by Clare Hutton
I took a deep breath of fresh country air (and horses) and decided I was going to have a good time, no matter what. I put a smile on my face and headed for the house behind Molly and my mom. While I had been looking around, Hailey had taken off ahead of them.
A few steps from the front door, I stopped. Molly and my mom had gone inside, and I was alone. It was awfully quiet. In the distance, I heard a horse whinny.
I turned in a slow circle. Leaves rustled in the breeze, and everything was peaceful. But I had a strange feeling, like I was being watched. I held very still. I’m imagining this, I thought. I’m tired, and the dream last night is making me nervous.
A twig cracked in the tangled underbrush beside the road.
I hurried into the house, my heart racing.
The door opened into a cozy, warm kitchen, full of the smell of cooking food. As soon as I was inside, I had to laugh at myself. The boy chopping vegetables at the counter met my smile with a grin.
“Hey, how’s it going?” he said. “I’m Jack.”
Jack was pretty cute. His very short blond hair, pale blue eyes, and freckles made it clear he was Hailey’s brother, but his friendly smile made those features look totally different than they looked on Hailey’s wary face.
“Hi,” I said, feeling a little shy. “I like your house.” It was really Western looking: log walls, paintings of horses, big cushy couches and chairs. It looked like a good place to curl up in front of a crackling fire after a long day riding the trails.
His dad came over and shook my mom’s hand and smiled at me. “I’m Mike,” he said. “We’re real happy to have you visit. Molly’s been so excited.” He was a big, sweet-faced man. This family was all so friendly, except for Hailey. I couldn’t figure her out.
“Can I help?” I asked Jack, who seemed to be cooking all by himself.
“Sure,” he said. “Would you rather mix up the corn bread, rub the marinade into the steaks, or finish the salad?”
“Um,” I hesitated. The idea of rubbing stuff into raw meat grossed me out. “I’ll mix up the corn bread.”
“Great!” He handed me a bowl. “Break an egg into this, and beat in a cup of milk and a quarter cup of vegetable oil. Then we’ll mix it with the flour and stuff.”
“Wow,” I said, putting the bowl on the counter and getting out an egg. “You can really cook.” I had the idea that boys thought cooking was unmanly. But, like I said, I don’t actually know any boys.
“Yep,” Jack said. “I want to be a chef.” He was rubbing some oily stuff with dried leaves floating in it on the raw meat, and I had to look away. Yuck! I concentrated on beating the liquids together. “I’m in the cooking club at school — you should join! We practice recipes and go to restaurants, and we have a big party at the end of the semester.”
“I don’t know,” I said awkwardly. “I’m better at eating than cooking.”
“Marisol’s a vegetarian like your sister,” Molly told him. “Be sure to make extra salad.”
“No problem,” Jack said. “I’m making vegetable shish kebabs on the grill for Hailey, and we can make more for you. And there’ll be plenty of corn bread, salad, and baked beans.”
“That sounds great!” I said happily. I wasn’t going to starve for three months after all. “Thank you!”
Jack handed off the skewers of vegetables and the steaks to his dad to put on the grill and finished mixing up the corn bread and stuck it in the oven. Salad was in the bowl and baked beans were heating on the stove top. Molly and my mom were talking at the kitchen table.
I was sitting at a tall stool at the kitchen counter, and Jack pulled up a stool next to me.
“Um,” he said, jiggling his knee. “So, if not cooking, what kind of stuff are you into? There’s, like” — he waved his hand vaguely — “a lot of different things at school. Sports and art club and stuff. The girls’ soccer team is pretty good.”
“Maybe not soccer,” I said. “I mean, I’m not that into team sports. I like lots of stuff, though. Hiking and biking, and animals, and being outdoors. And I’m interested in science, especially astronomy.”
I felt like a dork saying that, but Jack perked right up. “Astronomy!” he said. “Awesome! There’s an astronomy club at school. They have camping trips to look at the stars. Their fall trip is actually a big deal even for people who aren’t in the club. Like, practically everybody goes.”
“Really?!” I exclaimed. There was a science club at my school back home, and sometimes we talked about astronomy. We’d gone on a trip to the planetarium, but not enough kids were so interested in space that they’d want to join a club just for that.
“Sure,” Jack said. “There’s great stargazing around here. You can go out into Glacier National Park and take a telescope, or see a lot even just outside the house.”
“This is going to be amazing,” I told him.
“How’d you get into astronomy?” he asked curiously. “Like, is it a science thing, or an outdoorsy thing, or both?”
“Um, both, I guess,” I said. “My dad bought a telescope for us to share when I was six, and we used to go out with it a lot. He’d show me all the different constellations.”
“Neat,” Jack said.
“Yeah,” I said, smiling as I remembered stargazing with my dad. “Every year there’s a big meteor shower in the summer called the Perseid shower, and he’d wake me up in the middle of the night to see it. We’d take a thermos of hot chocolate and go sit on the roof to watch the shooting stars. We still do it now that he lives in Miami; we try to make sure I’m out there at the right time.”
“Sounds really nice,” Jack said.
“Yeah, it is,” I said again. I missed my dad now that he lived in Miami. It was great to spend time with him on school breaks, but it wasn’t the same as seeing him every day.
Our conversation hit a little pause, and Jack started looking around and jiggling his leg again. “Can you ride a horse?” he asked suddenly.
I shook off the thoughts about my dad. “Not really,” I said apologetically. “The closest I got was a couple of rides on my friend’s pony when I was eight. But I’ve always wanted to learn.”
“You’d have a great time,” he said. “I love it. I take people riding the trails around here all the time when we have guests, so if you want, we could go riding sometime. If you like animals and hiking, you’ll be a natural. Our horses are really gentle.”
“I don’t think it’s a great idea for Marisol to go out on a horse without an adult when she doesn’t know how to ride,” my mom broke in. I hadn’t even realized she and Molly were listening to our conversation. “Maybe we could all go together sometime.”
“Oh, Jack’s a great teacher,” Molly said dismissively. “She’ll be fine.”
My mom’s lips tightened, but she didn’t say anything. She gave me a look that meant We’ll discuss this later, but I pretended not to see it. If Jack really took tourists out on horseback all the time, I didn’t think my mother had anything to worry about.
The buzzer rang to let us know the corn bread was done just as Mike came in from outside carrying a platter. “Steaks and veggies are ready,” he said. “Marisol, would you ask Hailey to come to the table?”
I glanced around. My mom was setting the table while Molly poured milk and water into big glasses. “Hailey’s so moody these days,” Molly said to my mom. “She’s very self-conscious. Getting to be a teenager, right? I try to give her some space.” My mom mmmmed in agreement.
Jack was getting the corn bread out of the oven, but he rolled his eyes at me. “I like how parents blame everything they don’t like on our age,” he said pointedly. “Hailey’s room is upstairs. Just look for the wolf doorknocker.”
“Thanks,” I said, and headed upstairs.
The hall was dark, and a line of light shone around the edges of Hailey’s door. I hesitated, then knocked.
There was no sound from behind the door. Was she there? Should I knock again? I would feel stupid stan
ding in the dark outside her door if she had headphones on or was in the bathroom or something. I waited and waited and then finally raised my hand to knock again.
Suddenly, the door flew open.
“What?” Hailey asked.
I looked past her and my mouth dropped open. I couldn’t tell what color her walls were because everywhere, from floor to ceiling, there were images of animals: pictures printed off websites, cut out of magazines, and on posters. Lion cubs wrestled playfully. A raccoon clung to a tree branch. Horses galloped over dunes. A hundred different animals were playing, hunting, eating, and basking in the sun. The largest poster of all showed a line of wolves coming over the crest of a hill, their cool amber gazes watchful and calm. Looking in from the dark hall, it was as if Hailey’s door had opened into the wild.
“What?” Hailey asked again. “Please, my room is private.” She stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her.
I realized I had been staring, which was pretty rude. “Oh, sorry … wow, it’s like a zoo in there!”
Hailey ducked her head. “I really like animals,” she said softly. “I don’t like zoos, though. Wild animals should be free.”
“Um, I can understand how you feel,” I said. I paused, but neither of us seemed to have anything more to say. “Anyway, dinner’s ready.”
She followed me down the hall toward the kitchen so quietly I almost turned around to make sure she was still behind me. I just wanted her to say something. Hailey seemed kind of intense, and she made me a little uncomfortable.
I was starving when I sat down at the table. Jack set a plate in front of me with a flourish.
“Hey, this looks really good,” I said, digging in. The veggies from the shish kebab were tasty: juicy and warm and flavored with different herbs.
“This steak is perfect, Mike and Jack!” my mom exclaimed from the other end of the table. “Absolutely delicious.”
“The corn bread didn’t turn out so well,” Jack said, gazing at a bread basket full of blackened slices. “It got kind of scorched.”
He looked sad. I reached out and grabbed a piece of corn bread. “I’m sure it’ll be fine with a little butter,” I said cheerfully. I slathered on some butter and took a big bite. It was surprisingly edible. “The unburned parts are delicious,” I said, chewing. Jack laughed.
Later that night, Hailey led me up to show me my room, which was down the hall from hers.
I smiled at her. “Dinner was great. Jack’s a good cook.”
She shrugged. “Sure.”
“I guess I won’t starve out here after all,” I joked. “Maybe I can even get Jack to learn how to make vegetarian sushi.” Hailey made a strange noise and turned away from me into her own room.
I stared after her. Had she just growled at me?
CHAPTER FOUR
The next morning, I woke up early and lay in bed, trying to remain calm. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, staring at the ceiling. It was my first day at Wolf Valley Middle School, and I was scared to death. What if everyone hated me?
It’s only for three months, I told myself.
Three months sounded a lot longer now than it had when I agreed to this trip.
At least I have Jack, I thought finally, and that helped me sit up. Having one friend already was going to be a lifesaver. If it weren’t for him, I might have tried to convince my mom to let me stay in bed all day.
It was funny how in just one evening I’d gone from being totally freaked out by the idea of living with a boy to being happy that he was my friend. Jack was nice: relaxed and funny and easy to be around. Cute, too. But I shook that thought off — crushing on a boy I was living with would be way too complicated.
I pulled myself together. I was Marisol Perez! I was fearless!
Sort of fearless.
I hopped out of bed and headed for the shower. My personal shower, which was a huge perk after sharing a bathroom with my mom my whole life. Turns out one of the biggest benefits of staying at an off-season bed-and-breakfast is that there are plenty of bedrooms to choose from, all with their own bathrooms. My room looked like a fancy hotel room: flowery bedspread and wallpaper, matching lamps on either side of the double bed, and a little desk with brochures and books about the area: The Birds of Western Montana, Hiking the Glaciers, and The Wolves of Wolf Valley. The decor was definitely not what I would have chosen, but it was comfortable and all mine.
Half an hour later, I was clean, my hair looked good, I was wearing lip gloss (the only makeup my mom will let me use), and I had on jeans and a blue sweater. I was as ready as I’d ever be. I tried to text Tasha so she could wish me good luck, but my cell phone didn’t have a signal.
When I got to the kitchen, Jack and Hailey were sitting at the table, eating cereal, while my mom and Molly drank coffee. I slid into my seat on the other side of the table and gave them a shaky smile.
“It’s weird that I’m starting school almost a month late, right?” I asked nervously.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jack said through a mouthful of cereal. He swallowed and spoke more clearly. “By now, everybody’s sick of seeing all the same people every day. They’ll be thrilled to have someone new around. You’ll be a total celebrity.”
Hailey’s hair was tied back in a braid, making her look more approachable than she had the day before. To my complete shock, she smiled at me and said in a soft voice, “It’ll be fine, really.”
Maybe she’s just shy, I thought, and smiled back at her. “Yeah,” I agreed. “And after all, what do I care what people here think of me anyway?” Like I had been telling myself, I wasn’t going to be here long enough for it to really matter.
Hailey’s smile snapped shut and she got up from the table. “We need to catch the bus,” she said flatly. She didn’t look at me as she kissed her mother good-bye.
“What’d I say?” I whispered to Jack as we followed her out the door.
“Don’t worry about it,” he whispered back. “Hailey’s moody. She likes animals more than she likes people.” While we waited for the bus at the end of the drive, Jack stood with his sister, murmuring to her in a low voice. She glanced over at me, and I stepped back and looked away, trying to give them some privacy, since they were obviously talking about me.
By the time the big yellow school bus pulled up, I was so uncomfortable that I was actually relieved to see it.
That is, until I got up the bus stairs and saw a bunch of strange faces staring at me. Fearless, I thought, and tried to look nonchalant as I hurried into the empty seat behind the driver. I thought Jack might sit next to me, but he went past me to sit with some guys at the back of the bus. Hailey gave me a brief, reluctant smile but walked past me, too, to sit alone a couple of seats farther back.
I didn’t know what my friendship possibilities were going to be like at school, but apparently I wasn’t all that popular with the people I was living with.
My school in Austin is modern: one story, full of windows and bright colors. Here, the school was tall, brick, and old-fashioned looking, with steps up to the front and two front doors, one that said GIRLS over it and another saying BOYS. I grabbed Hailey’s arm as she tried to walk past me.
She jumped like I’d really startled her. “What?” she asked.
“Just tell me,” I said. “Do I have to go in the one that saysGIRLS? Or doesn’t it matter?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Hailey said. She looked at her feet and added in a soft voice, “Come on, I’ll show you to the office.”
After I picked up my schedule, the rest of the morning was a blur. The school was bigger than I’d expected; kids were bused in from all over the county. I kept getting turned around in the halls. Jack was in my homeroom and English classes, and introduced me to a bunch of people whose names I forgot right away. Hailey was in my math class and gave me a brief wave from across the room, then sat and drew in her notebook for the entire period.
During study hall, I sat alone at a round table in the l
ibrary. All around me, kids were whispering, sharing books, and laughing quietly. I felt gigantically out of place. I watched a girl with a long, honey-colored braid fold a note into an origami flower and hand it to her friend, and I wanted to cry.
“Ten minutes only on the computers, people,” the teacher said, clapping her hands to get attention. “Give someone else a turn.”
I jumped up fast, almost knocking my backpack off the table, and grabbed one of the newly vacated computers.
Logging on to my e-mail, I saw I had a bunch of messages from my friends back home. There were e-mails from Tasha, Ashley, and Erica, whom I ate lunch with, and from Kayla in my math class. They all said mostly the same things: miss u, luv u, hope you’re having fun. And there were bits of gossip: who had a crush on whom, who had gotten into trouble with her parents, and who said what to a teacher.
Reading them made me feel stronger. So what if I didn’t have friends here? I had friends back in my real life.
And if people liked me back in Austin, probably somebody would like me in Wolf Valley, too.
I e-mailed Tasha back quickly, because my ten minutes were almost up:
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Hi, Tasha,
Montana is beautiful. Guess what my mom forgot
to tell me: her friend has two kids our age!
They’re nice, especially Jack (a GUY! Yikes!). My
phone doesn’t work here.
I miss you! Talk soon!
xoxo
E-mailing Tasha cheered me up, but by lunchtime I was lonely again. It was hard being the new kid. Nobody had been mean to me — everyone was pretty friendly — but they all knew one another and were wrapped up in their own friendships. After politely saying hello, people pretty much ignored me. I missed Tasha and my other friends. And I missed just already knowing people instead of having to meet everyone for the first time.