Rolling over to the other side of the bed, Victoria covered her eyes from the sunlight streaming through her window. She winced slightly as she rubbed her eyes and realizedthey were sore and puffy from last night's tears. She can't remember the last time she actually cried and used to cringe at just the thought of crying infront of someone. But somehow, she didn't mind it so much that it was Derrek who had witnessed her in that state. She groaned as she heard her phone ringing and reached to get it from her side table. Squinting at the screen, she saw it was Natalie calling.
"Yes, Nat?"
"Hey...I heard about last night...no, Derrek didn't tell me. And no, I won't ask if you're okay 'coz I know you hate that."
"So, how did you find out?"
"Well, Levi and I bumped into Derrek this morning and he looked like crap. His mom was the one who sort of explained. Anyway, can we talk inside?"
"What? Where are you?"
"Outside your door!" Victoria hurriedly got out of bed and ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth and splash water on her face. She tied a messy ponytail as she bounded down the stairs and opened the door for her friend.
"Sorry. Good morning!" Natalie gave her a quick hug and pointed to a paperbag the smelled of freshly baked muffins. "Brought us breakfast." Victoria didn't have a choice but to follow her friend to the kitchen and decided to make coffee for them.
"So...where's Levi?"
"Told him and Derrek actually to stay away. I wanted to spend some time with my bestfriend." Natalie placed six large muffins on a plate and took the steaming cup of coffee from Victoria.
"They agreed?"
"Haha well, they have some things to attend to so they pretty much had no choice."
"Wanna run?" Victoria glanced at Natalie with a smile. Her bestfriend immediately agreed and they decided to head out as soon as they finished with breakfast. It was a good thing that the forest was just behind their houses and they easily walked towards it. The two friends shifted into their wolves and dashed out into the forest to run. They ran side by side silently, the only audible sounds came from the thundering of the earth beneath their paws and the exhale of breaths. The trees blurred as they continued towards the clearing, dodging branches along the way. Since thery were young, they frequented this part of the forest which led to an open meadow. In a few minutes they reached their destination and stopped by the large oak tree to retrieve some clothing they had stashed before. They quickly transformed back to their human selves and wore their clothes.
"I'm so glad we decided to go here again!" Victoria started towards the meadow and plopped down on the soft grass.
"Me too." Natalie smiled as she knew this was their absolute favorite place and they always find some sense of peace whenever they went to here.
"So...you're okay?" Natalie dared to ask her friend. She wasn't gonna pry about the details of last night's dinner but she was the only person, with the exception of Victoria's aunt, who really knew about Victoria's family and her childhood.
"Yeah...I guess I will never really be over the pain. I haven't thought about it again until last night." Victoria stared past the horizon as she spoke and knew her bestfriend only wanted to make sure she was alright. "I'm kind of embarrassed for just leaving Derrek's parents last night."
"I'm sure they understand Tori."
"I know. Still." Natalie heard her friend's sigh and knew that Victoria hated it whenever she has to show some weakness. She didn't want people to pity her because of what happened to her and her family, which is why never talks about them. Until last night, of course.
