Tears

By G Lusby

Juliette Carpenter was excited to finally move to a new town that she hoped her and her mom Samantha would be part of for a long time. They had spent so much time on the move since her mom’s divorce and she just wanted to settle down someplace long enough to make friends and enjoy her high school years. When they moved to Crystal Beach and she met Matt she knew she had finally found someone that would make all of her hopes and dreams come true, but then along came Tim Underwood, who dashed those dreams and created new dreams of love and brought excitement to her life. Little did she know the hidden secrets within Tim that would lead to the realization that she was in love with someone that could change her forever. The terms werewolf and skinwalker would soon dominate her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: G Lusby
• Release date: May 21, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476433875

G Lusby

My name is Gary Lusby and I currently live in Ocala, Florida. After working 32 years for Lucent Technologies as a computer analyst, I retired and became a school photographer for 8 years working for Lifetouch National School Studios in Reisterstown, Maryland. I then fully retired to the beach to enjoy life and pursue my passion for writing books. I don't choose to write in one particular genre, but continue to write stories that peak my interest and arouse my curiosity. My motto in writing is to tell the story, keep it simply, and never write books that are full of useless filler, just get to the point of the story. I self-publish all my books so you may find spelling errors and grammar miscues, but I promise the storyline will be there for all to enjoy.

Book preview

Chapter 1

SO MANY THINGS PASSED THROUGH MY MIND as I stared at the dotted lines on the road zipping by. Was this new town going to be any different than the town we left behind? Despite the ease of making new friends, the majority of my friends were usually full of falsehoods, shallow minds, and a desire to live solely in the moment with no thought for the future.  My new beginning, however, was centered on finding a future, a true meaningful long-term relationship with someone who was able to see beyond my outside appearance and add meaning to my life. Are you awake back there? Mom called from the front seat as she shifted up and down trying to find my image in the rear-view mirror.

I am, was my answer as I snapped out of my trance and moved my attention to the front of the car.

You’re quiet back there; I thought maybe you dozed off for a while, I know it can get mighty boring looking at the road for hours upon end, she continued.

I’m okay Mom, just daydreaming about the new town we’re headed to, that’s all.

She took that answer and let it be as she shifted her concentration back to the road ahead as I resumed my thoughts of the past and the future.

This was going to be our fourth new town in my short life of sixteen years, a time watching my mom struggle to stay married and then struggle to establish herself as a single woman with aspirations of becoming a self-sufficient businesswoman in a field dominated by males. Although she had always been successful in her computer consulting career while working for someone else, her desire to become her own boss led to a few critical decisions that kept our family on the move. When I was younger I didn’t mind moving from town to town because it was exciting for me to meet new people and make new friends, but now with high school approaching I want to make friends that I can keep and get close with, I want to establish myself in a circle of friends that I can share my teen years and enjoy the good times. Mom always agrees with my assessment of our ever-changing life but also realizes that we both need a good consistent income to have the things that are important to us in life.

"And there’s the sign we’ve been waiting for Juliette, Welcome to Delaware," I heard from the front seat as she interrupted my thought process.

Great, I shouted back as I shifted up to see the sign go whizzing by. I didn’t want her to get the impression I wasn’t eager with the latest move so I tried to continually show the enthusiasm she needed to see to know I was supporting her all the way. I knew in my heart that what she was doing was for both of us so I tried to put my concerns on the back burner and be as positive as I possibly could. I knew this move to Delaware was hopefully bringing her new opportunities with her business venture as well as much lower taxes thereby saving us money in the long run. In the end, I knew I would benefit immensely from her business success, not only by getting a lot of the material things that a teenage girl wants but also by finally implanting us both in one location for a while.

Looking out the window, I noticed acres of open fields, not what I expected to see in our search for a shore community, but my patience paid off when the open fields gave way to signs directing us to the Delaware beaches. My thoughts returned to the past year living in Kentucky where our somewhat rural community restricted the number of friends I had; with gasoline at a premium price in this economy getting around and meeting people wasn’t an option for our budget. With a small school and few worthy friends, my middle school experience was kind of boring. I just find rural kids boring, they seem to be more concerned with their farms and cattle than music and parties. Not that I am a party girl or want to be, I just want a normal teenage life filled with fun opportunities and interesting people who challenge my feelings. I just want somewhat of a normal teenage life where we’re settled in one place and I can make friends and get excited about a special guy. "Here’s the other sign we’ve been looking and waiting for sweetie, Welcome to Crystal Beach. Can you read the GPS for me as I drive into town?"

Sure Mom, it says to continue south for about three miles. Wow, look at the ocean pounding the beach, I’m so excited aren’t you? It did get my adrenalin flowing seeing the beach and the actual Atlantic Ocean, something I had always seen on television but never witnessed in person. We had always lived far away from real water, just a small lake when we lived in Arkansas, but seeing the real ocean pounding the surf was cool.

Okay, turn right at the next intersection onto Lakeside Drive and go about a half-mile; the house should be on the right side, I instructed her as I continued taking in all the sights.

Oh look Juliette there’s your new high school, Crystal Beach High, it does look big doesn’t it?

Sure does Mom, bigger than any school I’ve ever been to. My heart was pounding as I watched it pass by on the right and I took in everything I possibly could. It was a huge stone building that looked to have two or three floors, a large, paved parking lot, athletic fields on the side and behind it, and a huge sign in front that said Welcome to Crystal High School, Home of the Wildcats. Even the name Wildcats stirred my emotions as it conjured up thoughts of wild and crazy friends and an exciting high school life, something I was so looking forward to.

Chapter 2

WE PULLED INTO THE DRIVEWAY both scanning everything that our eyes could take in.

Wow Mom, this is a nice place, I love the way it looks, I said as my heart pounded with excitement.

It does look nice doesn’t it, she repeated back at me, I loved the way it looked on the real estate website but you know how they sometimes just show you what they want and it doesn’t reflect the true property, but this is wonderful.

She parked the car and we both opened the doors never taking our eyes off our new home. It was a two-story stone and shingle home that looked to be in magnificent shape with brilliant landscaping surrounding the house. We had very little in the way of trees, bushes, and flowers in our other homes since they were all more rural and neither one of us had the time or desire to do anything on the outside.

As we strolled side by side, she embraced me tightly, her face adorned with a radiant smile that had been absent for quite a while.

Welcome to our new home Juliette and I promise you I intend to stay here for a while, hopefully until you graduate at least.

Thanks, Mom, I said with a little tear in my eye as I hugged her back, I hope so; I want so much to stay in one place for a while and make a bunch of new friends and enjoy my high school years. Thanks again and I promise to help you any way I can in getting your business up and thriving.

Thanks, honey, I have a lot of leads that have promised their business to me so hopefully they will all come through for us. So let’s see what the inside of our house looks like, okay?

We walked hand-in-hand down the curved brick sidewalk letting our eyes take in everything from the colorful flowers to the porch with a two-seater swing. Pushing in the key and turning the knob she shoved open the large wooden door and motioned for me to go ahead of her.

The foyer was awesome with its shiny black tiled floor that glistened as she flicked on the light overhead. We were both smiling and saying nothing as we looked down the short hallway that led into the great room and the kitchen beyond, leading to glass doors that led out back to a brick patio. The entire view ahead of us was really neat as we stood in the foyer seeing the rear glass doors and patio.

Is this fabulous or what, I said as we let go of each other and began to wander the rooms.

The entire house was in pristine shape with fairly large size rooms and all neutral colors that we knew would go perfectly with everything we owned. Our furniture was being delivered the next day so we planned on roughing it the first night, which was fine with us both. Upstairs were two large bedrooms and a small one, a master bedroom for Mom at one end of the house and a large bedroom and bath at the other end that I would immediately lay claim to.

This one’s mine, I said as I danced around envisioning all my stuff in place. Wow look at this closet Mom, it’s bigger than my last bedroom I think.

I could see how happy she was and she could see the delight in my eyes as we went from room to room in what was our new home. I was so happy because we both deserved this great house. After all, she worked her tail off to get us here, and me, well just because I wanted her to finally be happy, something she hadn’t been since Dad left us five years ago.

Following our tour of the house one more time, we headed back to the car, got dinner, and went grocery shopping. Driving back out we could see how very close we were to the beach, only about half a mile, which immediately brought a smile to my face as I thought of walking to the beach from my own house, something I had always dreamt of doing.

We pulled into Denny’s restaurant and enjoyed a nice dinner filled with conversation about what we planned for the house and what we had scheduled to do in the upcoming days ahead. Mom wanted to get her business established as soon as possible but knew we had things to do the next few days that had to get done including getting the furniture in, the boxes unpacked, our mail delivery set up and most importantly getting me registered for school. We were already sitting in mid-August and we knew school would be starting in less than two weeks so we had to make sure everything was set up and I was fully prepared for my new adventure into the world of Crystal Beach High School.

The grocery shopping was a chore. We needed just about everything, so it took us at least four trips back and forth before everything was in the house.  Once that was accomplished we plopped down to have our favorite, a cup of coffee. We always shared coffee time, a time to relax, talk, and have our favorite brew selection from our single-cup Keurig coffee maker; my favorite being French Vanilla and Mom’s Hazelnut.

Hey Mom, why don’t we take our coffee and walk down to the beach and stick our toes in the water, I suggested.

She agreed and we were down the street for our first visit to the Atlantic Ocean and everything that represented a beach community.

Chapter 3

THE SOUND OF THE OCEAN WAVES pounding the sand on shore was mesmerizing and fun to watch and feel for the first time. It was a little scary for both of us at first, seeing those massive waves heading inland and breaking just off the beach, feeling the spray of the ocean mist hitting us in the face, and feeling the sand pulling us out as the water retreated to the ocean.

Mom this is so neat, I can’t believe I’m sixteen years old and this is the first time I’ve ever felt the ocean and sand between my toes.

She didn’t answer me as I looked back and watched her dance in the crashing surf laughing like a little kid yet juggling her cup of coffee so as not to spill any of the precious liquid. She was a beautiful woman of thirty-five with shoulder-length dirty blonde hair that shaped around her face bringing a glow to her skin. She didn’t wear much makeup, didn’t need to because she was gorgeous without it and I loved the fact that she was young enough to enjoy the things that I also enjoyed. Seeing her laughing as she jumped over the upcoming waves made me smile knowing she was finally in a good place in her life and my wish was that she could settle down with a successful business and find someone special to share her life with again.

Why are you looking at me like that, she asked as she looked up and saw me staring.

I’m just glad to see you so happy.

We hugged yet again as we had done so many times this day but each one had special meaning as we ventured into this new chapter in our lives, one that we both hoped would keep those wonderful smiles on our faces.

It was getting to be seven o’clock in the evening and the sun was just beginning to make its way down to the western horizon. We walked down the beach, not talking, just thinking about where we were and enjoying the moment together. I looked up the beach and could see many couples walking together hand-in-hand as they too enjoyed the moment of their walk. There seemed to be a lot of young teenage couples staring at each other as we passed, each with their eyes locked in a trance unaware that we were anywhere near them. I felt good seeing all the young couples on the beach giving me the hope and promise that I too would meet a fabulous guy and the two of us would share that same moment.

We passed one girl walking by herself who immediately caught my eye as we seemed to stare each other down. She focused in on my eyes with a blank stare as her eyes seemed to glow in a rainbow of colors, so weird I thought. She did give me a very slight smile but her intense focus kind of freaked me out.

Did you notice the look that girl we just passed gave me, kind of strange? I said as I turned again to see her stopped and staring me down with those uncanny colorful eyes.

Yes she did seem strange, Mom answered, but I’m sure she just had things on her mind since she was walking alone. Maybe you’ll run into her at school.

Finishing our coffee and walk we returned home and after unpacking a few more essential boxes we settled in for the night, tired but full of excitement at what had taken place on this special day.

The next day came quickly and before we knew it the furniture truck was pulling out front and three men were eagerly bringing in our furniture and belongings. Mom directed them to each room and within hours we were again alone faced with the task of now populating the house with all of our stuff. We worked for a little while together getting everything in the kitchen put away and then retreated to our bedrooms to make them our own.

I took a lot of time organizing my drawers and my closet and doing everything I could to personalize this room. I hoped a lot of future girlfriends and I would spend time gossiping about all the boys we hoped to meet. I had decided to leave all my walls empty so that I could create a new fresh beach room with memories of the future instead of those of my past. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep on my bed.

We didn’t have our evening coffee last night, Mom said as I came down to the kitchen the next morning. I went up to your room and you were zonked out on the bed so I just let you sleep and went about unpacking on my own.

I know, sorry about that, I just laid down for a second and the next thing I knew it was two in the morning and everything was dark so I just pulled the sheet up and went back to sleep.

That’s fine, she reassured me, we both have put in a lot of time with this move and we both deserve some sack time to catch up so don’t worry about it. Now this morning we have to get you to school to register for classes, you remembered right?

I nodded my head yes as I made my morning cup of coffee and popped an English muffin in the toaster, my usual breakfast meal for a school day morning.

We have to be there at ten so you have about two hours to get ready to meet your new school, Mom said with a giggle and smile on her face. Then this afternoon I’ll have to leave you alone as I meet one of my prospective clients.

That’s fine; I’ll be ready by nine-thirty.

After finishing my small breakfast I took a shower and stood inside my closet trying to decide what to wear for my first public appearance. I had no idea how kids dressed in this beach community so I decided to go casual yet sharp. I stood in my bra and panties in front of the full-length mirror looking at myself as I held up each outfit of choice. Holding each one out to the side I looked at my image and was happy with the way I looked at this point in my life. I was of average height, with long blonde hair that cascaded over my shoulders and just touched the top of my brassiere. My skin was slightly tanned and flawless as I smiled for myself showing my pure white teeth and fluttering blue eyes. I was extremely satisfied with my body, I had always been an active person who was a stickler for proper weight and toned muscles, so my breasts were just right for sixteen as they filled my bra yet not too much to pop out the top, perfect I thought. My butt wasn’t too big, just seemed perfect to me giving a nice outline to my clothes, and my legs I thought were my biggest asset just perfect for wearing short skirts and short shorts. With all that said, I had been brought up in a loving home and taught politeness, respect, and the difference between right and wrong in life. My personality attracted people to me and that led me to hope that this was the time in my life that boys would be attracted to me not for my speed on the bases but because they were interested in getting to know the person inside me. This was what I hoped high school and a beach community would reward me with.

Chapter 4

THIS SCHOOL REGISTRATION DAY was all about new kids transferring in from other schools and moving into the area like us, it wasn’t an orientation for freshmen, just a session for new upperclassmen. There were about two dozen kids in the school on this day and thank goodness Mom was there because I was so infatuated with looking at everyone that I didn’t exactly know what was happening as far as registration. After signing what seemed like hundreds of papers we were divided