Wolf

The Family

Chapter 16

            Being back in school was complete hell; I didn’t miss it at all. In fact, being all cooped up in school reminded me of Cameron’s room somewhat. By now it was official that Raleigh and I were dating and every female in the school was jealous. We held hands throughout the school which triggered many responses. They would scoff about how prettier they were than me and how they deserved to be with Rock. I found it funny that they were busy using his nickname, instead of his real name.

            It did feel kind of good getting back into the daily grind, especially with Raleigh by my side. My brain was still shocked that I agreed to be his girlfriend, but I felt as if it was a good decision. You could say I followed my heart instead of my instincts. In some weird way, I started to feel like we were gonna end up together anyway. After a few weeks, Raleigh had decided to take me to meet his family, since they would be there for the week of Christmas. School was on break, so I really had nothing better to do.

            When we pulled into his driveway, I started to tap my feet. I was nervous; this meant I had to give a good first impression. The first impression was the only impression, and if I didn’t come across well, they wouldn’t like me. Raleigh shut off the truck and looked at me. I could hear my heart beat faster as I realized that I was going to be stuck here all day. Raleigh grabbed my hand and started to rub it, trying to calm me down. “Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as you think,” he said. I shook my head.

            “First impression is the last impression,” I countered.

            “They’ll like you, I promise. Besides it’s only my mom, dad, little brother, aunt, and my two cousins.”

            “Only?” I asked, looking at his face. He smiled.

            “It’s not as bad as it seems Elena.” He opened his door and got out and I followed his lead. Raleigh grabbed my hand and led me down the pathway towards the door. The house was big and it was nice. The neighborhood was nice and quiet also, it was kind of like one of those houses in an ideal living magazine. After climbing the stairs, Raleigh unlocked the door with his keys and we stepped in. I was hit in the face immediately by heat and it felt good. “Dad! Mom” I immediately punched him in the arm. Raleigh laughed and hugged me, kissing my forehead. I heard footsteps and then a voice.

            “So is this the lucky lady you were telling me about?” a female voice asked, I assumed it was his mom. Raleigh let go of me and I got a look at her. She had short black hair and was darker than Raleigh. She stood tall on her heels and had her arms crossed, sizing me up. I smiled, trying to be friendly.

            “Hi, my name is Elena,” I said, Raleigh still holding my hand.

            “Don’t look all stiff, my name is Rachel,” the woman introduced herself and then reached out to hug me. I returned the favor and after a quick second she let go of me.  “Well, welcome to our humble abode Elena, it’s very nice to meet you.”

            “It’s nice to meet you too.” I caught a quick glance at Raleigh who was smiling a wide toothed grin. I kicked his shin, causing his face to twist into pain and for him to grab for his shin. His mother shook her head and laughed.

            “Dinner should be done a little after six, so I’ll give you time to meet the rest of the family.” His mother smiled and then walked down the hall to the kitchen.

            “Why’d you kick me?” Raleigh asked, rubbing his shin.

            “Because, I’m struggling to talk to your mother and you’re sitting here smiling like an idiot,” I whispered back. “But, it’s okay, I still love you.”

            “Yeah, sure you do.” Raleigh let go of his shin and grabbed my hand, leading me further into the house. We walked into an office type room, where a man was seated behind the desk, typing away at the computer. Raleigh knocked on the door and the man pulled off his glasses and looked up. “Dad.”

            “Hello son,” the man smiled, showing his teeth. Some were sharper than the others, kind of like Raleigh’s teeth. My mind immediately raced, was he a werewolf like Raleigh? I assumed that if he was that this was where Raleigh got his from, since sometimes it could be passed genetically. Then I started to wonder if his brother was one too. Was I stuck in a house full of werewolves? “And who is this young lady?” The sound of his father’s smooth voice snapped me from my thought.

            “This is my girlfriend, Elena,” Raleigh responded. His father nodded his head and looked at me.

            “She’s very pretty Raleigh, I raised you well.” Blush rushed to my face, I wasn’t expecting that.

            “Thank you,” I piped up. Raleigh pulled me closer to him and smiled.

            “No problem. Did your mother say when dinner was going to be done?” he asked.

            “After six,” Raleigh answered.

            “I know your aunt wants to go see her, so introduce her to the rest of the family. I’m sure they’ll approve.” Raleigh’s dad put his glasses back on and focused back at his computer. Raleigh led me from the room.

            “Is that all he does is sit at his computer?” I asked, as he led me up the stairs. The stairs stopped halfway and there were two other flights of stairs, one to the right and another to the left. Raleigh took me up the left flight of stairs.

            “He’s stock managing,” Raleigh answered. “That’s his job.” I pulled Raleigh’s arm, stopping him at the top of the stairs.

            “Is he a werewolf?” Raleigh looked at me with a pained look on his face.

            “Yeah, where do you think mines came from?” I mentally congratulated myself, so what I remembered was right! At least this showed I was starting to pick up on the details, which hopefully would prevent me from dying.

            “So the genetic thing is true?”

            “Pretty much.” I secretly thanked god for my knowledge, without it I felt as if I would’ve been dead by now. We continued our trek through the house and ended up at his brother’s room, where his brother was playing his playstation. It was decorated with Giants and Yankees stuff everywhere and the wall was painted blue. Posters of the two teams littered the walls and he even had a Yankees bed set. “Nate.” His brother whipped around to look at us and I swear they were spit images of each other. Raleigh’s black hair was the same as Nate’s, his brother’s eyes were blue, just like Raleigh’s with the contacts in, and they both had the same square type face. They could pass as twins if they wanted to.

            “Is this her?” Nate asked, dying in his game of Call of Duty. Raleigh shook his head yes.

            “Yup, this is Elena,” he answered. I waved at his brother.

            “Hey Nate,” I greeted. He raised his head at me, as if to say ‘what up’, causing me to laugh.

            “Is your brother a little crypt?” I asked Raleigh.

            “Crypt because of all the blue?” he laughed and I nodded my head.

            “Hey, I’m right here guys!” Nate said, causing Raleigh to laugh harder.

            “You’ll fit in just fine in this family,” Raleigh comforted, kissing me. At least that was off my chest, I didn’t want to not fit in, well I mean, it would be awkward. “Is Aunt D here?”

            “No, she went with Jamie and Gino to Wal-Mart, they wanted Gatorade so she just got up and went,” Nate turned back around continued his game, shaking his head after realizing what he had missed. We exited his brother’s room and headed back downstairs, eventually settling in the living room. Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as I thought.