The Rejection (NEW VERSION)

05 | Coming Home

Mura Masa — Love For That

five

Apple Grove was the last place I thought I would see again. It was a gated community within Lakefront that only allowed the members of the Bradley pack to live in. It was large, approximately covering two hundred acres of land and held thirty or forty families with plenty of room left to run. It was nice, to be able to freely shift and see wolves walking around. It was a luxury that not many packs had.

               It had been a couple days since I had called home. The very night I did, Dad hopped into his truck and drove ten hours to find me on the side of the street. I was shivering in the stolen oversized clothes, hungry, and disoriented to the point where I couldn't walk straight. I looked like an overdosed junkie and it was probably only a matter of time before the police were called to check in on my situation. I was lucky that my father had found me when he had. I was on death's doorstep.

               I wasn't in good enough condition to be going on a ten hour road trip back home right away, so Dad checked us into a hotel. For three days, I caught up on my weeks of sleepless nights and ate food that wasn't bloody and raw. I didn't feel like a complete animal anymore. Dad took good care of me and didn't question my whereabouts or why I had left, he only said, "I'm so happy to see you again, sweet pea." That simple sentence broke down all the walls that I had built up over the years. So many memories and mixed emotions were washing over me. I had forgotten how much I missed my life, my family.

               When it was time to leave, I still didn't feel one-hundred-percent, but I felt well enough to sit in a vehicle for a day. The drive was pleasant. Dad and I caught up on the absent years as much as we could; I told him about the pack that had taken me in, but he didn't seem to like that part so I changed the topic. Mom continuously called to make sure we were okay. I swear, she called like twice an hour and would talk for twenty minutes at a time, and we couldn't ignore her because she would keep calling until we answered. "She's just excited," Dad laughed. "She misses you. We all did."

               When he said things like that, I would gulp and change the subject.

               "How's Klaus?" I asked. Dad hadn't mentioned him.

               Dad cleared his throat, nodding his head. "Good, good . . . He's, uh, out of town at the moment."

               I gave a weird look. "Doing what?"

               "Pack stuff."

               Rolling my grey eyes, I scoffed. Jason was probably working him to death. I said nothing more on the subject, not feeling like talking anymore. Despite hating going back to the one place where he was, I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I couldn't wait to see Thalia and Victor again, though I knew I would cry when I saw them. Klaus being out of town was a disappointment, but I was excited to surprise him. The only thing that made me so nervous that I debated on running away again was the pair of electric blue eyes I knew I would see again.

               I can do it.

               It was when we pulled up to Apple Grove that the reality of my situation really hit me. I was overwhelmed by nostalgia and nervousness. What if Thalia didn't remember me? What if I saw Jason with someone else? What if just being in my childhood home sent me spiraling back into my shyness? I couldn't go back to that, I couldn't go back to the disappointment and shame. If I was being honest with myself, all I wanted was for Jason to run straight to me and apologize for rejecting me, that he had been searching for me all this time. The thought made me want to laugh; wishful thinking.