Seven
School was overwhelming. Actually, everything was overwhelming. Every day I woke up scared that what my parents said were true; and when I realized it was, I always got a weird feeling in my stomach and didn't feel good for the rest of the day. I felt paranoid that people at school could tell somehow that I had werewolves in my family, but I knew that was ridiculous for there was no way anyone knew anything.
But still. That's all I thought about and it was damaging my once normal life. I didn't focus on school as much, and I agree I wasn't that much fun to be around. Marlene and Aiden always told me to cheer up or explain what was wrong, but that was the hardest part; I couldn't tell them.
Marlene forced me to come over one day in an attempt to liven me up. I had no plans except seeing Aiden later, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to go. When I arrived she was on her computer looking something up.
"I'm here," I announced unenthusiastically. I plopped on the bed and faced the ceiling.
"Yes, I know," Marlene replied, and when I looked up at her she was typing furiously.
"What are you looking up this time?" I wondered, fighting my laziness and walking over to her side. I peered down at the web page. "Animal attacks?"
"I have a theory the murderer isn't a person at all, but a bear or something," Marlene told me excitedly. "I mean, think about it. No one has found any evidence at all. That's pretty suspicious. It's probably a wild bear, or…a wolf, or something," Marlene sounded like she broke a huge case.
"A wolf?" I echoed, and started to feel nauseous. I decided to lie back down. "Ugh…"
"What's wrong this time?" Marlene shifted her attention to me. "What's the latest excuse?"
"Excuse?" I echoed again. Marlene was smart, so I knew it wouldn't take long for her to catch on that sickness, a bad test score, or running out of chocolate at home was the cause of my depression.
"Charlotte we've been friends forever. I'm sad you feel like you can't share with me what's keeping you down," Marlene replied in a therapist voice.
"You'll think I'm crazy," I protested, closing my eyes and placing a hand on my forehead.
"No, I won't."
I opened my eyes and saw that Marlene didn't look worried; on the contrary, she looked surprised. But I hadn't told her anything. "Why wouldn't you think I'm crazy?" I murmured, looking at her curiously.
"They told you didn't they?" Marlene replied and I gasped.
"You knew?"
Marlene's big eyes blinked at me and she let out a shaky breath. "You believe them don't you?" She asked, not answering me.
"I-I-I'm not sure…it all sounds so crazy, and out of nowhere. But I saw proof. I saw Nate…," I confessed, not looking at her.
"Char, I'm so sorry." Marlene gave me a hug, and though comforting, I really wanted to know how exactly she knew all this.
"Marlene, you're not telling me how you already knew…and how would you know?" I said, pulling back.
"Charlotte, I hate to bring more stress into your life right now. But I guess I should tell you," She stood up and looked around, probably wondering how she'd start. "My family and I aren't normal either. In fact, North Pole has a lot of…different people." Marlene bit her lip, and I sat there already thinking she was going to tell me she was a werewolf, too.
"You're one, too? Right?" I interrupted.
"Not exactly. Well, my mom and aunt and I…we're witches. But there are other werewolves around here, you're right," Marlene explained.
"It's so totally obvious now," I whispered, standing up, too, pacing back and forth next to Marlene's bed while she looked at me worriedly. "You're obsessed with cats and chemistry. You like singing. Your mom and aunt also are a little crazy, and sing all the time, and probably cast spells on dinner to make it taste so good!" I realized.
Marlene shrugged sheepishly. "Well, we can't cast spells. We don't have wands or anything. We just simply know how to make really good potions for stuff, and yes, we do happen to like singing, cats, and mixing things together," She replied. "Wait, you're not as shocked as I thought you'd be about this…"
"Are you kidding? My family just told me my brother has turned into a werewolf. Now, my best friend is a witch. Nothing, after this, will ever surprise me anymore," I sighed, shaking my head. What has happened with my life?
"Well, Char, you can't tell anyone about this. Humans don't know, and aren't supposed to know. I mean, nobody would believe you anyway, but still," Marlene advised.
"Like I'd tell anyone. It would just be embarrassing, everyone seems to be something and I'm not. I'm just a human. I feel left out," I grumbled, adding, "Wow, never thought I'd be sad to be normal."
Marlene laughed. "I knew you'd take this well. Well, sort of well. Is that why you've been in this awful funk?" Marlene wondered.
"Yes," I reply, just as Marlene's mom came in with a platter of cookies.
"Here you girls go," She sang out happily.
"Thanks, Agatha. Oh, hey, just wondering, did you put a hex on these cookies to make us feel better? Make them taste extra good?" I casually asked.
Agatha almost dropped the cookies, but luckily, she didn't. "What?" She laughed nervously. "That's nonsense Charlotte, they're just homemade cookies, that's all!"
"Mom, she knows," Marlene rolled her eyes.
"No! Why?" Agatha turned to Marlene with what I assumed was anger, for I have never seen her angry in my life.
"Her parents told her about the tribe. I thought she might as well know about us," Marlene explained.
"Look, I won't tell anyone. I've got enough on my plate," I mumbled, chewing on a cookie thoughtfully.
"Oh, my! You poor dear. And you hadn't a clue before, had you? Your parents should have never kept it from you, I always said. It would've been easier to know from the start. I told Marlene what she was as soon as I could," Agatha wobbled over and gave me a huge, rather tight, hug. "I'll go make more cookies, but I'll put some magical happy to them. You'll feel like a million dollars!" Agatha jogged out of the room.
"Great, now everything will have some kind of potion or magic in it to impress you," Marlene warned me, smirking.
"I don't care, I need a happy potion right now," I insisted, finishing up the cookie and brushing my hands free of crumbs.
**
I knocked on the door, waiting anxiously. I was so excited though, partly due to the fact I was about to see Aiden and then also those magic cookies weren't so bad after all.
Aiden opened the door, grinning when he saw me. "Hey!" He greeted, giving me a huge, warm hug. I kissed him then snuggled in his arms.
"It's so cold. I'm glad you called, but let's go inside," I told him. He nodded and led me inside, shutting the door. I sighed happily, and brushed the snow off my shoulders and arms.
"So, I was thinking we could do something fun and cheer you up," Aiden explained.
"Oh, I'm already feeling tons better," I replied, twirling around.
"Really? Oh, I'm so glad. I was worried about you," Aiden confessed, smiling. "But, we're still going to hang out if you don't mind."
"I don't mind," I laughed.
Moments later, Aiden was driving me to somewhere unknown. I wondered happily where, even though I had mixed feelings about surprises. Ugh, especially now. But the area seemed familiar, now that I think about it, looking out the window.
"Please tell me!" I persisted, laughing.
"No!" Aiden shook his head. "It's a surprise, you'll see."
He pulled up to a snowy bank, sparse trees blocking my view as to where we were. Aiden got out of the car and went to the back of the truck where he picked up something. Then he came to my door and let me out. "Here you go," He said, handing me a pair of ice skates.
"Oh, Aiden, no!" I cried out surprised. "We're going ice skating?"
"Looks like it," He replied grinning. He took my hand, locked the car, then proceeded to pull me along past the snowy bank and through the trees. Seconds later a frozen lake appeared, where a few others were ice skating merrily.
"I'm so bad at ice skating it's a joke," I whined, looking at the skates in my hand gloomily.
"Don't worry I'll help you," Aiden said. We sat down on a wooden bench built next to the lake and started to lace up our skates. I began thinking that this would be fun, no matter how embarrassing. Plus, it definitely kept my mind off things.
I was incredibly wobbly and could barely skate unless Aiden held on to me. "It's been a long time!" I replied embarrassed for Aiden couldn't stop laughing.
"It's ok, it's cute, don't worry," He told me, skating effortlessly even while having to drag me around. The lake's ice looked silky and though I wasn't sure how exactly people didn't break through, I trusted it wouldn't happen. Everyone looked happy skating around, except for the individuals like me who were struggling not to fall. Someone had been kind enough to string Christmas lights on some of the surrounding trees, giving the lake a heavenly glow.
It went like that for awhile until I eventually got the hang of it, and Aiden didn't have to hold on to me. I skated faster than him at one point and we started to race…until I fell hard on my butt.
"Ugh!" I grunted, rolling over on the lake. I lay there in pain until Aiden skated over, offering me his hand.
"That was a nasty fall," Aiden said, then shook his hand when it looked like I wasn't taking it. "C'mon, I'll help you up."
"I rather just lay here, thanks," I replied. Aiden laughed, but ignored my request as he picked me up easily with his hands, and even stood me up straight. He was so strong, it was quite amazing.
"Do you want to take a break?" Aiden offered, holding my hand as we skated slowly towards the bench where we had left our boots.
"Sure, why not," I replied gratefully. He helped me sit down then began unlacing my skates. "Aiden, I'm not a little girl," I laughed, watching him.
"But you've been hurt," He protested, taking my skates off for me. "There you go." I smiled at him then we both began putting on our boots. Afterwards we made our way back to his truck, and got in. "Where to now?" Aiden wondered.
"I say we go get coffee," I suggest. Aiden nodded, and took my hand. We drove over to Cocoa and picked up delicious white chocolate mochas to go, for we decided we wanted to drink them at Aiden's house.
"I can light our fireplace. It'll be great," Aiden was saying excitedly. I laughed at him, wondering how on earth I found someone who thought it was so fun to want to be around me all the time. I guess that's what relationships are all about.
Later, as we sipped our coffees and talked, sitting snuggly on Aiden's sofa in front of the fireplace, I couldn't help thinking about werewolves and witches. How I wanted to tell Aiden. I'm not sure how he'd take it, if he even would understand. I pictured me telling him and then him breaking up with me on account that he thought I turned crazy.
"So what were you all sad about earlier?" Aiden wondered, stroking my leg as we sat there.
"Oh…just you know. Everyone's been changing lately, I guess. Sometimes change isn't always good," I replied, thinking that was a way of telling him without getting into specifics.
"Yeah, I understand that," Aiden told me. "But I don't think I've changed?"
"No, you haven't," I laughed. "It was mostly like family and…Marlene," I confessed.
"Marlene?" Aiden questioned.
"Nothing really, don't worry," I told him. I looked over and he was staring at me intently.
"I won't ever change," He promised. "But if I do it'd be completely by accident."
I laughed, shaking my head. "I don't think you'll change, either." Aiden leaned down and kissed me. I thought about that despite finding out all these secrets about my family and best friend, Aiden could still make me feel good, and best of all, normal. I mean, they were the ones who were different, not me. I just had to live knowing about it. But that shouldn't be so bad? I mean, having a best friend who's a witch could come to be incredibly handy. I'm not sure what benefits having a werewolf brother are, but I'm sure there will be some.
I decided to stop thinking about it. My life shouldn't end because of these secrets. I wanted life to go on. So I kissed Aiden back, ever hopeful and determined to get things back to the way they were as much as I could.
**
"I'm surprised at how well I'm adapting to you being a witch," I told Marlene on the phone the next night.
"It's really not that bad," Marlene agreed. "I mean, it's just handier. I can help you out magically whenever, just let me know."
I laughed. "Marlene, do you know how to make a love potion?" I wondered curiously.
"Even if I did I doubt you need one, with Aiden and all. How is he by the way?" Marlene replied.
"Perfect as always. But not a potion for me, for you. Let's make a boy fall head over heels for you!" I cried excitedly, a plan forming quickly in my mind.
"Absolutely not. I don't want to use my magic for fun or for unneeded reasons," Marlene protested. "Besides, there's no one I know that I take an interest in."
"Oh c'mon Marlene, I'm sure you too are attracted to at least one Elite," I persisted mischievously.
"They are terribly addicting to look at, but what of their personality? Nobody knows them. It's too risky," Marlene sighed.
"Fine. Well, I've got to go to bed soon, homework exhausts me," I grumbled.
"Same. I'll see you tomorrow," Marlene replied, and as soon as we said our goodbyes there was a newsflash on the TV.
"It seems the killer has traveled, for another inexplicable murder has been found, but this time in Canada. It seems the killer has decided to leave Alaska, we hope, for good," The reporter announced.
"Oh, thank goodness," I breathed a sigh of relief, glad whoever it was has left the state all together. I turned off the TV and headed up to my room, eager to go to bed, but not so eager to start another school week.
Right before I slipped under my covers, I peered over at Joel's coat, thrown over a chair next to my dresser. I wonder if this meant he'd come back? Would he want his coat? Well, of course he would, I mean, he gave it to me so as he could come back for it and check up on me again.
Did the killer leaving mean he wouldn't check on me any longer? I sort of hoped it would. Like any girl, having a guy like Joel even want to check up on me was wonderfully thrilling, but the timing was awful. I had Aiden, and things were going extremely well between us and I wouldn't dream of ruining it. Maybe having Joel quit what he was doing was best.
I told myself that tomorrow I would order Joel once and for all to stay away from me.