Recover

Chapter Eight

So, I decided to ditch for the rest of the day, totally unlike me. I pick up my things from my locker and start to walk outside when I spot Jake in front of the door.

    "Wh-why did you kiss him?!" He begs for an answer, but it is more full of anger than hurt.

    "Because this girl is not a dog that you can train or own," I sneer through a clenched jaw and with piercing eyes. "Males aren't superior to females and females aren't superior to males. We are on equal ground! I'm not being a feminist, but you and your world are just too controlling. I won't be part of it. Ever, mutt." I insult him in the worst way possible for a werewolf. Once again his eyes are filled with anger not hurt and that pushes me off the cliff. I pull out my cellphone and dial my 'doctor's' number.

    "Oh yes, can I please schedule a checkup for my surgical procedure results?" I hum as I 'wait' for an answer and I see Jake's face pale and became full of worry. "Two days from now would be the best, alright thank you, see you at 2:30 P.M."

    I close the phone and Jake asks, "What surgery?"

    "Didn't you smell it? I mean my human smell is a little weird right?" He sniffs the air again and his face is one of horror.

    "You're-"

    "Yes, I had my tubes tied," I say smooth and calm.

    "What the fuck?" He screams, finally I hit a nerve.

    Some how my real emotions flood over me and they broke free, "You have no clue what it was like growing up being shunned for not being a werewolf, Jake!" I yell. Tears start to well up in my eyes at the painful memories; I ball my hands into fists. And say the deepest thing I could keep from him, "I was taken advantage of Jake! I didn't know how long I would have to stay in the pack so I had to take a precaution." My thoughts drift off back to the day it happened. In a janitor's closet. . .

    I was walking to the girl's restroom when I was pulled into the janitor’s closet, duct tape wrapped around my hands and placed on my mouth. A deep chuckle fills the small closet, "How much longer do you expect me to wait? Seriously? I love you. Why don't you understand that?" Drake, the school's number one linebacker was psychotic.

    He'd been stalking me for almost a month now. I didn't even know him that well. I had congratulated him on his winning pass at our last game and that was it. I had no idea he was such a headcase, but it was too late to take back my words. All I could do at that moment was weep.

    I'm surprised he even let me live that day. We were in that closet at least a good three hours. I remember him opening the door and saying, "I love you" and leaving. It took me another hour to get my hands undone, he didn't even have the decency to let me out free. I had to walk all the way to the hospital to get help.

    I was in the hospital for the night because of bruises and laterations on my body I didn't even know Drake had inflicted. It took a month to finally get him convicted and institutionalized. With the pain of what happened, I turned to boxing to filter my anger through. I thought of suicide once, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It wasn't worth taking my life just because of this big hiccup in my life.

    I shake my head and push those memories to the depths of my mind.

    "Good bye Jake," I push him aside, he was like a stone statue. He had just realized that I wasn't always like this, I was once a flower and not ice and he hated everyone who changed that.

~ ~ ~

The smell of old oil and rusting metal fills my nostrils and I remind myself I'm at work, my second home. I look at the worn out sign and smile "BB's Garage." It is a repair shop and I work as the book keeper/apprentice for painting vehicles. Even though I went home and changed into my grubby clothes before coming to work, I walk in and heard a cat call from Dakota but a Hello from Miles. I stick my tongue out at him and smile at the other. I walk into my little office to start my job for today.

    When I am sending an invoice my boss comes barging in, "Gen why weren’t you here yesterday?" His voice coated in concern and worry. I smile weakly at the man in his late 40's, he looks like a very serious man, but the man's heart is one of pure gold.

    "I was sick and I wasn't able to call in because. . ." I try to think of an excuse, "I had strep throat." I finish my trail of thought, "I couldn't talk over the phone," I cough and rub my throat for exaggeration.

    He rolls his eyes, he knows there is something else and if I want to keep it a secret he respects it, unlike Jake. "Make sure it doesn't happen again," He mumbles and we both broke out into fits of laughter at the joke that Kaden would be a serious boss.

    After a good 5 minutes or so getting ourselves back together he tells me to get well and leaves me to the piles of work that built up since I wasn't here yesterday. I let out a heavy sigh and get to work.

    Time flies by and hours later I check the time and it is time to get some grub. It's 5:30 and my tummy is rumbling. Right on time Miles and Dakota comes barging in. Damn, does nobody knock?

    "Hey girl hey!" Dakota squeals like a high school girl then leans against the door frame, "Wanna grab some food with me and Miles?" he asks, back to his deep masculine voice. His brown eyes are laced with gold and his blond hair is loose and messy.

    "Sure Dakota!" I squeal back sarcastically, dang this boy is 24 and he makes fun of teenagers? Half of the time I think he is the teenager here, Miles is the mature quite older brother by a year.

    I grab my bag and walk over to Miles, "Hey why where you in so early today? You were here at like 1:00." When Dakota's voice is deep and masculine, Miles' is smooth like a river.

    "I ditched," I answer and shrug it off; I walk with the boys to Miles' car, a 1997 Toyota Tacoma. Nice, simple and comfy, unlike Jake's. A nice sleek blue, unlike Jake's. Stop thinking about Jake! I shake my head.

    Me and Dakota fight about who gets shotgun, ”I fixed 4 truck alternators today and 2 Nissan AC!" Dakota fights playfully.

    "I invoiced 12 bills, paid 15," I fight back, but Dakota doesn't seem convinced that I deserve the front seat so I bring out the big guns, "and I paid your paycheck!"

    Miles, already in the driver’s seat, looks at his brother and tells him, "Dude, she wins hands down."

    Dakota frowns and slowly gets in the back seat while I laugh. We pull out of the parking lot while Dakota blasts some song on the radio. We waltz into Linda's, a 50's style diner with a big smile on our faces and go up to the hosts stand. My blood goes cold and my smile flat when I see a brunette with green cat eyes and too much pink eye shadow, Jessica, the bitch who broke my phone was at the host stand.

    "Table for three?" She disgustingly purrs at Dakota.

    I make a gagging noise at her being so desperate and we are seated. I look around at the place and smile, everything about this town feels home-y.

    Miles brings me out of my thoughts, "What do ya want Gen?" his blue eyes twinkle and his black hair shines in the soft light. Hmm, maybe she was drooling over Miles?

    "Just the rib special with mashed potatoes, not fries and a salad. Oh and don't forget a-"

    "Coke," He finishes for me, "so your usual?" I nod and I smile so big it probably lit up the whole room.

    I snap out of it when Dakota pipes in, "Dang girl, you gonna gain a few pounds with all that food!" He gives me a cocky half grin so I throw a cream cup at his head. I start laughing and so does Miles; we keep talking about weird nerdy stuff like Star Trek and the recent Marvel movies while we wait for our food to show up. When I smell the scent of smoked wood spice with a dash of cinnamon in the air my head whips around to the entrance and I lock eyes with a pair of sea foam green with blue flecks.

    Jake.  Fuck me.