"Far From Here" -Young Derek Hale

Chapter 7

The next morning, my phone buzzes with a new text.

From Lexi:

Hello? Are you still alive?! Please text me back ASAP!

I erase the message and toss my phone down onto the bed. Lexi wasn't exactly on my 'friends' list at the moment.

I stumble down the stairs and through the halls, that still seemed unfamiliar.

"Good morning sunshine," dad says. He was standing in his uniform, holding a cup of coffee and reading the paper.

I don't say anything, just wiggle through the dozens of boxes, that were still not sorted through and piling up like towers, to the fridge.

Dad sipping his coffee and skimming over the front page of Beacon Hills Repository, made my mind cloud with the past.

"Has anyone seen my shoulder pads?" Cole shouts through the quiet house. It was an early Tuesday morning.

He stomped into the kitchen where dad was sat at the table, drinking coffee, "Dad, My shoulder pads?"

"What about them?"

The thing about back then, mom and dad always seemed to be in their own world, always busy or not fully listening. It was only after Cole's death that they got plugged in to Sam and I's life.

Cole threw his arms into the air, "Does anyone ever listen-"

"Found them," I rush to the kitchen, and toss them his way. He shot and a puzzled glance my way, "They were behind the couch"

He stuffs them into his bag and passes me, ruffling my already messy hair, "Thanks, loser"

In present time, dad stands in front of me, waving his hand back and forth, "Are you alright, Dani?"

"Yeah," I take a step away from him and close the fridge, "Why wouldn't I be?"

-

I sit in the passenger side of his black squad car, wishing nothing more than to be anywhere else.

The gadgets in front of me, almost took up all the space. Leaving me, pressed far back into the seat.

"So, uh how's school?" He pulls out of the police station, and down the main road in town.

"It's school." I keep the conversation short, watching the trees pass and merge together.

He slightly nods, stoping at a red light.

We both knew I didn't want to be here, and that wouldn't change anytime soon.

"Uh, so this party.." He trails off, driving again, sending his glance to me.

I start to wonder if he didn't believe my story about staying at Lexi's. It was a believable story, it wasn't the truth, but still believable.

"What about it?" My voice dry and tired, like most of the conversations I had with him.

For a moment, the car is quiet as we pass a park. A dozen kids, running about and playing on the swings. I make a mental note to bring Sammy there.

"Where does Lexi live?" He asks, suddenly changing the subject and I mentally curse.

He was testing me, like he always had.

Seeing if I could provide evidence that I was actually at Lexi's.

"Uh," I think for a moment, trying my best to think up an answer, "It was dark, I couldn't exactly tell.."

He was trying to get me to spill the beans. Tell him that I had spent the night with Derek, but I didn't..well, not technically.