AN: I'm a bad person :( I got so caught up with school that I literally haven't done anything creative (besides my film school stuff :S) since...probably the last time I updated. There will not be a wait this long again, I am writing ahead and I just finished midterms! To make up for it, the is the chapter *cough* DEREK *cough* so, please, pleeeeease forgive me? ;)
Chapter Nine
He honestly hadn't expected his father to care that he had made the team. He certainly hadn't expect him to take the time to wait for Isaac to get back from try outs and ask about them.
"Well?" Mr. Lahey said, putting down the paper he'd been reading.
"I made it." Isaac mumbled, scuffing his feet.
"Speak up, boy!" His father barked.
"I made it!" He looked into his father's eyes and for the first time since his brother had left he saw pride.
"How about that?" Mr Lahey walked over and clapped Isaac on the shoulder. "My boy on the lacrosse team! I'd say that calls for a celebration, wouldn't you?"
"What?" Isaac asked nervously, he couldn't remember the last time they had celebrated anything.
"Go take a shower and get dressed, we're going out to dinner." Mr. Lahey patted him on the back one more time then headed back to his paper. Isaac stood frozen in disbelief.
"Isaac?" His father glanced back, "What are you waiting for?" Isaac jumped.
"Nothing." He turned and bounded up the stairs. He was showered and back down stairs in less than half an hour. He found his father waiting in his study.
"Ready to go?" Mr. Lahey asked when Isaac arrived in the door.
"Yeah," Isaac smiled.
The two went out and got into the car and started for the restaurant. Isaac watched as they passed through the residential area and headed into downtown. They pulled into a parking garage and headed into the busy city night.
"Dad, where are we going?" Isaac asked as they walked down the crowded street.
"A buddy of mine, Dale, opened this restaurant a few month ago, keeps bugging me to come in. Figured this is as good an excuse as any." His dad opened the door of a nice Italian restaurant.
"You know the owner of La Pasana?" He looked around as he walked through the door.
"We went to high school together. I have friends you know, Isaac." His father snapped.
"Oh, yeah, yeah," Isaac sputtered, "it's just...really cool." His father grumbled something, but he sounded appeased. A hostess led them to their table and left them with a couple of menus. The menus were those way-too-over-sized kind and both of their faces were obscured from one another by them. They sat in practiced silence as they waited for their waitress.
"Hello, welcome to La Pasana," The waitress began filling their water glasses, "I'm Chloe, and I'll-" Chloe startled as Isaac lowered his menu. She spilled a bit of water on Mr Lahey's salad plate.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, sir!" She scooped up the plate before either Lahey could say a word. "I'll be right back with a new one!"
"Damn it, I told Dale I was coming here for a special occasion you'd think he'd give us one of the good waitresses." Mr. Lahey huffed. Isaac kept his face hidden behind his menu. Had his father recognized her?
"Isaac?" His father spoke up, "I'm talking to you."
"Oh, um, yeah." Isaac glanced around, he saw Chloe duck into a small alcove, he assumed it lead to the kitchens.
"Do you think she's a bad waitress?" His father pressed him. His shocked eyes met his father's questioning one's.
"I, I-" He opened his mouth to answer, not quite knowing what he was going to say.
"I'm sorry." His father sighed before he could form a thought. Isaac's eyes widened, he couldn't remember those words ever coming out of his father's mouth. Isaac could only manage a dumbfounded look, but his father didn't seem to notice.
"This night is about you. I won't let some bad service ruin that." His father went back to his menu. Isaac's mind was rushing, his father hadn't recognized Chloe yet, but what would happen when he did?. Maybe he wouldn't, she looked different than she had as a kid. She was leaner, her hair longer and lighter, and she had contacts now. He saw her coming back towards the table out of the corner of his eye.
"Here you are, sir, and again I am so sorry about that." She pulled out her notepad and kept her eyes trained on it, "Are you gentlemen ready to order?"
"I think we've had more than enough time to look over our options." Mr. Lahey said, handing his menu to Chloe. "I'll take the pasta alla carbonara."
"And for you?" Chloe turned to Isaac. He picked the first thing he saw on the menu.
"I'll take the...shrimp fettuccine alfredo." He handed her his menu and he walked off.
"I'll get that straight to the chef." He realized only after she'd left that he hated shrimp. He was thankful when his father started asking questions about try-outs. He tried to talk as much as possible hoping Chloe would bring their food while his father was distracted. Isaac actually began to enjoy the conversation. It was a nice feeling to have his father proud of something he had accomplished. Chloe came back about twenty minutes after they had placed their order.
"Here you are," She placed the plates down on the table, "one pasta alla carbonara, and one chicken fettuccine alfredo. I'll be right back with some water." Chloe turned to walk away.
"Excuse me." Isaac's father barked. Chloe turned around slowly.
"Yes, sir?" Isaac saw the fear in her face.
"My son ordered shrimp." Chloe's face blanched. She looked quickly at Isaac. He understood what she had done. She'd simply changed his order because she new he hated shrimp. Mr. Lahey placed his napkin on the table.
"I'm so sorry, sir, I'll take it back to the kitchen." She went to grab Isaac's plate
"I'd like to speak to Dale." He stated matter-of-factly, shooing her hand away.
"Dad, it's okay." Isaac tried to stop his father.
"No, Isaac, it is damn well not okay. I try and take you out for a nice dinner and this incompetent little bitch seems bound and determined not to let that happen." People were starting to stare.
"Dad!" Anger flamed in Isaac's chest. "It's fine, I meant to say chicken anyway! Just drop it."
"Don't you talk to me like that, Isaac." Mr. Lahey warned. Isaac backed off, he had what he wanted, his father's attention off of Chloe.
"I'm sorry, can we just eat, please?" Isaac asked calmly. His father looked back to Chloe.
"You're lucky my son's more forgiving than I am. You ought to thank him, he probably just saved you your job." Mr. Lahey said to Chloe as she wiped a tear off her face. She turned to Isaac.
"Thank you, I apologize for the trouble." She left, practically sprinting back to the kitchen. Isaac and his father finished their meal and left with out another word. Isaac's father waited until they were out of traffic before he reached across the car and hit Isaac in the face. He hadn't even seen it coming.
"Don't sass me in public again." Was all Mr. Lahey said as he dropped Isaac off at the cemetery. Isaac didn't get to go home yet, because despite the day he'd had already, he had a grave to dig.
Isaac sighed as he worked on the grave. He knew whose it was this time, Kate Argent's. He'd read about her death in the paper and had met her niece a few times at school. He hated it when he knew who was going to end up in the holes he dug. It made him have to think about the fact that they were more than just holes for boxes. It made him face the reality of death more than he already had.
He'd hoped he and his father would actually have a good time tonight, but of course that was too much to ask. Why did they have to go to the restaurant where Chloe worked. Why did he have to worry about going to the restaurant where she worked? Questions bustled through Isaac's mind as he dumped another scoop of dirt on the pile next to the head stone. It was a simple one, one of the more basic one Isaac had seen. From what Isaac had noticed at school, the Argents didn't seem to be wanting for money. He wondered why they hadn't gotten something more decorative.
He reached into his pocket and turned his mp3 player up, letting himself get lost in the sounds of the music. His mind drifted as his hands pulled at the levers. He had almost started to relax when he caught sight of his eye in the mirror. His eye was starting to bruise, he examined the swelling. He figured he could pass it off as coming from lacrosse try-outs. No one would remember that he hadn't been hit. No one would probably ask anyway.
He reached for the controls when he heard a sound over his music. He pulled his head phones out and listened. He'd run into a few people coming to pay late night respects before and he really didn't care, but if his father found out he'd be even more pissed off. He swung the cab of the digger around and saw nothing. Who ever was there had to be running to avoid his light because the sound was now coming from a different direction. He shone his light on the grave he heard the noise form and her saw a hand. The hand had long , dirty finger nails, they almost looked inhuman.
"What the hell?" Isaac muttered looking closer. The hand disappeared. He looked around for who ever it was but they seemed to have vanished. Then he heard running behind him. Someone jumped on to the digger and Isaac stumbled back. He couldn't see anything but long hair and strange yellow eyes. He felt the digger start to tip and tried to jump, but ended up falling into the fresh dug grave. He panicked, thinking for a second that the digger would fall on him. It caught on the edge of the grave, but glass from it's windshield rained down on him. He hid his face. He sat silently listening for his attacker. He stood slowly when he heard him making noise a few graves away.
He peaked his head over the edge of the grave and saw him digging through the earth with his bare hands. He quickly sank back down into the grave. He tries to think of what he could possibly do when he heard a dog whining and then a loud growl. He sank lower when he heard the sound of metal groaning. He saw the digger leave his limited field of vision. He scrambled trying fruitlessly to hide from what ever was coming for him. He heard footsteps coming and realized he was going to die. He hoped his father would let Chloe come to his funeral. He looked up, terrified and saw Derek Hale standing on the lip of the grave.
"Need a hand?"