Renata
If I have to hear one more “I’ll miss you babe” or the sickening sound of lips connecting I swear I will rip each strand of hair from their blessed follicles. ‘One day! They can’t suck it up for one day?!’ To keep myself from yanking the lovebirds apart and dragging my sister across the pavement and up the jet’s forty-three metal stairs, I decide to go against my dentist’s wishes and grind my teeth.
In case the above hasn’t already clued you into the current events, let me spell it out for you: We are going to Silvermoon’s! I’m excited and anxious and nervous and all those jittery feelings rolled into one big ball of nerves and they aren’t helping. ‘Did Cupid have to use all his bows before they expired or something?’ The sloppy couple embraced again for what seemed like the millionth time before my wonderful father firmly removed Gianna’s presence from Justice’s. ‘Thank you Daddy!’
The fighters in the pack had already helped put the entire luggage into the fairly large jet. This is the first time Gianna and I had ever been in it, which is odd now that I think of it…
“Hey Dad, how come we haven’t flown in this beauty before?” I questioned, feigning annoyance. He halted and turned around to face me and a now scowling Gia and chuckled to himself. “Well…I don’t use it for leisure, Renata,” he replied, shrugging. Gianna yanked her arm out of my grip and placed her hands on her full hips, “Well, if I had known this was back here, I wouldn’t have let you get out of my trip to Curacaos!”
“I thought you liked our camping trips to the lakes,” My father looked down at her in confusion. A simultaneous groan emerged from the women in our family as my mother shook her head and mumbled something in Italian. We arrived at the steps and my mother went through all the names of the students leaving to ensure we weren’t missing anyone.
Once roll call was finished, everyone climbed the steps single file, each pausing to wave at their parents below before going through the entrance. Gianna suddenly turned and looked to the North West (haha Kimye reference: P) and grinned. I –being my rightfully-nosey self –peered to see what had gripped her attention and saw Justice in the cherry mustang with Creed. Gianna’s face went through a series of expressions, finally ending at a deep blushing.
My mouth dropped in realisation before I quickly pulled myself together and feigned interest in the interior décor. ‘Ooooooo! They did it!’ I squealed internally, remembering what our cousin Sicily had told me about werewolf mating and the whole hear-each-other’s-thoughts thing. My shock and the giddiness of knowing a secret then swiftly turned to disgust as unwanted images of Justice… ‘NO! Kill the image, girl!’
Taking a moment to survey my surroundings I took in the immaculate creamy leather upholstery with dark wood trim. I walked past flat screen, a couple comfy-looking blue chairs and a mini fridge, tuning out the murmuring of the other kids. Turning the sharp corner and peeking through the partition in a screen, I discovered a small room-of-sorts. ‘Finally…I can be alone!’ Looking around quickly to see if anyone else had noticed the hideaway, I slide silently through the opening and shut it back.
The section was just a simple room with some overhead bins for storage, a comfy-looking chair-bed hybrid and one window in the far corner. I looked around some more, wondering if I was even allowed back here. The beige leather felt cool under my fingertips, ‘This is going to be quite an adventure…’ The sound of ‘Highschool’ by Nicki Minaj blazing and then swiftly cut off with a mumbled apology snapped me out of whatever daze I had been in.
I tossed my oxblood tote onto a chaise longue styled seat and zeroed in on a steel mini fridge in the corner of the little alcove. Cautiously opening its small door, I was delighted to see one of my all-time favourites placed on the second row, nicely chilled and not past expiry date (I checked). Revelling in the satisfying pop of opening the aluminium can and hearing the carbon dioxide hiss as it escaped from its confines, I wriggled my nose as the spicy-sweet aroma of Dr.Pepper enveloped me in –“Oh there you are Rena! Oh this is cool, it’s a good thing you saved it for us before anyone else found it!”
I cringed as Gia’s high-pitched babbling filled the once deliciously silent room. “I found it for me, Gianna, ME!” I wailed in frustration, raising my hands to my free mahogany curls to stop myself from strangling my sister. Straightening herself from the hunched over position she had been in from attempting to unpack all the items in her carry on, she took on an air of snootiness.
“Well, if you don’t want me here so badly…I’ll leave!” She flung her head into the air so much I could see up her small, pointed nose.
“Okay, that’s very gracious of you Gia,” I replied nonchalantly, sipping the crisp soda and feeling the bubbles burst on my tongue. She looked like that pokemon, Jigglypuff, right before it’ll flip out and draw on your face with a sharpie. I had to stifle the emerging hoot or else soda might have re-emerged through my nose.
“Well…I’m staying anyway!” she declared after a few moments, flopping herself onto the chair like a ragdoll. Before I could lecture her about my no-noise policy for this trip, she had already put in her bedazzled earphones and opened the latest issue of Seventeen magazine.
I sat on chair near the small window, staring at nothing in particular while a faint echo of the safety instructions played over the monitors outside. For the first time, what lay ahead of me was unknown. I couldn’t plan ahead nor organize every detail. I had no control over what would happen.
‘Will I even fit in there?’ the foolish thought slipped into my mind before I could stop it. Tensing my jaw to stop tears of worry from bursting outward, I swallowed hard. The dense forest seemed to ripple as the wind danced through each tree bough. The birds lifted off, swooping and gliding through the sky without a care. ‘That’s how I’ll be…like a bird…’
My vision blurred over and a whimper escaped before I could cage it in with the rest of the circus which is my emotions. ‘Pull it together before Gia hears you!’ I scolded myself, blinking rapidly in an prideful attempt to reabsorb my tears before they could fall.
I felt my hand being enclosed in warmth. ‘Of course she heard me…she doesn’t have to pretend she has human hearing anymore.’ I looked up begrudgingly, embarrassed that I was so weak. ‘Of all people, I should be the last person who would crack at the slightest thing…after all I’ve been through…I’m so pathetic!’
Squeezing my hand and then turning her attention back to the window, my sister motioned toward the birds in the distance. “You know, those birds are so free…they can do what they like and go where they want…but they aren’t strong, they rely on everything around them to survive –even each other. Rena…they are just like us and in a way, we’re kinda like them too.
“No one expects you to be anything…they don’t even know of you yet, in a way you have a cleaner slate than I do. Not to make it a ‘woe is me’ competition, but, Justice and I…we’re really the ones who have to worry…everyone knows who we are, who our parents are. We’re going to be future pack leaders…we are expected to be the best, no mistakes allowed. Honestly…I’m terrified!
“I have to do well in school, look presentable at all times…I’m the daughter of an Alpha and the mate of a future Beta! If there’s a bitchy future Luna or another high-ranking shewolf there, I have to be cordial…no matter what petty shit happens! Everything I do here is going to not just affect me, but our pack…I’ve never had to deal with all of this pressure!”
Gianna’s face crumbled and I couldn’t help but feel a bit selfish…she was right, no one knew about me. I could easily slip under the radar the entire time, she’s the one who had to be under a microscope. My sister had been sheltered for so long that now she had no clue where to begin and she knew the consequences if she made one false move.
The jet took off and we held each other. “Well, we’ll do it together…we’ll have each other’s backs!” I stated , jutting my chin out bravely. She smiled at my awkward use of slang and her trembling ceased.
“You know, Justice will kick anyone’s tush if they try to intimidate you, right?” I muttered after a few moments of comfortable silence.
“Yeah well…I’m nervous that I’ll do something stupid and he’ll reject me or something,” she replied, cringing.
“No…he’d never do that…Creed and I would tag team him.”
She chuckled softly under her breath and laid her head on my shoulder.
“I’m glad I have you to get me through this, Rena.”
“I’m glad I have you too, Gi.”
YOU ARE READING
Whispers of Liberty
Loup-garouA young girl shows up on the property of a werewolf pack after being on the run with her mother and her loss of memory causes her to forget her past. As Renata Viento gets older she becomes a part of their family, yet always an outsider of sorts bec...
