Chapter four

"Wakie Wakie California!" A groan rippled off my lips as my eyes open. Her face lit up at me and her giggle filled the room.

"What time is it?" My voice was deep due to the lack of use.

"Four." She replies, my eyes shoot open.

"Four?!" I jump up, hitting my head on the bunk bed. I grab my skull in pain while muttering curse words under my breath.

"Yea, we've got work to do silly!" I glare up at her and stand, stretching and cracking my body. I run a hand through my tangled hair and then dragged it down my face.

"Can I take a shower first?" I mumble, her bottom lip jutted out and she contained a laugh.

"If you wanna take two in the same day, be my guest. But a shower now will be no use, we're cleaning the pig pen this morning." I felt the scared expression on my face. She chuckled at me.

"Don't be scared, not like pigs can eat a whole human carcass in seven minutes or anything." She waved me off with a gleam of evil in her eyes. Is that fact true? I really didn't wanna figure out.

We made our way downstairs, doing our best to stay quiet so we didn't wake the house. It was still dark outside, even the farm animals were still asleep. They're smart. But the only ones awake other than us, were the dogs. They surrounded us, weaving in and out of our legs and making it impossible to walk. I think they were upset they didn't get properly introduced. I laughed with Eliza was tripped to her knees. She groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Goodness, fine!" I helped her stand and she brushed herself off. She glared at all the dogs before lifting her hand.

"Sit!" Then, six butts hit the ground. The dogs' tails thudded against the earth and saliva dripped to the grass from panting mouths. She pointed at each one of the dogs and spoke their names, I forgot them all as soon as she spoke them. Except one. Daisy was this huge Bernese Mountain dog with thick fur and a huge loving smile. I already knew she was going to be my favorite. I didn't remember the others, but I knew the Great Dane was Eliza's favorite.

"Alright, now that you've met the pack, come and met the horse." I followed her into the barn and watched her flip on some lights. There behind a wooden door stood a large stallion. He was sandy in color, a black mane falling down his thick shoulders. He was tall and very intimidating.

"This is Badger! He's a Lusitano, pretty isn't he?" I nodded at her, keeping an eye on the large beast.

"Don't be scared of him, he's a jerk." Her words didn't make me feel better. She walked up the door and unlatched it as if there wasn't a 2,000 pound animal behind the piece of wood. She swung it open and began to pet his chest. He had long black socks that went up to his knees. His hoofs clicked on the ground as he walked out of his stall. He trotted up to me, bouncing his head up and down. I watched as his ears swiveled around and his nostrils flared. I lifted my hand and slowly pet his head.

"I'm gonna let him out into his pasture, throw on a pair of boots and we'll jump in with the pigs." She pointed to a row of rubber boots, each pair covered in muck. She directed Badger out of the barn. I grabbed a boot and slid my foot into it, doing the same with the other. She came back and grabbed a pair herself.

"Right this way." We walked around a corner and the smell hit me like a punch to the face. Three pigs rolled in the mud, covering their pinkish skin in the dark color. She stepped over the fence and directed the pigs into a small door that must have led outside. She then grabbed a hose and motioned for me to join her.

That's how we spent the first 3 hours of our day. We sprayed the pens and washed out the food/water trays for the pigs, sheep, chickens, cows, and Badger. We released them out into the pasture then around 7 we returned back to the house. The smell of breakfast wafted through the door and filled the air. I was salivating before I even saw the table full of food. Eliza's mom was placing a plate towered with bacon onto the table when we walked in.

"Ms.Mabel! It smells amazing." She scoffed at me.

"Call me Penny." I nodded as she walked into the living room. Eliza pointed to the chair next to her and I sat. Penny and her father strolled into the dining room. Mr.Mabel sent me a warm smile.

"Girls," he greeted. We nodded at him. They took their seats and began to fill their plates. I followed as if I knew what I was doing. We ate in silence for a while. It had been a while since I had eaten as a family. If I could even consider myself a part of their family. Am I? Whether I was or not, this still felt nice. The last time I had a sit-down dinner was back when I was in I would guess 8th grade. When my brother was still alive. Ever since he passed, we never ate at the dinner table together again. Hell, ever since that day the house had never-

"So! What are ya'll girls doing today?" Penny asked, I quickly chased my biscuit with orange juice to answer her but Eliza beat me to it.

"We're going bowling, then job hunting for Dan." She then shoved half a pancake into her mouth and struggled to chew on it.

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" She used her fork and knife to cut off a chunk of pancake for herself and lodged it into her mouth. Like mother like daughter I suppose.

"I used to bowl with my father a lot as a kid." Her grandfather commented while taking a sip from his cup. He had a longing look on his face and got lost behind his eyes. I decided not to disturb his trip down memory lane and took a bite of my scrambled egg before washing it down.

"I heard that the ice cream shop downtown was hiring," Penny commented after a minute. I peaked up in interest.

"That doesn't sound all that bad." I looked at Eliza for confirmation and she nodded in agreement.

"We'll check it ou-" My phone started to ring in my pocket, I froze before reaching for it.

"Sorry, I need to take this," I spoke when I saw my mother's name on the caller ID. I excused myself from the table and walked into the living room when I answered.

"Hello?" I asked it was silent for a while then I heard sobbing.

"Oh, honey! I miss you so much! Come back, please!?" I chuckled softly and tucked my hair behind my ear.

"Mom you'll be fine, you have dad." She continued to sob until I assumed she passed the phone to dad, or he took it.

"Hey, honey." I smiled softly.

"Hey daddy, how are you holding up?" I looked out the window as I spoke, looking out on how much land they actually had. I could see Badger grazing in his pasture.

"I'm holding up fine, your mother is another subject. But I do miss ya pumpkin." I sighed softly and leaned on a coffee table.

"I miss ya too dad." I heard him sigh on the other end as well.

"We just wanted to check up on ya, we'll let you go now." I could feel the moisture building in my eyes making me clear my throat.

"Bye you guys, love you both!" I heard mom screaming in the background.

"Love ya too kid." Then the call ended. I held the phone there for a moment, wishing I could be with them again. But Eliza came around the corner, making me shove my phone into my pocket and push myself off the coffee table.

"Hop in the shower, I'll take the one downstairs. Then we'll go." I dug through my suitcase then stepped into the tiny shower. She was already sitting on the sofa when I finished. She jumped up when I came down the stairs.

"Ready to get out of here?" I looked at the clock, it had reached 8.

"Is the bowling ally even open this early?" She gave me a look as if I was stupid.

"It takes an hour to get there, live in the middle of nowhere, remember?" I chuckled and followed her out of the door. I hugged myself before yanking the passenger door to her rusty blue pick open. 

The hour drive wasn't as miserable as I thought it would be. We sang songs, told stories, and laughed our asses off the whole way. I was sick of being in a car, but Eliza just made it fun. We ended up at the bowling alley around 9:30. We checked in, got our shoes, picked out our bowling balls, and strolled to our lane. In the lane beside us was a group of boys. A quick scan and I counted three.

"Alright, ready to get your butt kicked?" Eliza placed her ball on the rack and typed our names into the board. I placed the ball down and grabbed my hair, tying it up in a pony. Eliza took her turn, knocking down six in her first roll and getting two more in the second. The game continued, four turns in and we were neck and neck. I hadn't realized how competitive Eliza was. She was aggravated and tearing into the pizza we ordered. I had gotten a strike last turn and she almost turned blue.

I walked up to roll, but something caught my eye. I turn with a brow raised. One of the boys from the lane over was up for his turn, bowling ball in hand, but he was looking at me. His eyes looked as if they were sparkling. He had shaggy bronze hair, messy and curled in some spots. It covered his forehead and kissed his chocolate brown eyes. He had baby fuzz and a square jaw. He had a wide chest covered in a simple white t. He smiled softly, a twitch of the corner of his lips. He lifted a hand and waved. I could feel my face. It was frozen in confusion. Why was this guy looking at me?

I turned away from him quickly and rolled my ball, not caring about where it went. I turned around without watching it speed down the lane. But, by the look on Eliza's face, it must have been good. I walked up to her as she grumbled in annoyance. I grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to me. Confusion flitted across her face until I whispered in her ear.

"That boy won't stop looking at me." I choked on the words a little bit. She went rigid for a second while I pulled away from her. She looked angry. I knew she was a protective person but she looked like a bear who just had the cub taken. I looked over my shoulder to find him still staring at me, his friends joking around. One of them shoved his shoulder and he looked as if he was knocked out of a trance. He laughed awkwardly like he heard what they had said, but his eyes panned back to me. Making eye contact, his lips smirked again. Eliza followed my gaze and glared. Hard. He looked from me to her and I swore I saw him shudder. He looked down immediately.

Eliza took her turn and the game continued. He didn't look at me again. But, I couldn't stop thinking about his face. The way it glowed as if he just found a bunch of puppies in a box. But why was he looking at me like that? Did he...like me? There was no way, I didn't even know his name, let alone talked to him. I tried to destroy the thought as soon as I thought it, but I could feel my cheeks already burning. I hadn't dated before, I never cared enough. I was only interested in school and Eliza. I never had the time. Plus, none of the boys fit my bill if you know what I mean. I couldn't stop my eyes this time, they flickered to him. I froze when our ways met for another time today. My cheeks burned more and his smirk grew.

"Danny?!" Eliza grabbed my shoulder, I yelped in surprise. I watched his body shake silently as he chuckled.

"Your turn." She said suspiciously while looking in his direction, but he was already looking away. I grabbed my ball and tried to focus, Eliza was beating me and I didn't intend on letting that happen. I rolled the ball and turned just in time to see Eliza's lips turn up in a scowl due to my strike.

"It's just a game." I shrugged and she rolled her eyes.

"Easy for you to say, you're way too good at this." I took my seat and waited for her to take her last turn of the game. I finished off my slice of pizza while she rolled a strike. I had been so lost in this game, I knew she was bound to win. I rolled my last ball and congratulated Eliza on her win. We packed up our things and turned in our shoes.

"I'm gonna piss." I rolled my eyes while she walked into the bathroom. Classy.

"Excuse me?" I tensed up, my face went pale. I slowly turned.

"Hi, I'm sorry if I scared you." He apologized quickly. He didn't look this tall sitting down. He was at least a head taller than me. I quickly spat out the first thing my mind could think of.

"Nah, you're fine. No! Um, not fine fine. I mean you are attractive-I mean, um...I meant it's okay."

*Enter mental facepalm here*

I could feel how hot my face was and sweat was forming on the back of my neck. I never had any experience of talking with boys. He smirked and let out a small chuckle.

"I'm Lucas." He extended his hand. I shook it firmly.

"D-"

"Hey!" I tore my hand from him like it was hot iron when Eliza's voice hit me. I spun and watched her storm toward us. He looked afraid as well.

"Who the hell are you?" She hissed.

"Lu-"

"Well I don't care who you are, stay away from her. She's is too innocent to be dealing with fuck boys." He looked hurt like he'd taken a punch to the gut. Eliza dragged me from the bowling alley. I waved weakly at him and he stared after me.

"Did anyone ever tell you not to talk to strangers? Like, come on girl. I am not your momma." I laughed as we got in the truck.

"Don't be dramatic, he was just introducing himself." She scoffed while we buckled up. We drove around town, stopping at places to get applications. Antique shop, cafe, candle store, camping gear store, and a pet shop. Eliza pulled into a small ice cream parlor.

"This is the one my mom told us about." I nodded and hopped out of the car. I talked to the manager and got an application, we then ordered some ice cream and found a bench to sit on.

"Is that mint chocolate chip?" Eliza asked in disgust.

"Yes, don't judge me. What is that? Cookies and Cream? So basic." She gasped and put a hand on her chest as if I had hit her.

"Ouch, that hurts. I'm gonna go grab some napkins." I chuckled and waved her off.

"I thought you looked familiar." I jumped and nearly lost my cone. I caught it with my other hand and turned to look at Lucas.

"Are you following me? Or do you just enjoy scaring the shit out of people?" He chortled and sat beside me, pulling a napkin from his pocket. I took it happily.

"Not following you, promise. Just perfect timing I suppose." I raised a brow at him in disbelief.

"Mhm." He scoffed.

"You don't believe me." I smiled.

"No no, of course, I do." I cleaned up the spilled ice cream and turned toward him. He was smirking.

"I never caught your name."

"Danny." His smile widens. He pulled out his phone and handed it to me, the phone contact page open.

"Hurry, before the she-devil comes back." I laughed while putting my number into his phone. I handed it back.

"Better run now before she comes back and rips off your head." He stood up and walked backward away from me.

"Until next time." He winked at me before jogging over to met his friends at a different bench. They seem to be teasing him, he just shoved back at them.

"I'm gone for two minutes and you've covered yourself in ice cream." Eliza threw some napkins at me. We finished up our ice cream and climbed back into the car, finally on our journey home. But a "HELP WANTED" sign us pulling over.

"Wisconsin Zoo. So many memories here." Eliza seemed to be going through some deja vu so I let her be. I bought our tickets and grabbed a map.

"Let's go see the giraffes!" I chuckled and directed her toward their enclosure. Passing the elephants, alligators, and monkeys on the way. After seeing the giraffes, we began following a tour guide. She was wearing a green khaki uniform with her last night written on her chest.

"Here we have the otters! Did you know that when otters sleep they wrapped themselves around each other and float on top of the water! We call that a raft!" She continued on about facts and such while others ogled over them.

"To finish off our tour, I give you, the wolves. Now what we have here are gray wolves. We actually have a pack here in our zoo. We have six females, three pups, and our Alpha. Now our Alpha name is Alastor. Which in Ancient Greek means "tormentor." We named him this because he doesn't like anyone. No one can get near him, feed him, or be in the habitat with him awake. He is put under tranquilizer. Does anyone know what that is?" She asked the group of kids in the front. Eliza and I looked down over the wall separating us from the wild wolves. Four of the females were in sight and we could even see the pups.

"Now Alastor is one of the biggest wolfs to be recorded in all of history. On his four paws, he gets up to six feet! As cool as it would be to see him, he never ever comes out. He has his own den there in the ba- well would you look at that! There he is!" She pointed into the pen at the huge beast walking across the dirt. She was right, he was huge. His fur was coal-black but when the light hit it just right, it had bits of red. He was shaggy but definitely not lanky like the rest of them. He looked like a bear more than a wolf. He was sniffing around, covering more ground than I could running. His huge paws came to a stop and his head lifted slowly. His eyes were shut as if he was smelling for something specific. His head moved along our group of people. Pictures and videos were being taken and the kids squealed in excitement. The wolf's head suddenly stopped, aiming right in mine and Eliza's direction. His eyes opened wide and he stared me down like I was his last meal. He had bright blue eyes, which was an odd color for a wolf right? I gasped softly and backed away.

"Well wasn't that a sight! Thank you all so much for coming in today!" She continued on and we followed the crowd. When the group of people started to disperse, I walked up to the tour guide.

"Excuse me?" She turned toward me quickly.

"How can I help?"

"I was wondering if I could apply to work here actually." Her face lit up.

"Follow me then!" She started leading us through the zoo.

"We've been kinda low on staff recently." I nodded as we walked into an office. She introduced me to the manager and we had a long conversation. He told me that they needed tour guides, feeders, and cleaners. I answered that I could be all three and I guess that was the right answer cause we scheduled an interview for the next day. I shook his hand before Eliza and I made our way out of the park.

"Wow, this is going to be amazing! Working at a zoo!" I said happily while climbing into the truck.

"What about the other jobs?" She quirked while pulling out of the parking lot.

"Psh, you're joking right!? I would never pass this up!" She chuckled and turned up the volume on the radio. It was around 1 o'clock at this point so we stopped for lunch, and you'll never guess whom we ran into.

"Okay, this is getting weird." He chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. Eliza glared.

"Are you following us?" She snapped. Lucas lifted his hands in surrender.

"No! I'm not! I love McDonald's just as much as the next person." Eliza definitely didn't believe him. We smiled at each other before he invited us to sit with him and his friends. Eliza didn't want to at first, but I talked it into her. The two other boys were sitting next to each other in a booth. Lucas squeezed in next to them and we sat across. The other two looked almost identical. One was a tad bit taller. They both were tan, but the taller one looked darker. The lighter one had a slit in his left brow and a piercing in one of his ears.

"Guys, this is Danny and...I'm sorry I never got your name." Eliza glared at Lucas like I'd never seen before.

"Eliza." She spat.

"Right, Danny and Eliza this is Carter and Cooper." The darker and taller one was Carter. The other Cooper. They both had pitch-black hair but Carter had it cropped short besides on top while Cooper had a small man bun. They both said their hello's. We ate our lunch and got up to leave.

"It was nice seeing you again." I nodded in agreement.

"Same to you." He chuckled and looked down at the floor.

"I hope you didn't give me a fake number, I'd like to see you again." He was smirking at me, watching my face light up like a Christmas tree.

"It's not, I promise." He chuckled then looked back at Eliza. She and Cooper were talking, she was actually smiling.

"Well, the devil actually has emotions." We laughed until she turned to look at us confused. We both froze and looked away from her. We finally let and returned home. We hung out around the farm for the rest of the day. We hung out with the animals and she tried to get me to ride Badger but I wasn't having it. At the dinner table, we had small talk and told Penny and Mr.Mabel about our day. Soon enough, my first day in Wisconsin was over. Eliza and I were laying back in our beds and the next day was already on its way. It was going by pretty quick. I climbed out of bed and made my way downstairs. I went out onto the porch, hugging myself due to the cold. I sighed, my breath making fog in the air. I looked up at the stars and let my eyes shut. I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I wasn't in California anymore. I wasn't a drive away from my family. Everything was different. But this is what I wanted, wasn't it?

"What's eating at ya kid?" I jumped, almost losing my balance if it wasn't for the railing beside me. I attempted to catch my breath while Mr.Mabel came to stand beside me.

"My apologies." I waved him off. We looked at the stars together in silence.

"So, why you up?" He pressed again. I sighed.

"Kinda just overwhelmed. I never thought I'd actually get here. Y'know?" He hummed in agreement.

"Your life is happening, it can be overwhelming. But you can't just be dragged along, you need to run with it. If you don't, you'll miss. I'm glad things are working out for you, you're like a granddaughter to me. I just met you yesterday, but Eliza has talked about you for years." I smiled softly.

"Thank you Mr.Mabel." He looked at me, almost appalled.

"Call me Frank, hell, call me grandpa." I chuckled softly and let the silence end the conversation. I said good nights and shrugged off into the house. I chugged down a glass of water and rolled into bed.