Chapter Six
Abigail:
I was sitting at the table I was at yesterday, trying to control the sound of my growling stomach. I was so hungry right now, and all I wanted to do was cry at how hungry I was. I was just happy the café was made too loud by the teenagers for anyone to hear my growling stomach. I looked around and saw spaghetti, sandwiches, and other stuff that made me even hungrier! I know the more I didn't think about it, the faster it would just go away, but right now, my stomach wanted some pizza.
I felt people come up to my table, and I turned my head back to see Scott and his brothers and their girlfriends sitting down at my table. My eyebrows forward together as I turned to Colleen, who sat down next to me. She smiled.
“I don’t care what you say—well, you get what I mean, but we’re sitting with you,” she said. She then looked annoyed. “Plus, I can talk to you about how much of a jerk Tristan is."
Tristan sighed heavily. “Colleen, don’t start this again! Let’s face the facts. Babe, your father hates my guts.”
Colleen turned her head to him and scoffed, “He doesn’t! I want you to come over tonight so we all can spend time together and for you and him to get to know each other!, Tristan, why can’t you do this one thing for me?!” Tristan then turned on Colleen and went off about her not making him feel guilty and other stuff.
“Sky, I’m not drinking that!” Haley complained at the carton of milk in front of her. “You know I can’t drink just plain milk. If you want me to drink milk it's got to be chocolate,” She snapped at him.
“Hal, it’s much better. It’ll be healthier for him,” he said, opening the carton of milk.
“But it smells weird for some reason,” she said, pushing it aside. “I’ll just end up throwing it up. No, I refuse.” Now they went off arguing for some reason about eating healthier for some baby. I couldn’t really see if she was pregnant or not since she was wearing a large hoodie.
“Shay, no more!” Victoria hissed and her voice was raising, but she controlled it. “I am too young to become a mother. Getting pregnant by mistake was one thing, but on purpose? I don’t think so. We’ll have kids when we finish college.”
Shay groaned. “But college is too far away. I grew attached the idea of it last year and I…I just wish that stupid miscarriage never happened,” he whispered, but hissed it.
“Well, it did. I didn’t want it either, but everything happens for a reason,” she said. They now went off arguing about this so called miscarriage. What is with these people and having kids? I turned my head to Scott who was next to me and I gave a disbelieving, shocked look.
He brought his can of soda up to his mouth and took a sip. “Welcome to my life.” he said as he shook his head.
At that moment my stomach cried out loudly. Embarrassed, my hand flew to my stomach, and my cheeks burned up. I looked down at the table in embarrassment. I should have sneaked something from the lunch room.
Scott:
I heard Abigail’s stomach growl and she quickly looked away; her pale cheeks burned to a beautiful crimson red. Her hands were over her stomach now and she pushed her hair in front of her face. I reached out and put my hand under her chin, lifting her face up. She lifted her head up to face to me. I smiled and brushed her hair behind her ear. I smiled wider and moved my tray of food in the middle of us,
“Here, we can share.” She hesitated, staring at me to see if I was serious. “Come on, Abby, take whatever you want. You,” I said, inching closer to her to ask her without the others hearing, “You do eat, right? You aren’t anorexic, are you?” I asked. She shook her head and grabbed the notepad I gave her earlier.
She wrote down, why do you care so much to share with me? Why are you being so nice to me?
I shrugged. “Why not, would you prefer me to be an asshole?” I asked sarcastically. She gave me a ‘shut up’ look. I made eye contact with her and she wouldn’t look away. I sooo want to kiss her right now.
I knew it would be stupid, but my wolf side pushed me towards her and I could see she was nervous, but she stayed right there. Her eyes then went wide and she grabbed the apple from my tray and bit into it. She was chewing at it nervously as she stared down at the table. Damn!
I wanted to hit myself in the face. I realized it got quiet around the table and I turned my gaze from her to see everyone looking at us. I shot them a look to go back to whatever they were doing and they started arguing again about their own drama. I slumped back in my seat. This is going to be so much harder than I thought.
*
Abigail.
Milk
Iced tea
I read on the list that my dad had given me for grocery shopping. I do the grocery shopping because my mom won't do it. And my dad sure as hell won't. So I do it.
Taking the list, I went to the grocery store. I had to bring Tyler along, and I got odd looks from older people, thinking he’s mine and I’m some teen mom. I opened the fridge and grabbed a gallon of milk and Swiss’ iced tea. I placed it in the cart and Tyler started banging the rattling toy on the cart handle.
I walked up to him and took it. “No, Tyler.” I said, pointing my finger at him.
The noise was loud and it was kind of giving me a headache. He pouted his lower lip out, but I didn’t give in to his baby green eyes. I took the bottle with his juice out and held it out to him. He shook his head and started being stubborn. I groaned.
“Tyler, drink it…or I’ll just have to,” I said, putting it in my mouth and sucked from it. He made an ‘ehh’ sound and reached out for it. I chuckled and handed it to him.
“Thought so.”
I pushed the cart and looked for the rest of the stuff I needed to get. I sighed. God I feel so tired. I yawned. I always feel tired, I thought bitterly. I pushed the cart down a bit further and stopped. I couldn’t help, as I walked down the aisle, thinking of Scott leaning in and it was like he was about to kiss me. Hell, he was about to kiss me! I was sitting there like an idiot, not knowing what he was doing and kind of got lost in his brown eyes again; but I realized it when his lips were half an inch from touching mine!
Butterflies fluttered around in my stomach at the thought. A tight smile appeared on my face even though I was trying to control it. I shouldn’t be smiling at the thought of Scott kissing me! That’s a dangerous move on me and I’m just lucky I took another way around the school to get home, avoiding another possible offer to get a ride home. What I hated most was…I wanted him to kiss me. Ugh. I can’t help but love the attention he was giving me.
I don’t know why, but I felt kind of…special. As if I was good enough to be liked by someone. I turned the corner at the end of the aisle, but ran right into someone. I saw a hand grasp down at the end of the cart so it wouldn't tip over. My head snapped up to see it was Scott, Skylar, and Haley. I opened my mouth and the words almost—almost—left my mouth. I gave them an apologetic look, but they were staring with eyes wide at Tyler. I raised an eyebrow and looked down at him.
His upper body was turned, looking back at them.
Haley was the first to wake up and she walked over to him. “Well, isn’t he a cutie,” she said. She put her hands under his armpits to lift him up, but he started fussing and pulling. She abruptly let him go and stepped back, shocked. I gave her another apologetic look, and took Tyler out of the cart seat when he started crying and put him on my hip. I bounced him on my hip, and he clung to me, making me roll my eyes. His crying slowed down until he stopped. He loosened his holding and I grabbed his bottle that he dropped on the floor and held it to him.
He took it with both hands and sucked on it.
“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to scare him,” Haley said and I shook my head and smiled. I pointed at him and rolled my eyes.
“He’s adorable, though. How old is he?” I held all my fingers out from my right hand and then put my last finger down.
“Nine months?” she asked and I nodded.
“What’s his name?” I looked at her, trying to figure out how I could tell her though. I looked at Skylar and realized his name was close to Tyler.
I pointed at him and she turned her head, “Skylar? His name’s Skylar?” I pulled my thumb and index flower an inch apart from each other to say ‘close’. I made a T in the air and she thought for a second.
“Tyler?” she questioned and I nodded. She smiled. “Oh, hi, Tyler,” she said, waving at him, and he hid his face in the crook of my neck. I smiled in amusement and rolled my eyes. I put him back in the cart and he kept his head down.
I raised my hand in ‘goodbye’ and she nodded and waved to Tyler.
“Bye Tyler,” she said and he just looked at her quickly before looking back down at the floor. I avoided looking at Scott when I passed him, and I felt his gaze on me. I needed to hurry up now and go to the checkout stand. I called my dad from the pay phone, and let him know I was done. I can’t believe I got held up back there and it was people I go to school with. I sighed, they’re like pests: hard to get rid of.
*
Scott:
I didn’t know how I felt. I felt shocked, but sick at the same time. She has a kid? She has a fucking kid! Oh, god, this is…shocking. I walked out of Giants and leaned against a vending machine. I put my hand under my mouth and my mind was running. He couldn’t have been her kid. She’s too young to be a mother. I thought miserably. Ah hell, that doesn’t matter! I thought. Now I know why she’s so defensive!
All this shock and confusion was making me light headed and sick. The way that boy clung to her; it was so mother and son like. I've seen that happen before, when baby boys are mama’s-boys. And he was acting very much like a mama's-boy.
Oh, jeez. I was probably just jumping to conclusions, but I was in so much shock! Who shopped for food and baby stuff alone and had a kid in a cart! You would start to wonder and anything’s possible. My mate has a kid! I thought briefly. And it’s not mine. At that thought I almost passed out. This made me feel a little more uneasy.
Skylar and Haley came out and Skylar held his hands up. “Okay, man, relax before—” Skylar started to say. But it was too late. I turned around and punched a hole right through the vending machine. Glass broke everywhere and I stared at it in shock. I can’t believe I just fucking did that! I’m in deep shit now.
“Dude, come on!” Skylar said and he grabbed the back of my shirt, turning me around. “Come on, before anyone notices,” he said and dragged me to the Jeep. We all got in and drove away. “Okay, listen; this isn’t the end of the world.”
“End of the world?” I questioned, leaning in between his seat and the passenger seat. “Dude, I now know why she doesn’t want to be with me. She probably has some guy back where she used to live. And she’s probably still in love with him. She already has a family with someone else.” I slouched in my seat miserably.
“You don’t know that for sure.” Haley said. “It was probably her little brother or something.”
“She’s sixteen! Why would her parents wait this long to have another child?” I questioned. No one said anything so I continued. “I don’t think so. This is why she doesn’t like me.”
“You don’t know that,” Skylar said. He took a deep breath and snapped. “Stop freaking out and ask her tomorrow. Take some deep breaths.”
I sat back in the seat, trying to take his advice. My body felt like I was having an adrenaline rush. I felt trapped suddenly and I needed to be let loose. My wolf wanted to come out; he was more freaked out than me. I looked out the window when we came into the woods. We live about a mile into the woods for many reasons. And this is one of them.
I felt my nails start to lengthen. “Stop the car,” I breathed out.
“What?” Skylar questioned, turning around in his seat quickly for a second.
“Stop the fucking car now, Skylar, or your backseat will get destroyed!” I warned in a whisper, but I wanted to yell. Skylar turned back around and stopped the car quickly. I practically jumped out and ran towards the woods. I stripped my clothes as I ran, and when I was far enough into the woods, I turned into my dark brown wolf.
After a few hours of running all around most of the northern part of Vermont, I stopped and turned back. I felt more relaxed and sat down on the ground. I looked up at the sky and laid back. What’ll I do if Tyler is her baby? I thought. I’ll still find a way for her to become mine. I thought solemnly. I won’t stop. I’ll be there for them both no matter what. I can handle this no matter what. I promised myself. I shouldn’t blame a child for ruining things. And from what I saw back in Giant, Abigail seems to love him a lot. I’ll love him, too, then.
The urge to see Abigail rushed through me and all I wanted to do was to have her in my arms. I was trying to fight myself to stand down, but I couldn’t help it. I turned back into a wolf and went to find my clothes. Go to Abigail’s house.
*
I walked into her backyard, trying to catch her scent to see where her bedroom was. I found it and saw her light was on. I looked at the tree that was close to her bedroom window and went over to it. I climbed up the tree pretty smoothly and leaned close to the window. The curtain in her room was open slightly, and I know I shouldn't peek in like some stalker or pervert; but I couldn’t help it. I saw her sitting on her bed, brushing her hair. Something looked off, though. Right under her right eyes on her cheeks looked a darker shade of her skin tone. It looked like someone punched her.
I was leaning in too close to the window and next thing I know, I lost my balance. I flailed around but it was too late to grab anything, so I fell right on my back. It was also too late to land swiftly down on my feet, so I crashed down on my back and a cry left my mouth.
“Shit,” I cursed, pain rushing threw me. I leaned up and put one of my hands behind my back. I groaned and cursed again. I heard Abigail's window open and I looked up. She looked shocked, but then looked at me like I was crazy. I got up from the ground and stretched, quickly healing. As I began to climb the tree again, she shook her head and continued to look at me like I was the craziest person on the planet.
I sat down on the branch this time and held my hand out towards her. She looked at my hand and shook her head.
“Come on, Abigail. Come out here with me.”, I whispered so I wouldn't wake her parents up or anything. She shook her head and pointed out her backyard.
"I’m not leaving,” I said. “So, come out now or I’ll bring you out.” She brought her index finger up to the side of her forehead and waved it around in a circle. I chuckled. “I’m not crazy, but come on. Live a little. Sneak out with me.” She shook her head and looked down. She pointed inside her room and I leaned in a little to see she was pointing at her door.
“He won’t know you’re gone,” I told her, though I wasn't really sure about that.
“Please, just thirty minutes. I promise no more than that and I’ll bring you back.”
She shook her head again and she closed her window halfway until I reached out and stopped her. She looked at me and her eyes met mine. I gave her a kind look. “Please, Abby. I just want to hang out. We don’t even have to talk, just walk around.” She looked at me for a few seconds, biting her lower lip. I gave her a pleading look and she sighed heavily and nodded her head at me in defeat. She opened the window again and I smiled. She pointed her finger and gave me a serious look.
I chuckled, “I promise I’ll keep you safe.”
Her expression dropped and she looked at me in shock. My eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as I stared back at her. That is what she meant, right? She’s worried about falling or something? She just shook her head and held her hand out. I helped her out the window and she clung to me as I helped her out and onto the tree. I grinned at her and dropped from the tree smoothly.
Her mouth dropped since the fall was about nine feet. I held my arms out. “Come on, jump. I’ll catch you, I promise,” I told her and she gave me uncertain look.
“I promise; I won’t let you fall. Trust me.” Her uncertainty grew and I sighed. “Abby, I promise I won’t let you get hurt. I’ll catch you; you just have to believe me. I won’t let you get hurt.”
She stared down at me, biting one side of her lower lip. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and opened them again. I saw the nervousness in her eyes. I saw her lips moving like she was counting to three and she dropped from the tree. I caught her by the waist and her arms flew around my neck tightly.
I chuckled and placed her lightly on her feet. “See, I caught you.” Her cheeks just heated up and she looked away, but a small smile was on her face.