The face of a monster

Awkward us

"Hello?" The gas station is muggy and as far as I can tell deserted. I look around and the shelves are either full of things collecting dust or empty. How long was it since anyone was here? I try to catch a scent and find one surprisingly easy. It's male, around 25 and angry. Why? What does the world have against me? Why couldn't it be a happy, kind 10 year old girl? They're always easier to talk to, well, unless they're super shy and barley talks but then that's still better since they're not angry. I hate angry people they always make you feel insecure and stupid. Like if I didn't already feel that enough.

"Hello?" I call out again wondering where the hell this 25 year old guy is.

"For fuck's sake" there's a loud annoyed sigh coming from the bathrooms just seconds before a short plump fair skinned guy greets me with his pants still down and a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"God" I mutter to myself.

"What do you want?" he snorts at me and as he exhales he covers me in smoke. I begin to cough at the strong smell which is by the way disgusting. "Where the fuck you from?" he laughs as if I'm a snob and a rich kid who has never gotten dirt on my perfectly clean hands or rather smoke in my face and lungs. As he laughs I can also see his grey and yellow teeth. A big UGH.

"Fonsville" I mumble, why am I like this? Always mumbling, always ashamed.

"Then you're awfully far from home rich kid" he laughs again as if he's enjoying my misery.

"How far?" I sigh.

"About half an hour if you've got a car" he continues to laugh and I'm starting to loose my patience so I just walk out. I hear him mutter "weirdo" as the door closes behind me and he walks back to the bathrooms. I don't want to know what he's doing in there.

I guess I have to walk then since I don't have any car or money for a cab. I read somewhere that wolves can run at a speed of 35-40 miles per hour but I don't know if that applies to werewolves as well. Anyway, I start to run and I try to follow street signs but it's hard since there's no sign saying Fonsville which of course can't be expected because Fonsville is nothing but pathetic and small and ugh. That's why we match.

Emily's POV

"Do you know where David is?" I ask Nora as I'm hurrying to keep up with her and her long legs. "He was sent to the principal's office during Spanish but I never saw him return," my voice is far more worried than it ought to. He might just be skipping class I try to assure myself but I'm not doing a very good job. I shouldn't even worry about him. We kissed yesterday and then my mum called and it was all stress without a proper good bye and now I wonder if he hates me. I know what you're thinking, things can't go downhill that fast but believe me. Guys always go downhill that fast. It's as if they have no patience or maybe that's just the guys I've dated. Or more correct, the guys Nora forced me to date. It was never really dating anyway, it was some kissing and I pretended to be interested a little but then pretty quickly I lost interest. Or... well, you can't loose something you never had in the first place.

I look up when I accidentally bump in to people because I've been staring at the floor for too long and realise I've followed Nora to the bathrooms. That's awkward. She looks at me nervously or no, wait, she's worried. That's a new look on her. What the fuck had happened?

"Em what on earth is wrong with you?" Nora's brows are almost a unibrow when her forehead is wrinkled still she manages to keep the beautiful but deadly look like always. I wonder if she's ever feeling weak or vulnerable. I do, a lot.

"I don't know" we're standing awkwardly in the middle of a small school bathroom where there are no cubicles but just one toilet and one grey brown sink. I walk out and lean against the wall. This could take a while. Nora will not only pee or whatever you might think you do in a disgusting bathroom like that, she will check and fix her makeup at least twice, she will be taking selfies and god knows what else. I'll be standing here for a good 20 minutes. You may wonder why I'm putting up with all this when I'm obviously not the same but I'm afraid you're gonna have to keep on wondering that because I have no answer. I just have vague guesses and I'm afraid that if I think about it for too long I'll feel bad about myself. I have no other friends and I don't know how to make friends. That's why I'm with Nora, honestly. But let's just ignore it because I feel terrible because I can't be strong and be myself and leave her and be strong and all that girl power thing I should have isn't there and blah blah my mind is raging.

Then I see him, he looks sweaty but somehow dry with dirt. Where has he been? His shirt is covered in blood which hopefully isn't his own, he doesn't seem to be bleeding so I guess it's not. Did he hurt someone? He couldn't, could he? No, he's too kind, too careful. Before yesterday I would have said that he was also too weak but after he held me yesterday I would say differently, he's in control of his body in a way I have never seen before. I don't know what it is about him but he's not normal. It's not something bad though. I like him. It came a little suddenly yesterday but I think it's been creeping up on me slowly at first and then accelerating.

"Hey" he waves to me and I can't help but laugh, thank god I'm not worrying about my social status in high school.

"I saw you leave during Spanish" I smile at him lamely like you do when you don't know how to behave around someone.

"Yeah" he chuckles and for a moment he seems to forget how awkward he is and talks clearly and with a sense of humour. Maybe that's how he really is... like when he's with Kyle... when he's completely comfortable? "Mr Gomez got mad at me cuz I asked him about a grammar mistake he'd made" I shake my head at him, you don't do that. "So he sent me to Jones and I received month of detention" then comes a classic sigh. Now that's the David I know.

"So that's Jones' blood" I gesture towards his chest and shirt and David's smile quickly disappears. I meant I as a joke but he has no clue how to explain it.

"No..." he stares down at our feet "look, I got kind of poisoned so I just coughed blood but it was no big deal so it's okay" he doesn't look up and I'm starting to wonder if he's lying. Is he trying to cover up for something he did? Maybe he's a really good actor and is not shy at all, maybes he's just acting all the time. Or maybe you're just paranoid? I almost let out a sigh at the thought. I'm just too worried.

"Why are you not looking at me?" I did not mean for those words to come out. He laughs and I feel relief, I wouldn't want to make things more awkward than they already are. I mean, David is plain awkward. But he's also kind of cute to be honest. Why am I thinking of this?

"Eh" he laughs nervously, an other sign of him lying? Hopefully not. "I'm really bad at talking with people" his voice shakes and I place my hand under his chin so I can almost force him to look at me. I almost gasp when I see his eyes, they're blank and filled with tears. Is he crying? Yes. Why?? "I'm sorry" he wipes his eyes and I immediately put my arms around him to comfort him and I feel his tender but muscular body against mine. He's shaking slightly and taking deep breath, within seconds he's managed to calm himself. I can tell he has been practising that, the question is why... why would he have to calm himself down like that? Panic attacks? Anxiety?

He breaks away and smiles at me showing of his absolutely normal teeth, they're not extremely yellow or extremely white or anything else weird. Somehow I find them beautiful like the rest of him. When did all these feelings get inside my chest? Was it alongside the butterflies in my stomach? I can't help but to smile as I watch him trying to collect the courage to kiss me. Eventually he finds it and we kiss quite awkwardly. Why is everything about us awkward? It's not bad though, it's wonderful and I like it a lot.

"Oh god" I hear Nora sigh next to me and I immediately get the reflex to back away but I'm already pressed against the wall so it's impossible. I don't know what the 'oh god' meant but when I focus on David's lips on mine I realise it doesn't matter. Nothing does. Nothing but us.