silver & stardust

the return

I woke up from a dream about hazel eyes from Livia's thundering yell to get up because we had s**t to do. I would've replied with an equally loud f**k off if her family hadn't been there.

I trudged out of the warm bed and into the bathroom where I was met by the sight of puffy eyes and fading purple hair. I washed up and applied some makeup to look presentable before changing into black jeans and a soft green shirt.

A buzz came from my phone and several texts lit up the screen. I saw my dad, Veer and Jaime's names pop up on the lock screen and opened up the messages. They all asked different variations of where are you? are you okay? with Jaime's and Veer's from last night and my dad's from a few seconds ago. I replied to my dad with a I'll be home in a few hours and quickly replied to Veer and Jaime with yes, I'm fine and emphasized how fine Liv was to Jaime.

I padded down the stairs and into the kitchen, only to be greeted by a pans of steaming food and chatter. Izzy and Liv's other sister Kami sat at the table talking about some werewolf business from what I could glean. Liv's parents were seated at the bar in their own conversation and eating breakfast. I walked into a chorus of good mornings and hellos which I reciprocated before filling my own plate with fruit. I didn't have much of an appetite.

Liv's voice reached into the kitchen, following Julian's baritone. They were bickering about something but it quickly halted once they stepped in. Liv's look was almost apologetic as she grabbed some food and sat next to me. She noticed me picking at my food and gave me an are you okay? look.

"I'm fine. Just a little tired." She didn't believe but she didn't press me more about it. She would ask me later when everyone was gone.

Julian sat at my right, digging into his meal. I avoided looking at him - I didn't like how his gaze made me feel. Especially after our interaction last night.

"So what is the stuff we have to do today? I was having a really good dream by the way - which you interrupted."

"Oh, I just said that to wake you up." Her smile turned devious. "Oh? Did Veer make a guest appearance in this dream?"

I nearly choked on my orange juice, falling into a coughing fit as Livia just laughed. "Who's Veer?" Izzy asked, her eyes bright with questions now.

"No one," I said, my face still red from nearly dying. "Absolutely no one."

I scowled at Liv, whose grin hadn't faltered. "You're such an asshole." She loved teasing me about Veer's obvious crush on me.

"He's not 'no one.' He's basically in love with Shirin," she said and Izzy was drawn even more into the conversation. "And he's gorgeous."

She continued listing off things about Veer and let my face turn into the color of a rotting tomato.

I noticed Julian's abrupt movement from the corner of my eye as he walked out in the room before I could blink again.

"I bet Jaime shows up plenty in your dreams, Liv," I said sweetly and her face flushed dark this time. Now she was sporting my scowl.

. . .

"Hey Liv, do you think you could take home?" I said as we lounged on her bed, avoiding thoughts of class tomorrow. I had an essay due tomorrow for my law class that could wait for a few hours.

A part of me didn't want to go home and face the reality that I wasn't the same Shirin that had left the house on Friday. And what scared me most was that I too would lose or had lost sight of myself.

"Yeah, of course," she said snapping up. "You sure you're okay to go home? You know you're welcome to stay here as long as you need. Forever is okay too," she said with a smile.

"I'm sure. I need to see them and get back to my life, dude," I said with a stretch. "I can't hide from this, it's...me now. Just gotta learn from the best," I gestured at her which her smile grew at, "and adjust."

"You're adjusting pretty well," she said as we walked out her door.

"As a wise person once told me: 'I'm Shirin f*****g Khan. I'm going to pull through this.'"

"They sound incredibly beautiful and intelligent beyond words."

I laughed as she got down the stairs and I said goodbye to everyone, hugging Izzy and her parents, thanking them for everything. I noticed Kami and Julian's disappearance which lingered like an itch in the back of my mind. I waved it away.

Liv's dad made me promise to come over next weekend because he would be making his famous arepas.

We settled into Liv's car, that familiar smell of the sea filling it. It was a short drive to my house - about twenty minutes. But a bitter anxiety had taken over - I knew I was worrying for no reason that I looked the same, I was the same.

But there was a new side of me now, insisting on further exploration.

. . .

REMINDER! The plotline has been altered. Shirin was no longer turned by Reyna - she was ALWAYS a werewolf but it was dormant in her because she never had to use the power.