24. Zia's POV - Terri is a Good Person

24. Zia's POV - Terri is a Good Person
‘Terri is a good person,’  is the mantra that I sang to myself until I got home.

He’d given me a ride and when I asked if he would come in, he had seemed eager—which was strange for someone who never wanted to make our relationship public.

But I was too tired. Too stressed, exhausted, and uncomfortable to care.

On our way back, he had gotten me some chicken burger, so I used my afternoon medication with that, but I couldn’t bear to keep my eyes open for much longer.

However, before that, I went into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

It was cold, almost freezing despite it being afternoon. I stayed under it and scrubbed, hard even though it hurt—and not until the pain became numb and I started to see some red did I stop.

As I changed into clean clothing, my mind started to drift.

Back into the day, replaying the horrors and the good.

Did anything good happen to me today?

Surely not—

The kiss.

I closed my eyes and put myself back there, trying to remember how I felt in his presence.

The comfort and peace he made me feel.

The way he carried me after, how light I felt in his arms. I embodied that feeling and drifted to sleep.

A dreamless one. No hauntings, no nightmares—just sleep.

It felt like hypnosis when I opened my eyes, and it was a minute before my alarm.

The weightless feeling was still there, and I couldn’t help but embody it as I prepared for my day like usual.

The mirror in the bathroom was long broken from rage a long time ago, but for the first time, I wiped it clean of the fog and toothpaste foam that had splashed on it, then I stared into it with a smile on my face.

With full confidence and pure joy.

I felt so joyful as I made my way downstairs that I couldn’t even be bothered to eat breakfast.

My stomach seemed to be full as well, and I was going to sneak away and try to get in the free bus earlier if I didn’t notice the strange atmosphere.

"Good morning," I greeted my stepmother, but she turned her head like she couldn’t see me. Then I raised my head as I noticed her daughter’s gaze, but Celine immediately looked away like she’d just seen something that upset her and she couldn’t bear to look again.

Surely this was strange—they fed me breakfast and had me eat on the same table as them yesterday morning and now I’m being ignored like I don’t exist. The day before and every other one was usually filled with scoldings and being asked to do house chores.

I wanted to ask what made me fall from their sudden good grace when I felt my tail in my skirt.

"Gina!" I called out in my head. My wolf could only manifest these little parts whenever she was feeling a strong emotion, but up until now, all I felt was a borrowed joy from the one good thing that happened to me.

I immediately turned around and hurried out of the house in fear of getting caught with just my tail by the last people who should know about it.

But as soon as I stepped out, I couldn’t help but wonder if I’d done something in my dream to offend them and earn the silent treatment.

However, when I try to remember anything, I turn out blanks. And Gina? She couldn’t transform fully just to offend them.

"Oh, I wish I could," her voice came out soft and I paused, because it was the most audible I’d heard her in the longest time. I feared she was loud enough for someone close by to hear.

Luckily, no one was close by.

"Then I would not only offend them, but I will tear those two and every other person who’s ever hurt you into pieces and feed their body parts to the fishes in the pond." But every word she said carried a tone of ferocity. A hostility that scares me because of the genuineness in it.

"Surely, killing them might be too much, right? We can just make them apologize," I said, trying to appease her as we made our way out of the gate just in time for Celine to shout from the inside, "I wouldn’t be giving you a ride today or ever."

But that I already know, I thought with an eye roll.

"An apology wouldn’t cut it for all the tears they made you shed. And did you forget your mother?" As she mentioned this, my fangs elongated, scratching against my lower lips and begging to be bared.

How could I forget my mom?

I turned back and caught a look of my silver eyes in the window.

"Gina, did something happen?" I couldn’t dare to make my way to school like this.

Who knows what new agenda I would be met with, so instead, I made my way to this cliff close to the border of our pack.

"Zia!" someone is calling my name. Who knows me? I paused in my tracks.

"Zia, are you deaf?" Only one, maybe two—females would have the thought to sound so mean to me this morning.

I didn’t know if I should be grateful that I hadn’t gone far, or if I should wish I’d found my way to my secret spot already.

I sighed heavily, tucked my fluffy silver tail into my clothes, then headed back into the house where Celine was impatiently waiting for me. She stood there akimbo with her feet tapping the ground in no rhythm in particular.

"Mom wants you to arrange her wardrobe and the kitchen. She has to go to the spa. Also, there is breakfast in the kitchen," she paused, then snickered, "we couldn’t finish the mac and cheese from yesterday night, you can microwave it," she smirked, then got in her car.

I wanted to ask desperately why they didn’t tell me all this while I was in the house, but I’d barely managed to roll my eyes when her mom came outside, two bags on either arm and her car key on her index finger.

"Make sure all the clothes are intact before you go to school and don’t leave a mess behind," she said as she turned on her car while I sidestepped her with my head lowered, so they wouldn’t look at my secret.

They left soon after and I resigned to my house chores, feeling my energy, joy, and excitement get drained out as I did the house chores, cleaned the house, and did their dirty laundry.

I would hear the worst of it if I didn’t—whether they asked or not.

I was absent yesterday; it wouldn’t hurt if I’m just late today. If any teacher asks, I can just say I wasn’t feeling too well.

By the time I arrived at the school gate, it was just a class before lunch break.

Even so, I couldn’t afford to miss it.