The Skin Walker

10 | Right Timing

"Where we're from, there's no sun, our hometown's in the dark,"

Hometown Twenty One Pilots

R U T H

The lights inside my living room were dimly lit as I walked down the steps from my room on the second floor. The sound from the TV was muted, and the sound of my father's snores resonated throughout the house instead.

He hadn't seen me come home last night. I assumed he'd barely noticed I was gone for three days.

My footsteps were quiet as I trudged toward the kitchen and made something small to eat before going to class. I'd missed a quiz, but I was lucky that it wasn't a graded one. The exam I had today was, and I planned to get there earlier than usual to study some more.

I prepared a small bowl of cereal and was halfway through eating it when I noticed the snoring had stopped. My head perked upward at the kitchen entrance and my father stood there, staring at me with a confused expression.

"Where were you?" He asked, his voice raspy from all the cigarettes he smoked.

"With the ICA," I said, trying to finish my cereal.

"Who?"

"They're like the FBI."

He hummed, walking closer. It was a natural instinct that my limbs locked up, waiting for his reaction. I never knew what to expect.

"You're lying to me," My father almost spat.

"I'm not," I firmly stated.

"Lose the attitude," He raised his voice.

"I'm not lying to you," I softened my tone at his request, only doing it so he wouldn't overreact again.

"Where were you?" He asked again, angrier.

"With the ICA. They're the International Criminal Affairs unit-"

"Where the fuck were you?" He repeated, slamming his hand onto the counter, making my entire body jolt.

I was numb with fear again, feeling as if the little power I had against him had diminished into nothing. 

"You're so damn lucky we didn't call the police!" He snarled at me and I pulled away from him. "Which boy's house were you at?"

"It wasn't like that-"

"Don't lie to me, bitch!" His hand swung at my face as he slapped me and my hair covered my entire face. The right side of my face stung in pain and tears fled my eyes endlessly.

He never hit my face before.

"The hell is wrong with you?" Instantly regretting the words that came from my mouth, I almost stumbled back as I ran to my room, locking the door behind me.

My breathing picked up as I sunk to the floor, my hands shaking violently. I placed the back of my hand on my mouth to prevent any sounds of my sobs from escaping. I looked to the window with tears in my eyes, hoping that Reese would change his mind and pick me up. At least I felt safe around him, a werewolf, who Rueben said was worse than any monster I'd seen. He was wrong.

Get up. Be strong, Ruth.

Her voice entered my mind and I could finally breathe again. Memories of my best friend helping me up from the floor when I was hurt entered my mind and helped me get up from where I was, crying on the floor.

"Okay, breathe," I told myself one more time. "Wipe your tears, he isn't worth them. No one is worth them,"

I waited an hour before making sure the coast was clear, and finally leaving the house again. 

⋆⋅☽⋅⋆

Someone was watching me.

I knew this because the hairs at the back of my neck stood up, and the side of my face prickled at the sense of someone's gaze. My head snapped up from the study notes I was memorising on the park bench, the same spot I saw Ander and Reese for the first time.

They weren't there. 

Rueben Andino was.

My heart thundered in my chest at the sight of him. I wanted to cry, and I knew it was because I wanted him to make an excuse to take me back. I didn't want to go back home. I wanted to be anywhere but that forsaken place.

Rueben's face was tense as he continued to look at me. I held his stare, mirroring his expression. His chest rose and fell calmly until the wind picked up and my hair flew away from the side of my face - the same side that was swollen due to the aftermath of my father's slap. 

I began to think it was karma from the slap I'd given Rueben. Maybe he knew it too. Would he be satisfied? 

My phone rang, and I dropped my gaze to look at the caller ID. It was Zeke, and I instantly picked up. I placed the phone to my ear, and lifted my head. 

"Hey, Ruth," He sounded like he was smiling. 

"Hey, Zeke," I replied, mirroring a smaller smile. 

Rueben wasn't standing at the opening of the woods anymore, and my chest constricted. 

"Your exam is today, isn't it?" Zeke must've remembered from the last time I spoke to him a few days ago. 

"Yeah, and then I have a final one tomorrow and I'll be done for the semester," I said, moving my eyes around the park to see where Rueben had gone. 

"That's good," Zeke trailed off. "I was thinking we could catch up this week."

"Yeah, that sounds good," I agreed. 

"I wanted to ask," He sounded nervous. "Is it okay if I bring my girlfriend? I want you to meet her."

My eyebrows flew upward and I chuckled in surprise. "A girlfriend? About time!"

Zeke cursed at me, and I knew I'd unintentionally embarrassed him. 

"What's her name?" I asked, wanting him to spill all the information. It would be the remedy to my exam anxiety. "How did you two meet?"

"Her name is Anika. She's from the town I'm staying at, so we kept bumping into each other, and then it took off from there."

A smile etched my lips, and I began closing my study book. "Do you love her?"

"A lot," Zeke breathed out bashfully. 

"I'm happy for you," I told him honestly. 

"Thank you. Your turn. Are you talking to anybody?" 

I laughed, "no, the answer is still no."

"Don't worry. You'll find each other with the right timing. Right now, you go and sit that exam, and the one tomorrow, and we'll catch up," Zeke paused for a moment. "There's this place we can go, but it's an hour away from where you live."

I waited for him to continue, a small flush of panic settling over my heart when I realised what else was an hour away from where I lived. 

"It's actually where I'm moving to. My parents are from this town called Europa-"

I hung up and got on with my day, pretending I never spoke to Zeke at all, pretending I didn't just figure out my childhood friend was a werewolf from my 'mate's' pack. How was that for 'right timing'?

____________

a/n: it's so much easier to rewrite because I already have content written... and when I should be studying, I don't. which is not good. I must force myself to get some study done and try to balance between :')