by Lili Lam
I'm not exactly sure how long I spent locked away in the bathroom. All I do know is that I woke up to the sound of light knocking on my bedroom door. "Lise, are you ok in there?" I could hear my mom calling out for me. Her voice sounded like it was filled with worry. "You need to open up dear."
Standing up and stretching my arms upwards, my entire body hurt. I must have fell asleep huddled in the furthest corner of the bathroom, between my hamper and the bathtub. My neck felt stiff, my back was aching, and worst of all, my butt was entirely numb. You know, those prickly needle things you get when you sit in one spot too long?
"Honey, I knocked when I first got home from work. Then again when dinner was done." She said banging on the door a bit harder this time. "I made your favorite, lasagna."
Unlocking the bathroom door, I poked my head out to scope out my bedroom. What? You never know what the heck could be lurking around in here hiding in the dark shadows, Yea, yea, call me a chicken all you want. I'm sure you would react the same way after what I witnessed. I done seen it all today.
When I deemed my room safe enough to enter, I rushed out. How long was I asleep for? It was dark out; the only light was shining from the street's lamppost outside. "I'm coming Mom." I called out, swinging open my bedroom door to come face to face with my beautiful mother. Why wasn't I blessed with my mother's good looks? Where did I come from?
The look of relief filled her expression instantaneously as soon as she saw that I was alive and still in one piece. "Sorry, I fell asleep. Exhausting first day at school." I said making up the only excuse I could possibly think of.
I couldn't very well tell my mom I passed out hiding in my bathroom after seeing her friend's son morph into an enormous furry four legged creature, now could I? Speaking of which, I wondered if Tristan is ok? My heart clenched at the very thought of him lying hurt somewhere.
Glancing over my shoulder at my alarm clock, the time read eight o' clock. I was cooped up in the bathroom for four hours? "Are you feeling ok?" My mom inquired placing the palm of her hand on my cheek. "You should come eat something."
Shrugging my shoulders slightly and giving her a little nod, "I'll come down and eat. Just let me get changed first." I stated turning around to go put on my pajamas.
"Ok I'll go warm it up for you and by the way, Tristan stopped by earlier. He said he was worried about you." Mom informed me. "He's such a sweet boy." Mom cooed in a teasing voice. You could tell by the sound of her voice that she was grinning.
My entire body went stiff, as I froze mid-stride towards the bathroom. I didn't want to turn around and face her; my eyes were wide open with fear. It was as though I could feel my heart beat thumping wildly in my ears. The tiny hairs on the back of my neck stood at attention.
He survived being lunged at by two wolves? By the chipper tone of my mother's voice he seemingly came knocking on my door unscathed. How is that even possible? Why did he come over looking for me? What if he's in some sort of a werewolf Mafia or something? Do things like that exist? Oh god, what if he came looking for me, because he has to kill me now that I know his secret? I'm going to get whacked! Maybe, I should stop watching so many gangster movies.
"He said you didn't look so good in school today, so he was stopping by to check up on you." Mom added as she began heading down the steps. "I told him you were sleeping."
After eating dinner, I escaped back to my room to shower and go to bed. I still felt exhausted. But as much as I wanted to sleep, I couldn't. Thoughts of today as well as tomorrow floated around freely in my mind. How would I be able to face him tomorrow? What the hell would I say? What would he say?
I watched as the night sky turned from black into a lighter shade of purple. The sun's appearance signaling the arrival of morning, ugh. I felt like I was dragged through the mud and hung out to dry in the heat. All in all, I felt like pure crap! Not having slept a wink, I was grouchy and irritated.
My mom knocked twice before sticking her head into the doorway asking, "Morning, honey. How are you feeling?"
Would my mom fall for it, with it only being the second day of school? Was I really that good of an actress that I'd be able to pull this off? Did I want to cash in my get out of school by pretending to be sick card today? Hell yes! I really wasn't up to facing Tristan. I had no idea what to expect and that thought scared me.
"Sill not feeling so good Mom." I answered in my best damsel in distress voice. Managing to add a fake cough to the end of it.
"Well how about you stay in bed and rest today. I'll go make you some breakfast and call you out from school." Mom suggested leaving the room. "I'll head in late to work."
"Thanks Mom." I called out loud hoping she'd hear me. "Love you!"
"Yes!" I hissed, celebrating with a childish fist pump into the air. My mom doesn't understand how much of a lifesaver she is. After about fifteen minutes, the smell of bacon wafted up the steps into my room. Yum, I'll get to have a real breakfast. The sound of the doorbell ringing interrupted my thoughts of yummy in my tummy bacon. Who's coming over this early in the morning?
I could hear my mom saying, "No, she won't be going to school today. She's still not feeling well." Curiosity was getting the better of me as I threw back my comforter and tiptoed to the steps.
The sound of his voice sent chills down my spine causing goosebumps to raise up on my arms. "Do you think I can see her?" Tristan implored sounding both eager and desperate.
"I don't think that's such a good idea honey. I'm not sure if what Lise has is contagious, I'm sure you don't want to get sick." She said in such a stern motherly tone, it even surprised me. "How about you stop around later on tonight and if she's feeling better you can see her then." Mom suggested directly afterwards. So much for being stern, way to go Mom. What is she doing? Who says I want to see him later?
I heard the front door close and some footsteps coming from the kitchen causing me to run and throw myself back into bed. Mom brought up my breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast and orange juice before kissing me on the head and leaving to work.
I spent the day in my fleece monkey pajamas dancing around my room to songs on my Iphone. I also watched Sixteen Candles and Pretty In Pink. Ah, classic movies of the 80's are great. I was sitting on my bed with a peanut better sandwich in hand drooling over Andrew Mccarthy, when my cell phone began vibrating with an unknown number.
Looking down at it with a thoughtful glance, I mentally debated if I wanted to answer it. What would it hurt if I answered I thought doing a mental shoulder shrug. "Helwo?" I asked a bit muffled. I was trying to tuck the bite of sandwich I just took on the side of my cheek, but this action caused it to get stuck to the roof of my mouth.
Hence, me sounding like I had a severe lisp like Cindy Brady from the Brady Bunch. ‘It's always Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!’ I chuckled internally thinking of Jan.
"Lise, it's me...Tristan." His voice filled with relief before he quickly spat out. "Please, don't hang up."
I wouldn't be able to hang up if I wanted to, my fingers were wrapped around my phone in a death grip. "H-how'd you get my number?" I stuttered in shock. Tristan Evans is calling me, on my cell phone! How sad is it that I'm so extremely excited that he has my number.
"I forced Luke to get it off Anya." He informed me. It sounded like he was sitting in his car somewhere. I could hear the soft sounds of the radio in the background. "How are you feeling?"
I scoffed at his nonchalant attitude, is this guy for real? Why is he carrying on like everything was just peachy and that I didn't see what I saw? "How would YOU be feeling?" I asked in disbelief. Did he honestly expect me to answer him with a normal response?
"I'm sorry Lise." Tristan whispered quietly. I've never heard him sound so depressed. "I just needed to hear you voice, to know that you're alright." I heard the sound of a horn blaring in the background.
Feeling horrible for being such an evil witch towards him, I sighed thinking back to yesterday. Right before we were rudely interrupted, Tristan was trying to te
ll me something. He said I'm not who you think I am, technically he should get some brownie points for attempting to tell me, right?
"Where are you? Why aren't you in school?" I demanded to know. When he came over knocking on my door this morning, it was way early. Which means he still would have made it to school on time.
"Driving around." Tristan replied with a blank voice. "I didn't feel like going to school today."
He sounded so...empty? My chest began feeling a pressure against it like it was aching, missing something terribly. "What?" I asked baffled. Why wouldn't he feel like going to school? "Why not?" I pushed, wanting to know what the hell could be that serious that he'd miss school.
Then again I barely had any room to talk considering I missed school to avoid him. What a hypocrite, huh? Tristan mumbled something incoherently. I tried my best to strain my ears and even stood quiet for a minute afterwards to replay and try to figure out what he said. But, I couldn't figure it out.
"I beg your pardon?" I implored asking him to repeat himself. What was he doing that caused his attention to be elsewhere?
"I said, I didn't feel like going to school because..." He began saying, pausing for a second and sighing. Like he'd be disclosing too much information if he told me. "Because you weren't going to be there."
My heart did back-flips in my chest. If it could melt, I think that line right there would've done it. Why is this guy turning my world upside down? Next, I did what I would never dreamt of doing in a million years. I invited a boy over to my house without my parent's permission, while they weren't home.
"Come over." I breathed, needing to see his face to get some sort of an explanation as to what I saw or what I thought I saw. Am I insane? If one of them came home early from work to check on me, I'd be grounded for life. Never-mind, our nosey neighbor across the street! Mrs. Ferguson, the tiny eighty-five year old white hair, cat lady who feels like she is head of neighborhood watch.
Word travels fast, but as long as Mrs. Ferguson is still kicking, gossip spreads like wildfire around Port Clyde. All I'd need is Mrs. Ferguson ratting me out to my parents, I could kiss my wonderful freedom good bye.
I heard a sharp intake, which sounded like a gasp of surprise, "Are you sure you're ready to see me?" Tristan asked doubtful.
"Positive." I answered before telling him. "Park in your driveway and come through the back."
Chapter 11: Acceptance