by Alex Anders
“I was staying at a friend’s house, Mom,” she said, offering a horrible excuse. “I’m sorry, I forgot to call… I can’t, I have to get to school… Yes, I’ll be there… Yes…. I said I’m sorry… Yes Mom, I’ll be there… Bye.”
Saki hung up Lane‘s phone, which was plugged into the car charger, and turned to Lane as they sat, parked in front of her house. “Yeah, she completely flipped out. This isn’t gonna be good.”
“You ready for this?”
“Yeah. Let’s get this over with,” Saki concluded.
On the drive to school, the two compared class schedules. Saki still had time to make it to the beginning of English class where Patrick would see her. If Lane showed up at lunch, Gully and Frank would definitely be there. In this scenario, their appearances would be staggered and with any luck, they could get away with it.
Saki stepped into English class seconds after the bell. Patrick looked up at her with a distorted look on his face. She took the seat next to him and took out her books.
“What happened to your face? You are completely burnt,” Patrick inquired.
Her reply came to her like a revelation. “My family went to the beach on Sunday, and I fell asleep in the sun. I was throwing up from sun poisoning last night so my mom took me to the doctor this morning to get something for it.”
Saki did her best to hold back her self-satisfaction. It was some quick on-her-feet thinking, and she knew it. Barring the twins leaking that she had been missing all weekend, no one had reason to believe anything else.
“Oh man, that sucks,” he whispered under the voice of the teacher.
“I’m feeling better though, thanks,” she said, turning her attention to class.
By homeroom, everyone had heard about her horrible case of sun poisoning and offered her sympathy. A few of the darker-skinned students had never even heard of sun poisoning before, and Saki enlightened them.
Saki’s story did more to introduce the other students to her than anything she had done all year. If she had entered school with sun poisoning, she wouldn’t have gotten involved with Dax and wouldn’t be a wolf today. She considered if that would have been better.
“Do you want to come over today?” Gully asked, sure what her answer would be.
“I shouldn’t. The doctor said I should rest. I should just go home and sleep.”
“Yeah, that’s probably best,” Gully replied peering closer at her reddened skin. “Man that’s bad,” he concluded, before turning around.
Saki knew that she shouldn’t, but she had to take a quick look back at Lane. His pack was looking unusually quiet. He returned her glance. That was all she could allow herself, though. She knew that especially now, she had to keep as much distance from him in public as possible.
“And where the hell have you been?” Her mother said, yelling at the top of her lungs as Saki entered their van. “Oh my God! Look at your face! What the hell have you been up to?”
Saki slid into the backseat as quickly as she could, closing the door behind her.
“Please, just drive. Drive!” She said, looking out the window to see who had heard.
“Don’t you tell me what to do, Missy. I am your mother. Don’t you disrespect me.”
“I’m sorry, Mother,” she replied hurriedly. “I’ll tell you everything. But please just drive,” Saki begged.
Saki‘s mother paused for a moment, then turned and drove away. Saki looked back at the students, trying to figure out if anyone heard the conversation. It was possible that her mother just blew it. But it wasn’t necessarily the case. Saki turned back around and looked up into the rearview mirror to find her mother’s eyes staring back at her. She looked for only a second before glancing up at Marnie who was in the front passenger seat. She, too, was looking back at Saki.
“Okay, we’re driving. Now where the hell have you been?”
Saki gave herself as much time to think as possible. Nothing was coming to mind until she considered the truth.
“I have a boyfriend,” she began.
“You what?” Her mother retorted.
“Don’t act surprised. I told you I had a boyfriend 2 months ago. You just didn’t believe me,” Saki said, feeling herself take the upper hand. “And he has a boat,” she continued.
“Like I told you, I went to the beach on Saturday. It was just Rose Island Beach,” she said, referring to the popular island a few miles off the coast of Nassau.
“And you didn’t think to add that?” her mother said.
“You didn’t even believe that I could have a boyfriend, so why would I tell you that?” Saki said, challengingly. Saki waited for a reply.
“Say what you’re gonna say,” her mother said, annoyed.
“Well, when we were leaving Rose Island, the boat broke down, and we were stranded. So for the last two days, we were floating in the boat in the middle of the ocean. He finally fixed it this morning, and we got home as soon as we could.”
Silence filled the car. No one spoke, and Saki wasn’t sure why.
“So you expect me to believe that for the last two days you and your boyfriend were floating out in the middle of the ocean?”
“You see how burnt I am? How do you think I got this? This is why I don’t tell you anything. I tell you that I was stranded out in a boat for two days, and you don’t believe me?” Saki was irate and sucked her teeth in disgust.
“Don’t you suck your teeth at me.”
“Ya see, that’s why I don’t tell you anything.”
“So you tell me that you were floating in the middle of the ocean for two days?”
“Isn’t that what I just said?”
Her mother paused as the realization settled in. “Of all of the ridiculous things that you’ve done. How could you be so stupid? You could be dead now, all over some boy. You are never seeing that boy again. Do you hear me?”
“I could have just lied to you, ya know? I fine. I didn’t have to tell you the truth,” she said, practically yelling.
“Don’t you talk to me like that in my car. I will stop this car right now, and you will walk your burnt ass home. But don’t you talk to me like that. And you will never see that boy again. As long as you live under my roof, you will follow my rules. And when you think you’re woman enough, then you cross me. See if I won’t throw you out quick. You understand me?”
Saki was frozen in shock.
“I said, do you understand me?”
Saki was boiling inside. It took everything in her to hold her wolf back. She focused on the trees and buildings whipping by outside the car. “Yes ma’am,” she said forcing the words through her teeth.
“I didn’t hear you.”
“I said, yes ma’am,” Saki said, steaming.
“Good. I can’t believe you would take a boat to another island with some boy and not tell anyone about it. Does this boy even have a license? I raised you to be smarter than this. You gotta get it through your thick skull that you can’t be doing things like this,” her mother continued, yelling at no one in particular.
Saki did her best to block out her mother’s tones. Her instincts were wrong; she shouldn’t have said the truth. What her mother needed was lies. She couldn’t stop her plan; this was just making it more difficult. Shit, she thought as she tried to come up with a way to meet up with Lane again.
“You’re grounded. Do you hear me?” Her mother announced as Saki and her sisters left the car. “And if you leave this house, I’ll know. Do you hear me? I’ll know.”
“How? You’ve never known before.”
After Saki said it, she knew that she shouldn’t have. She couldn’t stop herself, though. She could only take so much. She was trying to save people’s lives and here her mother was treating her like a child. It wasn’t fair.
“Try me, and see what happens,” her mother said, pointing her hammy fingers at Saki. Her mother kept her gaze locked on her as she pulled away to return to work.
Saki looked over at the twins who st
ared at her with their mouths hanging open. She turned to focus on Maddie. Saki knew that she was how her mother would know. She walked past both of them to the house, then waited for Maddie who had the key.
Once unlocked, Saki pushed her way in and headed immediately to the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she looked at her bright red face in the mirror. She hadn’t realize what she looked like. She was burnt to a crisp. She looked horrible. With that thought, Saki collapsed into a palm full of tears.
It was more than she could bear. She couldn’t take much more. She wished she could just disappear. But knowing she couldn’t, she pulled herself together as much as she could and splashed water on her face. The cold water was soothing.
Saki exited the bathroom and entered the kitchen. Throwing together a sandwich, she wrapped it in a napkin and took it to her room. Locked away, she bristled over the idea that she couldn’t even have this privacy. Her traitor sister Maddie could walk through at any point and check up on her under the pretense of going to her own room. Maybe moving out wouldn’t be such a bad thing. She even knew where she would go.
Saki‘s thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Can I come in?” Marnie said from the other side.
“Yeah,” she said, unable to hide her disgust.
Marnie entered and closed the door behind her. Clearly, her intention wasn’t to cross the room; she wanted to talk to Saki. She hovered next to the door until her sister acknowledged her.
“Were you really stranded in a boat?” she asked sheepishly.
“Yeah,” Saki replied less aggressively.
“You could have died.”
“Yeah, but we made it.”
“But you could have,” her little sister said with a hint of fear in her eyes.
“There is a lot of ways that I could die every day. And on the next full moon I will die for sure if I can’t do what I’m supposed to do.”
Marnie took a step toward her, allowing them to speak softer. “What do you have to do?”
“I need to get the medallion that’s in Principle Jenner‘s office.”
“Can I help you?”
“I’m not going to turn you into one of us if that’s what you’re getting at. You don’t want to be a wolf. Do you understand me?”
Marnie looked at her sister disappointed but didn’t back down. “You said you need it or you’re gonna die, right?”
“Yeah, someone’s gonna kill me.”
“Then I’ll help you,” she said graciously.
For the first time, Saki really saw her sister. Who was this new person? Marnie had never been so nice to her. She had to be angling for something she wanted. But now, staring into her eyes, Saki couldn’t figure out what it was. In fact, it almost felt like Marnie was offering to help because she cared about Saki. As hard as it was to believe, maybe it was the truth. Perhaps Saki needed to rethink their relationship.
“Okay,” Saki said relenting. “Then give me some time to come up with a new plan.”
“Okay,” Marnie replied with a smile.
“Just give me some time,” she repeated, indicating her sister should leave.
Marnie continued on to her bedroom, leaving Saki to her thoughts. The old wolf had said you couldn’t kill an alpha. Maybe that wasn’t true, but destroying an alpha’s pack could work just as well.
The key had to be Mr. Jenner‘s werewolf medallion. It was the one thing that levelled the playing field. It took away an alpha’s shifting advantage. If she could force Dax to remain human when he thinks he can shift to escape, then she would have the advantage. But she still didn’t know how to get it from Mr. Jenner’s office or where she could plant it for it to be useful.
Saki attempted to roll over, and the sting from her sheets touching her burnt face shocked her. She went to the bathroom to retrieve a pain reliever. As she left her room, Maddie‘s shifty eyes flashed on her. Saki could never turn to a wolf here because her wolf would tear Maddie apart.
Again staring at herself in the mirror, she retrieved two Tylenol from the medicine cabinet and washed them down with a handful of water from the sink. She was starting to piece together a plan. Under the watchful eyes of her sister, she somehow had to relate the plan to Lane.
Saki returned to her room and opened the doors to Marnie’s bedroom. “Can you do something for me?” Saki began.
Marnie quickly sat up. “Yeah, sure.”
“Can you…”
Saki stopped when she heard her bedroom door open. Turning back toward Maddie, Saki spun around, exiting the two rooms for the living room. She wanted her sister to feel like she was cut off and out of the loop. She wanted to Maddie to feel like she was isolated. So, taking everyone’s favorite position on the couch, she waited for Marnie to leave her twin and joined her in the living room.
When Marnie stepped into the living room, Saki felt in control. Her mother might have thought that she had won, but she didn’t even know the game they were playing. Marnie sat next to her, close enough for them to whisper.
“Can you go to Lane and tell him that on Friday you’re going to get Mr. Jenner‘s medallion and that you need his help.”
Marnie looked at her sister, startled. “How am I going to do that?”
“You’re going to hang out at school late, and then when the janitor comes, you’re going to ask to use the phone. That will get you in the building. And then you follow him around, and when he unlocks Mr. Jenner‘s office, you’ll take it.”
Marnie looked at her sister, terrified.
“You said you would help me, right?”
“Yeah,” she said with trepidation.
“Then this is how you can help.”
Scared, “okay. I’ll tell him.”
“You should probably leave before Maddie gets back. Ask him to help you out. He’s really smart. He’ll figure it out.”
“Okay.”
Marnie turned back toward the TV as if she had heard nothing Saki had just told her. Then, out of nowhere, she got up and left the house.
When Maddie reentered the living room, she looked around for her sister. Not finding her, she entered the kitchen and looked there. Confused, she looked again at the open bathroom door and then over at Saki. Saki gave her a devilish smile in return.
Maddie sat across the couch from Saki not saying a word. Saki’s eyes were locked on the TV, though her mind was on what would happen between Marnie and Lane.
One show ended and then another. When Marnie still wasn’t back, Saki found she couldn’t stop looking out the window. Did Dax catch her? Was that why she was taking so long? Or were they working out a plan? Would she come back with a solution that would make all of this finally go away? Would she be able to return to a semblance of a normal life? Her gaze fell as she explored that comforting thought.
With only 15 minutes before her mother was expected home, Saki decided something was wrong. Marnie must have known what time it was, and she absolutely should have been back before now. When she caught Marnie‘s round figure huffing her way down the sidewalk toward them, relief washed over her.
As Marnie closed the door behind her, her mother pulled up in the front. With Maddie looking on, Saki examined Marnie‘s face for some type of response, but all Marnie could do was catch her breath. After her mother pulled the car in and locked the gate behind her, Marnie headed to their bedrooms, still out of breath.
Saki turned and looked at Maddie. Saki was sure that Maddie could figure out what was going on, so the question was, how much did Saki push it? Did she follow Marnie into her room immediately? That would be an obvious sign of conspiracy. Would Maddie tell their mother, taking away the one ally Saki had? No, she would be patient. She had all night.
Saki‘s mother entered, only briefly looking at Saki.
“Here. Take one of these,” she told Maddie, handing her a paper bag full of groceries. Both entered the kitchen. “None of you lazy children did these dishes?” Her mother yelled back.
Certainly, her mother didn’t expect Saki to do them. She felt she was doing her part by just being there. That was her concession. The two others in the house never did anything. Saki took the opportunity to head to her bedroom for an update from Marnie.
Her room was empty, but the door to the twin’s room was open. Marnie was on the bed, still catching her breath.
“What did he say?”
“He said that…” Marnie stopped talking when the door to Saki‘s room opened. Saki turned around, finding her other sister starring curiously at her.
“Mom says that you have to do the dishes,” Maddie relayed. “She said that she’s not gonna start dinner until they’re done.”
“Then why don’t you do it?” Saki retorted.
“She said you have to do it!” Maddie said in a high-pitched, whiny tone.
“Fine. Can you leave me alone now?”
“You’re in my room,” Maddie replied.
Saki looked down at the ground and found her feet partially in the twin’s room. She stepped back 3 inches. “Happy?”
Maddie smiled, giving an annoyingly content look. “Yes,” she said crossing through Saki’s bedroom into her own.
Saki headed toward the kitchen, annoyed. Without saying a word to her mother, she did the dishes as told. After, her mom cooked. Finding no time alone with Marnie, they then ate and Saki waited for everyone else to go to bed.
Instead, her mother went to bed, and Maddie parked herself in front of the television. It was clear that she was not leaving any time soon, so Saki signaled for Marnie to join her in her room. Finally alone, Marnie continued her story.
“He said that we should all get together to come up with a plan,” Marnie explained.
“Did you tell him that I’m grounded?” Saki asked with sarcasm.
“Yeah. He said that we should call him.”
“Did you remind him that we don’t have a phone?”
Marnie scrunched her face apologetically. “No.”
Saki couldn’t interpret Marnie‘s expression. “Why not?”