Decode Me (On Hold)

Falling Slowly

***

"I don't know what to do," I sighed, bursting through my father's bedroom door and plopping down on his futon.

"About?" He questioned, shutting his laptop and giving me his undivided attention, like he always has and always will.

"Dad, I am having girl problems."

He laughed loudly. "Hunter Myers, the girl magnet, is having girl problems? Oh, the irony," He continued to cackle, a huge smile on his face.

"Not funny, old man," I chuckled, hurling a pillow at him.

He caught it with ease, darn him. "So, tell me about her."

"Well, she's absolutely beautiful, and I don't think she has a clue sometimes. She can be a bit of a fireball sometimes," I smiled at the thought of her the first day we met, literally yesterday.

"You're thinking about her."

"Yeah. I met her yesterday. She just moved here, and is living with the Ackermans. I was passing by the house when I saw her on the rocks by the pond. She didn't see me at first, only heard me. I'm telling you, Dad, her senses are lethal!"

"Go on, son," He laughed at my amazement.

"Well, when I finally came out, she wouldn't talk at first. I don't know if she was confused or scared, but she was silent. So I asked her if she was mute, to try and provoke her-OW!" I screeched as my father slapped my arm.

"If she was, that could have been offensive. Now, carry on."

I rolled my eyes before continuing. "Anyways, she said, 'No, I'm just not fond of pigheaded boys interrupting my precious alone time.'"

We both laughed lightly at that.

"And when I got closer, I looked into her eyes, and I knew it."

"She's your mate?"

"I don't know... I mean, I think she is..."

"But?"

"But, either she is totally clueless or she knows and doesn't want to hurt me by rejecting me, so she's keeping quiet."

"What does she look like?" He asked, brokenly, taking the picture of my mother he kept off of his desk and looking at it.

"She actually looks a lot like mom. She has really pretty brown hair with lighter strands mixed in. Her eyes are a light green, and if you look close enough, you can see a few darker specks in them. She's pretty small, only about five feet five inches or so and barely weighs anything," I breathed in, closing my eyes and enjoying the feeling I got just from talking about her. "She's closed off. I think something horrible has happened to her."

"What makes you say that?"

"Today, at the party, she was terrified of being smashed in the crowd. She said it was claustrophobia, but she was lying. Then, whenever I was really close to her, she'd get skittish and freak out. And, when Karter grabbed her arm to take her somewhere, she recoiled from her, like she was afraid. Dad, she was shaking and she ran off after."

"Doesn't sound good. Actually, Son, don't freak, because I might not be right. But, she might have been abused at some point.  I knew a kid who'd acted the same way and... a few weeks later, I walked into his house to find his father beating him."

A low growl rose from my chest, and I did nothing to stop it. If someone had so much as touched my mate the wrong way, they would die for it. I blindly stormed out of the room, headed for mine. Once there, I picked up my phone, dialing 2 for Parker's speed dial.