FLUFFY!
"So why are we going to a geezer home again?" Tori quirked an eyebrow as she turned around from the bus seat in front of me.
"To talk to Liz's great-aunt Mildred." I told her again.
"The crazy one?" she confirmed. I nodded. "Great."
"Well she's not really crazy," Liz spoke up from where she was perched across the aisle in an empty seat next to an elderly woman who had no idea she was there.
"True." Derek, sitting next to me, gave me an odd look, reminding me I was answering a ghost again.
"Liz." I gestured at her seat with my eyes and his expression flashed understanding.
"What do you think Liz's aunt will know?" Aliena next to Simon mused.
"How to knit?" Tori supplied helpfully. Liz glowered at her.
"Tell her to lay off. Before she got locked up in the nursing home she used to be really nice to me. You know, when I didn't think she was talking crazy…" Liz said.
"Leave Great-Aunt Mildred alone, Tori," I sighed.
She snickered.
"What?" Derek snapped.
"Sorry," she giggled, "but really? Great-Aunt Mildred? Kinda cliché for an old lady, don't you think?"
None of us bothered to answer her.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sun fade away into dusk. Finally Derek suggested we all try and catch up on some sleep. God knows we can never get enough.
It didn't take long for Simon, Tori, and Aliena to begin snoring, but I couldn't seem to shut down my whirring mind long enough.
I guess Derek couldn't sleep either, or maybe he just grew tired of my head tossing and turning on his shoulder, because he asked me what was bothering me.
"Nothing," it was true. I could find no specific complaint with life, not right this second at least. Just a general sense of unease. "Just can't sleep."
"Did you try counting sheep?" he suggested, only half-jokingly.
"What would it have been like if we never met?" I blurted suddenly, realizing that that was what was bugging me. Right now I was actually happy, but what if fate had missed by just one stroke of luck? What if that janitor had never shown up to my school? What if I had been sent to a normal crazy house and not that of Samuel Lyle?
He sucked in a surprised breath. "Bad."
"I would still be normal," I mused. "Going to film school. The end of the year would be coming up soon. I might even get a normal boyfriend."
"No need to sound so regretful," he adapted a mock-angry tone, knowing that wasn't what I meant at all.
"I wouldn't be on the run for my life. I'd never have been shot- never been in more pain than a sprained ankle," I felt him wince. "I'd probably have gone on to a film college, maybe the New York Film Academy or the University of Santa Fe. I might have even gone on to write and direct the year's best movie. I'd have married a normal, nice guy and had two or three kids, at least one of each. I'd live in a nice house in a nice neighborhood, preferably in Hollywood…It would have been perfect…"
"I'm sorry things didn't work out quite like that," his tone was slightly bitter.
"No, you didn't let me finish. It would have been perfect but now I couldn't imagine having to live like that." he gave a contented sigh beneath me. "What would your life have been like?"
"Assuming I wasn't a werewolf?" I nodded against his shoulder. "Well…" there was a long thoughtful pause. "Let's say I still live with Simon and Kit. Can't imagine not, even if I wasn't a werewolf. I'd probably play a school sport or something…oh wait. Scratch that. If I wasn't a werewolf I probably wouldn't have those genetically enhanced strength and speed powers…All right. I have absolutely no idea what my life would be like if I wasn't a werewolf. I've been raised like one, unlike you I've always known about my powers. I honestly have no idea what would have happened if I didn't."
I scowled, even though I knew he couldn't see it. "You're no good at this."
"Sorry, but I really have no clue."
"Wanna know what I think your future would have been like?"
"Go for it."
"You would have lived with your mom-"
"In the slums of New York."
"-and you would have done lots of studying and graduated high school as class valedictorian at age twelve. Then you'd go on to some fancy science school like Princeton or Votech and then you'd graduate and get a couple of masters degree. Then you'll invent some fancy science gadget or conquer the world or something."
"Hmm…world domination. Sound fun." I elbowed him.
"You think I'm joking…"
"No. I would totally make a great world dictator." I loved the teasing in his voice, the lightness that only seemed to fully emerge when we were alone.
"What do you think it would be like if we could live normally right now?"
"Now now?" he clarified.
"Yes, now. Right this second. If we were to cut this on-the-run crap and start over at a regular high school in a normal house. Let's say we even had trustable adults there to take care of us?"
"Who? Not to be a parade-rainer or anything, but the number of trustable adults in our lives at the moment is dwindling on zip."
"I don't know," I shrugged. "Generic parents Bob and Sally?"
"Sure," he agreed and I could hear the smile in the one word. "Dear old Bob and Sally."
"We could go to a normal school…get homework."
"I could help you with your homework," he offered.
"Tori and Simon would love it, being normal and getting some other friends. They are both probably tired of us by now. Aliena probably wouldn't mind it either- she's still not adapted to street life."
"I could take you on a real date. To a cheesy school dance or something."
"That'd be fun," I leaned back against him, eyelids drooping.
"Sleepy yet? Now that you've planned out our entire future?"
"Yeah," I admitted, wiggling into a more comfortable position against his shoulder.
"Try to sleep." he advised.
"What about you?"
"I'll try too."
"Kay." This time when I closed my eyes, they stayed closed.
So readers…I have a question. I could either make their visit with Great-Aunt Mildred very exciting/dramatic with lots of action or a quiet respite for our heroes. Suggestions? Comments? Reviews?