I'll Wait For You - NaNoWrimo 2016 [DISCONTINUED]

A Discussion Over Cinnamon Rolls

"You should come inside, sweetheart.” The woman says. I don’t object and she forces me inside, my jelly-legs wobbling the whole way. The other three stay outside, yelling at each other. She sits me

down on a stool in the warm kitchen – the smell of cinnamon rolls assaulting my nostrils. “Tea?” She asks calmly, but her hands are shaking.

I nod and she starts making it. I’ve never liked tea, but I’m too freaked out to do anything but nod at this point, so it looks like I’ll suck it up and have some chamomile.

“Because Alpha, Peter! That’s why we can’t tell her!” The guy’s rough voice says. Peter mumbles a reply right outside the door and he scoffs. “You’re an idiot. Sabrina, did you make cinnamon rolls?”

The woman, Sabrina, and now it clicks that she must be Peter’s mom, holds out a plate to the boy. He sits down next to me, and I can’t help but noticing that he looks awfully smoldering in his leather jacket. “I’m Jared Mikelson, not that you asked.”

“Charlie Neal.” I whisper back. I do not think that I have ever seen someone eat a cinnamon roll with a fork before in my life. But, then again, I’ve been living a very sheltered life. Sabrina puts a mug of tea in front of me. I sip without blowing it first and scald my tongue. I let out a mini whimper of pain.

Peter sits down on the other side of me, grabs a cinnamon roll, and sighs. “What’s your first question?” Jared sighs as Peter asks this, and grabs another cinnamon roll.

“You’re a wolf.” I ask, finding enough courage to finally speak the words.

He nods bleakly. “Since I was born. I got the gene from my dad. He’s not around anymore. Jared and Trina are the only other two wolves I’ve ever met, but I know that there’s more out there. A lot, actually.”

“Do you only change on the solstice?” Peter looks at me, surprised at my level of intelligence on the subject. I’m impressed with my level-headedness. Christy would have lost it.

“No. Solstices, equinoxes, and full moons. But, let me say, being a wolf, it’s … not something we like. That being said, we can force ourselves to change if we want to. It takes a lot of concentration. But until we’ve found our mates –“ He says the word like it causes him great pain, “ – we will always pose a threat to any humans we come across in this form.”

“And nosy humans, like you, aren’t supposed to know about us.” Trina, the black wolf, comes padding into the kitchen, wearing a black camisole and jack-o-lantern short shorts. Jared stares a little too long as she walks by before sighing heavily and finishing off his cinnamon roll. She smirks and Peter turns to me, running his pinkie along the rim of my half-empty mug. Sabrina seems to have wandered off.

“She’s right. Humans aren’t supposed to know. The only sort of government we have is Alpha.” Very ironic, I might add, but I don’t. “They make sure humans don’t know.” Panic freezes me even more than I already was frozen. “But now that I’ve told you, I’m going to make sure that they never find out about it, Charlie. You’re safe.”

“I don’t feel very safe.” I say, looking down at my red Converse.

“I’ll help.” Trina says, pouring herself a mug of tea. “You have one chance to prove to me that you’re

not as uptight as you look and that you can actually deal with this.”

“This is a bit much.” I say, standing suddenly.

“I told you, we should have just wiped her!” Jared growls.

“Shut up!” Peter screams. “It would be a lot for anyone, and you’re not helping!” Jared looks at him and Peter nods.

“What does that mean? Can you guys, like, wipe minds?” Jared nods and my mouth drops.

“We can also talk to anyone through a series of telecommunication nerve endings, once we establish a connection with someone, which is a bit painful for humans. I would do it to you, but you have plans to meet your friend at the mall soon.” Peter says, putting my phone back in my pocket.

“We also have great ears.” Trina says, glancing at Jared and baring her teeth in a touching sort of way. I mean, it must be touching to them. It looks quite odd to me.

“I’ll drive you.” Peter says. “If you don’t mind. You don’t seem to be in any condition to drive.”

“By all means.” I say, throwing him Christy’s keys.

He catches them, of course. “I’ll be seeing you real soon.” Trina winks as I walk by.

“Hopefully, under less … odd circumstances.” I reply and follow Peter.

“You know I’m not taking you to the mall, right?”

“Oh, I figured.” I say, sliding into the passenger seat.

“I mean, you just found that wolves are real, and you’re not freaking out, and me driving you to the mall would probably end with you telling the whole world our secret.”

“I’m not a rat!” I screech.

“You probably need sleep. And time to process this. In the meantime, I’ll … think of something to do to make you feel safe.”

“Safety is an illusion.”

“Who said that?”

“I don’t know. Some famous guy.” I cross my arms and look at the scenery.

"You know, you're really smart, Charlie." I look at him, eyebrows raised. "But you probably already know that."

"You think? I would say the same about you, but I can't. You have horrible conversational skills and you're dating my sister. Sorry, but she wants to break up with you." The car slows about 10 mph and Peter glares at me, angry.

"You can't lie about things like this."

"I'm not lying. Unless you give her a reason to stay, she's going to leave. You have to tell her you're a wolf." I say, sad for him inside. Deep deep inside.

"I'll show her. Next full moon." He says, turning his attention back to the road.

"But, you can't, Peter! You won't be able to control yourself!" I scream. He should just tell her. Showing her would be ridiculous and dangerous.  He doesn't respond. His eyes are locked on the road, without even blinking. "Wait, do you think Christy is like, your soul mate?"  I gag and press my hands on my stomach to keep it from bursting.

"Wolves have an incredible sense of smell. All I know is, Christy has the most intoxicating smell. Like apples, almost. I've never felt this way about anyone like her. So, when I show her, I know that I won't hurt her. I won't let myself."

"That's very endearing. But, it doesn't sound like a guarantee."

"I'll show her near dawn. Have her come out to the woods near my house - we're always right in there, and she'll see. Then she'll know, and we'll live happily ever after." He says, smiling to himself.

Well, he does sound pretty confident. And his plan does sound pretty foolproof. "She needs to know."

"And that she will, Charlie. That she will." I laugh at his tone and focus on the road again.