Notice Me

by Lili Lam

I was discharged from the hospital the day after I woke up following a series of scans that were ran on my head. Guess the doctors wanted to check for brain damage. I ended up tumbling all the way down the steps, hitting the back of my head on the bottom of our metal banister, hence the lump.

  After receiving a clean bill of health, the hospital discharged me and I was free to go home. My parents fussed excessively over me. Dad insisted I be more careful next time and turn on the light when walking down the steps in the middle of the night. Mom took off from work for the next four days babying me not allowing me to go to school until the lump decreased in size.

  No, I didn't tell them about the real reason I fell down the steps, the pain or the nightmare. I just didn't feel like they'd understand. Instead, they'd probably think I'm nuts and end up committing me to the psyche ward. Sitting at my desk, I was busy catching up on all the schoolwork I missed these past two weeks. Tristan's next door talking to his Dad. It was a real pain in the ass, having to do so much at once. It's a good thing I'm not your average student, so I was able to keep up with the work.

  I demanded Tristan shifted to heal once we left the hospital. Being a stubborn mule, he declined. I showed him who's boss though. I told him if he didn't shift then he could forget about sneaking into my room at night, that I'd lock my window and not to bother coming over. Of course I didn't mean any of that since I can't sleep without him anymore, but, he doesn't need to know that. Needless to say he shifted that very night, completely healing within a few hours time.

  Staying true to his word, Tristan hasn't left my side for more than a few hours at a time since we left the hospital. The only time he spent away was when he needed to run patrols. It's been two full weeks since Mia died. The empty feeling inside of me seemed to have dulled a bit, but not by much. No one could really explain what this feeling was, not even Mr. or Mrs. Evans.

  "Hey, I came over straight after school to see if you needed help packing." Anya's voice drifted from the hallway as she made her way into my room. Looking up from my worksheet, I gave her a happy grin. Have I ever told you guys just how much I love my best friend?

  "I knew there's a reason why I keep you around!" I joked playfully while continuing on with answering the questions on the paper. A pair of socks hit me in the back right between my shoulder blades. "Hey!" I cried in mock outrage. "Easy on the cripple here!" I shouted trying to raise my broken cast arm for show.

  "You're lucky I have bad aim, I was trying to pelt at that growth on the back of your head!" She shouted with an evil laugh. "Damn that thing's ugly." Never mind what I just said about loving my best friend, I take it back, I take it all back! Laughter filled the room as I burst into a fit of giggles with her.

  I haven't felt happy like this in what feels like forever. The mood's been so morbid and depressing around here, with good reason though. What are we packing for, you ask? We've been invited to attend a memorial service Alpha Perez and his wife are having in honor of Mia. Yes my friends, we're flying to Spain for the weekend. Leaving tonight and returning on Sunday. Bet you're all wondering how I got my parents to agree to me spending the weekend away?

  Well, Mr. and Mrs. Evans finagled my parents into believing they were taking us kids away for the weekend to their cabin in the woods. My parents wouldn't let me go if they knew I was flying halfway around the world. Attending the memorial would be Mr. and Mrs. Evans, Tristan, myself, Luke, Anya, Troy, Andre, Axel, and Jett. Mr. Evans was leaving Jewel's Dad temporarily in charge of the pack for the weekend.

  Shoving the last of my things into my roll away luggage, I zippered it up with my good hand and grabbed the handle to stand it up. Anya the dear that she is, helped me pack before heading over to Luke's place. She's gotten so close with Luke's little sister five year old sister Leia, so she went over to spend some time with her before we leave. Can you tell Luke's parents have a scary obsession with the movie Star Wars? I'm sure that if they had a third child it would be named Chewbacca!

  As I struggled with one arm to carefully try and roll my suitcase down the steps, my savior came to the rescue. Dashing up the steps two at a time Tristan gave me a warning glare, "I told you I'd be right back and not to attempt this!" He lectured grabbing the suitcase from my hands.

  I grinned at him cheesily knowing he wasn't really angry at me, just at the fact of me pulling the heavy suitcase down step by step, hehe. "I had it." I retorted jokingly, knowing darn well that I didn't. I was only on the fourth step from the top of the staircase!

  Tristan turned around and gave me a look, the one of question with a raised eyebrow as if saying 'Did you really?' I could only laugh in response. Seems like once I got in a good mood and the first fit of giggles hit, it was hard for me to stop my playfulness.

  "Hey there Lisey-piecey, glad to see you're up and about." Troy said walking over to grab me into a bear hug. "Gave us quite a scare there."

  "Yea, sorry." I answered hugging him tightly in return. I was glad to see that he was back in one piece and that none of the guys got hurt. I even went as far as giving Andre a hug.

  Walking up to Axel and Jett, I leaned over and gave them a one arm hug also, "Hey guys, I'm happy that you're all ok."

  They both gave me a smile, Axel practically picked me up off the ground with his embrace. "Thank goodness you're ok." He breathed out with relief.

  After all the formalities we got into two separate cars. Axel and Jett rode in Troy's car with him and Andre while Tristan drove Mr. and Mrs. Evans, myself, Luke and Anya. It was Saturday morning when we landed in Spain. Jetlag is going to be a total bitch! The memorial is going to be held this afternoon, luckily we all slept on the plane.

  I'll never be able to fly coach again after being spoiled with the wonderful amenities of being in first class. It was positively great. Arriving at what I can only described as an over the top mansion deep within the woods, we were greeted by Alpha Perez and Rico. I couldn't help but wonder where his Luna, Mia's Mom is? Shouldn't a Luna be at her Alpha's side in a situation like this?

  Both stood out front with grief stricken eyes. It was obvious by the dark purplish color bags that plagued their skin that neither of them has gotten any rest these past two weeks. Mia was buried a week after they returned from the mission. Just their pack members were permitted to attend the funeral to mourn the loss of their Alpha's only daughter.

  Getting out of the SUV, my eyes were immediately drawn to an area where three black marble tombstones were mounted from the ground. Two were the same size while one was noticeably smaller. The area was surrounded by a beautiful garden of purple orchids and a bunch of white fold out chairs sat off to the side.

  I froze in the spot where I stood, this is probably where the memorial will take place I thought to myself as Tristan entwined our fingers together. He stopped right next to me, looking over to see what caught my attention. Gasping at the beauty, but sadness of it all my eyes roamed down to the names scripted on the side by side headstones.

  The first one read In loving memory of Mariah Rosalyn Perez, the second one read In a far better place Nina Mariah Perez, and the smallest one read Heaven's Angel, taken too soon Analia Nina Perez. Anybody else find it strange, my name's Annalise and that tombstone says Analia? Maybe I'm just being extremely paranoid. I automatically assumed Mia was short for Mariah, but who were Nina and Analia? Why was Mia and this Analia named after her and what did she pass away from?

  My heart felt as though it had a slight contraction with the way it squeezed in my chest causing me to inhale deeply. What the heck is going on with these strange feelings I’m having? Did I develop some sort of heart condition recently? A possible heart murmur? Leading us inside, Alpha Perez had Rico give us a grand tour of the entire house. He introduced us to everyone we ran into and then showed us up to our guest rooms to unpack and rest for a bit before the memorial.

  After changing out of our outfits into something more appropriate for the memorial, Anya and I made our way into Tristan and Luke's room. The four of
us made our way downstairs and outside to the memorial site where we witnessed one of the most heartbreaking things I've ever seen in my entire life. I could instantly tell who it was from the back. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of dark jeans hunched over in front of Mia's grave sobbing uncontrollably.

  Just hearing his gasps for air as he wailed endlessly caused the tears to automatically fill my eyes. My heart went out to him for the loss of his one true love. Marco was on one knee crouched down holding a bouquet of tiger lilies in his right hand as he held onto the top of Mia's tombstone with his left one for support.

  Not being able to hold the tears back any longer, I allowed them to spill out of my eyes and down my cheeks. There are no words of sympathy one can possibly say to make things better, none at all.

  Giving Tristan's hand a small tug I looked up into his eyes basically asking for permission for what I was about to do. He looked down at me with understanding as I leaned up and whispered in his ear. "Can I go give him a hug and my condolences?"

  Nodding his head and giving me a slight proud smile, Tristan leaned down and pecked my lips softly. "I think that would be a very nice thing for you to do."

  Stepping away from the group, I made my way over to Marco and hesitated a bit when I came to a stop directly behind him. My hand reached out slowly to grab a hold of his shoulder, mid way there it froze. I was trying to think of what I could possibly say.

  Before I could even open my mouth, Marco's head spun around and his bloodshot chocolatey eyes bore into my own. Throwing down the flowers, he stood up quickly and swooping me into a tight hug murmuring, "Mia, mi amor regrisaste por mi."

  Oh no, I thought as he sobbed into my hair. I took Spanish for four years, this is not good, not good at all. Direct translation of what Marco said to me was, 'Mia, my love you came back for me.' What the hell am I supposed to say to that?

  Chapter 40: Truth Be Told