Swiggity swapter, I posted a chapter!
Holy shit don't tell me I just made that joke.
But anyways. Here is chapter 12! I really like this one, so let me know what you think!
So, here I was on Friday morning, staring out the front window of my car and completely ignoring the warning bell telling me I would be late for class if I didn't get out there now, but I didn't care. Isaac was sitting in my car with what I guessed was a worried look on his face, but I wasn't even looking at him. No, I was just staring out my window at the rain. So much had changed in the past few days, and I had a new found worry that a vision would hit me at any point in the day and I would be unprepared. And the thought terrified me.
"Lauren you know I won't leave you alone at all today," Isaac said, luring my attention back to the present.
"That's not fair, or possible, Isaac. You have class, too." I replied. He needed to learn right?
But he just laughed softly and shook his head. "I haven't been paying attention in class for a long time, way before you got here," I rolled my eyes, and the late bell rang.
"Skip first period?" I suggested, and I floored it out of the parking lot as soon as Isaac nodded.
"Jesus, you drive worse than Stiles!" Isaac yelled as his hand snagged the rail above his window. I'll admit, I had a bit of a lead foot and tended to drive at a constant 5-10 mph over the limit. Not recommended for everyone, kids.
I hollered as I rolled the windows down, making the wind rush around us. The rain had, thankfully, stopped, and it was nice out now. We had to make it back before the 50 minute class was over but for now, it was nice to just drive. I wished we had more time, and mentally made a note to go out after my shopping day with the girls tomorrow.
We pulled into the parking lot with five minutes to spare. Pulling into a parking spot, a feeling of cold rushed up my spine. I grabbed Isaac's hand and looked him in the eyes just before everything went white, leaving me alone with just the vision.
This one was different; I saw flashes now, not a whole scene. The first flash was of the tree, the old one I had been to with Isaac and Scott. The second was of a knife. It had a wicked blade, and it looked like writing on it. The last one was me; and I was utterly alone. My face told me as much, I was without help. I couldn't describe how I could tell this, but something stated that I was to be at that tree by myself. I had never seen that knife before. It was foreign and held power, of that I was certain. Maybe this was to be my first trial…and it all clicked into place.
The scene around me all came flying back; my car, Isaac, and how tightly I was gripping his hand. His other hand was holding my face, and I could hear him repeating my name.
I blinked a few times, signaling I was aware. Isaac pulled me across the car into a hug, and I let my head fall onto his shoulder.
"What did you see? Are you alright" He quickly said. I didn't move from his embrace when I answered. "I think I saw my first trial…but I'm not sure." If I had, did that mean someone was controlling my prophecies? How was that even possible? Isaac made small shushing noises and rubbed circles on my back, calming me down immensely.
Well, I wasn't about to let someone else ruin my day, so I pulled back from Isaac a few inches and pulled him in for a kiss. Then I proceeded to jump out of my car, leaving a very stunned werewolf in my passenger seat, clicking the lock behind me as I walked into school.
Cause I am the champion, and you're gonna hear me roar.
I made it through the whole day without another vision, and tried my best to ignore the one I had earlier. Isaac was at my side almost as soon as the bell rang that signaled the end of class, and it was humorous to see people react to it. He was fiercely protective, just as a guardian should be. But inside of the school, I didn't think anything would happen so I told him to back off; what was the worst that could happen here?
He settled for standing behind me at all times, as if watching for me to fall so he could be there to catch me. I secretly loved the attention of someone so dedicated to my well-being, but I didn't want to seem clingy. It was a hard balance; I knew I wasn't wholly safe, but having Isaac shadow me all the time seemed idiotic. He needed to live his own life and not just watch mine.
When the final bell rang we met at his locker. I saw him from down the hall, and he must have had his sixth sense on high alert because as soon as I turned the corner he was searching the crowd for me. My face broke into a smile, and I moved through the sea of students towards him. Isaac's hands reached for mine and I laced our fingers together, his smile mirroring the goofy one I knew was plastered on my own. I leaned up to kiss him, pressing him back against his locker in the process. My body eased into his as if we'd been doing this forever, which, unfortunately, we had not. I liked kissing Isaac, he felt safe and warm, and he must use chapstick in secret because damn his lips were soft.
Not wanting to call too much attention to ourselves, I broke away. "How about we continue our drive from earlier?" He asked, pulling my hand as we walked down the hall. I agreed, driving sounded fun and we could find a secluded place to hang out for a while, away from the supernatural occurring of Beacon Hills.
So after an hour of squabbling over which way to go, finally leaving, losing cell phone reception and having to ask a gas station attendant where to go, and parking three miles away, we finally made it to seclusion.
I shut my car door and eyed the distance to the beach, wondering how long it would take us to walk it. Isaac laughed and ran his hand through his hair, calling over the wind, "I just had an idea." Before I could reply, he was scooping me over his shoulder and bolting to the beach. I screamed in delight, and he slowed long enough to swing me to be piggy back riding, and then barreled down the sand. The grains flew everywhere and got in his hair, and he laughed when I brushed it off.
Finally he plopped me down on the soft ground and fell beside me, seeming a bit out of breath. His head rolled back, and I watched him. Isaac seemed so relaxed out here; it was nice to see a change in the wound up boy I generally knew.
He pointed off in the distance to a crest bar sticking out towards the water. "See way out there?" he asked. "That's where I went with my mom once. I was young…three of four, maybe five. My brother and I built a sand castle, and when the tide came in and crashed it down she told us the sea was jealous, and wanted to keep it. Then my brother picked me up and ran as far in the water as he could with me on his shoulders, and my dad swam after us…" he trailed off a bit, and a pleasant memory ghosted across his face.
With a small, gruff laugh, he said, "I guess you don't know much about my family."
The truth was I didn't want to ask. Once he had told me that he was living with Scott, I knew it would be a bad idea to bring it up. But now, seeing him open, I realized just how much of Isaac Lahey was a mystery to me. So I rolled my sleeves up and picked up some sand, ready to listen to him speak about his past.
"My family…we used to be great. There were four of us; my mom, dad, older brother and me. I guess when my brother, Camden, was born it was all they could hope for. A beautiful baby boy, my dad would say. He was always proud of him and everything he did. Like nothing could go wrong. But when I was born, I was unexpected. A burden, I think. More expenses, more time off from work for my mom, and more stress. So my dad was never as fond of me as I'd have liked, but we got closer as I got older and he came to terms with me. When I was five, Camden said it all changed, and we became a golden family. My mom and I were always a team, we did everything together. Soccer games, grocery shopping, even baseball games when they came to town. But about eight years ago she got real sick, and died suddenly from cancer." Hearing this made me stop playing around and pay attention. I got the impression he didn't tell many people this.
"When she passed, my world collapsed. I had no one to tell me everything would be alright, and that responsibility fell to my dad. I was ten years old, and my brother fourteen. I always felt like Camden closed off to the subject of mom, and became very focused on joining the army like my father had done. Dad was so proud the day the acceptance letter came, and I remember he turned to me and said, 'Where's your letter, boy?' and then they laughed like it was some joke. My father had been tolerant up to that point, but Camden had sheltered me from all the drinking when I was young.
Camden got shipped off, and that's when the beatings started," Isaac paused for a minute, rubbing his eyes to keep calm. I reached out and laced my fingers through his, hoping he could realize I was there for him.
"My father beat me for two years before anything happened. He did awful things, Lauren. One time he locked me in a freezer for hours, just because I had been late from school. I didn't get it, why did he change? But now I see it was his way of grieving; much more physical than mine. The worst was when my brother was killed in action." His voice broke, and he coughed before continuing. "Too close to tell which side had hit him, but we had a little service for him with other military families in the next town over.
I think it was worse because then my father leaned on me for a while. He was overly nice, and would try to show he cared. And for some time I thought it was a miracle, I got the father I had always wanted. But he craved the power too much, and doubled the beatings.
When Derek bit me, I saw it as a blessing. It was a way out; I didn't need to be powerless. I could finally stand up for myself. But then my dad was killed, and I realized that I was all alone. Sometimes it felt better knowing he would never hit me, and I know things are better off with him gone. But to have no one?" his blue eyes mirrored the ocean as he looked out over the crashing waves. "Sometimes I wish I still had a constant reminder in my life that family can be better than that. I don't miss him at all, but I miss what we used to have. It's hard to explain…" he drifted off.
For a while, we didn't say anything. Simply nothing needed to be said. But I felt like one weight had been pulled off my shoulders and another dumped right on. Isaac seemed like a hard case to crack, and in this situation I couldn't apply too much pressure or he might break. And I couldn't think of anything worse.
We spent the day at the beach building sand castles and counting sand dollars, not caring that the world outside had continued to spin without us. I had sea spray in my hair, which caused my naturally dark wavy strands to poof into a giant curly mess, and Isaac loved it. He kept running his fingers through it, making me shiver; in a good way, of course.
"This will be your room," I said as I stuck a piece of wood into the sand house I was currently working on. "No!" he protested and ripped the strip out. I raised one eyebrow at him and watched as he gently placed it on the other side. "This is mine."
"Umm…you just took the entire side of the house that faces the sea." I gawked. "Not fair, sir. Not fair at all."
"Well then, how about I pay you for it?" He said, a grin spreading out across his face.
I laughed, and shoved him with my shoulder. "And what equates to having the only side with a view?"
Grabbing my hand and slowly tracing designs up my arm, he whispered, "Oh. I have my form of dues."
A soft "oh" escaped my lips, and my eyes were trained on his fingers working up my skin. Warm flames danced wherever he touched me, and this was one time I was willing to place my chances on playing with fire. When he reached my neck I sighed. I have to admit, that is my Achilles' heel. I knew for certain I was a goner. The whole stupid house could be his.
He leaned in so close his eyelashes brushed my cheeks, but his lips barely touched mine. They felt like a shadow; something just out of reach. I finally couldn't take it any longer and closed the small space between us. My hands reached up and grabbed his shirt for support, and so I could pull him in closer. I entwined one hand in his hair, and this time he moaned. Aha, he did have a weakness.
Isaac pulled back and said, "No, this is my payment." and pushed my lightly onto the ground. I laughed, sand wedging in my hair and toes. Isaac lay down next to me and picked up where we left off, hearing no complaints from me. The feeling of the warm sand on my back combined with Isaac's touch was bliss, not much could top this for a perfect day.
We stayed at the beach for another hour before calling it quits. It was almost dark and the sun had set, leaving us with little light to continue 'building houses'. When I squinted into the distance to find my car, I saw that we were about two miles, give or take a bit, from where we parked. I spun around and asked Isaac, "You ran here in like, three minutes. How far was it?"
He just shrugged, and I laughed, taking his hand. It seemed so nonchalant to run three miles at werewolf speed, but hey I won't complain about the perks.
After making it back to the car in record time, we began our drive home. You could tell when we reached the cell towers again because Scott had texted us both saying we could eat pizza with him and Stiles for dinner. I felt butterflies of excitement at this, I was making real friends. Isaac said we should go to my house for dinner, and I laughed and pulled onto the McCall's street. No way was I facing my mother with my hair like this and the only explanation being "we were at the beach."
I whipped my tousled strands up into a bun as we walked up to Scott's house, excited to eat pepperoni pizza. Isaac used his key to let us in and we were met with the sounds of two teenage boys cussing up a storm.
Isaac looked at me sheepishly, and I raised an eyebrow in response. What the heck was going on?
Upon further exploration, we found Scott and Stiles playing video games, screaming at the other team as they got their asses handed to them.
"Take that you flaming pile of shit! Yeah, that's right. I did do your mother last you lousy, filthy human sack of – "
I cleared my throat, causing Stiles to cut off mid-sentence. He whipped around, his face instantly dropping, and his eyes widened to the size of plates. Isaac looked mortified, bright faced, but slightly amused. Scott just waved and continued to mash buttons on his Xbox controller, ignoring that Stiles hadn't continued playing.
There was something so comical about the picture before me that I had to laugh. What did I care if I head cuss words? Not like I hadn't dropped a few f bombs myself.
"Umm, Stiles, if you don't kill that guy I think you lose," I said as I pointed over his shoulder towards the screen. He blinked, and turned back to his game.
Isaac and I grabbed pizza, but I was disappointed to find that all the pepperoni was gone. "Aw man, who ate the good stuff?" I whined.
Stiles' hand shot in the air, and he was holding the crust to what was apparently the last slice of my favorite pizza. Grumbling, I sat down with two pieces of cheese instead, none too pleased. Joking, of course. But Stiles caught one look at my face and placed a bet. "Lauren, whoever wins this round of Call of Duty, you or me, can eat the last piece of pepperoni pizza." I stared at him. Was he stupid? I had played video games in the past, but watching him just a few minutes ago told me I stood next to a very slim chance of winning. But he did have my favorite pizza…
"Deal." And I took the controller from Scott's outstretched hand, moving so that I sat next to Stiles.
"No!" Scott screamed behind me, "Quit screen watching! You gotta kill him!" Four minutes in and by some act of God we were tied. Stiles was gripping his controller for dear life and leaned forward. I sat back, but true to what Scott said was staring at the other boy's screen. Suddenly a plan formed in my mind, and I decided to go for it. I moved up to match Stiles' body language, and just as he was about to round the corner…
"Ahh! NO!" Stiles called from the ground. I stood up victorious, and he evil eyed me. "You play dirty, O'Brien." Then after a pause, he stuck his hand up and said, "I like it." The only reason I won those pizza slices was because I shoved him over at the last minute, but in my mind the only other option would have been to tickle him, and for all I know I could have been punched in the face.
So after our victory meal, I got slaughtered by all three boys in another round of video games. But it was so much fun; I wouldn't have traded my time in to be anywhere else. Especially when I caught Isaac so entranced by the game he completely blocked us all out. But all in all, I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my night.
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