. . . Sweet Dreams
-By Yo-yo
Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf Lake, if I did, I wouldn't be asking my mother for $ to be buying new jeans. And then I would so totally go to boyztown and like buy up all of the 'Alley'. ULTIMATE ROWING!!!!!!!!!!!BRING WOLF LAKE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
. . . Sweet Dreams XVII:
"Why Ms. Donner, the grungy look is very becoming," Ms. Avery smirked as Sophia hurtled to her seat.
"Kiss my ass," she groaned inaudibly as she leaned over to retrieve the massive book.
Ruffling back her unkempt hair, she tried to ignore the blatant stares of her classmates. Over the course of the past two weeks, they'd noticed a dramatic change in her demeanor and appearance. The entire school watched as the walls of her perfectly secure world crumble around her. Several teachers asking if everything was ok at home had even accosted her.
But how could she tell them that her father hadn't spoken to her after she'd told him she was Changing? How could she rationalize his absence at dinner and breakfast without it sounding like neglect? How could she explain his avoidance without him being presented as an unfit father?
"The answer Ms. Donner?"
At her name, she jumped.
She'd zoned out. She'd been doing that a lot lately, getting her mind caught everywhere else but in Trig.
"I asked for the answer," Ms. Avery repeated, another of her smug smirks heavily painted on her face as she pointed towards the complicated problem on the board.
She sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't even want to try. Ms. Avery had been on her ass for the past two weeks. Every time that Sophia'd get that glazed look in her eyes, Ms. Avery had a new problem that needed solving. Sophia didn't get it. There were only two and a half weeks of school left, and one of them would be based solely on Finals, so why should they be learning at all?
Calming down, she opened her eyes and told herself to focus on Ms. Avery's lecture. Her mind was begging her to focus on the obscenely long problem written on the board, but her heart just couldn't help straying.
She kept wondering what her father was doing at the moment. Was he napping or on the job? Had he eaten a healthy breakfast this morning or taken a hearty dinner last night? Did he take some of the mashed potatoes she'd prepared last night with the meatloaf and peas?
For the past two weeks she tried not to think of how he'd usually pick her up after her shift at the diner or brought her to school on days when there was inclement weather. She ignored the empty laz-e-boy when she'd sit in the living room at night doing her homework, or the dismal half of the dinner table that used to be occupied by him.
~***~
From across the room, she couldn't help it when her eyes roamed towards the disheveled student sitting there with her head hanging down. For the last week, she'd been really worried about her. She was upset about the secrecy at first, but after seeing her slowly deteriorate before her eyes in so little span of time, the love of her best friend got the better of her and she shed the stony heart.
Today she'd arrived just a moment before the bell with a scowl on her face. Her white button up blouse, blue sweater and a pair of blue jeans were decent, but her physical appearance wasn't. Her eyes were rimmed with red; they were bloodshot and looked irritated. Her skin was so pale, it looked transparent. Her skin was heavy and tangled atop her hair with more of a greasy look than a glossy look as it reflected the sun's rays.
With her back hunched over, she watched as her life corroded.
She felt like an idiot. She didn't want to fight anymore. She just wanted to know how she was doing. If Sophia wouldn't tell her the details, she wouldn't press. All she wanted to know was how to help her best friend.
After class, she watched as Sophia trudged out of the room towards the Chemistry Lab and felt the sudden urge to run after her. She wanted to pull her sad being into a hug and tell her that everything would be ok. She wanted to place a kiss to her forehead and cry with her. She wanted Sophia to know that her being suspicious was totally stupid and that all she wanted was to know that she was ok. She wanted Sophia to hug her back and let out a watery laugh after she'd said something funny . . . but she didn't.
That would be giving in, she sighed and headed towards the Chemistry Lab.
~***~
Abandoning her lunch at the table, she exited the room through the large glass doors and entered the Quad. Spotting a not-too-occupied section near a shady tree, she headed towards it. Settling beneath it, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander into oblivion.
Everything was wrong. Her father wasn't speaking to her, Jamie was ignoring her, Sherman had recently asked her into his classroom so they could discuss the Change . . . and she still had no idea to do about Luke.
Since the last confrontation she'd had with her father, Luke had always been there for her. At night when the wolf lurked just beneath the surface, plaguing her dreams and causing an odd sense of paranoia to engulf her, he still sat beside her, never giving in to a wink of sleep. Even after she'd stopped accepting his offers to hold her, he still sat with her at night, on the other side of the room while she painted.
At night, with her senses heightened dramatically, she could feel his gaze grazing her skin ever so lightly. Sometimes his vigilance caused her insides to burn, but she dismissed it as mere hormones and would try desperately to keep those feelings in check. Sometimes she'd turn around and their gazes would collide. His beautiful green eyes causing her skin to heat up and her heart to race as she felt his lips press feathery kisses along her skin, his fingertips to dance lightly over her skin, and his own body carefully cradling her in his, but then she'd blink and the fantasy would dissipate. She'd look away and grab another tube of paint, anxious to keep those feelings at bay.
There was no denying that she wanted him. She knew that with the simplest sweep of the lips, or brush of the fingertips or graze of the skin, she'd be moaning his name and her heart would be doing somersaults in her chest.
There was no denying that she wanted him, the only problem was would she want him forever?
Leaning with her back against the tree, she tried to capture a few elusive drops of sleep before the lunch bell summoned her back to the grueling shuffle of classes.
~***~
"Hey Kit," she smiled entering the employee's lounge.
"Hey Sophia, how's it going?"
"Horrible."
"I can see," she smiled sadly noticing her co-worker's appearance, "Would you like me to take over your shift? You've been looking a little run down lately. I think you need a rest."
"No Kit, I'm fine," she smiled waving off the nice gesture. Anxious to change the subject, she asked, "So, how's Alex?"
"An asshole, but I love him," she grinned with a far-off look in her eyes.
"So how long have you two been an item?"
"Oh, about six months."
"When is the anniversary?"
"Next week at Luigi's."
"Nice place."
"Yeah, and expensive. I'm afraid I'm going to be footed with the bill because the doesn't have a job."
"Well then just kill him then, no big deal."
"Ok, but I need an extra set of fingerprints."
"How 'bout Prestley's? I'm sure we can find a pair on just about any guy's appendage?"
Kit laughed as she tied on her apron.
"Hey Sophia, I'll meet ya' out on the floor, ok?"
"Yeah," she smiled as she extracted the backpack from her shoulders.
As soon as Kit left the room, Sophia's faux smile dropped. A frown marred her features giving her a scowl etched so deep in her countenance that one would wonder if she had been born like that.
Pushing her hair from her face, she pulled out her clean uniform and headed for the showers. After the shower, she dried off, changed into her clothes and pulled her wet hair into a large bun at the nape of her neck.
Entering the kitchen, she walked past Sam, the cook, and continued into the dining area.
"You take the tables and I'll do the counter," Kit announced as she bustled past her carrying three plates laidened with food.
"Yeah," she sighed leaning over the countertop, cradling her head in her hand. Kit had already tended to the people at the tables, so there was nothing left for her to do.
As she patiently began to wipe down the countertop, she noticed Jamie enter the diner and propped down in a seat before her. Glancing at Sophia, Jamie said,
"I'll have an order of fries and a diet Coke."
"Sorry, you'll have to wait for Kit to take your order, this counter is not in my jurisdiction."
"Well then I'm in a booth-"
"But you're not in a booth, you're sitting on a stool at the counter, therefore I cannot serve you. You must wait for Kit."
"Look Sophia, I'm not here to fight. In fact, I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of hating you, I'm tired of trying to pretend that I don't care for you. I don't really care what's going on right now. All I care about is you. You don't have to tell me what's wrong, just please, tell me how I can make it better?"
"There's nothing going on, nothing that you can help make better," Sophia replied, her eyes glued to the countertop.
"How much weight have you lost?" Jamie whispered.
"Twenty pounds," Sophia sighed still not looking up into her eyes.
"Have you been sleeping?"
"Nope."
"I'm worried about you. Everyday you come to school and you look half dead, I'm not sure what to think or do. I tried to stay mad at you from our argument, but God, I just couldn't. I knew it was stupid of me. When I heard that Luke's Dad had died, you can't imagine how awful I felt. I'd blown up at you for no reason. I knew how close your family was with the Cate's and I knew that you wanted to respect them, but I was so stupid. Why did I even consider the 'Hill' kid's conversation about you two to be true? I was so stupid, and I'm really sorry for doubting you.
"Do you forgive me?"
"How do I know that next time you won't leave me again? I'm alone now Jamie, I've got no one. I can't have you skipping out on me every time that you get an inkling of suspicion."
"I'll make a pact with you: whatever you don't want to tell me, I can't push. No matter what, I'm not allowed to get mad."
"Do you promise?"
"On Josh Hartnett's life," she smiled taking Sophia's hand.
"Deal."
"Ok, so in honor of out renewed friendship, how's about we celebrate by going to a party?"
"Jamie," she groaned rolling her eyes.
"C'mon. Angela is having an end of the year bash at 'Gold Dust' and she invited everyone. It'll be cool. There will be plenty of guys there who could totally rival Luke's good looks."
"Funny," she sighed.
"So will you come?"
"I don't know," she sighed, "I just have to ask my Dad."
"Ok, he'll agree. I mean you're with me. . ."
"It's not that easy James. My dad and I aren't on the greatest terms. I'm still grounded and we had a fight a couple of weeks ago, we're not talking."
"Well ask him after you get him liquored up or something. Tell him you'll clean the house, whatever. Just come." She pleaded, her Mediterranean eyes darkening.
"I'll see what I can do. . ."
~***~
Entering the dark domicile, she made her way towards her bedroom routinely. Changing into something more comfortable, she brought her book bag out to the sitting room and began to do her homework.
In the middle of her History, as she was just beginning a DBQ on the major reasons for the USA's interference in WWII, her father entered from the back door.
Following his bowed figure with her eyes, she noticed how ragged he looked. His skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't been getting any sleep. He trudged through the room as if not noticing her and continued to his own room.
When she heard the soft thud of his bedroom door closing, she lifted herself from the seat and followed him.
Tapping on his door, she waited for the rustling inside to cease before she began,
"Hey Dad, I wanted to know if I could go to a party? You remember that little tiff that Jamie and I had, well we repaired it and I wanted to know if I could go? It's a celebration of our amig-ship. Uh, it's at the 'Gold Dust' and you know that place is ok, so uh, can I go?" she babbled.
Her question was followed by silence where she distinctly heard a heavy sigh escape his lips.
"Can I go?"
Still, no reply.
"Dad?"
Then suddenly his footsteps pounded on the floor as he approached the door. Before she could apologize, the door flung open and he marched out of the house leaving her all alone.
~***~
Exiting the building, he kept wracking his brain trying to find some vestige in his memory to validify her avoidance of him.
Had he done something wrong? Was she still pissed that he still hung with Prestley? She couldn't be because she knew that with him being Alpha, he'd have to associate with the other Skinwalkers. Did she hate him for something that he did? For something that he didn't do? Was she upset with one of his friends?
His brain was flooded with a million questions as he made his way towards the SUV.
Opening the door, he settled himself inside before he began to formulate what he was about to do. Sitting there in the silence of his truck, his mind suddenly understood the imminence of what he was about to do. He was sure that after the conversation he'd find himself flying through the glass window and inevitably hearing his bones crack as he hit the truck with a sickening thud.
Going over the conversation in his head, he prepared himself for the worst.
Turning on the car, he sped off in the direction of the Sheriff's Department.
TBC . . .
A/N: R&R PWEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! _,
P. A/N: oh yeah, FOUR more chappies to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf Lake, if I did, I wouldn't be asking my mother for $ to be buying new jeans. And then I would so totally go to boyztown and like buy up all of the 'Alley'. ULTIMATE ROWING!!!!!!!!!!!BRING WOLF LAKE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
. . . Sweet Dreams XVII:
"Why Ms. Donner, the grungy look is very becoming," Ms. Avery smirked as Sophia hurtled to her seat.
"Kiss my ass," she groaned inaudibly as she leaned over to retrieve the massive book.
Ruffling back her unkempt hair, she tried to ignore the blatant stares of her classmates. Over the course of the past two weeks, they'd noticed a dramatic change in her demeanor and appearance. The entire school watched as the walls of her perfectly secure world crumble around her. Several teachers asking if everything was ok at home had even accosted her.
But how could she tell them that her father hadn't spoken to her after she'd told him she was Changing? How could she rationalize his absence at dinner and breakfast without it sounding like neglect? How could she explain his avoidance without him being presented as an unfit father?
"The answer Ms. Donner?"
At her name, she jumped.
She'd zoned out. She'd been doing that a lot lately, getting her mind caught everywhere else but in Trig.
"I asked for the answer," Ms. Avery repeated, another of her smug smirks heavily painted on her face as she pointed towards the complicated problem on the board.
She sighed and closed her eyes. She didn't even want to try. Ms. Avery had been on her ass for the past two weeks. Every time that Sophia'd get that glazed look in her eyes, Ms. Avery had a new problem that needed solving. Sophia didn't get it. There were only two and a half weeks of school left, and one of them would be based solely on Finals, so why should they be learning at all?
Calming down, she opened her eyes and told herself to focus on Ms. Avery's lecture. Her mind was begging her to focus on the obscenely long problem written on the board, but her heart just couldn't help straying.
She kept wondering what her father was doing at the moment. Was he napping or on the job? Had he eaten a healthy breakfast this morning or taken a hearty dinner last night? Did he take some of the mashed potatoes she'd prepared last night with the meatloaf and peas?
For the past two weeks she tried not to think of how he'd usually pick her up after her shift at the diner or brought her to school on days when there was inclement weather. She ignored the empty laz-e-boy when she'd sit in the living room at night doing her homework, or the dismal half of the dinner table that used to be occupied by him.
~***~
From across the room, she couldn't help it when her eyes roamed towards the disheveled student sitting there with her head hanging down. For the last week, she'd been really worried about her. She was upset about the secrecy at first, but after seeing her slowly deteriorate before her eyes in so little span of time, the love of her best friend got the better of her and she shed the stony heart.
Today she'd arrived just a moment before the bell with a scowl on her face. Her white button up blouse, blue sweater and a pair of blue jeans were decent, but her physical appearance wasn't. Her eyes were rimmed with red; they were bloodshot and looked irritated. Her skin was so pale, it looked transparent. Her skin was heavy and tangled atop her hair with more of a greasy look than a glossy look as it reflected the sun's rays.
With her back hunched over, she watched as her life corroded.
She felt like an idiot. She didn't want to fight anymore. She just wanted to know how she was doing. If Sophia wouldn't tell her the details, she wouldn't press. All she wanted to know was how to help her best friend.
After class, she watched as Sophia trudged out of the room towards the Chemistry Lab and felt the sudden urge to run after her. She wanted to pull her sad being into a hug and tell her that everything would be ok. She wanted to place a kiss to her forehead and cry with her. She wanted Sophia to know that her being suspicious was totally stupid and that all she wanted was to know that she was ok. She wanted Sophia to hug her back and let out a watery laugh after she'd said something funny . . . but she didn't.
That would be giving in, she sighed and headed towards the Chemistry Lab.
~***~
Abandoning her lunch at the table, she exited the room through the large glass doors and entered the Quad. Spotting a not-too-occupied section near a shady tree, she headed towards it. Settling beneath it, she closed her eyes and let her mind wander into oblivion.
Everything was wrong. Her father wasn't speaking to her, Jamie was ignoring her, Sherman had recently asked her into his classroom so they could discuss the Change . . . and she still had no idea to do about Luke.
Since the last confrontation she'd had with her father, Luke had always been there for her. At night when the wolf lurked just beneath the surface, plaguing her dreams and causing an odd sense of paranoia to engulf her, he still sat beside her, never giving in to a wink of sleep. Even after she'd stopped accepting his offers to hold her, he still sat with her at night, on the other side of the room while she painted.
At night, with her senses heightened dramatically, she could feel his gaze grazing her skin ever so lightly. Sometimes his vigilance caused her insides to burn, but she dismissed it as mere hormones and would try desperately to keep those feelings in check. Sometimes she'd turn around and their gazes would collide. His beautiful green eyes causing her skin to heat up and her heart to race as she felt his lips press feathery kisses along her skin, his fingertips to dance lightly over her skin, and his own body carefully cradling her in his, but then she'd blink and the fantasy would dissipate. She'd look away and grab another tube of paint, anxious to keep those feelings at bay.
There was no denying that she wanted him. She knew that with the simplest sweep of the lips, or brush of the fingertips or graze of the skin, she'd be moaning his name and her heart would be doing somersaults in her chest.
There was no denying that she wanted him, the only problem was would she want him forever?
Leaning with her back against the tree, she tried to capture a few elusive drops of sleep before the lunch bell summoned her back to the grueling shuffle of classes.
~***~
"Hey Kit," she smiled entering the employee's lounge.
"Hey Sophia, how's it going?"
"Horrible."
"I can see," she smiled sadly noticing her co-worker's appearance, "Would you like me to take over your shift? You've been looking a little run down lately. I think you need a rest."
"No Kit, I'm fine," she smiled waving off the nice gesture. Anxious to change the subject, she asked, "So, how's Alex?"
"An asshole, but I love him," she grinned with a far-off look in her eyes.
"So how long have you two been an item?"
"Oh, about six months."
"When is the anniversary?"
"Next week at Luigi's."
"Nice place."
"Yeah, and expensive. I'm afraid I'm going to be footed with the bill because the doesn't have a job."
"Well then just kill him then, no big deal."
"Ok, but I need an extra set of fingerprints."
"How 'bout Prestley's? I'm sure we can find a pair on just about any guy's appendage?"
Kit laughed as she tied on her apron.
"Hey Sophia, I'll meet ya' out on the floor, ok?"
"Yeah," she smiled as she extracted the backpack from her shoulders.
As soon as Kit left the room, Sophia's faux smile dropped. A frown marred her features giving her a scowl etched so deep in her countenance that one would wonder if she had been born like that.
Pushing her hair from her face, she pulled out her clean uniform and headed for the showers. After the shower, she dried off, changed into her clothes and pulled her wet hair into a large bun at the nape of her neck.
Entering the kitchen, she walked past Sam, the cook, and continued into the dining area.
"You take the tables and I'll do the counter," Kit announced as she bustled past her carrying three plates laidened with food.
"Yeah," she sighed leaning over the countertop, cradling her head in her hand. Kit had already tended to the people at the tables, so there was nothing left for her to do.
As she patiently began to wipe down the countertop, she noticed Jamie enter the diner and propped down in a seat before her. Glancing at Sophia, Jamie said,
"I'll have an order of fries and a diet Coke."
"Sorry, you'll have to wait for Kit to take your order, this counter is not in my jurisdiction."
"Well then I'm in a booth-"
"But you're not in a booth, you're sitting on a stool at the counter, therefore I cannot serve you. You must wait for Kit."
"Look Sophia, I'm not here to fight. In fact, I'm tired of fighting, I'm tired of hating you, I'm tired of trying to pretend that I don't care for you. I don't really care what's going on right now. All I care about is you. You don't have to tell me what's wrong, just please, tell me how I can make it better?"
"There's nothing going on, nothing that you can help make better," Sophia replied, her eyes glued to the countertop.
"How much weight have you lost?" Jamie whispered.
"Twenty pounds," Sophia sighed still not looking up into her eyes.
"Have you been sleeping?"
"Nope."
"I'm worried about you. Everyday you come to school and you look half dead, I'm not sure what to think or do. I tried to stay mad at you from our argument, but God, I just couldn't. I knew it was stupid of me. When I heard that Luke's Dad had died, you can't imagine how awful I felt. I'd blown up at you for no reason. I knew how close your family was with the Cate's and I knew that you wanted to respect them, but I was so stupid. Why did I even consider the 'Hill' kid's conversation about you two to be true? I was so stupid, and I'm really sorry for doubting you.
"Do you forgive me?"
"How do I know that next time you won't leave me again? I'm alone now Jamie, I've got no one. I can't have you skipping out on me every time that you get an inkling of suspicion."
"I'll make a pact with you: whatever you don't want to tell me, I can't push. No matter what, I'm not allowed to get mad."
"Do you promise?"
"On Josh Hartnett's life," she smiled taking Sophia's hand.
"Deal."
"Ok, so in honor of out renewed friendship, how's about we celebrate by going to a party?"
"Jamie," she groaned rolling her eyes.
"C'mon. Angela is having an end of the year bash at 'Gold Dust' and she invited everyone. It'll be cool. There will be plenty of guys there who could totally rival Luke's good looks."
"Funny," she sighed.
"So will you come?"
"I don't know," she sighed, "I just have to ask my Dad."
"Ok, he'll agree. I mean you're with me. . ."
"It's not that easy James. My dad and I aren't on the greatest terms. I'm still grounded and we had a fight a couple of weeks ago, we're not talking."
"Well ask him after you get him liquored up or something. Tell him you'll clean the house, whatever. Just come." She pleaded, her Mediterranean eyes darkening.
"I'll see what I can do. . ."
~***~
Entering the dark domicile, she made her way towards her bedroom routinely. Changing into something more comfortable, she brought her book bag out to the sitting room and began to do her homework.
In the middle of her History, as she was just beginning a DBQ on the major reasons for the USA's interference in WWII, her father entered from the back door.
Following his bowed figure with her eyes, she noticed how ragged he looked. His skin was pale and his eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't been getting any sleep. He trudged through the room as if not noticing her and continued to his own room.
When she heard the soft thud of his bedroom door closing, she lifted herself from the seat and followed him.
Tapping on his door, she waited for the rustling inside to cease before she began,
"Hey Dad, I wanted to know if I could go to a party? You remember that little tiff that Jamie and I had, well we repaired it and I wanted to know if I could go? It's a celebration of our amig-ship. Uh, it's at the 'Gold Dust' and you know that place is ok, so uh, can I go?" she babbled.
Her question was followed by silence where she distinctly heard a heavy sigh escape his lips.
"Can I go?"
Still, no reply.
"Dad?"
Then suddenly his footsteps pounded on the floor as he approached the door. Before she could apologize, the door flung open and he marched out of the house leaving her all alone.
~***~
Exiting the building, he kept wracking his brain trying to find some vestige in his memory to validify her avoidance of him.
Had he done something wrong? Was she still pissed that he still hung with Prestley? She couldn't be because she knew that with him being Alpha, he'd have to associate with the other Skinwalkers. Did she hate him for something that he did? For something that he didn't do? Was she upset with one of his friends?
His brain was flooded with a million questions as he made his way towards the SUV.
Opening the door, he settled himself inside before he began to formulate what he was about to do. Sitting there in the silence of his truck, his mind suddenly understood the imminence of what he was about to do. He was sure that after the conversation he'd find himself flying through the glass window and inevitably hearing his bones crack as he hit the truck with a sickening thud.
Going over the conversation in his head, he prepared himself for the worst.
Turning on the car, he sped off in the direction of the Sheriff's Department.
TBC . . .
A/N: R&R PWEEEEEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! _,
P. A/N: oh yeah, FOUR more chappies to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
