Shifter Vengeance (Appleton Wolves Book 1), page 2
Once I landed my butt in the circle-shaped seat, I gripped my sandwich and started eating. With each bite I took, I realized that they would be taken alone. No one would be sitting with me. Hillary and MacKayla had friends of their own who I thought I would be friends with. But it didn’t happen. They just mostly talked to themselves and didn’t mind me at all. It was like after Hillary and MacKayla left, they just hung out within their inner circles.
“Excuse me. Is it alright if I sit here?”
I heard a mildly deep male voice speak to me as I drank my milk. I chugged it as fast as possible, my taste buds observing it as quickly as I wanted them to. I looked up and saw this massive-bodied guy with brown spiky pompadour hair and bright green eyes. I fumbled to say something before I nervously asked him to repeat himself.
“I asked if I could sit with you if you don’t mind. I understand if you want to be alone.”
“Oh, um. No, not at all. Please,” I said while I pointed to the seat directly across from me.
I was surprised by the turn of events. I didn’t expect anybody would keep me company today or any day in the future. Yet here was this freakishly big but super cute guy who wanted to sit with me and have lunch. I was a little shy when he sat down and looked at me with the most handsome smile I’ve seen in my life.
“My name is Derek. Derek Bentley.”
He reached his right hand out to me for a handshake. It was like the beast reaching out his paws to the beauty for a dance. I felt charmed and I shook his hand. I felt his big hand envelope mine with ease, but something about his hand made me feel warm and comfortable, like it was a signal that he was gentle and caring.
“Ericka Jones. Nice to meet you, Derek.”
“Might I say you look beautiful today?”
“Oh, thanks. I didn’t do much today. But thanks for the kind words.”
I wasn’t lying. I did straighten my long blonde hair, but other than that, I didn’t make any effort to look as beautiful as Derek saw me through his eyes. I wore my ripped jeans and a t-shirt with the Led Zeppelin logo that I thought was a little large for my size. I guess he saw more beauty in me than I did with myself.
“Nonsense. You look radiant today.”
“Thanks…Are you flirting with me?”
I immediately saw Derek’s dimpled cheeks turn red and sweat formed on his perfectly lined forehead. He looked down at his lunch and rubbed the back of his neck, at which point I felt a little guilty. Derek had a tray of chicken nuggets, a side of ketchup, a group of tatter tots, and a plate of nachos he bought from a separate window.
“I’m sorry, Ericka. I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I’m nervous, and I’m just new here. I moved from Washington state and I’m trying to make new friends here. I’m sorry if you took it that way. I can go if you want.”
It was so adorable to see how he nervously tried to explain himself and apologize for something so innocent.
“No, it’s okay, Derek. I think you’re very sweet for your compliment. I should say sorry to you for my bad manners. I didn’t think I looked that beautiful today with the little effort I did this morning.”
“Well, I disagree.”
“Thanks.”
Derek nodded and started to eat his lunch. I couldn’t eat mine because I was too busy staring at Derek’s eyes. They were the brightest green I’ve ever seen. They were too bright and beautiful for a human being. They weren’t normal in their gorgeousness for a mortal man. Derek must have had some extraordinary genes or taken part in one of the world’s most rare gene pools. Whatever it is, his eyes mesmerized me.
He put down a chip he had in one of his long fingers and looked at me with a smile, a smile that made me blush mildly.
“So, Ericka. Please, I’d love to know more about you.”
I could tell you all about myself in a two-hour documentary or a 400–500-page autobiography. And I’m not even twenty yet.
“Umm…let’s see.”
I saw him looking at me with the most curious eyes in the world. It was like he was ready to absorb the information I would tell him because he was eager to know me. Perhaps I'm too eager.
“I’m originally from New York City. When I was two years old, my parents moved here because they felt like the city was too busy to live in. I’m an only child, and both my parents passed away. My dad died of a heart attack when I was ten years old, and my mother just recently died five months ago for the same reason. Oh, and I’m a senior in high school.”
Derek’s eyes grew wide with surprise. He grabbed my right hand in his, at which point I saw a shift in his eyes. They were the eyes of sympathy, sadness, and care. It was like he wanted to absorb the pain and sadness I felt, and I only met the guy like eight minutes ago. He looked like he wanted to give me a hug, where I visualized feeling his six-pack against my body.
“Ericka, I’m so sorry to hear that. You have my deepest condolences. If you don’t mind me asking, who do you live with now after the death of your parents?”
“My aunt.”
“Oh, okay. I thought you might have been placed with foster parents or taken under some legal guardianship with strangers.”
I managed a meek chuckle from my mouth before I could respond to him.
“No, nothing like that. But I don’t want to talk about it. Tell me about you. What can Derek Bentley tell me about himself?”
Derek smirked and took a bite from one of his chicken nuggets, dipping it in ketchup before popping it in his mouth. He finally spoke after chewing it up and digesting it.
“Like I said, I’m from Washington state. But what’s surprising here is the fact that you and I are already alike. My parents are dead too, and it’s so weird.”
“You have my condolences. But what’s so weird about it?”
“They died when I was ten, the same time your dad died. What a coincidence.”
Geez, you don’t have to tell me twice.
I looked at Derek with curious, fascinated eyes. What are the odds that he experienced tragedy around the same time as I did? But it wasn’t a matter that I wanted to explore in my mind or through conversation with him for the remainder of the lunch period.
“Let’s change the topic. I don’t want it to be miserable for the rest of lunch. Tell me something positive. What are your hobbies or activities you like to do?”
“First of all, I agree with you,” Derek said as he flashed a big smile on his face, making me see his shiny grill.
“Second, I will gladly tell you about my love for horror and fantasy movies, with a little action, too. Like Jeremy Renner and Jason Bourne in action. I also love to read a lot of comic books and manga.”
“Oh, wow, see? We’re already different. I’m more of a romance and comedy girl. I also love to read paranormal romance novels without any horror. I love to read about the female hero falling in love with a werewolf or a vampire or some creature that I don’t know. It’s always interesting to me.”
I saw Derek twitch a little at the sound of the word ‘werewolf,’ and he rubbed his head a little bit. It was like the word gave him some discomfort. I also saw a look of seriousness and anxiety on his face.
“Is everything alright?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s just a back spasm. It’s fine. I’m fine… It’s great that you love those genres.”
I nodded while maintaining a look of curiosity on my face.
Why would the word ‘werewolf’ trigger a back spasm?
“So, what else do you like to do?” Derek asked.
“I’m a really good bowler.”
“No way! So am I!”
“Really? Well, in that case, why don’t you prove to me how good you are? I challenge you to a game one day whenever you’re free.”
“You are so on. I’m free this weekend if you want.”
“I shouldn’t have anything this weekend, either. We’ll discuss the plan later.”
“Sounds good.”
Derek and I decided to exchange numbers as the bell to end the lunch period rang. We said our goodbyes and went in opposite directions to our classes.
3
Math sucked. It completely sucked donkey balls. I was in my bedroom doing a calculus homework while Aunt Carrie was in the living room doing work for her job. She was a medical biller and coder, whatever that meant. She wanted me to follow in her footsteps, but I would have to do my research to see what the job is and what its duties were.
The multitude of numbers in my textbook and on my worksheet tap-danced in my head, with each step and waltz they took increasing the headache I had. I was beginning to feel dizzy. The number of complex steps it took to solve one math problem overwhelmed my brain.
Enough was enough.
I closed my textbook and shoved the worksheet into my binder before my calculus homework gave me vertigo. I put all of them in my backpack before I had the sudden craving to get a snack from the fridge. I got out of bed and started walking to the door when my brain felt numb.
I can’t believe math exists in the first place. Whoever invented it must be rotting in Hell right now.
I walked clumsily into the hallway and smelled the baked vanilla flavored Febreze Plug-in that Aunt Carrie placed in an outlet near my room. It sort of helped with calming my nerves down and letting my brain relax. I walked through the living room, where I saw my aunt sitting at a small desk in the corner and putting her head down to work. It was like she was trying to figure out how to make a cat formation from a Rubik’s Snake.
I went into the kitchen and opened the fridge to see all the possibilities in front of me for a snack to sink my teeth into. I found a newly bought variety cheesecake platter with an assortment of different flavors, from New York style to turtle. I surveyed the platter and found one slice missing from the strawberry swirl side.
The sight of the platter made my mouth form a pool of water from my taste buds. I took a plastic plate and grabbed two slices, one from the New York-style and one from the double chocolate. I didn’t sit down at the kitchen table because I couldn’t wait to eat the slices. Each bite I took melted in my mouth. The cream, the chocolate chips, and the frosting all melted over my taste buds as I entered taste nirvana.
I finished the New York-style slice in less than a minute before moving on to the double chocolate.
“Save some of that cheesecake for me! I have a guest who’s coming over this week!”
I heard Aunt Carrie yell from the living room. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes about how she couldn’t trust me to handle myself around the cheesecake.
“I don’t need to remind you about how you finished an entire platter in one day the last time I brought cheesecake into the house!”
“I got it, Aunt Carrie! You don’t need to go berserk over it.”
I went back to my room after I finished my nighttime craving and pulled out my history textbook. I was going to do homework for one of my easiest classes at school. I could do the math homework later. It wasn’t due until Friday and it was only Tuesday. I had seventy-two hours to prepare myself for math by going to a pharmacy and buying Meclizine for potential vertigo.
Unlike math, history was such an easy subject for me. I finished that homework in under twenty minutes. I had the rest of the night to myself. I then heard my laptop turn on by itself. I hurried to it with a strange look on my face and opened it. It usually wouldn’t turn on unless there was an important notification that I needed to restart it.
I opened my laptop and typed my password in. I saw a notification in the lower right corner of the screen. It was from Skype. I clicked on it and almost went ballistic when I saw that it was a chat request from both of my best friends. This was just what I needed to end my night on such a great note.
I hurriedly accepted the request and turned the video camera on my laptop. The last time I spoke to Hillary and MacKayla was over a month ago. They’d been dealing with their life stuff and were probably too busy to start a chat. I was beyond ecstatic now for an opportunity to talk with my gals again.
We all screamed when each of our video cameras turned on and saw each other’s faces. I screamed so loud that Aunt Carrie ran from the living room to my bedroom, almost busting the door down because she thought something had happened to me.
“What the Hell, Ericka? I heard you screaming! What’s going on?”
“Nothing, auntie. I’m just on a Skype chat with MacKayla and Hillary. Sorry for screaming and scaring you.”
Aunt Carrie sighed a breath of relief.
“You should be sorry for scaring the bejesus out of me. Tell the girls I said hi.”
“I will. Love you.”
My aunt replied that she loved me back and left, leaving me alone finally to talk with Hillary and MacKayla.
“Sorry we scared your aunt, Ericka,” Hillary said.
“It’s fine! Don’t even worry about it. Oh my gosh, you guys! I miss you so much! Hillary, I can’t even understand how you can let so much time go by and endure being away from MacKayla and me.”
“It sucks ass,” Hillary said as she sighed a sigh of worry.
Her mood started to get as gloomy and dim as the light fixture in her room. It was barely outlined as MacKayla and I were only able to see the upper part of Hillary’s shirt, her throat, her face, and her shoulder-length hair. Her dark brown eyes almost looked like they had no color.
“But at least we can still interact with each other!” I said.
“Enough of this ‘missing each other crap!’” MacKayla said bluntly. “Think positively, guys. We can still talk to each other. Ericka, I can’t wait to see you someday when we don’t have school. And Hillary? You and I can always talk on Skype every night. But I can’t make any promises.”
Hillary still felt gloomy.
“I know. But it’s just so depressing here in Virginia. I haven’t been making that many friends in my new school and it’s just been depressing. At least you guys can see each other because you’re still in the same town. You guys can still hang out and see each other physically. I don’t have anything here.”
The sad, pessimistic mood of the chat worsened to where nobody knew how to flip it on its head and make it positive again. But Hillary started to form a small smile, which MacKayla and I could see on her face. It was like she came up with a way to rectify the situation.
“But MacKayla’s right. Let’s talk about something positive. So, I talked to my boyfriend Chad and it was an amazing convo.”
Chad and Hillary dated for an entire year. He wasn’t the most handsome guy in the world. I certainly didn’t think of him that way now after I met Derek. Chad had a fuzzy, blonde crew cut and dark blue eyes. He met Hillary at my school when the two shared a biology class, and both of them were clueless about the subject.
It was love at first sight and they helped each other out, after which they wound up passing the class. I was beginning to think that high school had some magical, invisible Cupid running around slinging arrows into unsuspecting people.
Could that happen to Derek and me like it did with Hillary and Chad?
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense. Spill the beans, girl!” I said with tenacity.
“Okay, okay. So, Chad and I talked about him moving to Virginia to be here with me.”
“Oh my gosh,” MacKayla uttered. “That would be so amazing if he did that! Then you wouldn’t have to be so miserable.”
“Well, that’s just thing. After an hours-long talk…he decided to move to Virginia to be with me!”
Just when I thought the interaction between my girls and I would be dominated by sadness and depression, the mood became happy as we got excited about Hillary’s news.
“Aww, Hillary,” I said. “That’s so wonderful, honey. When is he going to make the move to Virginia?”
“Around Thanksgiving.”
“Dang,” MacKayla exclaimed. “That’s quite some time from now. How are you going to be patient?”
“I don’t know. I’ll figure something out.”
“So, if you had this wonderful news to share with us, why were your sulky as hell earlier?” MacKayla asked.
“Well, I mean…I’m going to be like that until Chad arrives in Virginia Beach. Once I see him, he’ll wrap his arms around me tight, kiss me, and make my sadness disappear. So, you’re sort of right about the whole patience thing.”
MacKayla chuckled a little and shrugged. It was then that Hillary decided to switch the topic.
“Enough about me. What about you two? Are you in the process of shacking up, or am I the only one who gets to make you two jealous?”
“Don’t look at me,” MacKayla replied. “I love my independent life. I don’t want to give up my freedom for some man. Ericka? You got anything?”
“Well…”
Don’t tell them about it. It’s no big deal. You and Derek aren’t a thing. It’s not the time to mention it.
“There is this guy I met in school the other day –”
MacKayla and Hillary began to whoop for me at the sound of my words, easily intrigued by who they thought would be my future fling.
“So, who’s this future boyfriend of yours?” Hillary asked.
“He’s not my future boyfriend. We just met at lunch yesterday, and he asked if he could keep me company.”
MacKayla and Hillary whooped again, which made my cheeks grow rosy.
“Would you guys stop that? I’m not looking for a relationship right now. With everything that’s happened recently, I’m not in the mood for that and I don’t have time for it.”
My best friends nodded with neutral looks on their faces. I wanted to lighten up the mood.
“His name is Derek Bentley, and we sat down at lunch period together and ate lunch. That’s all.”
“Did you guys exchange phone numbers?” MacKayla asked.
“Yeah?”
“Did he compliment you?” Hillary then asked.
