I wake up to find myself tucked in my own bed and I don't even flinch, I had expected it.
I sit up and rub my eyes, yesterday seems like a bad dream but my mom comes in with empty luggages and reality hits hard.
"Oh? Baby, you're up!" My mom says pleasantly when she notices that I'm up, coming over to place a kiss on my face.
"Morning, mom." I greet her drowsily, watching as she goes over to the cupboard and start to throw clothes in.
"Sleep well?" She asks cordially and I hum a non committal sound, shrugging. "I've already talked to Mr. Everett this morning, he called and said that Ian would come over to pick us up in a couple hours so you might want to get cleaned up."
"Oh." I mumble under my breath, wishing that summer stayed forever. "Sure."
"I'll just put out fresh clothes for you on the bed." My mom calls after me when I walk slowly into the toilet. "I'll pack long sleeved shirts because it gets cold early."
I go into the bathroom and try to catch my breath, it seemed just like yesterday when we were doing nothing but having fun at the beach house, well there was the case with Nicole but other than that it was still way better than rogue Werewolves and Pack Houses.
As a matter of fact, a sadistic, teenage girl seems pale in comparison with the rollercoaster I'm on right now.
I brush my teeth lazily, in no rush to leave my lovely room or my quiet house, I wonder what would happen to it.
I make my way out to see my mom closing up a second luggage box, a question on the tip of my tongue. "Will the house be okay?" I ask with worry.
"Of course, Alpha Everett said he would send over a couple people to help us board up, plus rogue Werewolves will stay out because there's no one in here." She explains and I note the ease with which she uses Virgil's dad's title.
"Oh, I see." I mumble in relief, at least the house would always be there.
"Now baby, come over and choose the books you'd like to take along, I'll go get a separate bag to pack them up."
"No, no." I stop her quickly, I don't know why but taking my books as well made it seem like we wouldn't be able to come back home for a long time and that's scary.
"I'll just read ebooks while we're there, plus school starts next week so it's not like I'll have all the time to read that much." I explain logically.
My mom stops and stares at me with wide eyes. "School starts in a week??! Summer is already over??! How??!" She looks really devastated.
"I don't know mom." I say with a wry smile. "We'll get another summer next year and then I won't have to go back to school."
She comes over to pick up the luggage she had already packed. "You aren't going to college, baby?" She asks, refusing to meet my eyes.
I smile a little, she wants me to stay with her and yet she doesn't want to influence my decision, my mom is adorable. "I haven't made up my mind yet but I don't think I'll go, I don't need college to open up a cute store now do I?"
My mom looks devastated again. "You want to open a store??!" She exclaims in horror. "And actually work?"
I blink at her. "Well, yes, that's why people open stores, isn't it?"
"Not my mom that's for sure." She mutters, pulling the luggages out the door. "Well, I'll leave you to clean up, come down for breakfast when you're done okay."
"Yes, mom." I reply, sighing when the door clicks shut.
I had sort of expected her reply, it'll even be worse when my Grammy finds out that I want to open a store and work in it.
It's not the money to open it, far from it but the fact that they won't let me work or do anything similar to that.
I sigh again, undressing to go take a shower, today would be busy with settling down at the Pack House.
Breakfast is really quick and soon enough Ian is driving up in Virgil's car, my mom said that she would come back later to get her car if she saw the need to.
The boarded up window in the living room sticks out like a sore thumb and I wonder vaguely what the exterior of the house looked like.
I get in the back seat with Apple in my arms, she had burrowed herself under my bed after the scare with the rogue Werewolf which was the smartest thing to do, I was just relieved she hadn't tried to run away in the middle of all the ruckus.
My mom sits in the front seat beside Ian who is friendlier and less scary than his twin, I just tune them out staring at the deserted houses on my street.
I don't bother noting the roads that are taken because I'm horrible with directions, it's not like I would try to go back home all alone anyway.
We don't go in the direction of the center of the town as I had expected, because we lived at the very edge so I figured that everything else would be in the opposite direction.
Instead the car moves in an almost parallel direction, I know the forest stretches out the entire length of Pine Creek but I didn't imagine that people lived close to it too.
The forest on the side seems even denser and I can't help but worry if it's safer, we actually branch out of town for a couple miles and I can't help but marvel at the asphalt that is in top condition in between high trees and then I see it.
"Whoa!" I mutter under my breath when we pull into a wide parking lot that has a lot of cars already parked there.
I can totally see why this wasn't built in the town, firstly there would be the space issue, also it would seem weird because it's not a hotel, just a huge sprawling building where certain people lived in for free.