Parker Chapter Two Part Two

         The bus pulled up in front of the high school and we all clambored off.
         Walking down the hall, I suddenly remebered that Adam had wanted to meet today. Well, that wasn't going to happen, obviously. For one, it was really short notice, and I really don't think that Mom would go for that anyway. Unless we met in secret. Yeah, that's going to happen.
         I opened my locker and pulled out my Biology book. I smiled as a folded piece of paper fell out of the book. I bent down and picked it up, just as Jess looked over. She gasped.
         "Oh my gosh! Why didn't you tell me that you and Cody were back together?!"
         I almost laughed. This was the way that Cody and I had gotten messages to each other while we were dating. We each had the other's locker combination and we would slip notes into text books that we each had the next period.
         "Well," I said, "Technically, we're not back together. We just talked yesterday for a little while, that's all." I wasn't going to tell her about the note that he had given me.
         "Oh, that's cool I guess," she replied.
         I unfolded the note.
Hey, you want to do luch?
         I laughed to myself. We always used to eat lunch in the projection room. I know, I know. So cliched! But we didn't care. We could be alone.
         I wrote,
Sure. I'll meet you there!
         I put it in his Senior Math textbook and walked to my first class.
         Waiting for the lunch bell to ring that day was horrible. It was like waiting to be let out of the superdome after Katrina was over.
         After what seemed like forever and six notes passed by Jess later, the bell rang and I rushed off to the projection room before Jess had another chance to ask me what was going on.
         The lock to the door had already been picked and I smiled to myself. Thank God he had gotten used to doing it last year and it only took him like a split second to do it.
         I slipped inside, closing and locking the door behind me. As soon as I was inside, a hand grabbed mine in the dark and pulled me toward the back of the room, where there were candles lit and two sandwiches on a large plate lying on the floor. Cody let my hand go and I sat down, still with a smile on my face. He sat down oppossite me and handed me a soda, which I happily drank.
         "I'm glad you came," he said, after I had grabbed a sandwich off the plate and began to eat it.
         "Me too," I replied.
         "Otherwise, I don't know what I would've done with all these candles."
         I laughed. "I bet you could've figured something out."
         "Yeah, give them to my Gramdma, so she can smell like. . ." he picked up the nearest candle and looked at the label on the the side of the jar it was in, "lemon maraigne pie instead of cats and burnt hot dogs."
         I laughed at that too. It was so easy to laugh when Cody was around.
         I looked down at the half sandwich I had left. It definately wasn't going to be enough for me, but seeing as my appetite hadn't grown larger until after Cody and I had broken up, he didn't know that one sandwich wouldn't be enough for me. When we were dating, I used to only eat half of the sandwich and stop there. I didn't want Cody to know that anything was wrong so I put the other half of the sandwich back on the plate and laid down on my back to stare at the ceiling.
         "How has your day been?" asked Cody, coming to lay on his stomach, propped up on his elbows right beside me.
         I smiled and replied, "Okay, I guess. Kinda boring, as usual."
         "Well you've got another fourty five minutes in here with me, so I'll make it not boring."
         "Good. Because I'm so over boring stuff."
         He laughed. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Stupid conforming senior girls," he added under his breath.
         "Yeah," I agreed. "If Abercrombie declared that breathing was for losers then over half of our student body would die within five minutes."
         He laughed again. "I've missed this."
         "Missed what?"
         "Just being able to hang out with you. We had some great times if you'll remember."
         "Yeah, like the time we stole the parking cones at Denny's."
         "Or when we went to the Middle School career fair, where you were the housewife and I was a mechanic. . ."
         "Yeah, our white trash names were Ronnie and Bonnie."
         We both laughed. It was true that Cody and I had had some fairly awesome times together. Well, damn, just about every time we were together it was awesome. I was starting to wonder why we broke up in the first place. . .
         "So, how have you been since. . . well. . ."
         Since we broke up. . .
         "Cody, we've been hanging out as friends. You know how I've been."
         "Yeah, true. I was just trying to make a bit of conversation."
         I laughed, propping myself on my elbows, so that our faces were only inches apart. "Honestly, Cody? I've missed you like hell."
         He smiled his cute little smile. "That makes two of us." His face was suddenly serious and I saw that saddness touched his eyes. His hand was suddenly on my arm, and it moved down to grab my hand.
         "So, about that note you left me in the box yesterday," I said.
         He sighed and started to stroke my hand with his thumb. "Yeah?"
         I had thought about it long and hard, and my decision was one that I was going to stick with. But I wasn't going to let this decision affect either of our lives in a major way like Cody thought it was going to.
         "I've thought about it and I'm willing to give you another chance--"
         "Oh, Parker--"
         "If you promise that you'll follow through with your college plans. There will always be the holidays and some weekends."
         Cody sighed again and withdrew his hand from my. He put his face in his hands and muttered against them, "Hon, I don't think that I can do that."
         "Cody, I don't want to be the reason why you don't get the job that you want or the education that you deffinately deserve."
         "But what about us?"
         "Like I said; there will always be the holidays and weekeds. Plus, we both own cell phones and I'm sure your dorm room will have a land line."
         He looked at me again, piercing straight through me with his gaze. I couldn't help but stare right back.
         Finally, he spoke back. "You promise you'll keep in touch as much as possible?"
         "I promise."
         He kissed me on the forehead. "Fine, but I can't promise that I'll like it."
         "As long as you agree to live your life without this relationship affecting any of your choices, then I will agree to date you again."
         "Okay."
         "Okay?"
         "Yes, Parker, okay."
         "I just wanted to make sure. I don't want you changing your mind anymore."
         "Okay. I give you my word that I won't let our relationship affect any of my decisions. And I will make it work this time."
         "Good. I want it to work this time. Really badly."
         And it was the truth. I had gone too long without Cody being there. True, he was my friend, and a really good one at that, but I think that I always knew I was still in love with him.
         I smiled at him and he smiled his cute smile at me again. Suddenly he had his arms around me and was pulling me into a close, warm embrace. Lying here, I never wanted him to let go. I could feel his warm breath in my ear, his hand moving up and down my arm, and my face was pressed into his chest, keeping me warm, although I always seemed to be cold lately. Cody's lips pressed against the hollow under my ear. I turned my head just slightly to look up at him. His green eyes were boring into me. Suddenly, as if they were enticing me forward, I almost lunged at him, trying to get to his perfect lips. I felt him smile against my lips and then, thankfully, kiss me back. It had been so long since I had this. . . and in that moment, lying there with Cody, I realized that I had needed this. I had just pushed it from my mind so I wouldn't have to think about it. His hands moved up, to be on either side of my face, his thumb stroking my cheekbone. I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, drawing him as close to me as possible. One of his hands dropped from my face and. . .
         "Cody!" I squealed, jumping in fright.
         "What?" he asked, no longer smiling.
         I giggled. "You just grabbed my butt!" I said in a voice like a little girl that showed how inexperienced I was.
         He laughed. "I know I did. It was kinda on purpose Parker."
         "Sorry. I just wasn't expecting it," I said under my breath.
         "It's okay," he said back, sitting up. I sat up too, and he grabbed my hand and pulled it into his lap. Giving me a quick kiss on the cheek, he flipped my hand over and looked at my watch. With a jolt, I realized that I hadn't looked at a clock since I was in the hospital. That was unusal. Well, for me at least. I always looked at the time at least three or four times a day.
         "Five minutes until the bell," Cody said, looking at me again.
         "Ohmygod, seriously?" I said. Had we really been in here that long?
         "Yeah," he said, chuckling. "I know, time flies when you're having fun."
         I laughed. It seemed so easy to laugh now, despite everything that was happening with me lately. Cody had that affect on me everytime that I was with him.
         "We should probably make our way back into the hall so we don't get caught," Cody said, although it was more like a long, drawn out sigh.
         "I know. But that dosen't mean that I want to go," I said, smiling at him. He stood up and pulled me to my feet. He hugged me again, then started to pack up the makeshift picnic. When he was done, he grabbed my hand and pressed it to his lips.
         "Wait a minute or two before you leave, okay?" he said, his hand on the door handle. "I don't want us to get caught in here together."
         "Okay. Call me later?" I said.
         "I will. Promise."
         He kissed me one last time before walking out the door and closing it behind him. I sighed and smiled to myself. Things were definitely starting to look up for me.

         "Dish girl!" said Jess, as we climbed off the bus after school and she had said goodbye to Bryan.
         "About what?" I asked, trying to act like I didn't know what she was talking about.
         "You know what! Lunch! With Cody! Spill!"
         "It was okay."
         "'Okay'? Since when was anything with Cody 'okay'?"
         "Fine. It was great."
         "That's what I thought! Now DISH!"
         "Fine, fine, fine. When I got there, a bunch of candles were lit. . ." And I launched into a full description of my whole lunch period. Jess walked beside me with her mouth slightly open the whole way. When we came to her driveway, she still stood open-mouthed, listening intently.
         ". . . and then he left," I finished.
         "Ohmygosh, he grabbed your butt!" she said after a long moment of silence.
         I laughed. "I know."
         She looked up her driveway at her house. "I have to go right now so I can do my chores before Dad gets home," she said. "But we are so finsihing this coversation first thing tomorrow."
         "Okay," I said.
         Jess turned and ran up her driveway. She turned and waved on her doorstep before opening the door and walking into her house.

         Mom wasn't home when I got there. So instead of doing homework like I know I should've been, I tried to get ahold of Adam. But, just as I had suspected, he didn't text me back after I sent, "Hey, about you coming over today. . . I don't know if that's such a good idea". And he didn't answer my phone calls. I left three voicemails and I'm sure I called him about thirty times from the time I got home until I went to bed.
         "Hey, Adam. It's Parker. I just wanted to call you and talk about you coming over today. Um, maybe you shouldn't. I'm just not sure that would be a good idea with my Mom being here and all. She definitely wouldn't approve. But, call me back. Because I would still like to talk to you."
         It was the fourth message. But it didn't look like he was going to be showing up anyway. . . It was already almost 5:00 (yes, I finally looked at a clock) and starting to get dark outside. As soon as I had hung the phone up, it started to ring. I picked it up.
         "Hello?"
         "Parker?"
         It was Cody!
         "Yeah. Hey, Cody!"
         There was a deep chuckle from the other side of the line. "Hey Parker. How are you?"
         "I'm fine." Just a massive headache, as usual.
         "That's cool. Listen, I can't talk long, I have to help my Dad with some work thing in a bit."
         "That's okay. Our phone calls were never very long anyway."
         "I know! One of us was always busy with something stupid when the other one called."
         "Well, we're very sociable people."
         "That we are," he said trough a laugh.
         I smiled into the phone. Then I heard a beep.
         "Hey, Cody, can you hang on a minute? Someone's on the other line. . ."
         "Oh, that's okay. I'll just see you tomorrow. My Dad kinda needs me right now."
         "Okay. Bye."
         "Bye."
         I hit the button for flash and put the phone back to my ear. "Hello?"
         "Parker?" said a very raspy, sad voice. "Is that you?"
         "Katie? Ohmygosh! Are you okay?"
         "I've been better."
         "Katie, I'm so sorry! I can't believe this!"
         "It's okay, it wasn't your fault. I just called to get the homework I missed."
         "Oh, all your teachers said that you were excused from doing it all. They said they understood your. . . situation."
         "Oh. Thanks Parker. But I kinda have to go now because Mom wants me to finish the speech I'm giving at. . . Jake's. . . funeral," she said between sniffs.
         "Okay. Katie, if there's anything you need you know where to find me, okay?"
         "Okay. Bye."
         "Bye."
         I hung up the phone. I didn't know how Katie felt, never having a death in my family. Well, except for my Grandma. But I was only like four, so I didn't really understand what death was back then. But what I had told her really was the truth. I would always be here for her no matter what.

         I didn't get to sleep until really late. Even though high school graduation was that Saturday, I was too tired and upset about Katie to do anything but sleep. That night, I had the worst dream since they had started. Even before I fell asleep I felt all clammy and like something bad was about to happen.
         I was walking in the woods. Just walking. That was odd. Wasn't I usually running? I was wearing a really long white dress, with little shimmering diamonds in the bottom, like they were woven into the already beautiful fabric. The dress had a v-neck that plunged all the way to my waistline. It was tight around my middle, making me realize it was a corsette, tied with a red bow in the back. It was sleeveless and strapless. Long story short, it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. The dress had a train, that trailed the ground at least five feet behind me. Wait. Only one kind of dress that I had ever seen had a train. . .
         There was a pool of water on the forest floor a few feet away from me. It had been raining recently, I now realized, because the leaves on the trees were now glistening with a thin film of water. I could see my reflection in the pool of water. Ohmygosh! I was beautiful! I seemed to be a few years older. Maybe 18 or 19. My black hair fell all the way to my waist, curling around my shoulders and falling on my hips in a way that made me look skinnier than I already was. On my head sat a small and very classy, obvioulsy expensive tiara, held in place with bobby pins. But everything that had happened in the dream so far was nothing compared to what was really standing out to me. The condition that my eyes were in had obviously become much worse. Everything that made my eyes part of me. . . the blue that I had come to love was completely gone, replaced by a deep scarlet red. I put the pieces together and figured out that this must mean that I was still having the headaches.
         I continued to walk, and the scence in front of me, the trees and plants, began to dissolve. They were replaced by rows and rows of chairs, that were situated on either side of a long, black carpet. I looked down and realzied that I was walking on this carpet. I also noticed that I was wearing white satin heels. Looking back up, people began to materialize into the chairs. Some were crying, fanning themselves with what looked like small programs or something. Others were looking at me and smiling. I tried my best to smile back, but I was confused and worried about what was happening, so my smile probably looked more like I was smelling a really nasty fart (crude, I know. But it gets the point across).
         Looking past the people and chairs, I saw a small cottage off to the left. It was quaint and pretty much what I had always wanted to live in. A few windows were framed by ivy and the wooden front door was cracked open just a bit so I could see the old stone floor inside. I smiled at the memories I had with Katie, when we would play dungeons and dragons in her Grandma's cottage behind her now modern house.
         Looking back to where my feet were carrying me, I almost gasped. While my mind had been wandering to the cottage and what was inside, a boquet of flowers had suddenly appeared in my clasped hands. And was that Katie and Mom in the front row? What were they doing here? This was my dream! And why were they both wearing rags with. . . were those blood stains? What the heck? Shaking from head to toe, I realized what was realy going on here. I was at my own wedding. WHAT THE HELL? My head suddenly jerked up to see what I was wondering about the most. The groom. Who the heck was I going to marry? I didn't recognize him. He was tall. . . maybe one of the tallest people I had ever seen. His straight brown hair reached his shoulders and he was smiling more than anyone I had ever seen smile in my life. His eyes were a beautiful brown color to match his hair. Truthfully, he was the most beautiful thing that I had ever seen. But I had no earthly idea who he was. He looked to be about two or three years older than me, although age never mattered much to me. Obviously, I was dating Cody. But wait. . . was I dating Cody now? No. I'm standing here, about to get married to a total stranger. Of course I'm not still dating Cody! I'm most definitely not a player, like those stupid high school football players who think that it's cool to date the whole cheerleading squad at the same time. Okay, focus Parker. It's your wedding day! And you have no idea how or when you even got engaged!
         I finally came to the end of the carpet and turned to face the man who I didn't even know.
         And everything turned black. I couldn't see or hear anything. There was a horrible pressure in my head, squeezing the blood out of my brain, and I got the horrible dizzy feeling that I got before I passed out in the bathroom. And as suddenly as it had started, it was over. But, now that I could see, things were definitely wrong. People were running around, screaming at each other. There were shouts of, "Where's the bride?", and "Ohmygosh! Have you seen Parker!?". I instantly recognized the last voice as Katie's and I screamed out to her.
         "Katie!"
         I saw her turn in the crowd and run to me. She hugged me tightly. "You're hurt!" she suddenly screamed.
         I looked down. The dress. . . the beautiful dress. . . It was all wrong. Hadn't the dress been white before? But now it was red. . . red with. . my blood.
         "OhmyGod! Parker, the baby!"
         "Baby?" I heard myself gasp. But now, as I looked down, I saw that my belly was bulging. . . I looked like I was going to pop any day now. . . Why hadn't I noticed that before? And the thick stream of blood that was now gushing from me was obviously coming from somewhere that should not be bleeding. But why was Katie worrying about me when all these other people were runnig around trying to find their loved one? What had I missed when I blacked out? I was getting dizzy again but I refused to black out again. Not now. Not while there was so much--
         I stopped thinking. . . I smelled something. What was that? It smelled so delicious. I ignored the pain in my head, moving forward on the smell, like it was drawing me in. . . pulling me closer.
         Mom. . . lying on the ground in front of me. . . a strange gurgling sound coming from deep within her throat. She was hurt? Yes. I now realized that there was a scarlet stain on her chest. And she was gurgling because her lungs were filling with blood. How did I know that? And why was I standing here just staring at her when there was that delicious smell coming from somewhere nearby? I sniffed the air, ignoring Katie and my new husband, who had just appeared out of nowhere, who were trying to get my attention.
         And then I realized what I was smelling. It was blood.
         I thought I heard a deep cackling coming from somewhere behind me, but I didn't care. Baring my teeth, I gave into the enticing aroma of my mother's blood and leapt forward, a deep snarl escaping my throat--
         I felt myself scream and jerk forward in bed before I knew what was really happening. My eyes roaved around my room frantically, only realizing after about a minute that it had all just been a dream. I was drenched in sweat again, and breathing really hard.
         Then, with a sickening, gut-wrenching feeling, I pulled back the sheets on my bed. The insides of my PJ pants had been turned scarlet. I shut my eyes, ready to feel pain, but it never came. I slowly climbed out of my bed and walked into the bathroom, but I ignored the clock when I glanced at it.
         1:32
         Looking at myself in the mirror I saw that my eyes were bloodshot and my cheeks were a nasty shade of green. I looked down at my legs again, and slowly slid my pants off. Blood was smeared all the way from my inner thigh to my calfs, but it was obvious that I was not bleeding at the time. . . and there was no damage done. I felt myself start to sob. I had no idea what was going on with me. I wished it would all stop. . . just go away. . .
         And that was when I threw up in the toilet. Not pretty, I know. After I had cleaned myself up and threw my pants in the hamper, I walked back into my room.
         And almost had a heart attack.
         There was someone staniding in front of my desk, and they were wearing all black. It was a boy, about my age. He had medium-length black hair, which was slicked back. Wait. . . that couldn't be right. This was exactly how Adam had looked in my dream at the hospital. Now I was really starting to get freakd out (not that having a stranger in my room in the middle of the night hadn't freaked me out enough already).
         I was going to move out of my room. . . nice and slowly. Maybe he wouldn't notice me if I was quiet enough. I would just back up and grab my cell off my bedside table so I could call the cops. It wouldn't matter if he heard me doing that. . . he would probably be too scared to stick around after I called the cops anyway. I moved one foot back and put it down, gently. No sound. Thank God I had worn socks to bed tonight. I was about to take another step back when I remembered that there was a creaky floorboard somehwhere around here. I looked at the wall, remembering that the creaky one was fifteen boards from the wall. I silently counted and saw that the fifteenth one was the one that I was about to step on. I mentally uttered a sigh of relief and moved my foot just a fraction of an inch to the left before putting it down.
         Creak.
         Oops. Looked like the creaky floorboard was the sixteenth not the fifteenth.
         The stranger whirled around to look at me and I almost gasped. He looked exactly like the Adam I had dreamed about. The red eyes. . . gleaming from behind black sunglasses made me realize he had been trying to hide them, so he could walk around in public without being glanced at twice. But I wasn't startled by his appearance anymore. I was angered at what he was holding.
         "Hey! That's my diary!"
         "Oh," he said, and he had the same voice as the dream Adam. "Sorry Parker. I was just reading a bit about myself. I didn't know that I was so interesting."
         "How do you know my name?" I demanded. "And what do you mean reading about yourself?! I don't even know you so why would I write about you?! Which brings me to the bigger question of: who the hell are you and why the hell are you in my room?!"
         "That was two questions Parker. Um. . . I know your name because we've been talking for like two months now. . . I mean there are a lot of interesting things written about me in here. . . I'm Adam and I'm here because I believe we have a date."
         My head was beginning to spin and my brain was hurting. Maybe I was still dreaming!
         "I'm here because the last one didn't go so well," he muttered.
         "Last one? What are you talking about?"
         "You think it was just a dream, but it wasn't. It really happened Parker."
         And I believed him. I don't know how or even why, but I did. It was just like a switch in my brain suddenly switched on and my lightbulb flickered to life.
         "OhmyGod," I said. He smiled a sly little smile.
         "Yup. That does mean that everything I said is the truth. Great, huh?"
         "G-great?" I managed to stammer.
         "Yes Parker. You just found out that you're a werewolf. . . well, turning into a werewolf anyway. But most people who find out are thrilled!"
         "Thrilled to be a blood-drinking, hairy, freaky, huge, murdering, mythical beast?" I shouted, angry.
         He just laughed. "Not all of us are freaky. . . or hairy all of the time. Take me for example! I'm not freaky at all!"
         "Yeah. You sneak into my house uninvited and I find you reading my diary. You're not freaky at all."
         He laughed again. "It's nice to see that you've calmed down a bit though. I thought you were going to kill me when you came out of the bathroom."
         "Shut up Adam! I'm kind of freaking out over here! I mean, I just found out that I'm a werewolf for goodness sakes!"
         "Um. . .  turning into a werewolf."
         "Whatever!"
         I sat down on the edge of my bed and rubbed my temples. If I thought I had a headache before it was nothing compared to what I was feeling right now. Burning, throbbing, stabbing, and pressure all combined to make one enormous pain in my head. Werewolves? I mean, seriously. Couldn't it have been something cool, like vampires or fairies, or. . . or mermaids! But no. I get stuck with a big, ugly, disgusting, hairy monster. Life just keeps getting better and better.
         "Parker, you can't be serious," came Adam's voice, shaking me from my thoughts.
         "A-about what?"
         "How can you not be happy right now? You get to start a new life! Leave all theese humans and your human life behind you so you can be free! No more school, no more homework, no more parents, and no more getting bossed around!"
         "Yeah, but that also means no more friends, no more roof over my head, no one to go to when I have problems, and I get to turn into a monster!" I snapped.
         "I already said that not all of us are freaky monsters. And I highly doubt that you will become one."
         "Ugh," I grunted back at him. "Why? Why me?"
         "We don't know. It's completely random, and there's no way of knowing who is going to become a werewolf until they start the change."
         "Wait. . . we?"
         "Werewolves in general."
         "Oh. Why do you need blood?"
         "Because it's the only thing that can sustain us."
         I sighed. "Does it have to be human blood?"
         "No. Animal blood can keep us going, but after a while, you start to crave human blood and even animal blood can't help you."
         "Oh. Are you. . . immortal?" I felt stupid just asking it.
         He laughed. "Nope. That's just a myth. But we do appear younger than we actually are. More like a fountain of youth than immortality."
         "Okay, so do you change when you feel like it, or only on the full moon?"
         "Full moon when you're just a 'pup'. . . and that's three days long, so three days of staying a werewolf, and you wake up at dawn the day after. But when you get more experience and can control the change, you can switch it on and off during the full moon."
         "Do you have to kill people?"
         He chucked. "Yes, most of the time. And would you stop saying 'you' like your not one of us now?" he added, sounding kind of agitated.
         "Sorry. I'm kinda new at this."
         "It's okay. Any more questions?"
         "Oh. So many questions. . ."
         "Well, they're going to have to wait because I have to go now," he said, taking a step toward the window.
         "No! You can't go yet!" I said, jumping up from the bed.
         "I have to, but I promise I'll be back after the full moon."
         "After?"
         "Yeah. The first time it's just something that you just have to experience by yourself. But I promise it'll be okay."
         "Adam!" I shouted as he swung one leg out of the now open window.
         "Shh!" he hissed. "People will be able to hear you," he added, gesturing to the houses around him.
         "Oops! Sorry."
         He laughed. "Goodbye, Parker."
         And he jumped out of the window. "OhmyGod!" I heard my mouth form the words. But when I looked over the window sil, Adam was standing on the grass below me.
         "You scared the crap out of me!" I hissed at him. "Get out of here before I get really mad and decide to start throwing things!"
         "Okay, but remeber; the full moon starts in two days!"