Flames and Starlight

4🌘

Laura

I was practically thrown into the house by my mother, stumbling and nearly tripping over one of the discarded shoes on the floor.

"Do you realize what you've done?" Mom roared and slammed the door behind her hard enough to cause a crack to form in the ceiling and rattle the windows. "Do you have any idea what this is going to do to us?"

I spun around, waving my hands in agitation. "I wasn't thinking -"

"Of course you weren't!" she interrupted. "You never think! You never think about the consequences of your actions, do you? You do stuff without thinking of us -"

"She threw -"

"I don't give a damn what that other girl did. You know to control yourself when you're out in public and you've always been taught to never shift in school. The video's all over the freaking Internet now! People are going to start recognizing you!"

I slammed my fist down on the glass coffee table in frustration, causing it to shatter into a million pieces. "Would you just freaking listen to me?!"

"I am not going to listen to a juvenile delinquent!"

I threw my hands up in exasperation then slammed them down on the chair in front of me. "This is so unfair!"

She scoffed. "Unfair?"

"You never listen to me!" I started pacing back and forth in the living room, making slashing gestures with my hands. "You never hear what I have to say! You never bother to know why things happen. That girl threw freaking hot coffee in my face! But you don't care about that, do you? No. You always think it's always my fault, that I caused all of this."

"It still doesn't excuse you shifting. You didn't just tarnish our family's name, you just ruined all shapeshifter's reputation, after -"

I stalked down the hallway towards my room. Smoke was steaming out of my ears and I was about to knock my mother's teeth down her throat any second. 

She ran after me. "Do not walk away from me!"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed at the top of my lungs and slammed the door and locked it before she could get in.

I slumped to the floor and sobbed, a heavyweight pressing down on my chest as tears pooled out of my eyes. I didn't know how long I stayed like that. The next thing I knew, I was waking up, still curled up on the floor. I gingerly got up and looked out the window, where the sun was slowly rising. The others would be getting up soon and I didn't want to hear them going on and on about what I did. I knew I made a huge mistake but there was nothing I could do about it now.

Mom had been the one to pick me up and drive me home after I'd woken up in the infirmary. Dad had still been at work but was getting off to come home and I had no idea where Alison and Derek were, but I knew all three of them were going to go off on me as soon as they saw me and I would lose it officially if they did.

As quietly as I could, I got dressed in fresh clothes, brushed the tangles out of my hair, pulled it back in a ponytail, and slipped out of the house. I thought about taking the car but turning it on would probably wake everyone up and Mom would go into a screaming rage and call the cops on me, so I walked down the street instead. I purposely left my phone behind, knowing they'd try to call when they found out I was gone and took the huge wad of cash from my dresser that I kept hidden.

I walked out of the neighborhood and into town. I had no idea where I was going and what I was planning on doing. All I knew was that I had to get away and put it all behind me.