Chapter 2

"Clara, Clara... Where the heck is this girl? Cla...aa...read" the voice shouted again, and this time an eighteen-year-old ran towards the dining table. "Yes mum, am here, you called for me?" "Oh really? I thought you had forgotten your name young lady" "I am sorry mum I didn't mean to ignore your calls, it's just that I was wearing some ear pods earlier that's why I couldn't hear you call for..." "Save your breath I am in no mood to hear you whine just shut it, and take your sit it's time for dinner" "Hi dad, how are you feeling today?" Clara asked the man sitting at the dining table A quite sick older man in his sixties with a trembling voice said "I am hungry, let's eat" totally ignoring her questions. So after eating, Clara went to the sink to do the dishes, she climbed the staircase and was about to head to her room, when her Mom's voice came again. This time harshly. "Where do you think you are going, young lady? You better get down here and clean the entire house." "But mom, I still need to go apply for some things online, can't this wait till tomorrow?" "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to come in between you and your plans. But it can't wait till tomorrow" Clara came back down with anger and went to work. She cleaned the whole house, while her acclaimed siblings got to watch movies late into the night. After hours of cleaning the entire house, she went into her room tired and sad. Sometimes she has thoughts like 'Are they really my family? Why do they treat me so differently? I just wanted to apply for college and now it's impossible to. Why don't mom and dad like me? What have I done wrong to make them hate me so?' After many hectic thought she drifted to sleep with heavy music on. Clara Cooper is a teenager who loves her solitude but then again even her quiet time gets interrupted frequently by her family, the Coopers. Yes, her mom's name is Clarissa, and her dad's name is Caleb Cooper Her siblings are Olivia and Xander Cooper Xander is way older than her, he is 22 but a hopeless case. All he does is eat, drink and party out late most times. And if he is not doing any of these he asks for money to go gamble he is mostly never home. Not that he even cares about Clara's wellbeing. He acts like she is invincible like she doesn't even exist. What about Olivia? She is even the worst of all the Coopers, she is 4 years younger than Clara but views Clara as her equal and talks to her anyhow she feels like. Even if Clara reprimands Olivia, they (parents) will only get mad at her for that. So all these made her feel worthless and an outcast in her own home, she sometimes wished she was never born. She had no one to turn to well, except for a weird boy two streets away from their block who has some green eyeballs mixed with some gray color. His name is Gabe and ever since he was little, he is the only one who even seems to care about her. He was the only one who has always gone out of his way to make her happy. So whenever she was feeling down as a kid she'd just sneak out through the window and go over to his place and they would both chill. He (Gabe) somehow knows what to do to make her smile and be alright again. As they grew older together, he was like her best friend, brother, sister, mother, and even father. Because he soothes her and comes to her rescue whenever she is down. But then Gabe hasn't been around lately, he seems to travel a lot recently, and whenever they got to talk to each other over the phone the words he always says are "Be strong Clara, you are never alone" 'I kind of miss Gabe so much, If he were here I wouldn't be this deranged and lonely' she thought. Just then her cell phone begins ringing. It was Gabe, her only friend. "Speak of the devil" she mutters loudly while she is in her room. "Hey, beautiful" "Don't even think of buttering me up Gabe" "Why not? It's what I always do dear" "Hmm, where have you been Gabe? You just left me to myself" "Huh!! Come on I didn't, okay fine I just had to go do something real quick in one of the neighboring towns." "Why didn't you take me along Gabe?" "Clara if I could, I would have, I've missed you so much don't tell me you didn't miss me" "Hmm, let's see... I am not quite sure" "Oh, so you don't miss me then? It only means I should turn back to where I was coming from then..." "Huh!! You are here?" "Yeah come out through the balcony you might find..." Before he finished his statement Clara ran to her balcony and there he was all tall and well built up. She jumped on him and he whirled her round for close to 5 minutes and they didn't disengage from their tight hug. She was kind of scared he might disappear again so he clung to him like he was his lifeline. "I missed you so much," Clara said with tears pouring down her cheeks. "I miss you more than you could imagine," Gabe said to her. After disengaging from the hug which lasted for 5 whole minutes she hits him hard on the chest "Ouch, Clara what was that for?" "Tell me, where you went to, that you couldn't bring me along? You should have brought me with you" "Come on Clara, if I could I would have been okay. It was torture where I went to. It was two years of aggressive training, I couldn't leave even if I wanted to but I had to leave against their will to come to see my dearest friend" Gabe said grinning "Hmm, where is that? It must have been too hectic for you right? Because your biceps are all strong now. They are well built, look at these huge muscles." Clara said while touching all his hands. This move made Gabe laugh out loud because seeing her acting like a kid was an adorable sight. She was still admiring him when Olivia barged into her room to inform her that she was needed downstairs to wash some dishes. When she saw Gabe in her room. "Uncle Gabe? What are you doing here so late at night and in her room?" "Ha-ha Olivia comes in, will you? Don't rat me out to aunt okay?" "Hmm, for me to shut up you know what to do," Olivia said while straightening her hands forward for some bribe or something. Luckily for Gabe and Clara Gabe handed some dollars and a chocolate cake to her and her eyes lit up and she said. "Nice thank you, I will stop mom from yelling at you tonight Clara and as for the dishes I will take care of them. Thank you Uncle Gabe for the chocolate cake," she said happily and ran downstairs. "Ha...ha... ha adorable" Gabe laughed out loud to see that Olivia is all grown up now as well and like all other teenage girls her age, she is quite demanding and resourceful. 'Hey you, where is my box of cake? Don't tell me after years of not seeing each other, you appeared before me empty-handed." Clara said feeling jealous that her annoying little sister gets cake instead of her "Okay calm down alright, I brought lots of stuff for you, here they are" it was then she noticed he was holding a huge gift bag with him. The happiness of seeing him after all this time made the gift bag unnoticeable. "Oh better, else I would have sent you back to where you are coming from," Clara said and they both laughed. They talked to catch up on what they'd both missed in their lives late into the next day. When they stopped talking and looked at the time it was already 3:00 AM the next day, so Gabe had to excuse himself. "Hey, I really have to go now, but I will come back this evening but this time through the doorway not through the balcony like some kid and when I do, we will both go to a party, to have fun is that okay?" "Why wouldn't it be? I have been mostly cooped in here since my best and an only friend decided to leave me alone for years, so yeah am in" "Come on, are you still mad at me?" "Of course who wouldn't be?" "Fine then, tonight I will make it up to you okay?" "Hmm, I am looking forward to it then." "Okay I have to go now, see ya" Gabe waved to her but Clara stood up and hugged him tightly instead. "See you soon Gabe" I am so glad Gabe came back. At least my days of despair are far gone. Can't wait to start having fun and party, like people my age. Gabe's POV I really missed Clara, ever since I left her to go practice in the neighboring town due to my first shift. My parents took me there because I was frantic about what was happening to me. It was a new feeling so as not to freak out, I had to leave my best friend's side. It hurts me to leave her all alone with her toxic family, it wasn't that much of a great idea for me. But to be able to control me and not scare her off, I needed to accept what I am and embrace it so as not to be ashamed of who I am. Who knows I may be able to show her this other side of me without having any negative reaction from her. Because this secret I held of being a werewolf was too big for me to keep in and away from her. We've always told each other everything about ourselves no matter how big of a secret it was. We open up to each other regardless of what our reaction will be towards that, but me keeping this big secret from her is a heavily weighted one and I don't know how to tell her about it. When I called her, hearing her voice made me realize she is the only friend I don't want to ever hurt. So I better keep it to myself then until the time is right for me to open up to her about it. Being by her side is something I have missed so much and that alone is something I don't want to ever go through. When I was away learning how to control and shape shift without any hindrance alone with some strict Alpha. I felt like a part of me was missing, when I came back and saw her, I felt whole once more. She is an exceptional soul, someone you can be comfortable around. She is so different from her family that one would think she was adopted because everything, from her facial appearance to the way she is treated differs greatly from the rest of the Coopers. When I gave her the chocolate cake and Teddy bear she was so happy, her eyes lit up. I love the smile and happiness she exhibited last night. I can't wait to put more smiles on her pretty face. I can't wait for tonight to take her to a neighboring town and hear they are throwing a party. Am sure it will make her happy. I missed seeing her dance like her world depended on it.