I must have fell asleep sometime later, my head resting on Al's leg while I hold onto his hand tightly. I don't remember dreaming, one of the first times I haven't dreamt other than those times when my visions made me to tired to dream. I open my eyes slowly, but don't move. I shiver, sitting up slowly and looking at Al's face. He hasn't moved an inch, and that worries me even though his heart rate is normal. I sigh and hear the door open behind me. I look over and see Lucas and Jare walk in the room. I take Al's hand again.
"Anything change?" Jare asks me, and I shake my head slowly.
"No, he's still sleeping." I close my eyes at the lie, then open them and look down at Al. I brush some hair out of his face, noticing again how pale his skin is underneath the fluorescent light. I sigh, looking up at Jare and Lucas. "I wish he'd stir or twitch at least." I meet Lucas's brown eyes, noticing something in them that I've never noticed before. And I don't mean worry for Al, but something else. I look away, meeting Jare's blue eyes and seeing worry for Al and me, and how much he cares about me. He comes over to me and hugs me close. "Why did it have to be him?" I whisper, tears trying to escape.
"I don't know, but he's safe now." He looks down at me, wiping a tear away that had escaped. "You're safe." I shake my head. "What? Of course you are. That bitch is gone-"
"No, she's not. Missy came and told me something before I slapped her." They both listened as I told them what she said, word for word. Jare, with his werewolf temper, gets angry fast. I calm him down though, just by touching his cheek. Lucas on the other hand, stayed quiet. I watch him as I calm Jare down. "What are you thinking about?" I ask Lucas finally, and he looks at me with those brown eyes.
"What?" He asks, clearly lost in thought.
"What are you thinking about?" I repeat.
"What Missy said to you, do you think she's telling the truth?" He asks.
"I hate when people answer with a question." I mumble, making him and Jare smile. "At first I thought she was just crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it sounded right. I wouldn't believe her, but I have a feeling that she's right."
"I see." Lucas leans against the wall, watching me and Jare. I see a flash of whatever that feeling is in his eyes, and I can't take it anymore.
"Can we talk?" I ask him, making Jare look at me funny. "Alone, please?" Lucas nods, walking out into the hallway. "Stay with Al for me please." I get up, heading out towards the hall when Jare catches my hand and turns me around. "Jare-" He kisses me. When he stops, he pulls away and looks at me with soft blue eyes.
"Am I still yours?" I look at him, blushing.
"Isn't that what I said?" I answer, making him smile.
"Thought you hated when people answered a question with a question?" I nod.
"I do, and you just did." He smiles and kisses my forehead. "Jare, you are mine. I just need to talk to Lucas." He nods.
"Sorry if I seem possessive, it's getting close to the full moon and it's making me kind of antsy. Or well, the beast inside me is getting antsy." I stroke his cheek.
"It'll be okay, but I need to talk to him." He nods and let's go of me, taking my spot beside Al.
"I'll watch Al."
"Thank you." I smile and kiss his cheek before I walk out and look at Lucas who's standing halfway down the hall. I head his way and lean on the wall. "What's up?" I ask him.
"I should be the one asking you that since you wanted to talk to me."
"I meant what's up with that look you keep giving me." He looks at me, and I know he's hiding his thoughts from me. "Don't lie to me Lucas." He stares at me, thinking but I can't see his thoughts.
"You're so clueless aren't you?" He whispers looking at the ground.
"What do you mean?" I cross my arms.
"Nothing. Is that it?" I shake my head.
"No, it's not nothing. Tell me." I insist, making him sigh. "Lucas-"
"You wanna know about the look I've been giving you?" I nod. "You really wanna know?" I swallow, but nod again. "I love you Sophie." I go to say something but he keeps going. "I have since we were little kids. Pushing you out of my life hurt me so much because I knew how much I love you. I wanted to talk to you everyday we were apart, but I couldn't because I saw how hurt you were. How much I hurt you. And that crushed me. Then I saw you with Jare, and before I really understood everything about monsters and being a hunter like I do now, I thought that he was better for you because he was there to pick you up after I let you fall. If I hadn't of hurt you, I'd be the one you were calling your own-"
"Stop!" I say finally, interrupting him. "Just stop." I look away from him, but he makes me look at him.
"I don't want to." There's tears in his eyes and I want to look away, but he holds my face still. "Sophie, you are the best thing in my life and in this world. The purest thing in this monster filled world."
Then his lips are on mine and we're kissing. His kiss is different than the kisses me and Jare shared. His lips don't really mold to mine like Jare's and he's not being gentle like the last kiss Jare gave me or rough like the first kiss Jare and I shared, it's something in between there. Then I realize his hands rest on my elbows, as if supporting me, and his body is pressing mine against the wall.
I want to pull away, but I can't.
I want to push him away, but I don't.
I want to just run from him, but I know it's impossible with how he's got my body trapped.
He doesn't touch me, just kisses me and presses against me. Finally his lips are gone, and I look down, picking a spot on his shirt to stare at. He doesn't move, but I feel his eyes on me as I stare.
"Soph? Sophie?" I meet his blue eyes, then I push him away and start walking back towards Al's room. "Sophie!?" I go in and run into Jare, not realizing I'm crying until he pulls me in his lap and cradles me.
"Sophie, what's wrong? Did he do something?" I know I should tell him, but I can't. I know it'll hurt him. "Sophie?" I meet his brown eyes and nod slowly. "What did he do?"
"He..." I look up as Lucas shows up at the door. "kissed me." I whisper and I feel Jare's rage, explode.
"WHAT!?" He roars and I flinch slightly, looking at him to see the beast's ugly head rearing up. I put both hands on his cheeks and try to make him look at me. "YOUSONOFABITCH! THISISMYGIRLANDYOURKISSINGHER!? YOUBETTERRUN-"
"Jared!" He looks at me with those yellow eyes, but I put my forehead against his. "Please calm down." I whisper, feeling him shaking. "I'm your girl, not his." I feel his arms wrap around me, pulling me closer. "Please, for me, calm down." Slowly, he stops shaking and I feel my Jare return.
"I'm sorry." He tells me, then glares at Lucas. "Why the hell did you kiss her?" Lucas doesn't reply, just turns on a heel and walks away.
«^-^»
It's been a month since I was in the hospital, Jare never left my side, missing school with me. We missed Thanksgiving and Christmas break, but I don't either of us cared. I caught up pretty quickly with school since all my teachers spent time after school with me to catch me up, and Jare helped me with Chemistry.
Al woke up about a half a month ago, confused about everything. Before he woke up though, dad and I agreed that we wouldn't tell him about Missy or her mother or grandmother being monsters. But we would tell him that Missy's mom went crazy and kidnapped him with Missy's help, so he wasn't aloud near Missy or her grandmother. Jewel disagreed with everything we said, but since she's been gone most of Al's life, she stayed quiet since she knew she didn't know what was best for him.
We finally got Al back home, but on bed rest. Sadly, he'd have to either go through summer school or repeat a grade to catch up since he won't be back until later. None of us asked what he remembered, and the question has burned in my mind since he woke up.
Right beside the question: where did Lucas disappeared to after the day in the hospital?
Today is Friday, my first day back to work since that day I had my vision. It's nice to get back to normal, whatever that is. I haven't had any visions, and there hasn't been any sign of Ms Brokeheart. Hopefully that means she's gone from my life forever, even though I know that's untrue. I mean how could it when I have that damn gut feeling that she'll be back and she'll kill me if she gets the chance.
These thoughts run through my mind the whole time I'm driving towards work, knowing Jare will be there waiting for me.
Since I got out of the hospital, we've sorta became a legit couple. We're not one of those couples that suck face in the hallways or sneak off to touch each other and have sex, but one of those couples that are best friends and holds hands more than kisses. Which is nice. I mean, we've sneaked off a few times and made out, but those are rare moments. My dad approves of Jare even though he knows Jare changes every new moon into a beast that is unstable and could very well kill me if I say the wrong thing when he's not in his right mind.
I need to remember to mark the next new moon in my phone and calendar so I'm ready for it.
I pull into my parking spot behind the coffee house and turn my '79 Station Wagon off, looking at the clock to see I'm still early. I climb out anyway and make my way inside, grabbing a fresh blueberry muffin and a mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows. I sit at a table and pick at my muffin and sipping my drink as Jare plops down beside me, grabbing a giant chunk of my muffin and popping it in his mouth. I glare at him.
"Hey Soph." He smiles at me with little bits of muffin in his teeth.
"That was my muffin." I say.
"So? What's yours is mine, and what's mine is yours." I stick my tongue out which he kisses, making me blush and pull back.
"Jared!" I hiss, still not into the whole P.D.A. thing. He laughs and I glare. "Trying to get me fired?" I ask him.
"No, course not." I sigh.
"When's the new moon?" I ask.
"Three days." His leg bounces and I watch his eyes flash as my missing ex best friend walks past us without sparing us a look. "God he pisses me off."
"Calm down Jare, he always gets coffee here." He just glares at Lucas. "He irks me too Jare, but I just ignore him." I stand up, pushing my muffin over to him. "Have the rest, I'm a minute late." I get behind the counter, feeling Jare's eyes on my butt and flushing a deep red. "Hey, your Maggie right?" I ask the young girl in the uniform behind the counter trying to work the cash register. She nods when she finishes and I smile. Maggie is the replacement for Lucy, the girl who was killed by Lucas since her vampire lover drained her dry then tried skipping town. But it makes since why she always looked like she wanted to eat everyone, she was slowly turning into a monster, a zombie to be exact. "How are you doing?"
"Uh, good. I've been trying not to mess anything up. Adam has been helping me out, but I'm still not getting everything." She blushes at Adam's name, and I look at my co-worker who's shift is ending.
"I see." I check him out, the old newbie before Maggie joined our team. "Could it be because you like Adam?" I tease her, making the young sixteen year old to blush.
"I-uh-I-!?" I chuckle and smile at her.
"It's okay, Adam is a good looking guy and totally sweet. It's not a surprise anyone wouldn't like him." I watch her checking him out, especially his butt as he walks over with a sigh. "Hey Adam." He smiles at me.
"Hey Soph, how are you?" I smile.
"I'm good, thanks. Al's getting better too. Still on bed rest." His face softens.
"Poor dear, give him my best? And your dad too." I smile.
"I will. Bye." Maggie watches Adam walk out the back to his car, then looks at me. "Let's get working. If you can't keep up just stand back and watch then try stepping in when you can okay?" She nods. "Good."
We start taking orders and I send her out to clean tables and collect dirty dishes, I notice Jare starting to doze off in his seat and smile. Then I notice a pair of brown eyes staring at me, and I stick my chin out and look away from him. I ignore the sadness in Lucas' eyes as I do, even though I want to go over to him and tell him I forgive him. I had just gotten him back and he had to go and ruin it when he knew I was with Jare. Even if it wasn't legit yet.
An hour passes and business slows down, so I have Maggie make us some drinks which turn out, um, decent. But I show her how I was first taught how to make them, then had her make our drinks again. Which turned out better. We start talking and she tells me about her life and how her brother, Mike, brought her to town after he heard their grandmother died while he was gone. I guess their dad was unknown and their mom was M.I.A. from their life like mine was, so their Grammy took care of them till Mike left home. I tell her about the normal part of my life, my mom going M.I.A. leaving Al and me with dad.
That's when Jare walked over to get a drink.
I didn't notice him at first, but Maggie looked at him and her face looked slightly pale. I turned my head and saw Jare with yellow eyes glaring at Maggie. She took a step back, causing him to growl. I look back at Jare to say something when he jumps the counter and pulls me behind him. I see the beast trying to rear up, so I touch Jare's back to calm him down. It works slightly, but he's still growling at Maggie who's pressed herself against the wall.
"Jare?" I whisper, looking at Maggie as I talk. "Jare, what are you doing?" My stomach drops when I realize why he's growling. Maggie's terrified green eyes meet mine and I swallow. "Maggie, are you a monster?" I whisper. She looks down.
"Not exactly." She whispers.
"I should have smelled you before," Jare growls, "but the coffee threw me off." I stiffen. "She's half werewolf, like me. You're Micheal's half sister aren't you?" She looks up with wide eyes. "I can smell him on you. Where is he?!" She flinches.
"I don't know, he's been avoiding me for the past week so I wouldn't change this new moon." She looks him up and down. "You're like me? You're half werewolf?" He nods. "So I'm not alone?" Tears form in her eyes. "I can't believe it." She looks at me. "Are you?" I shake my head slowly.
"I'm a human that sees the future." She looks at me, then at Jare.
"You're why Mike had me put an application in here, he knows I've always wanted to meet another half-"
"I'm not like or your brother. After this new moon, both of you better leave." He growls.
"But..I've already been put into school here. And Mike doesn't talk to me-Mike?" I turn and see Micheal standing in the door. That's when I realize we're the only ones in the coffee house. "Mike look I found-"
"I know Mags. You've meet Jared and his Oracle." He keeps the distance. "If you touch her Jared, I will murder you and your Oracle." He growls, and Jare pushes me behind him again as he faces Micheal. "Understand?" I know there's another conversation going on between the two werewolves that I don't understand, so I just look back at Maggie as she looks at her brother as if he's her hero. Hell, she probably is since her mother and father weren't in her life. I look back at Micheal, seeing him looking at me. "You better take care of my sister too, Oracle."
"You stay away from me and I'd be happy to, she seems to be actually human unlike you." He growls at me. "Now get out before I call the Sheriff again."
"Be good Mags." He walks out without another look at his half sister.
«^-^»
Maggie left after that, trying to chase down her older half brother who was long gone by the time she left. Luckily, it was closing time anyway. Gotta love Sundays! Jare rides home with me, calmer now that it's just me and him. As I drive he plays with a strand of loose hair. I see him smiling out of the corner of my eye, and I know that I'm one of the only ones that makes him smile around the new moon. Only three days till I'd lose him to the beast for a whole night. I missed his first full moon, the one night where he's fully human and fully mine. I sigh and he cocks his head.
"What?"
"Thinking about the new moon." He tugs playfully on my hair.
"I was thinking about how I miss your straight black hair." I look at him as I stop at a red light. I haven't dyed my hair black or even straightened it since before my first vision. Meaning my hair was red and a tangled mess. "When are you gonig to change it? It looks more you than this red mess." I park in my car in my driveway, turning the car off and look at him. He smiles at me.
"How do you do that?" I try not to smile back, but it's so hard not to when I'm with him.
"Do what?"
"You know what. Make me go from being sad about something to smiling." He smiles.
"I just can." He smiles at me.
He leans over and hugs me, so we hold each other for a little bit. Then we both climb out and walk up to the front door just as I hear a scream.
~Picture of Maggie~
*Picture dedicated to Maggie*