talk to her again.

She was so pretty in that picture, a bit too naked. She was wearing a golden two-piece swimsuit, that accentuated her curves. She didn't have too many which was probably the reason why she is a known model, a public figure and I'm not. I mean I'm pretty tall, but I sort of have a bigger butt than usual models. Even if I wanted to become a
model I couldn't because I'm a werewolf and my last name exposes a lot about me.

Sometimes I contemplate if being a werewolf is really a 'gift'. My mum always says it is, I just haven't discovered it yet... I snap out of my deep thoughts, when my dad, Antonio slowly approaches me, trying not to startle me.