Surprise

Chapter 7: Wide Awake

Maya’s POV:

Jack took me back to the pack house in the car.  He insisted I speak to Luna Maya immediately, but I said I was tired and just wanted to go to bed.  He supported me as I leaned on him and he half-carried me to Stella’s bedroom and then left me so I could sleep.

I hadn’t decided yet if I wanted to stay here, but I couldn’t leave in my current state.  I knew to go, and get out of there before anyone would even notice I was missing, but I realized with horror that I didn’t want to leave.

I looked through Stella’s drawers, looking for pajamas, and changed into sweat pants and a baggy grey t-shirt.  I didn’t know where to sleep, so I picked up a few of the many pillows on Stella’s bed and searched the room, finding a blanket draped over the back of a chair.  I folded it and made a makeshift bed for the night.

I turned off the lamp on Stella’s bedside table and tried to sleep, resting my head on the lumpy pillow.  But I was far from tired, after having been unconscious for days.

No better time to decide what I’ll do than now, I thought after I gave up on sleep.  I lay, debating with myself.

“These people have been perfectly good to me.  I should stay.”

“These people are insane if they let vampires in.  I should run away and never look back.”

My inner voices continued to argue for a while.

“I have nowhere else to go.  I should stay.”

“I could always go home.  Aunt Linda must be freaking out about me.  I should leave.”

“I don’t want to go back home,” part of me nearly screamed.  All fighting ceased while I tried to contemplate why not.  I knew that was true.  I did not want to go home.  But I should have wanted that.  Hannah is at home, and so is Aunt Linda, and everyone else that I care about.

But then it hit me like a brick wall.  Everyone I love is there, but my parents.  I guess the fact that my parents were dead wasn’t what hit me so hard, but rather what comes with it.  If I went back, I’d just be the girl who lost her parents.  Months of casseroles, condolences, and people I never really talk to normally asking if I’m okay, hugging me, offering me favors.

I’d have to face that town and everyone in it, constantly reminded that my parents aren’t there with me.  Except for Hannah and Aunt Linda, I’d be alone.

I’d just be the girl who lost her parents.

Besides, I’m no one special back there.  Hardly anyone is.  Here, anyone is special, I can tell.  Everyone is loved and no one is pushed away for being too different, but no one is uniformly similar to the others, either.

I felt as though when my parents died, so did my tie to Maine.  Maybe that was why my wolf pushed me so hard to leave.  I felt like there was something here for me to find.

Feeling as though I’d made my decision, I contently snuggled back into my blanket and realized how tired I now was.

I was almost asleep when Stella burst through the door and flicked on the light.  I sat up, shading my eyes which hurt under the bright light after hours of the dark.

When my eyes adjusted, which didn’t take long, I looked at Stella’s tear streaked face.

“Oh, sorry Maya, I forgot you were in here,” she sniffled quickly and then turned the light back off.  I shook my head in the dark and then hurriedly stood up to calm her.

“Stella, what’s wrong?”

She stepped away from the dimly lit doorway and closed the door.  I heard her voice crack as she answered me.  I couldn’t understand anything she said, but when I heard the word “Tyler,” I hugged her.

“What did he do?”

She shrugged away from me and in the dark I barely saw her shake her head.  (Only cats and vampires have night vision.)  “No, Maya, I just want to go to bed, alright?”

I nodded and lay back down in my temporary bed, deciding not to push it until the morning.

I expected to hear pained bawling all night, but aside from a few sniffles, she was silent until I fell asleep.

When I woke up, she was gone.  Her bed was a mess with stuffed animals surrounding it on the floor as if they’d been thrown off the bed in the middle of the night.  I got off of the floor so quickly I became lightheaded and dizzy.

“Stella?”

I looked at the alarm clock which said it was past nine in the morning, and then I around the room, relieved to see a small amount of light coming from under the bathroom door.  “Stella,” I said, walking over to the door, testing to see if it was locked.  It was.

“Stella, you in there,” I asked, leaning my back against the door.

I heard no response for a few seconds and then Stella opened the door that was supporting me and I fell back, softly hitting my head on the brown tiled floor.  “Ow!”

“Sorry,” she gasped, quickly kneeling down to help me up.

“It’s fin,” I said absent minded as I got back to my feet.  “No pain no gain, right?”

She laughed a bit.  I studied her face and was satisfied to see that she looked much better than last night.  Albeit, she wasn’t as smiley as the whole day before, but it was nice to see her face wasn’t covered in tears.

“Are you alright,” I asked her, rushing to her.

She nodded, laughing without humor.  “Yeah, I was just… tired last night.”

I nodded, not really believing her, but not wanting to push the subject any longer.

“Come n, let’s go get breakfast!  I’m starved!”  she put on a smile, and I could tell it was mostly genuine.

[A/N: So, It’s short, but it’s better than no chapter, right?  In fact, I’ll be uploading a lot more often.  NaNoWriMo didn’t exactly work out.  So happy birthday!  Not your birthday?  Well, pretend it is!  Thanksgiving is coming up, so be grateful!  The most grateful comment gets a dedication and a fan!  Also, I need an opinion on which cover (on the side) to choose.]