Free Changed by Jennifer Snyder

Jace to find out. In the end, I decided I didn’t want Jace to think I was some paranoid nut like Shelby and left him alone, thinking that if it had been her, then I’d find out soon enough.
    Mom was still in the kitchen when I walked through the front door. The scent of banana bread and Lysol filled my nose at the same time as Family Guy blaring from the TV flooded my ears. Dad chuckled from the living room and the sound brought a smile to my face. It had been days since I’d heard him laugh. The stress of my mother’s odd behavior and secrets was beginning to take a toll on us all. I guessed my secret didn’t help matters any, but it had been my mother’s secret long before it became mine. This justified the majority of the blame for the shambles our family was in on her in my mind.
    “ Tessa, can you come here for a minute, please?” mom called to me as I attempted to sneak past the kitchen without her seeing.
    “ What?” I asked a little harsher than I’d intended, stepping into the sparkling clean kitchen and leaning against the counter.
    “ You missed work,” she said while continuing to wipe off a small area of the counter without looking up at me.
    My throat tightened. I did not want to do this right now. “I know. I was pretty exhausted after school and just didn’t feel like going in.”
    That got her attention. “And you couldn’t have called to let them know you wouldn’t be coming in?”
    The disappointment in her eyes burned me. “Honestly, I didn’t really think about it.”
    She laid the rag she’d been wiping the counters with aside and gave me her full attention. “I’m just going to come out and say it, Tessa. I’m really disappointed in you lately, to the point where I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
    Something inside of me snapped at her words. The frustration and anger I’d felt toward her came boiling up to the tip of my tongue. “ You don’t know who I am anymore? Try, I don’t know who you are anymore… or better yet, who my father is!”
    I watched as her face fell. She stared at me with this look of complete shock like I’d just slapped her. I waited for her to speak, but just like always, all she did was stare at me blankly and mute.
    Tears of rage streamed from my eyes as I left the kitchen and stomped my way toward my room. When was she going to be a mother, when was she going to explain things to me, when was she going to console me? These were the questions that burned through my mind and fueled the hot tears that streaked my cheeks.
    Just as I flopped on my bed the chiming of my cell phone sounded and I swore under my breath, hoping that it wasn’t Jace telling me Shelby was back in town. It wasn’t. Instead, it was a text from Rachel.
    Just wanted to make sure you were all right. Missed you at work. Have you thought about going to the cabin on Christmas break?
    I spun the phone around in my hand, thinking of how to answer.
    What day are you guys wanting to go? Did you find out for sure? ~ Tessa
    The weekend after Christmas, that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Sound good?
    I’d added everything up earlier and Googled how many days were in between each full moon—twenty-nine. That meant it would be safe for me to go to the cabin and actually do something normal for a chance.
    Sounds great. I can’t wait. ~ Tessa
    I’d still have to talk to Jace about it, but I was sure he wouldn’t mind going.
    Awesome!
    I wiped the tears from under my eyes and for the first time in weeks felt excited about something that didn’t pertain to the strangeness that had consumed my life lately.
     
    * * *
     
    Two hours passed before I heard the TV in the living room cut off, signaling that my parents were on their way to bed.
    “ Knock, knock,” dad said, lightly rapping his knuckles against my closed bedroom door. “Can I come in?”
    “ Sure,” I replied unenthusiastically as I flipped another page of my magazine.
    Dad opened the door and leaned his head in.