Chapter 12 : Truth

Ring ring ring ...

Justin woke up the Monday morning feeling sick to the stomach . It was the same feeling he always had before going to his old school and he can't remember the last time he felt it . He hated to admit that it was messing with his mind . You have to face your fears , his mother would tell him and he wanted laugh at the irony . The idea of him facing his fears seemed far-fetched and ridiculous . Who the hell would want to face a whole damn vampire ?  He'd almost turned into a blood bag if it weren't for Elle saving him . No one would want to face death like that . Not even his mother would want to face it so why must he ?

" I feel so sick ." he whispered , turning on his bed so he was laying on his back . He was looking at the ceiling dazedly , his emotions whirling like a troubled storm . As his green eyes zeroed on his white ceiling , he body froze . He should have gotten up from his bed by now but his mind was preoccupied . He couldn't move a muscle .

There was a weird sensation in the pits of his stomach , like something was clawing at his insides .  His sickness was obviously caused by his fear of having to walk the hallways of the West , knowing that there are vampires amongst them . Well , at least one vampire . He couldn't say the same about Elle . She could be anything and everything . Whatever power she possessed made her ten times more scarier .

He could see the vivid image of her blue hair swaying as electricity emitted from her body . Her eyes were the reflection of lightning which scared him the most . He didn't recognise her at first but when she spoke , he knew right away . She was the only person he knew with that voice . The only person who dared to save him from death itself .

He didn't know how to feel about her though , sure he was mad that she hadn't been fully honest with him . But he knew that she had her reasons . If he was in her shoes , he'd done the same thing . They've only been friends for a few weeks so she wasn't obligated to share everything with him just yet . Their friendship wasn't that deep .

Not everyone believed in the existence of monstrous creatures or whatever the hell they were . He could understand her point of view but what about their friendship ? What did this mean for him , was he still gonna hang out with them ?

As he laid on his bed , he thought of all the possibilities of seeing his nemesis , Andrew . How will the vampire react to him ? Will his baneful fangs seek to pierce him again or will he pretend nothing happened that night . How will Justin react when he sees him ?  I'll probably cry , he thought gravely .

But Justin had the biggest question in his mind . Why does it seem like everything has gone back to normal ?  Nothing was different with him , he wasn't hallucinating like a normal person would at seeing something so horrendous . He wasn't having nightmares , he didn't have sleepless nights and he was himself again . What happened the other night should have made him restless but he was as good as new . Perhaps this was the sign that he was really crazy , that his mind was deceiving him by creating illusionary ideas .

Ring ring ring

He looked at his phone to see who was calling him and frowned at seeing Elle's name pop up on the screen . Why was she calling him ? He looked at the screen , contemplating on answering but decided to just ignore her . He wasn't in the mood to entertain her , not today .

He got up from his bed sluggishly , stretched his tense muscles and went to freshen up for school . He was reluctant at first , but chose to face whatever the world threw at him .

After moments of making sure he looked presentable , he came downstairs to the kitchen to find his mother already making breakfast . She was rocking her hips sensually as she hummed a song under her breath . Justin found himself making a face .

There were three plates on the table and before he could question her about it , a tall man walked pass him . For a minute he thought his father was back but as he saw the man's stature , he frowned deeply .  The man was wearing a black suit , with tattoos covering his whole neck . He had brown short hair , similar to his own . The man had his back turned on Justin as he greeted his mother with a kiss on the jaw .

Justin's mouth went slack at the scene . This man was not his father so why was he kissing his mother so intimately . His eyes was fixated on them as they whispered to each other , his mother giggling like a lovesick girl . They didn't regard his presence as he stood there watching them .

He hadn't seem the man's face but he could  he was good looking . The wasn't mascular like his father but was rather tall and lanky . Justin's eyes widened when he realised that his mother was cheating on his father with another man . A man with tattoos littered on his skin . She fucking hates tattoos .

Deciding that he had enough of watching them , he cleared his throat for both of them to hear . His mother's firs reaction was to jump away from her new lover ,who was now looking at the boy in the room . Justin took his time to study the man's face , noticing the green eyes that were staring back at him . The man was unsurprisingly handsome but he was nothing like his father . He was the total opposite .

While his father had sharp strong features , this man had a soft face . A light stubble on his face , making him look younger than his actual age . He looked to be in his late twenties . His youthful face made Justin cringe . His mother was already in her late thirties , so why was she in an affair with someone who was obviously younger than her . It all seemed messed up to him .

" Oh hey honey ... Uh -- I see you're awake ! ..."  His mother stammered with a flushed face , she was looking at her son with wide guilty eyes . A foreign expression on her .

" Mom , who's he ?" Justin didn't miss a beat as he questioned his mother seriously . He was aware that the man was looking at him with intrigue . But Justin couldn't care less .

" Oh , where are my manners !" His mother said , looking at the tall man before directing her attention to her son . Justin could've sworn he saw longing in her ocean eyes but he dismissed the thought from his mind  . " This is James McCarthy ... he is y-- he's my business partner ! ."

" Do you kiss all your business partners ?" he interrupted her before she could say anything else . His expression was accusing her of cheating .

" Justin!!" she screamed , hiding her face behind her fingers .

But Justin wasn't joking , he was looking at his mother torpidly , waiting for a tangible answer . Was this her regular behavior with business partners ?

" Anyways , this is my son ... " She said to the man , gesturing to him with her hand . " Justin ... He's not very good with people , he's shy . "

" I'm not shy ."

The man nodded his head and made his way towards the boy . Justin was looking at him warily , he wasn't fond of people coming at him without clear intentions . The man stood in front of him and studied him for a long minute before extending his big hand for Justin to take . If it wasn't for his mother standing close by , he would've spat on the man's calloused hand .

Justin looked at his mother , who was watching them closely before shaking the man's hand firmly . The man towered over him , taller than any man he's ever seen on his entire life .

" Nice to finally meet you . " James said , still holding onto the boy's hand .

" How long have you known my mother ?"  Justin said while squinting his eyes accusingly , he didn't like what he saw earlier . He witnessed this man touching his mother in places only his father had the right to touch . It was sickening .

" 20 years ... I've known your mother for 20 years now . " the man said with a hint of something else in his voice . Sadness ? Justin couldn't be sure .

Justin decided that he was tired of everything going on so he wouldn't bother with anything . If this man was having an affair with his mother , than so be it . He wasn't gonna stand in the way . His mother was a grown woman , she could take care of herself . She knows what she's getting herself into and she'll deal with the consequences without him butting in .

He felt sorry for his father though , the man was working his ass off to put food on the table yet his wife was doing unspeakable things behind his back . Greg doesn't deserve whatever his wife was doing to him  but who was Justin to judge ? He wasn't innocent either . He should have dialed his father's number as soon as he saw the man kissing down his mother's throat  . So he was just as guilty as the two of them .

" You can let go of my hand now " Justin said through gritted teeth . He didn't like how the man was looking at him as if he was a trophy .

The man suddenly blinked his eyes before letting go of his hand which was warm from the contact . They both sat down on the table where his mother had already dished some appetizing breakfast . He thanked his mother before digging into his food .

He was aware of the man staring at him the whole time throughout breakfast . His mother's uneasiness didn't go unnoticed by him too . They ate breakfast in the tense atmosphere .

She better pray that her husband doesn't find out about her affairs .

...

Justin was walking down the school's hallways , trying his best to avoid two people . The vampire and the girl he thought was his friend . Elle couldn't stop ringing his phone , he had about 40 missed calls from her . She ywas taking the hint that he wanted nothing to do with her . He was better of without her and her friends . He'd always been alone , so it wouldn't hurt if he lost them as well . He'll eventually get used to it .

He was heading by his locker , to grab a few things he needed for his next class when he saw just the person he was hiding from . Elle was standing by his locker , looking around aimlessly . No doubt that she was looking for him in the crowd . She hadn't noticed him yet and it would've been the perfect time to escape but he stood frozen . Elle had tears in her eyes as she searched for him . His heart dropped at the look in her eyes . She was not looking like her usual self as well . The bags under her eyes darker than her skin , her eyes were puffy from crying too .

He felt guilty for the state she was in . Without thinking , he made his way to his locker . Without brushing into someone , he cleared his throat  . Her eyes lit up when she saw him approaching . She quickly wiped her tears with the back of her hand before standing straight . She was wearing a short skirt today as well and a green hoody . Her hair was in a high ponytail and if he wasn't mad at her , he'd say she looked good . She doesn't deserve any sympathy from me , he reminded himself .

" Justin can I talk to you please ?" she said her first words to him with a pleading face . " I'll tell you everything you need to know , I promise ... Just don't shut me out . I tried calling you this morning but you didn't pick up , I thought something bad happened . "

" I have nothing to say to you Elle . " Justin answered flatly attempting to open his locker but Elle was by his side immediately . He closed his eyes to calm his beating heart .

" Just give me a chance to explain everything . I'd hate myself if I don't rectify things with you ..."  she said . " Just hear me out before things get out of hand . You have to trust me ."

" What the fuck do you mean by that !!" he shouted , earning a few eyes from the students within earshot . " You fucking had the chance and you chose not to ! "

" Please stop making a scene and just listen to me . I was planning on telling you everything once I fully trusted you . You think it was easy for me ? " Elle said frustratedly .

" So you don't trust me ?"

" I don't know ! Hell , I don't know anything about you ! " she said , throwing her hands in the air . " You expect me to tell you my deepest secrets yet you don't tell me anything . The only thing I know about you is your name , nothing more . I don't know what kind of family you come from , I don't know why you got expelled from your previous school . I don't know anything ! "

That made him shut up instantly . Elle was right , he was expecting so much from her yet he couldn't open up to her . He certainly didn't trust her yet , so why should she trust him with a secret like that . She was already doing so much for him .

She had welcomed him into her friend group , made him laugh , complimented him and most importantly saved him from death . He should be thankful that he was still alive today . If wasn't for Elle showing up that night , he wouldn't be here . Elle was looking at him with sad eyes , silently begging him to listen to her . She was desperately trying to make him understand the situation but he was stubborn .

" I have to go to class ." He announced sorrowfully .

" You're gonna eat lunch with us , right ? " Elle asked timidly . " I'll tell you everything you need to know ."

" I'll think about it ..."