Blizzard

chapter 15

When Shelby woke up, for a second she didn't know where she was, though it didn't take long for realization to dawn on her. She was lying in her bed in the tiny motel, about fifteen minutes away from the church they were visiting today. 

Shelby picked up her phone from her nightstand. It was 5.36 AM. She wasn't supposed to get up for another two hours and a half. They had gone to bed right after they'd settled in at around 10 PM, but she had lain awake for most of the night, like all the other nights ever since her father had informed her about the trip. She had probably only been actually asleep for an hour, two at most. Though she knew the chance of her falling asleep again was little to none. Not with the nerves churning in her stomach. 

She sighed deeply, but quietly. She didn't want to wake up her father who was still sleeping soundly in the other bed in the room. 

Shelby quietly got out from under the covers. The small bed creaked as she slowly got out of it. She tiptoed to her bag and took out her pink hoodie, though didn't put it on, yet. She put on her sneakers which she'd placed neatly next to her bag, without tying the laces, before quietly opening the door and going outside. She carefully closed it, pretty much without making any noise. 

She pulled the hoodie over her head and tied her shoelaces. It was still dark of course, but her eyes adjusted to it better than a normal person's eyes would. The night sky was clear but there was no moon to be seen. Of course. A solar eclipse could only take place if it was New Moon. Shelby remembered Toni telling her about it during one of their meet-ups, which made her think of yesterday again. Shelby sighed. She was going to miss hanging out with the brunette so much. 

Shelby sat down with her back against the wall and let her head fall back against it, closing her eyes for a few seconds as she thought back to their little meetups; to the brunette's voice when the brunette would speak to her in her wolf form, her tone had been so soft and kind most of the time; to Toni's hands–which she usually used for violence; to fight, to hit people (that, to be honest, deserved it)–gently stroking her; to the sensation of Toni raking her fingers through her fur with the most affection she had ever witnessed the hothead display. 

As Shelby thought about the brunette, she felt a fondness that she hadn't felt in a very long time, and it had never before warmed her heart like this. 

She didn't know how long she sat there. At some point, the sun decided to make an appearance, it's light being filtered through the trees. Not much later the door to their motel room opened.

"There you are! I was beginning to think you had run." Her father said it in a joking manner but she could see he wasn't really kidding from the look in his eyes. He turned to look at his surroundings, "Well, isn't this just a beautiful mornin'?"

"Yes," Shelby forced a smile as she turned her head to look up at him. "It is."

"Well, let's get ready, shall we?" He said as he turned to go back inside. 

Shelby shot up from her place by the wall. "Actually," She said, halting him. She faltered when he turned back to look at her, waiting for her to say something. 

She opened her mouth a few times to say what she had meant to say, but with the look he was giving her, she couldn't get the words out. She could already imagine the look of disappointment that would cross his face. 

He raised his eyebrows expectantly. "Well, spit it out, Shelbs. We don't have all day."

She could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Before she completely lost her courage, she hesitantly said, "If God intended me to be this way, then maybe we shouldn't fight it and just...embrace it?" She knew it was futile, but she needed to try. She did her best not to let her desperation be evident in her voice, she knew it would only serve to aggravate him even more than the question itself already would.