Werewolves and Vampires

Chapter 13: Discrimination

I woke up and was surprised to find that it was 6 AM on Tuesday. I had slept a grand total of thirteen hours straight from when I got home at 5 o’clock yesterday and fell asleep. Not Ivy or Dad coming home had woken me.

For half an hour I tried to fall back asleep, but couldn’t, so I rolled out of bed with a groan. My room was dark, and when I pulled open the blinds covering my window, I found it was still like night. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but the sky was a mix of dark and pale blue. It was on its way, at least.

What was I supposed to do now? I felt restless and had an abundance of energy from sleeping for thirteen hours straight, so I slipped on a pair of sweats and a tank top. I pulled my hair into a pony tail, snagged my iPod, a hoodie and running shoes on my way out the door, sneaking out as silently as possible.

Once outside, I hopped in place while scrolling to find a good running song. 'Riot' by Three Days Grace was first up. I took off at a jog down the street and kept at it for almost hour. Even though it usually took me longer to get tired than the average human, I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it.

I remembered vaguely where I had jogged, only brief flashes, images, of where I had passed. I had been so focused on the music, on myself, on my feet hitting the pavement and the sound of my breathing and my heart pounding, that I had barely registered my surroundings.

There was a forest. It had stretched out far, and I jogged alongside it for most of my morning run. It was dark and morbid, and I had felt a brief wave of unease as I had passed by it. It was the same forest next to the school, the same forest where they had found a dead body.

Later, standing in the shower, I shuddered at the very thought of jogging near the place where a dead body had lain, killed by that mysterious thing.

Even though I was already finished washing my hair, I stood under the spray for another fifteen minutes, letting the hot water unknot all my tense and sore muscles.

I vowed to make this a routine. To go running every morning and get in shape, to be strong so I could defend myself better. Or at least, be able to out run anything that I couldn't defend myself against.

********

“Lila?” Ivy yawned, “How long have you been up for?”

I took a sip of my hot tea, not bothering to look up from the crossword of the newspaper. “Since about 6 AM.”

Ivy’s jaw dropped. “Since when you do get up that early?”

“Since I fell asleep as soon as I got home yesterday, and continued to sleep straight on till this morning.”

“Jeez,” Ivy said, as she stumbled into the kitchen to start making breakfast. “So, how are you and Matt?”

I put my cup of tea down on the table, wrapping both hands around the warm mug and staring down into its contents, the frustrating crossword forgotten.“I don’t know.” And for the first time a while, that was the complete and honest truth.

“Why? What’s wrong?” Ivy asked worriedly as she sat down at the table next to me.

“Nothing’s wrong, per se...” I sighed, rubbing my thumb up and down the cup. “It’s just…I think I might have to take sometime to get used to Matt being that way. I mean, I’m so used to him being my friend that it may take a while to think about him in a way that isn't platonic,” I said, wondering vaguely if I was lying or not. It was partially true, but also partially a lie.

Don’t get me wrong, Matt was a good guy and all, but I didn’t feel the same sparks that I did when I was around Wyatt. Of course, I was never going to be with Wyatt like that so maybe trying to like Matt as more than a friend wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. Matt did like me, he was there for me, he was really sweet and pretty cute. What more could a girl ask for?