Forbidden Love

Chapter Thirteen

Cairo

It has been about a week since Dad left and we have-well Mom- has been working around the clock. She wakes up early in the morning then goes to work nearly all day. I try to help in anyway I can by cooking meals and cleaning up but there's only so much I can do. I can't even go out in public and I try to avoid leaving the house. I feel like the next time I go outside, I'll find the body of someone else I loved dearly. And I don't sleep either. Every time I close my eyes, I'm plagued by nightmares of my loved ones getting slaughtered by werewolves. I stay up as late as I can, drink coffee, soda, whatever I can do to stay awake. I know Mom is worried about me, I've lost weight, I don't sleep and I barely talk. How is this even fair? How come we have it so hard? I know the answer to that..life's not fair. Therefore, I just have to grow up and deal with it. But that's the thing, I don't want to grow up. I want my worries to be simple, not worrying about whether or not my Mom is going to come home. Worrying about if a werewolf will kill my Mom. It's sickenin and actually very stressful. Every minute that passes by after the time she's supposed to get home, has me biting my nails and my heart thumping. And when she enters the house, you would have thought I hadn't seen her in years by the greeting I give her. All I feel is overwhelming relief. By now though, I thought that I would miss Dad's presence, down to his musky scent but I don't. He's an unfaithful bastard and I hate him for doing that to Mom. I mean, come on, are you really going to stoop that low? Are you really gonna cheat and then tell us that we need you? Hey, it's not the easiest, but we're doing just fine without Dad. I can tell that my Mom is doing okay too. Though she looks stressed and tired, she has a brave expression in her face every time she walks into the room. It seems like she's happy to prove that she can last on her own. She doesn't need a man there with her. Especially not a cheating man. I'm proud of my Mom too, she's a strong woman. But, I keep on thinking about us, when I really want to think about Skylar. How is she? What about Ms. Rebecca? Where are they? Why hasn't she tried to contact me? Of course, I want to talk to her but I don't want to get her in trouble. I mean, what if she's hiding her phone from a werewolf and I call or text her, next thing you know, she's dead. Because of me. I don't think I could live with the fact that I was the cause of Skylar's death, or anyone at that. I mean I feel guilty if I make someone cry! It sucks to be weak like that but I find myself getting stronger too.

Skylar

It's been about a week since the attack and after I told Ryder he couldn't kiss me, he's been ignoring me. I guess I hurt his precious werewolf ego, along with his feelings.

"Skylar, are you paying attention," Mrs. Hugo, my French teacher, asks.

The entire class seems to be looking at me, and I nod quickly to get all eyes off of me. I don't have anyone I know in this class, so I don't talk.

"Okay class, you will be doing a project. You will be doing research on a french-speaking country. Then, you will put it on a poster board for the presentation. Oh, and I will be picking your partner," she adds, and the class groans.

I look around one last time to see if I know anyone, and huff when I don't. Who am I going to work with?

Mrs. Hugo starts to inserts our names into a generator, and shows the groups of two on the board.

I quickly find my name next to Blade's, and a confused expression crosses my face.

Blade? He isn't-

"Hello, Skylar," I hear a deep, smooth voice say from next to me.

I turn my head to see Blade in the seat next to mine, a small smile on his face.

"Uh, hi," I say nervously, straining to hold back a blush.

"We can do Canada," he offers, and I nod.