The Hunter's Daughter

Chapter 10

I hadn’t given Alpha Daniel a definitive answer as to whether I would resume my services, I couldn’t right now that much I knew for sure. I think he understood, at least he said that it would be good for me to take some time off.

I’ve never been so exhausted in my life, having to be normal at home so that my Dad doesn’t get suspicious and then having to act normal for everyone at school too. I find myself wishing more every day that there was some bottomless pit that I could scream into and no one would hear me do it, I just felt like I had all this energy and anger to burn and I had nowhere to get rid of it.

My week just seemed to flow by into a blur where all days merged into one long one. I'd look up at few points during the day wondering how I got from where I was last to where I stood. It wasn’t until Nick pulled me aside after the last class on Friday that I realised what day it was.

“Ruby”? I looked up not at my name being called but of the feeling of my my skin tingling and found Nick looking at me with anticipation.

“Hmm”?

“Where are you going? Did you forget”? He furrowed his dark eyebrows at me in confusion, worry leaking through for the first time.

“Forget what”? I asked, feeling confused too.

“Our date, it’s Friday”.

I felt my eyes widen in surprise and my heart lurch in regret, I can't believe that I forgot. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry Nick, I –“

Nick smiled like he understood, how he can smile at me after I've been a zombie for days on end I have no clue. “No worries, just hurry up before we get stuck in a jam in the car lot”.

I moved back from the door of the classrom, aware that I was in the way and getting knocked by various school tired teenagers, many of whom Nick glared at before he tugged me to the side fully out of the firing line.  I shouldered by bag. “You still want to go”?

Nick nodded looking at me like I'm crazy. “Course, do you”?

“You have no idea how much but I can’t”. I'd love to go on that date with Nick, it would just be such a normal thing for someone my age to do, I crave normal and here it is screaming me in the face, but I can't do that to him, I'll just bring him down and I don't want that.

Nick's disappointment shone and it surprisingly hurt. “What? Why not”?

“I haven’t been here at all this week, I can only guess at the horror of it. I don’t want you to get dragged into my slump, go out with the guys and have some fun. We can go out another time”.

“No way, besides no one drags me down, I’m just gonna have to drag you up”. I smiled.

“Are you sure”?

“Definitely, you want to go home and dump your stuff first”? 

I shook my head, no way do I want to see that place, or have Nick see it either. “Nah, I’m good”.

Beaming, Nick took my hand. “Great, shall we”?

“Yeah”.

Like all the other times that I’ve gone anywhere with Nick we took his bike, I was surprised to find that I had missed it, or rather missed him since I zoned out of the world the past week. I have no idea if he even noticed but I still feel bad, I couldn’t have been good company to keep at all and here he still is, waiting for me like we only arranged this date yesterday, that my zombie like state had never happened.

I held tighter to Nick on the back of his bike then, feeling genuinely happy for the first time in too long. The best thing about Nick is that he is just normal, there’s no secret back story with him and I love it and envy it. Yet there was something undeniably special about him, the way he moves sometimes and how his eyes seem so much wiser than the way he talks, it always makes me laugh.