This is the part where the plot starts, if you've gotten through the first couple chapters and are still interested, thank you! I appreciate your time:))
cdeanda34: thank you for your review! I actually live close to Miwok Village, so I wanted to use the tribe in my story. I don't know very much about them, to be honest, but I wanted my story to be a small tribute to them. You'll see in this chapter how the Miwok legends are important to the story;)
XxxxX
It started out as a normal day. I slept in on Saturday morning, did some yoga, went for a run and showered. Dad was gone when I got out of the shower, so I went to get some groceries.
"Kaliska?" I heard a vaguely familiar voice. I looked up.
"Oh hey, sorry, you're Chesmu right?" I cringed. Of course he's Chesmu, he's probably the nicest wolf on the rez, why do you have to be like this?
"Yep, what are you up to?" He asked.
"Getting groceries, we have almost nothing to eat right now." I explained, gesturing to my cart.
"Cool, me too. Except I'm just here for pop tarts and jerky." He held up his basket with at least 8 boxes of pop tarts and just as many bags of jerky. My eyebrows went up. "Yeah, it's a lot. We have to eat a ton of food. Takes a lot of energy to be a wolf." He said quietly. I nodded.
"Well, I'm just about done here, so I'll see you around I guess?" I said, grabbing a box of cereal from the shelf and tossing it in.
"I'll walk you to your car, that's a lot to carry by yourself." He offered. I smiled.
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm actually walking home. I don't have a car."
"Your mom sent you to get food by yourself without a car? How are you getting everything back there?" He looked confused.
"I uh... I guess I hadn't thought it through the whole way." I admitted. "And I don't have a mom, it's just me and my dad."
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry. I just assumed... Either way, I'm going to help you whether or not you like it. That's too much for one person to carry."
"Thank you, I live pretty close but I was dreading the walk back."
"No problem at all, you can just think of me as your transportation from now on." He laughed, and I smiled at the sound.
"Aw now I feel bad for using you."
"Don't! That's what we do here on the res, we help each other out." He leaned closer to whisper, "Plus it's kind of my job to help keep the res safe and stuff, so if it makes you feel better, I do get paid to be a wolf." He winked. I laughed.
"Okay, that does make me feel better. Alright, I'm done here." I wheel my cart towards the checkout and we both pay for our food. Chesmu takes the majority of the bags and leaves me with just two, although I have the feeling he could've taken all of them if he didn't think that would make me feel bad.
We joked around as we walked down the street to my house. I've enjoyed hanging out with Chesmu, and if it weren't for the imprint and the whole meant-for-Hisaka thing, I could see myself with him.
Thinking of Hisaka almost makes me feel guilty for spending time with one of his friends, but I realize I'm not doing anything I wouldn't do with anyone else, it just happens to be Chesmu. We get to my house, and I open the door for us.
"There you are, K. I came to hangout. What are you doing here, Ches?" Hisaka startles me and I see my dad look surprised. He knows about Hisaka, but I've never mentioned any of my other friends, let alone another guy.
"Uh, hi Hisaka..." I stammer. Why do I feel guilty? I haven't done anything...
"Sup Hisaka, Kaliksa, where do you want these?" Chesmu asks me. I look around. There's a weird energy in the room and I want to make it go away, so I gesture to the tiny kitchen.
"You can just drop them here, I'll put them away." I tell him. He nods and follows me into the kitchen, putting my bags down carefully. He walks back into the front room and I hear him introduce himself to my dad. This is weird... I can tell from his stance that my dad is uncomfortable too.
"I'm gonna head out now, nice to meet you, Mr. Koehler. It was good to see you, Kaliska," He waved at me as he moved towards the door. I waved back, and he left.
Only half of the weird energy was gone, though. I don't know what to do when both my dad and Hisaka are here. So I stay in the kitchen putting away groceries and cleaning anything that could possibly need cleaning. Eventually, Hisaka came in.
"Hey, what's going on? Are you avoiding me?" He asked quietly, but his words feel like an accusation.
"No!" I reply far to quickly. "No, I'm not. It's just kinda weird to see you and my dad together, I don't know how to react."
"Why should it be weird? We're kind of a thing." He motioned between us.
"I'm not saying it should be, it just... is." I try to explain, gesturing vaguely with a sponge in my hand. He rolls his eyes.
"Get used to it, it's not the last time I'm coming over." He tells me. "Do you want to hangout or should I just go home?"
"I uh... I have a lot of homework I need to get done..." I'm floundering and it's obvious.
"It's Saturday."
"Yeah, I try to keep my Sundays open for... yoga and exercise..." I don't know why I'm still talking. He puts his hands up.
"Okay, I get it. I'll see you on Monday then." He walks out of the kitchen and I follow, stopping just outside the room.
"Nice to meet you, Hisaka." My dad says, barely looking up from his book. Hisaka doesn't acknowledge him as he walks out the door.
"Well, he seems nice." My dad says blandly. I slump down on the couch next to him.
"Yep."
XxxxX
Later that night, I find myself cleaning my room nervously, half expecting Hisaka to show up at my window, half of me knowing I'm not going to see him until Monday. I (obviously) lied about the homework, as I'd gotten all of it done already and don't want to work any further ahead.
I need some more friends. I consider texting Kim, but she's started getting on my nerves with her house wifey-ness. My other girl friend, Shayna, never gave me her number so I don't know how to get ahold of her.
Really, the only other person I'm 'friends' with is Chesmu, and I'm pretty sure it would cause more problems to try to get his number. I flop on my bed and start scrolling through my old photos.
I decide I want to print these out and put them in an album to look at when I'm feeling like this - bored and lonely. I make a note to myself and start favoriting the ones I want. I almost laugh out loud when I see a picture of me and my dad at a boba place for the first time - right as I was taking the selfie, he took a drink and a boba pearl hit him in the back of the throat. I smile, realizing I'm not alone at all.
I go downstairs.
"What's up, buttercup?" My dad asks, his glasses sliding down the end of his nose as he types away at his computer.
"Not much. Actually, not anything, I'm really bored." I admit. He looks up.
"Who was the kid who you were coming back from the store with?"
"Chesmu? He's uh..." I suddenly remembered something. "He's my friend's brother. I told you about Kim, right?"
"Oh yeah, the one that's getting married, right?"
"Yeah, her. She introduced me to him on the first day of school, and then I ran into him at the store, so he offered to help me carry everything back here."
My dad nodded.
"He's a good kid. I don't know about that boyfriend of yours, though. He's kind of a punk."
I stop myself from nodding in agreement. If I'm stuck with Hisaka as my soulmate, and my dad can't know about the wolves, I have to find some way to make my dad like him, or at least convince him that I really like him.
"He was kind of weird today, but he's usually a lot nicer. He organizes a bunch of activities whenever the pack gets together for a bonfire."
"The pack?"
"Yeah, that's what they call themselves. It's just a bunch of guys and their girlfriends." I explain. Now I realize why Kim was so weird about calling them the pack around me before I knew.
"Huh. Okay, just be careful you don't get mixed up in anything, they are high schoolers, and high schoolers have a tendency to be idiots." He warns me. I roll my eyes.
"Dad..." If only he knew just what they were 'mixed up' in...
"I'm just saying... be careful, Kaliska." He tells me, smiling. I nod.
"I promise I will, dad." I've started getting tired now that my nervous energy has worn off. I say goodnight and head back up to my room.
My bed welcomes me now and I curl up under the blankets with a smile. It was a weird day...