A New Me

“The day has finally come and I am home!” Sasha announced as she walked through the door and left her suit case by the stair case. The house brought many memories in just seconds. Something was baking because it smelled amazing and she noticed there was new furniture. A lot can change in 5 years. “Oh honey! I am so happy you made it! How was your flight?” Aunt Marie said as she gave her a tight hug. Aunt Marie smelled like vanilla and peaches; her golden hair always styled the same way with her beautiful butterfly clips which she decorated with rhinestones. Sasha missed her hugs and enjoyed feeling her embrace. “It was good, long but good. I did have a lay over in California but I made it! What’s in the oven?” Sasha said looking over Aunt Marie’s shoulder. “Your favorite, chocolate chunk cookies and I also made you a lemon pie just as you like it!” “With a full cup of lemon juice?” “From three fresh lemons! Just like your recipe!” Aunt Marie smiled as she checked the oven to see how the cookies were coming out. This was Sasha first time back in Skagway, Alaska. She left when she was 20 to work for Disney and she settled there and created a life there so being back in Alaska was the complete opposite of Florida but she needed a change in scenery and her cousins wedding was the perfect excuse for traveling. Sasha was outspoken, sometimes loud, independent, fun and every now and then very emotional. She loved to dance and she always brought life to any party or person. She had a magical thing about her where she could inspire and motivate people very well. Her outspokenness did get her into some trouble sometimes but it did save her in other times. She didn’t put up with anyone’s “crap” as she would say and she didn’t tolerate unfair situations for herself or others. That’s why she was great at her job working in Human Resources. “Where is everyone? It’s weird you’re home alone.” Sasha said looking around the house as she ate her lemon pie slice. “Well your uncle is downtown with Anthony and Michael. Lauren is with Jacob, you will like him. He’s a keeper! And some of the other are around running errands and making sure things get done.” Aunt Marie said as she cleaned up the kitchen. Sasha nodded in acknowledgement and continued to happily devour her lemon pie. The kitchen had been remodeled since she left and now it had a beautiful view of the garden which was absolutely stunning and where Lauren would get married the next day so it was being prepared with chairs and things all over the place. “Aunt Marie is it okay if I shower before we head downtown with Lauren whenever she gets back that is?” Sasha asked politely. Even though she had grown up in that house, it almost felt like it wasn’t her home anymore. “Sasha, sweetheart, you know this is your home. You do as you please! I even fixed your old room in case you decided to stay here for a few days.” She said with an big and hopeful smile. Sashas family were not summer people. They preferred the cold Alaskan air, the mountains, woods, and everything that came along with it and although Sasha loved it there, her life was now Florida. “Oh Aunt Marie! You didn’t have to do this!” Sasha said as she entered her old room. She hugged her aunt who looked relieved and happy. “I’ll leave you to freshen up!” She said in a sing song voice. Sasha looked around the room, taking it all in. She noticed the bed was new and so was the desk and the curtains. Her once tween size bed was now a king size and full of purple, pink and orange pillows which were her favorite colors. She walked towards the window which had a nice bench where she could sit and look at the woods and the snow covered mountains. The room smelled of lavender with hints of disinfectant which she didn’t mind at all. Suddenly she heard a knock on the door which startled her delicate admiration for the room. “Delivery for Sasha!” A young mans voice came right after the knock. Sasha opened the door and smiled. Anthony had a huge grin on his face and was also holding Sashas suit case. “Is this my little baby Anthony?” Sasha said smiling. “Not so little anymore cuz. I think I grew a bit.” Anthony said smiling and scratching the back of his neck. Sasha hugged him tightly. She couldn’t stop staring at the 17 year old boy standing before her. She remembered his baby face and honestly pictures didn’t do him justice because he looked much better in person. His honey color eyes seemed to jump from joy and he celebrated his favorite cousin being home. He quickly stepped inside and left Sashas suit case for her. She thanked him and said she’d be down soon enough. After a quick shower she ran downstairs to find herself with a not so empty house. Suddenly there were people everywhere and she didn’t know a lot of them which meant she wouldn’t be talking to much. “Where is my Sashabear?” A mans voice was heard. Sasha turned around and her hazel eyes lit up. “Uncle Stephen!” She said and ran towards him. Sasha hugged uncle Stephen and had to stop herself from crying; she hadn’t realized how much she had missed him. He hugged her tightly and asked the typical welcome home questions- how was your flight? Was it long? Happy to be back? Did you eat? Sasha answered happily and conversed with her uncle. Fifteen minutes had passed of their conversation when Sasha heard someone scream her name. She quickly turned around to see her extremely excited cousin with her fiancé. “Yes! Yes! Yes! I knew you were home already! I can not believe it! I’ve missed you so damn much!” Lauren practically squealed as she embraced Sasha in a tight hug. Sasha and Lauren were only a year apart, Sasha was 26 and Lauren was 25. They have been beast of friend since they were little and distance didn’t keep them apart. “Jacob! This is the most amazing human besides me that you’ll ever meet! This is my cousin Sasha. Sasha, this is my Jacob.” Lauren said with a smile plastered on her face as she spoke. “Lovely to finally meet you! I’ve heard great things about you! Hope they’re all true!” Sasha said with a smirk as she shook his hand. He chuckled and smiled at Sasha as if he was almost expecting her to say something like that. “Great to finally meet you too! Lauren has pretty much told me everything about you and she knew you should say that so I was prepared.” Sasha laughed and looked at Lauren. “Why? I’m supposed to be the intimidating cousin that threatens to beat up people who hurt you!” Sasha said softly pushing Lauren and they both started to laugh. “Oh Sasha! Stop! You both protect me and that’s fine. Now are you ready to head downtown?” Lauren said taking hold of Sasha arm. “Yes! So excited!” Sasha said with a huge smile. If there was something that Sasha and Lauren missed was shopping together and they had agreed to go as soon as Sasha arrived. “Lauren, sweetly, which car are you taking?” Aunt Marie asked. Sasha wondered how many cars they had. “Mine! We should be fine!” Lauren said smiling as she shook her keys in the air. “Let me run inside and get my bag real quick.” Sasha said as they got ready to leave. Sasha ran upstairs and gathered the important stuff in her bag- wallet, phone, phone charger (of course), perfume (which she always carried), deodorant (never know when you might need a touch up), hair ties, pins and of course chap stick. Although Sasha was a makeup artist, she wasn’t the type to wear makeup everyday so her skin was makeup free today. She grabbed a coat from her suitcase, purse on her shoulder and headed downstairs. “Make sure to be back before sundown.” Uncle Stephen said to Lauren as Sasha came down. “Why before sundown?” Sasha asked with a confused look. “This road gets pretty dark sometime deer or wolves might roam so we try to be home before that. Wouldn’t want to run any of them over would we?” Sasha swallowed at the word wolves. “We’ll be back in two hours! That’s plenty of time to avoid wolves! Lauren let’s go!” Sasha said taking Lauren’s arm. Sasha wasn’t fond of wolves; she blamed them for killing her father. She respected them and feared them. Is coming home extra early was the only way to avoid them then that’s what she would do. “Still afraid of them?” Lauren asked once they were in the car. “Hmm... a bit. I haven’t seen one in years. But the though of them doesn’t put me at ease and knowing they’re around it’s even worse.” “Well it’s okay. As long as we’re back before sundown we should be okay. Plus tonight is a full moon, you’ll hear them.” Lauren said not taking her eyes off the road. Chills ran down Sasha back at the though which she tried to shake off and enjoy the ride downtown with was about 20 minutes away. Once they arrived, they parked and made their way into the mall. They did everything they planned including getting massages, manicures and pedicures. Went to Victoria’s Secret to find something perfect for Lauren’s first night as a married woman and the nights to come during her honey moon. One final stop at a local coffee shop and the girls left with warm coffee and a warm chocolate fudge brownie. “Best day ever!” Lauren said as they walked to the car. Sasha smiled and sang a song they used to sing when they were little when suddenly a car hit the breaks in front of Sasha. The black mustang roared inches away from Sashas legs. Lauren looked terrified; Sasha looked angry. The owner of the car opened the door after honking three times for Sasha to move. Sasha was frozen, staring into the car. Lauren would almost feel the frustration and anger radiating from Sasha. When the man stepped out of the car, Lauren called to Sasha. “Sasha let it go. Let’s just go.” “No.” Sashas cold voice broke the air between them. “Sasha, please.” Lauren said almost pleading. “No. He got out of the car, let see what he has to say.” Sasha almost sneered. The air was tense and you might think that it might seem a bit much for the scenario but Sasha was a person with intense emotions. The same way she could persuade people from feeling certain emotions, hers were intense and sort of conditioned any situation. Something her father had the capability of doing as well. “Why are you standing there? Didn’t you see me coming?” The man said. “And you didn’t see me crossing the damn street where you, by the way, have a freaking stop sign? And a speed limit right there?” Sasha point to the speed limit sign on the her left marking 15 mph. Sasha c****d her head to the said and stared at the man who had sunglasses on and she wished to slap them off his face. “Well, you should move.” He said coldly. “Well, you should learn how to drive.” She said in the same tone. Although this situation seemed much longer than what it actually was, Lauren stared in shock. She had never seen Sasha this upset at something like this. Then the man removed his sunglasses and Lauren decided to start the car. “Obviously you’re not blind so you can see. Next time you drive like an i***t make sure no one is around... oh wait... you are an idiot... you don’t just drive like one. Get back in your damn car and got home man.” Sasha said and Lauren could notice that Sasha voice had a particular Hispanic accent in certain words, something she hadn’t noticed before. She figured it was from living in Florida and since Sasha spoke 4 languages it made sense. The man stared at Sasha without reacting to her words. She gave him a cold stare and walked away towards her car. The man followed her with his eyes until she was out of his sight. He took a deep breath and got back inside his car and called a friend. “I can’t believe you just did that!” Lauren said as she sped out of the parking lot. “He’s an i***t! If no one put him in his place it was about damn time someone did.” Sasha said looking at her phone. “Still, I can’t believe you called Sean an idiot.” Lauren said, with a hint of worry in her voice. “You know him?” Sasha said shocked. “You know him and you didn’t say anything?” “I know who he is. We’re not exactly friends but he’s very respected in town.” “Is he a drug dealer?” “No.” Lauren giggled. “Does he know you?” “Yes.” “Oh my gosh did you have something with him?” Sasha asked with a laugh. “Absolutely not! You know that Jacob is my one and only.” Lauren smiles at the thought. “Then? What are we afraid of? I know how to shoot, I have a license... if worse comes to worse...” Sasha made a pause. Lauren screamed half in shock and half in amusement. “You are insane! But hey... you never know. It might come in handy someday.” “So why are we worried then?” Sasha asked again. Lauren hesitated. “He’s coming to the wedding.” Lauren said with a bit of worry. “Great....” Sasha said sarcastically. “Yeah... Jacob works for him so it was right to invite him. He’s a man Jacob looks up to.” “How old is this dude? He doesn’t look older than us?” “He’s 28, but some say he is an old soul who has been alive for years before us.” “So he’s a vampire? Or a fairy?” Sasha said in a mocking voice. “No!” Lauren said with giggles. “But he’s just someone that inspires respect in some and fear in others.” she gave Sasha a look when she said that. “Well he inspires stupidity in my opinion. I don’t like him. He’s not a good man.” Sasha said. When Sasha had a negative idea of a particular person, it was almost impossible for that idea to be changed into a positive one. Lauren knew something Sasha didn’t, he was going to try absolutely everything to change that thought because he felt it. His wolf felt it. “Case closed. On to bigger and better things sweetheart!” Sasha said again breaking through Lauren’s thoughts. The girls arrived home at perfect timing before sundown. “Hola familia!” Sasha said as they entered the house. Some of the people from earlier had gone so there wereless people and everyone was gathered inside watching a movie. “Welcome back!” Sashas cousin Michael said. He was the oldest and he had magically grown extra extra large because he now towered over Sasha and his shirt didn’t seem to fit his muscles. “I can’t believe this is you!” Sasha said with a smile and he hugged her. “You didn’t seem to grow at all!” He said as he petted her head. She dodged his hand and laughed. “Guys let’s not start this! Everyone get ready for dinner!” Aunt Marie said looking at Michaela and Sasha who had a never ending staring contest. “Fine!” They said in unison. Sasha headed upstairs to leave her bags and freshen up. Lauren stayed downstairs talking to the family. “So, something happened today...” Lauren started to say as everyone laid eyes on her. “Sean... Sean almost hit Sasha and I with his car. He was speeding in the parking lot and stopped right in front of Sasha. She called him an i***t and a few other things.” Lauren told the story as she sat on the table. “You didn’t stop her?” Aunt Marie said while Micheal and Anthony looked at each other. Uncle Stephen just listened. “I tried! But she was just so angry, I could feel it. When I though he was going to try something as he usually would do, he didn’t. He just stood there. Motionless. Frozen. As if he had seen a gosht. I could sense the heat coming both of them. He found a mate.” Everyone gasped. A million of questions ran through everyone’s heads. As they bombarded each other with questions Sasha walked into the discussion which grew silent when she wakes into the kitchen. “Woah... what is going on?” She asked confused. Before anyone could answer, someone knocked on the door. Uncle Stephen opened revealing a weary Jacob. “Hey everyone!” He walked straight to Lauren. “Can we talk real quick babe?” Lauren nodded and they headed to the backyard. Meanwhile Sasha knew there was something going on that no one was telling her. “What’s going on? Everyone is going crazy.” Sasha said looking around. “Nothing! You know, crazy bridal stuff and updating on details for tomorrow.” Aunt Marie said with a smile. Sasha half believed it but accepted the response and went on. The Lauren and Jacob walked in with seriousness in their eyes and pretend smile. “Mom I’m having dinner at Jacobs tonight ok?” Lauren said. “Please come back to sleep here. There’s lots to do in the morning!” Aunt Marie said. “You need your beauty sleep woman!” Sasha said taking a sip of water. “Yes! I’ll be back soon.” And with that they both said their respective byes and left. “Am i in trouble?” Lauren questioned Jacob once they got in the car. “No, but he’ll probably ask you about Sasha. He’s not letting this go.” He said in a serious tone “Great...” Lauren said a stared at the open road.