Time Mends (13 page)

Oooookay.
“And Seers?”

“
Because she saw God, she
became the first Seer.”

I thought about it. I looked at it from
every direction, and.. “That is so entirely not helpful.”

Talley pushed herself off the bed. “It’s not
supposed to be helpful. It’s just a story.” My eyebrows shot up at
the dismissal. I mean, she was the girl I had to give the Santa
Claus talk to in the third grade. “Want to tell me why you’re
gnawing off the inside of your lip over a Shifter bedtime
story?”

I released my flesh from the entrapment of
teeth. “It’s nothing,” I tried to assure her, but she noticed my
not-so-subtle attempt to move out of reach of her all-seeing hands.
“Seriously, Tal. It’s no big. I’m just being my normal neurotic
self.”

She still wasn’t convinced. “You know where
to find me if you need me.”

“
You’re the chick sleeping
on the other half of my bed, right?”

Her nose wrinkled as she smiled. “Half is
being a bit optimistic, don’t you think, Miss Bed Hog?”

I tossed a pillow at her head. “Watch who
you’re calling names, Sally Snorer.”

Her laughter was cut off by my bedroom door
being thrown open. “Talley Anne Matthews, we’re going to be late
for work.” Jase noticed me in sitting there in nothing but an
oversized t-shirt and threw a hand over his eyes. “Get a move on,”
he called over his shoulder, getting away from the sight of sister
legs as quickly as possible. Just before he started down the stairs
we both heard him mutter, “Why do I always have to be the
responsible one?”

I spent my entire day thinking about
beginnings. Not because I really thought Alex’s spirit had reached
out from beyond the grave to guide me - one neurosis of him still
being alive was plenty for me, thank you very much - but because it
was the only lead I had to go on. Dr. Dunbar, the shrink who
checked in with me weekly via Skype since the accident, said my
dreams were a way to give my subconscious and suppressed memories
voice. Since she seemed like a fairly logical and intelligent
person, I decided to trust her on that one.

The problem was, I still
didn’t know which beginning might hold the key. I was still leaning
towards the origin of Shifters - if I knew what caused the first
man to Change, then maybe my Change could be explained as well -
but if all I had to go on was Talley’s screwed-up love story, then
there was little hope on that front. But there were so many other
beginnings to consider. The beginning of the Hagan-Cole truce. The
beginning of my inclusion to the Shifter world. I found my thoughts
most often returning to the first time I saw Alex at The Strip
before school started last summer. I remembered how I barely got a
chance to notice him before Liam distracted me with his utter
Liam-ness. There could have been a clue in there somewhere, but
trying to understand Liam was like trying to find a reason for the
existence of
Jersey
Shore
.

I was still mentally going over that first
meeting, trying to recreate the whole awkward and confusing day in
my head, when Jase and Talley came barging through the front door
three hours early.

“
I thought they weren’t
getting home until after lunch,” Angel said, looking up from the
bookshelf I allowed her to reorganize in lieu of rearranging the
whole living room. She had taken over all kitchen duties when no
one else was around to do actual cooking. She took her job to keep
the two of us fed very seriously, planning out each meal and
offering up as much variety and home-cooking as was possible with
her microwave and toaster oven limitations. “I only have enough
mozzarella cheese to make two tortilla pizzas. I’ll have to mix it
with cheddar, and that won’t taste right at all.”

“
It’s okay, Munchkin, I’m
not hungry.” Jase threw himself on the couch and attempted to drill
a hole in the wall with his eyes. Talley seemed to be attempting
the same trick with Jase’s head.

“
What happened? Why are
you home?”

“
We got fired,” Talley
said. Her voice shook with anger.

“
We quit,” Jase
corrected.

The thought of Talley, who was the very
definition of responsible, getting fired was more than a little
perplexing. “Why on earth did you get fired?”

“
We didn’t get fired,”
Jase grit out. “I told you, we quit. I’m not going to work for some
sleazy jerk.”

“
Adam isn’t sleazy. And,
unlike you, he’s not completely unhinged.”

Angel was listening in with rapt interest. I
could see her committing every word to memory for a dramatic
interpretation the moment my parents walked through the door.
“Angel, go start getting your ingredients together and constructing
your pizzas. I’ll be in to supervise the toaster oven part in a
minute.”

“
It’s too early to start
lunch. We just finished our mid-morning snack forty-five minutes
ago!”

I know I said I didn’t want people taking
orders from me just because I was Pack Leader, but I would have
paid good money to make Angel feel obligated to obey me. “Then go
upstairs and clean your room.”

“
My room is
clean.”

“
Then go clean
mine!”

“
What does ‘sleazy’ mean?”
Angel asked Jase, standing just far enough away that I couldn’t
grab her up and wring her neck.

“
It means he couldn’t keep
his hands to himself and made inappropriate comments to his
employees.”

My eyebrow shot up. “He did?”

“
He asked me on a date.
That doesn’t qualify as inappropriate comments.”

“
Where were his hands if
he didn’t keep them to himself?” Angel asked, confusion etched on
her brow.

“
Angel, seriously, don’t
you have an elsewhere to be?”

“
No. I want to know about
Adam’s hands. Was he a umpiretee? Did they come off like Uncle
Joseph’s leg?”

“
I think you mean amputee,
Munchkin.”

Talley quit glaring at Jase long enough to
ruffle Angel’s hair. “There was nothing wrong with his hands. Your
brother just over-reacted.”

“
Over-reacted?” Jase
bolted from the couch. “I over-reacted?!?! You’re the one who told
him to back off!”

“
Which he did! There was
no need for further action!”

Screw the daytime soaps I was missing. This
was getting juicy. “Could someone please tell me what happened,
from the beginning?”

“
Our supervisor at the
pool, Adam, has been expressing interest in me. He’s always coming
by the snack bar, goofing off and talking to me for way too long
about individually packed pickles.”

“
I like those,” Angel
interjected. “They’re always super-salty and crunchy.”

“
Well, a couple of days
ago he started asking me out. I tried to turn him down nicely, but
he wasn’t taking the hint.”

“
Which was when you should
have said something to me,” Jase added.

“
There was no need for you
to get involved! I can take care of myself!” It was a shame Jase
wouldn’t spar with Talley. I think they may have been able to work
whatever this was out better if they were able to throw a few
punches at each other.

“
You were really doing a
bang-up job of it in the store room today.”

“
Guys, really. Do we need
to make Angel leave the room for this?”

Angel sat up straight in her pink Disney
Princess beanbag chair. “I can handle it, Scout. I’m seven now, you
know.” She turned to Talley with an expression of the deepest
concern and understanding. “He tried to kiss you, didn’t he.”

The corners of Talley’s mouth twitched.
“Yes, he tried to kiss me.”

“
And you didn’t want him
to?”

“
No, I didn’t. Which I
told him in no uncertain terms.”

I felt like I knew where this was heading.
“And Jase…?”

“
Jase thought the point
needed to be emphasized with his fist.”

Of course he did. “And then you both got
fired.”

“
No, he told me that I was
going to have to apologize, or he would fire me. I told him that
Hell would freeze over before I apologized, and then I
quit.”

Angel’s eyes were the size of saucers. “You
said a cuss word to your boss?”

“
What about you?” I asked
Talley. “Surely he didn’t fire you because you wouldn’t kiss and
Jase punched him. That would be a sexual harassment and wrongful
termination suit all tied up together with a great big
money-colored bow.”

“
Jase needed some ice for
his hand,” she gave in way of an explanation.

“
And…?”

Now it was Jase’s turn to fight the smile
threatening to break across his face. “He said if she followed me
out, then he would accept that as her resignation.”

“
And she followed you
anyway?”

“
Jase needed ice,” she
said again.

“
Sorry, Tal, but I’m with
Jase on this one. You both quit.” I pointed a finger at Angel. “And
that is the only story that our parents will hear, do you
understand?”

“
Talley and Jase quit
their job because their boss was bad. Got it.”

Of course, that wasn’t exactly what she told
our parents, which led to a rather embarrassing conversation
between my mom and Talley about not allowing men to take advantage
of you, but she did manage to skip the part about Jase punching the
guy in the nose. The part about him saying a cuss word, however,
was the lead-in.

Both Jase and Talley had new jobs by the end
of the week. Jase was hired by the 4-H camp to teach four
basketball classes a day during the week, and Talley took a
part-time job at the local Piggly-Wiggly. It turned out to be the
best thing for both of them. Jase found he really liked coaching,
and Talley was forced to talk to her mother at least once a week.
By the time the next full moon rolled around, Mrs. Matthews was
begging Talley to move back home, but Talley said she would rather
stay with her Pack.

I found myself eagerly awaiting the return
of the full moon. I knew it was mentally unhealthy. I knew I was
setting myself up for disappointment. I knew he wasn’t supposed to
be real, but still I was anxious to see if the gray wolf whose
scent I swore I ran across occasionally on my jaunts in the woods
would show up again.

Interestingly, the lure of seeing the wolf
who didn’t exist wasn’t the only reason I longed for the full moon.
I realized I hated the way my new senses weakened as the moon
waned, although they never disappeared all together. I was still
able to hear everything going on in the house and knew who was in
the shower by the smell floating in the steam under the bathroom
door. Of course, the strengthening of the wolf had some issues all
its own.

“
Dear God, will I always
be this hot?” I asked, positioning myself above the air
conditioning vent in Jase’s room. I had just got out of an ice cold
shower, was wearing nothing more than my boy cut bikini bottoms and
a tank top, and was walking around with wet hair in a house whose
thermostat I had moved down to sixty-five degrees, but I was still
on the verge of a heat stroke.

“
No, one day your face
will wrinkle, your boobs will sag, and your hair will grow thin.
But don’t worry. I’ll still love you anyway.”

I glared at my brother. “Not what I
meant.”

“
Were you wanting me to
point out that you may think way too highly of
yourself?”

“
I was wanting you to
assure me I’m not going to spontaneously combust.” I made a tent
out of my tank top so I could capture all the cool air. “How do you
deal with this every month?”

I knew Charlie was coming up the stairs. I
knew the moment he turned onto our road five minutes ago, but I
still jumped when he opened the door. It seemed like I was never
quite ready to deal with Charlie.

“
I didn’t realize this was
a clothing-optional meeting,” he said, risking one disgusted glance
in my direction before flopping down on Jase’s bed. “Seriously,
Scout, would it kill you to put some clothes on?” he asked the
ceiling.

“
It might. I feel like I’m
melting.” And the blood pooling on the surface of my skin certainly
wasn’t helping the situation any.

“
It’s a low-grade fever.
We all get one right before a full moon. You’ll get used to
it.”

I didn’t bother explaining how I ran more
than a low grade fever for thirty days straight and knew that this
was something different. Charlie would only think I was whining and
begging for attention.

“
I’m going to go find
Talley.” And some clothes.

Of course, that’s when Talley opened the
door connecting my bedroom to the bathroom that separated mine and
Jase’s rooms. “I’ll be there in thirty seconds. I’m looking for a
pen.”

“
I’ll come—”

“
Nevermind, here’s
one!”

Or maybe I’ll just sit
here feeling overwhelmingly naked and embarrassed.

Talley bound into the room, a pad of paper
and pen in hand. “Okay, I’m ready to take minutes.”

“
Pack meetings have
minutes?” I certainly didn’t remember anyone jotting stuff down at
the last Pack meeting I attended, but I had been a little
distracted with the whole getting kicked out part.