The Vampire And The Werewolf

Three

Hally and Justin's mom, Mrs. Patty, and their dad Russell, were so nice. Russell was gone a lot due to the fact that he was the provider of the house. Liam had tried to come for me last night when I got here, but Mrs. Patty told him I was sleeping. He blew up my phone with messages, so I finally turned it off. Travis, Frank, and Will were supposed to be coming over and then we were supposed to pick up Liam, and go hang out.

"Don't worry, we won't let him rule you," Hally said, knowing my concern.

I nodded.

"Hey, Joanne?" Mrs. Patty looked at me. "Can we talk?"

I followed her to her room and we sat on her bed. "Did I do something?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No, I just wanted to ask you something."

I waited for her to continue.

"You're mother passing two years ago must've been really hard on you and your dad. And I was just wondering how that was going. You and your dad," she said.

I shrugged. "It's fine."

"Honey," she said. "I think you're a great person. But it's obvious you losing your mom and your dad not being home much, you lost who you were too. I remember seeing you late at night hunting. Kind, warm, everything. Now you've got so many walls up... I can still see your heart, because you let me. But that little happy fifteen year old is gone. I just want you to know you can be her here."

I looked down. Apart of me knew she was right. If my mom were still alive, I wouldn't be "dating" Liam, I wouldn't openly just transform into my bra and underwear in front of complete strangers... I wanted to be me again, but I could. I'd gotten myself into trouble and lost my mom because of it.

Mrs. Patty hugged me and let me go with Hally and Justin. We picked up Travis first and he sat by me.

"How are you?" He asked.

"Good. You?" I asked, trying to be a bit nicer.

"Good. I see Hally and Justin got you away from Liam for a day or so," he said.

I nodded. My throat was clogged up and my heart was beating faster than normal. I didn't understand. Travis and I barely had any real conversations, other than the one when I was in Liam's backyard. But he was way more attractive and a lot more caring.

"Oh, shoot, Hally and I have to go back home, but you two should do something," Justin said.

Why did I feel like he was lying just to leave Travis and I alone?

"How bout it?" Travis asked me.

"Sure," I shrugged and Hally and Justin let us out at Travis's house.

"See ya," Travis told them and led me into his house.

We went inside and a girl and a man walked up to us. The girl looked meaner than I did. She looked like she'd been to hell and back. The man looked callused. This family obviously wasn't all roses and puppies.

"Dad, Daisy, this is Joanne," Travis introduced me.

"Nice to meet you," I told them.

"You too," Daisy said simply.

Their dad nodded and looked at Travis. "I have to run a few errands, but I'll be back."

He nodded and the dad left. Daisy looked at us and shrugged. "I don't care what you two do. But if this turns into something serious, then let me know. It'll be nice to have another girl around the house," she said going to her room.

"Sorry about her," he said as we went to his room.

"It's fine," I shrugged.

"She's just been on edge for a while. Our mom bailed a long time ago and we don't know where she went. It's a mystery. Dad's not even sure where she could be. We just all woke up one day and she was gone," he said.

"I'm sorry," I said.

"It's fine," he said, laying on his bed.

I sat on his mini sofa and looked around. "It's a nice place."

"Thanks," he said. "So tell me why you're with Liam again?"

I sighed and looked down. "It's complicated."

"Try me," he sat up and looked at me.

I held my legs to my chest and shrugged. I wanted to tell him, but my vocal cords wouldn't let me. What if he thought I was some slut? What if he didn't understand?

"Joanne?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I just have to," I sighed, my eyes on the floor.

"Oh, come on. You're not happy," he said.

"And you know when I'm happy?" I asked.

"No. Because I've never seen you happy. I met you when you were angry. And every time I've seen you since then you're mad or sad or monotone. Never happy," he said.

"Well, why do you even care? We barely know each other," I said.

"Because I can't stand to see you miserable like this anymore," he said, sitting in front of me.

"I'm not miserable," I said.

"Yes you are," he gave me a look.

"I—"

"Hey!" Liam came in, furious.

I sighed and put my head in my hands. I felt the tension sharpen and I knew a fight was about to go down.