Cover for the prequel is to the side!

Chapter 13- ✧The Call✧

When I woke up the next morning my brain felt refreshed. I had slept well, there had been no nightmares, Liam wasn’t mad at me, and, if Scott was right, Violet had been arrested. Also, the authorities are on the lookout for Garrett which means he’s sure to get caught soon too. Maybe he and Violet can get a his and hers jail cell.

I rolled over in bed to flick the light on only to see that it didn’t seem to be working. It’s probably about time for the light bulb to be changed. I sighed before heaving myself out of bed and putting on my clothes for the day. It didn’t take long for me to finish getting ready and I was putting on the finishing touches –which meant I was pulling on a beige cardigan—as I made my way down stairs to tell Melissa about the light in my room. I had just made it down the stairs when I heard her talking to someone.

“Okay, I understand. Um, but if you could just turn the power back on, even for a few hours, that would be really great. I have a refrigerator full of food that’s going to go bad and obviously I don’t have the money to run out and replace three-hundred dollars’ worth of groceries.” She said and it became clear to me that she was talking on the phone with the electric company. Apparently my light bulb didn’t need to be changed; it was just that the power was out. “I am, uh, more than happy to beg.”

I peeked around the corner at Scott’s mom to see her looking more stressed than ever. Then I pulled my head back and leaned against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. I had known that the McCall’s were having money problems but I didn’t know they were getting so bad. And my presence here definitely wasn’t helping them with their debt.

Once Mama McCall hung up the phone, I finally turned the corner and walked into the kitchen. I was quickly given a small smile and weary, “Good morning, Charlotte.”

“Morning,” I greeted her shyly, not wanting to make her any more stressed out then she already was.

“So I’m guessing you’ve noticed the power is out,” Melissa said and I responded with a nod. “I’m sorry about that. You’re probably regretting moving in with us.”

With wide eyes, I turned to Melissa. “I don’t regret this. I’m really thankful that you took Isaac and I in because… well because we finally got to have a mom. I wouldn’t trade this for anything.”

“Oh, honey,” Melissa swooned, her voice even cracking slightly as she closed the distance between us to wrap me in a big hug. I hesitated at first seeing as I wasn’t actually used to human intimacy but I quickly remembered to put my own arms around her.

 It was weird hugging somebody like this who wasn’t Isaac. I mean sure I had grown close to Scott and even Liam but this was different. It was like letting yourself be vulnerable and then letting the other person comfort you with just there love and affection. This was more intimacy that I’ve had with anyone since Isaac left. But it was strangely comforting and I soon found myself wrapping my arms even tighter around Melissa.

An obnoxious honking noise was soon heard from outside that caused the two of us to finally break apart.

“It looks like Stiles is here to pick you up,” Melissa let out a soft chuckle as her hands rested on my shoulders. I gave her a small smile as and she eventually let her arms drop back down to her sides, “Have a good day at school sweetheart.”

I nodded as I quickly grabbed my school bags and headed out the door. I had yet to see Scott this morning which hopefully just meant that he was sleeping in.

“Well someone’s looking happy today,” Stiles noted as I hopped into his car.

“I am happy,” I realized as I looked back at the house. I never understood until now what it was supposed to feel like when you have a parent look after you, one that actually loves you. Melissa is really taking on that Guardian role.

“Is it because of oh I don’t know, maybe a boy?” Stiles questioned as he looked over at me with an excited smirk.

“Excuse me?” I looked over at Stiles in confusion. When have I ever been happy because of a boy?

Stiles’ smirk never left his face as he sent me a casual shrug. “Oh I was just wondering if you, uh, decided to change things up a bit, you know. Like did a switcheroo for the day.”

“A switcheroo?”

“It’s like a metaphor.”

I rolled my eyes, “Stiles, I’m not entirely sure you know what you’re talking about.”

Stiles pondered what I said seriously as once again let out a shrug. “That’s definitely true.”

I held back rolling my eyes again as I turned to look out the window. Even though what Stiles had said about his little Metaphor reminded me of The Fault in our Stars, I was still in a moderately cheery mood. Maybe today can be a drama free day. Perhaps I’ll fly under the radar like I used to and not be bothered by people or supernatural beings. Maybe I can live the day in peace while still having the occasional conversation with Liam.

My thoughts about how today could potentially be a good one came to pause as I got out of the jeep and headed inside the school. I weaved my way through the crowded hallway, not once being bothered by anyone. It was like I was in wonderland.

Something seemed to be missing though as I put in my locker combination.

Liam.

Normally I would’ve at least seen him by now. I peered down the hallway to where his locker was to see he still wasn’t at it. Maybe he was being like Scott and was waiting last minute before making his presence known.

I managed to get to first period fairly so I took my seat and pulled out my drawing book. It had been awhile since I had drawn something in it and I felt like it was about time to change that. So as I guided my hand along the paper I finally let my feeling out through drawing.

“That looks great,” Mason complimented as he plopped down in the desk next to me. I looked down at the anchor I had drawn on the paper and smiled shyly.

Anchors were a good thing, something that kept you rooted. When you thought you were going to float away into the world of insanity, an anchor kept you here. That being said, this anchor was probably one of the most positive things I ever drawn. Most the time I’d just draw things that I feared—take the drawing of Kali’s foot in the back of my sketch pad as proof of that—but today I had drawn something that was important to fight those fears.

“So have you seen Liam yet today?” Mason asked suddenly, causing me to look up at him and shake my head. Mason sunk back into his seat as a frown spread across his dark skin. “I feel like something’s wrong.”

I almost felt like laughing at myself out loud. Of course something was wrong. Something was always wrong in my life. I can’t believe I had been stupid enough to let myself fall into the false reality that everything was going to be okay. That’s what I get for letting myself hug Melissa back at home. My happiness always means that something is going to go wrong. Dad really was right; I’m a colossal screw up.

“Um, uh, why do you think that?” I asked. The thought of dad was enough to make me so shaky that I had to put down my pencil.

“He totally left me in the dust on the run and then now he won’t answer my texts,” Mason explained, oblivious to my sudden mood change, “I thought maybe I had made him mad or something but if you haven’t talked to him either then I’m a little worried.”

I’ll admit, Mason’s news was alarming and I felt a sudden surge of worry for Liam. What if his anger had gotten the best of him and he’d hurt himself or someone else?

“We’ll talk to Scott about this after class,” I told my friend just as the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

Talking to Scott was exactly what Mason and I did as soon as second period came around and there was still no sign of Liam. Mason and I decided we had to talk to Scott so I quickly sent the red-eyed werewolf a text and told him to meet us in the halls.

“Wait, Liam’s missing?” Scott asked once we had explained our suspicions.

I slowly nodded my head as the young alpha and I exchanged a worried look, “We think so. Have you heard from him?”

“No, I haven’t,” Scott muttered as he looked around the empty hallways, perhaps hoping to see Liam’s randomly pop around a corner, “Maybe we can ask coach if he knows anything?”

“You guys do that, I’ll try calling Liam,” I held back saying ‘again’ because I felt like that wouldn’t make anybody feel better. So instead, Mason and Scott went in the direction of coaches’ office and I pulled out my phone to call Liam for the third time today.

Just like all my previous attempts, Liam didn’t pick up. I sighed, knowing I’d have to leave a message, and leaned my back against the school wall as I did so.

“H-hey Liam, its Charlotte. I, uh, I don’t really know why I had to tell you that because of caller I.D. and I know I probably sounds like a, well like a stuttering mess because I—I kinda am but, like, please call me or, um, or something,” I took a deep breathe to calm my idiotic stuttering before adding on to the message, “We’re worried about you, Liam, I’m worried about you. So please text me or something to let me know you’re o-okay. Please.”

I groaned at my incredibly pathetic message before slipping my phone into my bag and heading off to find Mason and Scott. Hopefully, I didn’t just ‘mom’ Liam so badly that he wouldn’t want to call me back.  

The bell rang just as Mason and Scott were making their way back to me. I quickly met up with them before students could flood between us. From the looks on their faces I could tell that talking to Coach hadn’t gotten them anything.

“Yeah don’t worry, I’ll find him,” Scott assured Mason who was reluctantly starting to head to his next class.

“Alright,” Mason sighed before turning and walking down the hall.

“What’s going on?” I ask as Scott and I moved into a more deserted hallway to talk about our Liam situation.

Scott shrugged, he looked as worried as I felt, “I don’t know.”

A sudden buzzing sound came from my bag and I quickly took back out my phone. I exhaled, a sudden rush of relief flooded through me once I saw that Liam was finally calling me back. But what had taken him so long to pick up his phone? Was he in trouble?

“Liam?” I questioned as I put my phone to my ear.

“Sounds like you’re already worried about him, Charlotte,” A voice that most definitely wasn’t Liam’s said into the phone. My whole body seemed to freeze once the gears in my brain registered who exactly had called me. It was Garrett.

Since I couldn’t even make myself speak, Scott took the phone from me, his werewolf hearing apparent allowing him to hear that it was Garrett.

“Where is he?” Scott asked in a hardened tone. Garrett said something that made Scott’s jaw tense before he responded, “I’ll give you the money.”

Money? Was Garrett demanding a ransom in order to get Liam back? Didn’t Garret know that we were pretty much broke?

“What do you want?” Scott asked Garrett as the werewolf looked down at me. I hadn’t even realized my hands were quaking until I felt them feeling like they had to claw out my hair or something. I just knew that Liam was definitely in some serious danger and I hated not being able to do something about it.  

“Scott, what’s going on,” I begged him to explain as he just handed me back my phone, “Please Scott, is Liam okay?”

“I-I’m not really sure,” Scott admitted sheepishly, “But I have to meet up with Garrett. I’ll call you if something happens, okay?”

I just nodded my head as Scott rushed out of our high school. By now the hallways were emptying but I didn’t have it in me to go to another class. Right now I just felt like standing in middle of the hallway and exploding. I had to do something, I need to do something.

But I couldn’t, I was useless. I hadn’t even been able to utter up a single were to Garrett a minute ago.

My legs began to collapse from under me as I realized how much I was struggling to breathe. The thoughts of what could be happening to Liam and even losing him were overwhelming me. I would’ve fallen to the ground if it hadn’t been for two strong arms grabbing me and holding me up.

“Charlotte, you need to breathe,” Derek said as he forced me to look up at him, “Charlotte, do you hear me? Breathe!”

Even with Derek’s strong hands held me tightly I still managed to shake so much that I could hardly focus on anything. But Derek had dealt with me like this plenty of times before and he forced me to concentrate on looking into his pale green eyes. I don’t know how long it took but eventually my tears ran out and I could once again breathe.

“Are you okay now?” Derek asked in a tone that almost seemed foreign coming from him.

“Wh-Why are you here?” I choked out in between hiccups.

“I came here to find Malia,” Derek explained and I noticed the teenage girl standing behind him, “And it looks like it’s a good thing that I did.”

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And Derek comes in and saves the day! Gotta love that Hale!

Okay there's minimal Larlotte but that's becuase Garrett decided to go off and be a jerk face. I'm still really sad about that cause I actually loved him up until last episode.So thanks for that Jeff Davis. 

Anyways, onto some prequel news! You guys were so supportive about it that I'm in shock. I thought none of you would want to read it if it wasn't going to have Larlotte! But since you guys are being so supportive about it, I will be putting it up soon. Hopefully within the hour but it depends on how much my family bothers me! Also the cover for the prequel is to the side.

Qeustion- How did you like Mama McCall and Charlotte hugging??