Secrets of the Moon

10

A bright light shines through the blinds to hit my face early in the morning. I roll over in bed, hoping to block out the sun and the world around me. It probably would have worked if not for someone knocking at the front door at this very moment. Reluctantly, I get up out of bed to throw my satin robe on and go down stairs to see who could possibly be here this early. Looking through the peephole, to my dismay, my mother's face comes into view. Sighing, I unlock and open the door for her to come in.

"Hello mother, and what do I owe the pleasure of this visit so early?"

"Do not give me that tone, I cannot believe how you acted last night at the red-carpet event. We have a lot of fixing to do to Kyle's image now that you have wrecked it."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

I watch as she swiftly moves to sit on the couch and motions me to sit by her. Instead I just stare at her with my hands on my hips.

"Last night you said you and Kyle are not a couple and never were. The public did not appreciate it and then to make matters worse, you cozied yourself up to your other co-star last night and gave the media false hope of you two being together. What you did was stupid and reckless. How could you? I didn't raise you to act like that."

"Seriously? This is what you came here at eight o'clock in the morning for, to chastise me on who I should be with?"

"We have worked hard to raise good publicity for both you and Kyle's careers, how can you just throw that all away? How can you want to be with that other boy? He isn't even a well-known actor."

"Mother, I do not care for Kyle and will not be bullied into a fake relationship with him. As for Ethan, you do not need to worry about that. He asked me to go and I was playing the part of his date. I am focusing on the movie and do not need a relationship to receive good publicity. I can do well enough on my own acting. Thank you very much. Now, can you please just let it go?"

She opens her mouth to argue with me but thinks better and just shakes her head.

"Fine, but just for now. This movie is too important to your career for us to mess up. You need to focus on your acting and if we need more publicity down the road then we will do it my way."

She gets up to give me a quick hug then takes her leave from the house. Finally, alone again, I slump down on the couch and sigh.

Why does my mother always have to be in my business and try to do things her way? Yes, she is a successful actress but that does not mean that she knows what is best for me. Only I can know what is best for me and right now that is to focus on what I want. I am not sure what that is yet at the moment, but I will figure it out eventually. For now, though, I should just enjoy my day off, but what should I do today?

I hop off the couch to go upstairs and change into a pair of jeans and black t-shirt. I am just putting my hair up when a thought occurs to me; it has been awhile since I have gone into the woods.

Maybe I can go back and see if all the houses are still there.

Thinking of the houses, the image of my father pops into my mind.

Why was he in one of the houses in my dreams the other night? How does he know about the wolves and everything that is going on in my life?

I finish my hair then slip on a pair of tennis shoes before heading to the back door. Just as I grab the handle to the back door, the doorbell goes off.

Is my mother back already? What does she need now?

I walk over to open the door as I look through the peephole again. I stand frozen as I see Ethan standing on the front porch instead of my mother.