Disclaimer: Y'all know the drill yeah?
Ezra here!!! I'm soooo happy!!! Thank you so much for the reviews!!!! I really appreciate those with super lenghty ones. It's not easy. Thank you!
I'll do my best to update every week, latest two weeks.
Now here's chappie 2!!! Hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think m'kay??
p.s. Sorry for the grammatical errors and wrong spelling!!!
p.p.s. This is two years after the prologue guys!! Chloe is 15, also Simon and Derek is just turned 17. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Lyle House
~Derek's POV~
The-lady-who-gulps-a-lot a.k.a. Ms. Morris brought us to Lyle House, a group home for crazy kids. Hey, I may be a werewolf but I sure as hell am not crazy. I looked over at Simon and saw that he wasn't having it either. But we kept silent, I hope Dad's alright.
~Simon's POV~
A gray haired and wide hipped lady introduced herself to us as Mrs. Talbot beside her stood a mean looking one with dour eyes following our every movement, her arms crossed, braced for trouble. Miss Van Dop, if I heard right. Miss Van Dope is more like it. I did my best to ignore her and listened at what the Talbot lady was saying. Hey, if we were goin' to stay here until Dad gets things sorted out—i hope that's all he has to do—We might as well listen.
She led us up a long narrow flight of stairs and turned right talking all the way.
"To the left is the girls' wing. There are nine rooms there and nine rooms here at the boys' wing..." Ugh. She sounds like some freaky tour guide who ate too much marshmallows. She looked at me and smiled taking my looking at her a sign of me paying attention and frowned at my brother who was dutifully ignoring her—that's what she thought, but he listenes...that big bloke has superhuman hearing for cryin' out loud.
"Are there any others here Mrs. Talbot?" I asked interrupting her ranting about the media room. She didn't seem to mind.
"Yes dear. There are others. You'll meet them during lunch." She smiled a sick smile and resumed her ranting till she reached the sixth door of he wing. It had a blue number six at the middle of the door and the paint was peeling off. "Great. How OLD exactly is this place? I hope there aren't any termites." I thought and watched ms-talk-a-lot open the door with a key and step inside.
"Huh." I scanned the place. Not like my room but better than what I imagined. It was dark blue with a gray carpet worn out but clean. One bathroom and two beds opposite to one another. There was a desk near the barred window and ---hold up. Barred window?! Why the hell would they place bars?! Reinforced bars I might add. Damn. Another good reason why this place is creepy.
I sneaked a glance at Derek to see his reaction to the barred windows but he didn't even bat an eyelash. Grr...
Ms-talk-a-lot saw us looking at the window and gave us a weak smile. "That's to keep people out dears. You see, a few years back some people came in through the windows and kidnapped three children. So we're trying to avoid that incident." She had that odd look in her eye like Miss Van Dope. Ha! Like we'd listen to her. More like keep the people in.
"You boys had a long day so you'll be excused from your classes today. Your clothes will be sent up in a few minutes. Tomorrow we'll give you your sched so the day after you'll be starting class okay? Good night boys." And she shut the door.
^_^
~Still Simon's POV~
I woke up at around 7 and saw Derek staring out the window his eyes showing nothing. I walked up to him and touched his shoulder.
"Dude. You okay?" He grunted. I translated that as a yeah.
"Strange how things ended up huh?" I said trying to lighten the mood. He shrugged. This guy could out-talk Ms. Talbot!
"So are you just gonna grunt all day or are ya' gonna talk bro?" He looked at me his eyes showing a bit of guilt.
"Simon..." I held my hand to his face. Not this again. We already established the fact that it wasn't his fault why we're here.
"Cut the crap Derek. I know what you're gonna say. It's not your fault. When is it gonna get past that thick head of yours?" I asked anger slowly rising. I inhaled deeply to calm myself.
He looked apologetic again but he shook it off and lumbered to his bed and fixed it. Not as in the girly girl obsessive thing, just out of habit. Then he opened the bathroom door and looked over his shoulder his mouth curving to a half grin.
"Me first." And he shut the door. It took a while until it dawned to me.
"Dammit Derek!" He got the bathroom first! AGAIN!!!!
^_^
We got down clean and fresh at 8. Right on time too. It was breakfast. I glanced at my brother and stifled a laugh. His head was inclined upwards and his nose was flaring. I can guess what he's thinking at the moment....FOOD.
Everyone stared at us when we entered. No surprise there, I've been to eleven schools so it's no biggie. There was just one long table enough to accompany around 15 people. As far as I can see, there were only 7 so it was very roomy.
The clickity clak of ms-talk-a-lot sounded behind us. I turned around and looked at her smiling warmly at us with a half-filled milk pitcher in hand.
"I'm sure you boys are hungry. Come in, Simon, Derek. Let me introduce you." she chirped and led us in with the 7 other teens staring at us like we were some newly displayed animals in a zoo.
After our introduction, it was the others' turn. A tall girl with short dark hair stood up and smiled at me. Not at the two of us. Only at me. And it wasn't the warm and welcoming smile. It was the I'm-gonna-eat-you-muwahahah! smile.
"Hi! I'm Tori!" she said shaking my hand her smile a little too sweet for my liking. She blatantly ignored Derek which I'm guessing he didn't mind.
"Rae" a copper skinned girl with long dark curls said and threw us a brief smile before she resumed spreading jam on her toast.
"Yo! I'm Brady." A guy about my age with dark hair with the build, looks and arrogant chin tilt of a star quarterback who's mentally challenged nodded at our direction and resumed inhaling his cereal. I still gotta prove my theory 'bout quarterbacks though.
"Peter." The other dark haired boy said, my guess he's around 13 and the type of guys who look older than they're supposed to. Holy, those two can pass as twins! You can only tell them apart is by their height and their build with Peter the shorter dude! Creepy.
"Hi. I'm Amber. How're ya?" Sure enough her hair was amber and was cropped short like a bob. She sent us a soft smile and nodded at Derek who grunted in response and she stood up her empty plate in hand. A blonde girl with her hair in a ponytail stood up and smiled at us and shook our hands—my hand since Derek didn't even respond. She didn't seem offended though. Her bright smile didn't even waver. Hell, the kids here don't seem crazy. So why are they here? Heck, why are we here?
"I'm Liz by the way. Nice shirt." she smiled and I responed with a grin, a grunt for you-know-who.
"Thanks." She was nice. Kinda reminds me of a friend a few years ago. Chloe. She suddenly disappeared then sent to some group home. I can't remember the name though. Luck? Line? Lame? I shook my head. Now's not the time to be thinking about a long lost friend.
I took the seat next to Peter with Derek beside me and took a heaping of cereal and toast.
^_^
After breakfast we went to get our schedules from ms-talk-a-lot's office but before we entered we heard voices. I'm sure Derek heard minutes ago because of his super sensitive hearing, I'll ask him for the first part later.
"--here for her." a guy spoke. He seemed to stress the her in a strange way.
"Alright. She's in the left wing room six Dr. Davidoff." that was ms-talk-a-lot's voice! I heard footsteps heading our way, I was about to scramble to a hiding place when Derek beat me to it. He yanked me backwards a few meters and whispered to me to walk. Smart dude.
I walked casually to the door fully aware of Derek rolling his eyes at my too casual walk. When we were a few steps away from the door an old-dude came out and his eyes had this weird glint in them when he saw the two of us.
"Ah. You must me Simon and Derek. I'm Dr. Davidoff." he smiled a creepy smile and shook my hand. Derek grunted as usual and was staring at the dude intently.
Ms-talk-a-lot scurried out and ushered us in. Davidoff went off probably to see the girl.
Ms-talk-a-lot told us that he was the head honcho here and started to go over our schedules and straightening out Derek's other subjects. Specifically, moving his math and science to a college level. I was examining plain room when I saw a frame with an outline of the 2nd floor. The left wing was colored pink and the right, blue. In the right wing, a box with the number 6 was colored red. Also 4 and 8. I guessed that's where Peter and Brady stayed. At the pink portion of the frame the boxes 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9 were red. Huh. There sure are a lot more girls here. Does that mean girls are crazier than guys? Ahaha... That's gonna hit my comics...
"Alright. She's in the left wing room six Dr. Davidoff."
I looked at the 6th box. Who exactly is in that room for the head honcho to visit? I turned around and saw that Talbot and Derek just finished and she was about to usher us out when I blurted out my question.
"Mrs. Talbot?" I asked using my charming voice. As Derek called it.
"Yes dear?"
"Who're the girls here? N-not that I'm interested or anything. Just curious." I made sure to add the stutter and pointed at the frame. Her eyes twinkled in amusement. I saw Derek from the corner of my eye roll his eyes and threw me a half grin. I resisted the urge to grin back. It would ruin my charming mode.
"Ah. We have 5 girls here. I'm sure you've met them at breakfast?" she chirped and started to usher us out.
"But there were only four girls during breakfast. Is the other one sick?" I asked innocently. Derek snorted beside me.
Without even beating an eyelash she smiled her sick smile and replied.
"No dear. She just prefers to stay secluded. She comes out during classes though."
"Oh. What's her name Mrs. Talbot?" I asked pushing my luck. Her smile faltered a bit but she hid it quickly.
"You'll know soon enough Simon. Now off you go! Classes will start tomorrow for you boys you know!" She twittered and shut the door to our faces.
^_^
~Still....Simon's POV~ (A/N: getting tired with Simon rambling?? ahaha..)
After lunch we were allowed to go out to the yard and to my joy a basketball court was there. Ms. Van Dope typed in the pass code and allowed us to roam free keeping her dour eyes on us the whole time before she shut the door closed. Eh. The hell I care about her...now...where's the ball?
AHA!!
"Up for a little ass kickin' bro?"I bent down and picked up the ball. I heard him snort in reply uncrossing his arms and grinned a full one.
"Watch your ass Simon."
I didn't bother responding. I dribbled the ball and ran to his court eager to start and win of course.
I jumped up and dunked the basketball in the hoop and grinned at my brother. He grinned back and caught the ball and ran to my side of the court. So far, the only good part about this group home thing is the basketball court.
I cursed when he feinted left and I fell for it giving him a chance to dunk as well. He was about to catch the ball when he froze. I smacked into his back rubbing my forehead. Hey, he could be mistaken for a tree if you smacked into him.
"Bro?"He looked whipped his head towards the left most window of the house and I followed. A swish of blonde hair was all I saw—and I wasn't even sure if it was blonde since the afternoon sun was getting my eyes—before the curtains closed. I looked at Derek. He was staring intently at the window.
"Bro, who was that?" I asked. "Was that Liz? I mean, she has blonde hair and all." I added.
"That wasn't Liz. They have classes remember? Her smell's familiar but I just can't remember it." He growled. Figures. One of the reasons he likes math is because it always has an exact answer and you could figure it out if you knew special codes for it. At least that's what he told me. And right now, I'm sure he isn't liking the fact that he doesn't remember something he needs to remember.
"One thing's for sure.." he cut off my train of thought.
"..that room is at the left wing, number 6."
^_^
It was almost 7 when me and Derek went back inside. I wanted to check out the media room so we went down. I was hoping for the top of the line gadgets and stuff but I was out of luck. Was I always? It was a twenty-inch TV, a cheap DVD/VCR combo, and an old Xbox, and an ancient looking computer.
I went towards the TV about to check out the DVDs when I saw that we weren't alone.
"Hey." she looked up from her PSP and sat up her amber bob bouncing.
"Hey Amber! Whoa! Cool PSP, where'd ya get it?" I asked not really jealous. I prefer outdoors thank you very much.
"Not mine. Borrowed it from Rae." She replied and resumed her playing. Speaking of Rae...
"Hey Amber,"
"Yeah?" eyes glued to the game, she was answering me with half her attention only. Sweet.
"How many are you guys here?"
"Us? Eight. Ten now that you guys are here." she replied her eyes focused on the game.
"But there were only seven at breakfast and lunch."
"Oh. You mean Chloe? She disappears sometimes. Dunno why though, you should meet her. She's nice. Kinda like Liz but a little lower on the hyper scale." I locked gazes with Derek at the name.
Chloe? As in the Chloe who's our playmate a few years back? The Chloe who disappeared to move to a group home 'coz of her dad? The Chloe who's supposed to be a necro??
"Chloe?" I asked hoping to fish for more answers. I got 'em.
"Yeah. Strawberry blonde with red streaks. Stutters and sees.....ghosts? That's what I heard from the queen bitch. Oh, I also heard she's diagnosed as schizo but she sure as hell doesn't act like one. Pretty normal to me."
I felt my stomach churn. From happiness or whatever, I dunno. All I was thinking right now was that Chloe was here! Our old friend who's the only person who treated the two of us like her real friends and not like the shallow girls at school. And she was diagnosed as schizo?? Just 'coz she's seeing ghosts? Ha! What next? Derek will be diagnosed as a guy who takes too much steroids 'coz of his size? Yeah right.
"So...she stays in her room...at the furthest part of the left wing most of the time?" I asked hoping I could get the room number.
"Yeah. Number 6. She's got pretty clothes from her dad before he died and left her a fortune. Shame she doesn't care about it though. I'm sure the bitch would spend it in a hour if it was given to her."
"The bitch?" I asked. That's the 2nd time she mentioned it. Derek was like a statue behind me. Probably thinking about the meeting our long lost friend in a group home of all sorts.
"Queen Victoria? Queen of Meds??" She looked up from her PSP and looked at me expecting me to get her point. I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. She rolled her eyes and her mouth curved to a grin.
"Tori. The girl who looked at you like a hungry wolf. Now do you get it?" She asked. My mouth formed an 'o'. I sneaked a glance at Derek who's mouth was twitching. I gave him a look and went back to Amber. She was already satisfied she got her point across so she went back to her game and waved absentmindedly when we left.
Just when I reached the last step at the top of the stairs I heard voices. I looked to my left and sure enough, at the last room that's facing the hallway and our room was partly open, the door read number 6.
"I'll see you soon then, Chloe." Dr. D. came out and I saw a girl sitting on the chair by her desk looking out the window. She has strawberry blonde hair with red streaks and was wearing a simple blue shirt and jeans. I couldn't see her face since her head was turned away from the door but I was sure who she was. Chloe.
Derek thumped me in the back telling me to move so I moved aside to let him pass. Dr. D was looking at the doorknob of the already closed door smiling creepily until he saw us his creepy smile still intact. The door was already closed before Derek got to the last step so I guess he didn't see Chloe.
"Simon, Derek! I heard you're starting class soon?" He asked approaching us.
"Yeah. Uh, Dr. D?" I asked innocently.
"Yes Simon?"
"Who was that?" I was expecting an answer like Talbot's but it seems my luck was returning.
"Oh? That was Chloe. I guess you didn't see her during mealtimes. I heard she didn't come out since this morning, Mrs. Talbot says she's just upset since she got in a fight with Victoria." He said so casually you would think he was rambling about the weather.
"A fight? Can I know the details or is it confidential?" I asked. I probably look like a snoopy airhead to Dr.D right now but I couldn't care less if it meant I was fishing for info about our long lost friend. I'm sure Derek wouldn't be complaining too.
"Quite the nosy one are you?" He chuckled. I laughed nervously.
"It's alright. I'm sure you heard from the other kids the reason why she's here. Apparently, Victoria accused her of talking to a ghost and all that and the fight started soon after." I nodded at his response. Behind me, I heard Derek grunt in understanding.
He looked at his watch then at us. "We'll it's getting late boys. I have to get going. See you soon! Be good." he said and patted the two of us on the heads like dogs and before me and Derek can react he was halfway down the stairs whistling.
I looked at my brother who was looking at room number 6. The room opposite to ours.
"I know dude. I miss her too." I thumped his back and he glared at me.
"I wasn't--" he started but I cut him off.
"Sure you do. We both know she was the only one who treated you like a real person and a friend and she's sure as hell not like the other shallow girls at school. Hell, you said so yourself she was weird when she didn't run screaming as soon as she knew you were a werewolf." I told him. She was our best friend and I can't wait to see her again tomorrow.
^_^
Yoooohooo!!! So how was it??? Sorry...Chloe didn't show up much in this chappie. Ooh. It's quite short so the next...It'll be longer and Chloe will come in!! I'm still trying to adjust to Derek's POV....so please bear with me. I find it easier to do Simon's POV than Derek's. Ahaha...
Anyhoo!!! if you're reading this then that means you've read this chappie! Please review and tell me what you think!! Thanks soooo much!!!
Ezra005