Becoming the Luna

"Hay? Hurry or we'll be late!" I hear Shana's voice outside my room and I shake my head, she's probably running down the hallways.

There's no reason for her to be in such a rush considering that it's Dale who's driving us back but I've already made up my mind that Shana is always this hyper when she's excited about something, it's a little ironic that with how extroverted she comes off as she still prefers the countryside to the city.

But I still hurry anyway because I'm as excited as she is, my mom had already gone back two days ago, 'to prepare the house', she said but I know she just wanted to escape from the house before my grandfather came home.

Virgil's car would be coming later this week and his excitement is palpable, I had already packed the day before and Rodriguez would still come over for our things and the new things we had managed to accumulate over the months we had spent here.

I step into the first pair of jeans I've worn ever since the first day I got here and it feels a little odd covering my legs but it wasn't a bad feeling, I pack up my hair again, I really need to cut it.

We finally pile in the car, after Shana nearly screams our head off. She says she's riding shotgun because she knows that Dale is going to fall asleep.

Everyone humors her because we know how she gets when she's nervous, Mae is back and the rest pretty much explains itself.

I'm in the backseat again with Virgil and his presence is calming even though it feels like he's always insulating me and I only get a faint glimpse of his true self when he's angry or laughing in abandon which rarely happens but I'm used to his quiet nature so I don't really mind.

He's the perfect pillow to read on anyway and the journey begins quietly enough, Shana is apparently too tense to start up arguments about crashing the car with Dale and the quiet of the car plus the low rumbling is enough to get me sleepy.

My head is on Virgil's legs and I'm lying vertically in the car with my knees bent, engrossed in a historical romance novel. 

He takes out the scrunchie in my hair and lazily pushes his hand throught the silky bruised gold locks and it's soothing enough to lull me to sleep, I turn to the side, facing the backrest.

It doesn't take much for me to fall into a light doze, contentment sitting heavily in my heart even though I should probably feel apprehensive about school that's about to begin in a couple weeks but I can't bring myself to worry when one of Virgil's hand in my hair and the other is lightly tracing my features.

He might not tell me to my face that he loved me but he wasn't going anywhere either and that's fine with me.

Music softly plays in the background but still I can't still seem to fall fully asleep, the excitement of going back preventing me.

"I still don't approve of your decision." Dale's voice filters through and I can feel Virgil stiffen under me.

"Don't over step your boundaries, Dal." Virgil's cold voice replies him. "There's a lot of things I allow because Hayden doesn't seem to mind but fuck up and I'll cut you down, fast." 

"Guys, Hayden is asleep." Shana tries to placate, her voice slightly shaky.

The car goes silent after this and now the sleepiness is my eyes is gone, what is Dale and Virgil talking about?

It's probably some ridiculous rivalry again, I think, rolling my eyes behind my eyelids.

I want to sit up and continue my novel but I know that I'll never know about these things unless they think I'm asleep and I didn't want to lose that advantage so I remain prone for a couple more minutes.

Turns out that I actually fell asleep because when I wake up a couple hours later we're already entering Pine Creek.

"Huh? We're here already?" I sit up in a rush, rubbing the last vestiges of sleep away from my eyes.

"Yup!" Shana answers cheerily. "And you were out like a light."

I lean out the window to see the car pass by the mall and then the park, is it my eyes or does it seem deserted than usual.

It's most likely because it's still the summer break which is a little weird because most people preferred to stay in Pine Creek but still if we decided to take a vacay who's to say other people didn't have the same idea.

But it gets worse when we get closer to the living areas.

"Um, where's everyone?" I ask casually, turning away from the window briefly.

The air in the car gets tense and my curiousity spikes.

"Probably on vacation or at the pool it's summer anyway." Shana shrugs.

"Or maybe they're just inside." Dale adds, Virgil doesn't say a word.

They're excuses seem a little bit lame actually no, very lame but I don't point it out, I just shrug and settle back in my seat.

Contradicting them would only make them try to hide whatever they were hiding harder and they would be on their guard then, I'd have to move carefully if I wanted to find out.

I'd get dropped off first then everyone would go home, they would probably be back by evening or tomorrow though so I wasn't worried.

Although it'll be a little weird to not have them constantly around me.

We pull up the driveway and my mom flings open the door at the sound of the car's engine, Apple happily meowing in circles around her legs.

"Welcome back!" She squeals happily, waiting for us to come out and over to her.

We all get pulled in a bear hug and there's tears at the sides of my mom's eyes. "I'm so so happy to see you all again!" She says happily, ignoring our muffled groans of discomfort.

"Bye, Hay!" Shana waves, running back to jump into the front seat before Virgil can beat her to it.

Virgil hugs me with his routine forehead kiss and I smile. "Bye, see you guys later." 

Dale keeps his distance but then again there's no way he could have gotten closer.

"Oh and Virgil?" My mom calls just when Dale starts up the car.

"Yeah, Renee?" He pokes his head out the window of the backseat.

"Happy summer, my love." She grins at him. 

Virgil's eyes widen at this. "No way! It's here?"

"What do you think?" She laughs, clutching me closer. "We should all go on a ride soon." She suggests and we wave them away.

The lights in Virgil's eyes is enough to keep the smile on my face.

"He's really excited about his car, isn't he?" I murmur to my mom who pulls me into a warm hug.

She hums a reply and Apple's meowing gets louder like she's saying don't ignore me.

I laugh at this and bend down to pick her up. "Hi, baby." I bring her up to my face, her claws are showing and she's meowing up a storm. "Missed me?"

"So, baby." My mom presses her hands together. "I made lunch, come try it out."

I look up and towards the kitchen to see black smoke seeping out. "That lunch?" I ask dryly, unsurprised when the fire detector starts screaming.

"Aaaaaaargh!" She screams running towards the kitchen.

I look down at Apple with a fond smile. 

It's just like I never left...