I took a break and ate dinner with Mona and Ben. Once I cleaned my plate, I headed right back to my closet to work, trying to forget that Nate hadn’t called yet like he had promised he would.
By seven, I had four boxes ready to be taken to the charity.
Chapter Eighteen
Slumber Party
I went out to the patio to enjoy the evening, taking my phone and doughnuts for company.
This time I actually saw the wolf come out of the bushes. He crawled slowly, close to the ground, looking me in the eye the whole time. At first I was afraid. The radio report of the animal attacks was still fresh in my mind and here was a wolf just a couple feet from me.
But this wolf made slow movements, always watching me as you would a frightened child. He sat at his usual spot in the bushes. Although I had never seen a wolf up close before, this one appeared different than any I’d seen on TV or in pictures. It was very large, for one thing and the color was tan. I’d never seen many pictures of a tan wolf.
“H…hi again.” For some reason I felt the need to talk. It was either that or go inside. His unrelenting gaze was making me nervous and I found myself starting to babble. “Look what I have today.” I held up a doughnut and tossed it to him. And just like last time, he caught it in his mouth. “You know, I really think you’re trying to drive me crazy. I’m pretty sure it’s not exactly normal to have a conversation with a wolf. But here you are and I’m talking to you again. Don’t tell anyone, okay? It’ll be our secret.”
I paused, surprised by the tilt of his head, like he was actually listening to me. “But please don’t talk back, because I don’t think I could handle that.” He didn’t, but I saw that bizarre smile again.
I lay back in the chair, completely comfortable, picturing Charlie on the patio with me and not the wild animal that actually was. “You know, men are jerks sometimes.” I pointed at him with my doughnut. “Take my boyfriend for example. He tells me that he loves me one minute and then the next he’s blowing me off, acting distant. This morning he told me he’d call, but I’ve heard squat from him all day.”
I looked up at the wolf, whose ears were flat, his head lying on his paws. “Are you a boy or a girl?” The wolf lifted its head up and actually shook it, as if to say, “How could you doubt me?” “A boy, huh. I bet you confuse the heck out of your girlfriend too.” I stretched out onto the lounge chair, crossing my ankles.
“You know, I really think he’s acting this way because he regrets telling me he loves me.” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Thank God the wolf couldn’t talk. He whined and stomped his front paw onto the ground, dust flew up, covering his fur. “You want another one? Here you go.” I tossed it to him, but instead of catching it in his mouth as before, it fell on the ground beside him, a layer of dirt sticking to the chocolate. He glanced down at it, then back up at me and whined again. “Well, that’s all I have.” He blinked, continuing to stare at me, until finally I got a little worried that it wasn’t the doughnut he was hungry for.
“Well, I’m going to bed. You know what? If he calls I’m not going to pick up. Well, maybe. Probably. Men,” I groaned. “See you next time.” I stood up, tossing him my last doughnut. It landed beside the other one. I walked away slowly, trying not to show fear.
Nate did call, making lame excuses about being busy.
It was like that for the next few days. I don’t know what happened; just last week we couldn’t see enough of each other. Now that school was basically out and we had more time, he was always gone. The only one I had to talk to was Mona and of course the wolf. He came by the next few nights, only staying a couple minutes then taking off. Now I was sure it was a male. I wanted to talk to Lauren, but I couldn’t. I had promised Nate I’d keep our relationship a secret—that was, if we still had one.
Wednesday after my last exam, I stopped in at the cafeteria to grab a strawberry banana smoothie. The room was basically empty, with only a few students milling about. The smell of french fries lingered in the air.
Nate was busy again so I wasn’t in a hurry. Mona was off today buying my graduation present. She didn’t tell me that, but I knew. I paid for my smoothie and started to head to the exit when I saw a hand waving at me. Lauren, Lily and Allison were gathered at our usual table looking at the yearbook.
“Oh my God, look at Julian’s picture. He has serious bed-head,” Allison exclaimed with her usual dry humor. Lily giggled, moving over as I stepped up to them. I took the seat next to Lily, stealing a fry off of Allison’s plate.
“Are you finished with your exam?” Lauren asked after taking a sip of my smoothie.
“Thankfully, Yes. I am so finished with high school.”
Allison, whose eyes were still focused on the book, raised her arm and hooted, “Whoo hoo.”
I laughed softly, leaning over to look at the pictures with them. “Yes, there it is,” Ally nearly shouted. “It’s proof that you two are dating.” I rolled my eyes at her with a sigh. Not this again.
She held the book out to me. The picture she was pointing at was of me walking beside Nate, in the days when he was protecting me from Shane and company. “How is that proof? We’re just walking. I told you he was protecting me. That was him walking me to class, that’s it.”
She scowled at me. “Then how do you explain that?” She stabbed the picture with her finger and smiled, sure she had caught me in a lie. I glanced at the other two and they were looking at the picture with doubt in their eyes.
“Ally, they’re just walking,” Lily agreed with me, looking disappointed that she didn’t see more.
“No, look, they’re holding hands.” She pointed again, this time at our hands. It was true that they were close, but they were not touching. I think I was swinging my arm just as the picture was taken. So at a certain angle it looked like we might be holding hands.
Lauren bent down to get a closer look, squinting her eyes at the picture. “Sorry, Ally, but it just looks like their hands are close together.”
Allison slammed the book shut with a smack and groaned, “Whatever.”
I smiled at her. It was funny to me that she was making such a big deal about whether or not I was dating Nate. I wished I could tell them, but I wasn’t one to go back on a promise.
When I glanced at Lauren, she was smiling at me with a knowing grin, as if she knew I was lying. Why was it that she could always see through me? But she never told the girls and was never obvious with her knowledge. There was something about her eyes that seemed to be wise beyond her years. But then again, I could be imagining all of that.
“So Megan, how’s Eddie?” Lily asked, setting down my drink after taking a sip. I should have bought two.
“You’d know that more than I would. He’s taking some time off for finals, but I’ve heard through the grapevine that you two went out.”
She blushed, her eyes darting to the Formica table.
“Have you been holding out on me?” Lauren asked, giving Lily a playful slap on the hand.
Lily glanced up, her cheeks the color of her ruby red lipstick. “You were gone all weekend and it was a last-minute thing.”
“I know all the details and I will trade for some of yours, Meg.” Allison wiggled her eyebrows, refusing to let go of her theory.
“No, save them for tonight,” Lauren said to both Allison and Lily. “You’re coming, right?” Her eyes flicked to me.
I stared at her blankly.
Lily was the one to speak. “I asked you a week ago. Remember, we’re having an end of the year slumber party. And since this is our last year, I’m stealing some wine from my mom’s stash.” Lily bumped me with her shoulder.
Oh, right, we were supposed to hang out at her place tonight. Her parents would be gone for the night, leaving Lily alone for the evening. Since Nate would probably ditch me again, spending time with them definitely sounded better than hanging out with a silent wolf that eventually ditched me too.
“Of course I’m in, I wouldn�
�t forget.”
Lauren picked me up just before dinner, I had tried to call Nate and tell him what was going on but his cell phone was off. I couldn’t even get his voicemail.
She pulled up to a two-story, red brick craftsman-style house with white trim and a matching front covered porch. It was a cute house and it looked like Lily. I think I could have picked it out even if Lauren hadn’t shown me.
After we unloaded our bags I followed Lauren onto the front porch. The white wicker patio furniture was almost shaking from the bass vibrations coming out of the house. Aggie’s voice was floating out of the speakers, singing about her latest heartbreak.
There were two other voices singing along and I knew instantly that Allison was here. When we turned the corner, we spotted the two of them doing a matching dance, along with their off-key singing.
“Hello!” Lauren yelled, trying to be heard over the music.
They both froze at the sound and then erupted into a bout of hysterical laughter at being caught off-guard. Once their laughter subsided, Lily leaned over a shelf above the TV to turn the stereo down.
Her living room was large, with a big bay window, filled with comfortable-looking furniture. Family photos littered the walls and shelves. A thick multicolored rug sat in the center of the room under a coffee table. It was filled with CDs that Lily must have dropped before putting on Aggie.
“Hey, guys! Just throw your bags in the corner; we can take them up later. I just ordered pizza and there are snacks in the kitchen.”
“Well, then, I guess we have plenty, because we stopped at the store on the way,” Lauren said as she tossed her bag on the floor.
I did the same, but held onto the white grocery bag. I set it on the table and opened it. Allison leaned over, pulling out a bag of pretzels. She ripped it open, the smell of salt floating out of the bag. I reached in and took a one, popping it in my mouth as I sat down on the couch. I was strangely comfortable here. Like Nate’s, it was small, well, compared to my house, but it was so much cozier. It was hard to feel comfortable in a house that echoed.
We sat around the table waiting for the pizza, gossiping about the kids we no longer went to school with. Somehow we started talking about our secret crushes. “Come on, Megan, you first. Give us a name of a guy you had a crush on.” When I hesitated, Allison rolled her eyes. “Everyone has crushes. I’ll tell you mine, everyone will, right?” She looked to the other girls, who nodded.
I only had one crush my entire high school career and I wasn’t sure if I should say. I wasn’t telling them we were dating, just who I liked. Since most of the girls in our school had the same name in her thoughts, I figured it was safe to admit.
I sighed, leaning back into the couch. “Nate, okay. But who here hasn’t had the same crush?” Allison and Lily both smiled, keeping their arms down.
We all turned our heads to Lauren. Her arm was raised and she was wearing a disgusted look on her face. “God, no. Yes, he’s cute, but definitely not my type. My secret crush was Brody Michaels.”
“What?” the three of us shrieked at the same time. Brody Michaels was cute, but very studious. He wanted to get into Harvard so he concentrated on studying, but not much else. No one really ever saw his face; he was always carrying a big load of books that covered it.
Lauren’s eyes sparkled as she grinned. “Come on, he’s so thoughtful. Imagine how gentle he’d be. And his soft brown hair is always messy, as if he’s so preoccupied with studying that he constantly forgets to brush it.” Our surprised faces still stared at her. “I wanted to run my fingers through it to brush it in place to help him out. But I thought he might be weirded out if I tried.”
“Uh, yeah, definitely?” I said, laughing. I reached over to take a drink of soda, looking at Lily.
She smiled. “Besides Nate. Hmm, let me think. Cole Mathews.”
“Oooh, good one. He’s very cute and he doesn’t seem to know it,” Lauren commented before popping a pretzel in her mouth. Lily picked up her can of root beer and tilted it back to take a drink, pointing to Allison with her other hand.
Allison was sitting on the rug in front of the coffee table stuffing pretzels into her mouth. “I don’t have another one.” We looked at her doubtfully. “Fine, I do, but it’s embarrassing. I don’t like the guy, but something about him had me thinking about him sometimes before I went to sleep.”
Curiosity was burning inside me. “Who?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed; she was having a hard time admitting it. She placed her head in her hands and mumbled, “Shane.” She added a muffled groan at the end.
There were three matching “Ewwws!”
She lifted her head; her usually alabaster skin was now flushed. “I know, he’s such a jerk, but there’s something about a bad boy that I can’t shake.”
“Yeah, don’t go there. I know him personally and now that it’s all over, I can tell you that he’s the one that tried to run me off the road.”
Lily and Allison gaped at me in surprise. “You knew?”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to tell you. I was afraid he’d come after you.”
“All right, crush definitely over,” Allison said, tossing the forgotten pretzel she held in her hand back into the bag. We all jumped at the sound of a knock on the door.
“Yay, pizza,” Lily shouted as she stood up. She bent down to gather the money that we had all pitched in earlier. Her short blond hair fell in shorts spikes around her face.
“Who ordered olives?” I complained, picking a bunch of little round green bits off of the greasy cheese from my pizza. We were gathered around the coffee table, sitting on the floor and munching our dinner.
“Me, sorry. I should have said only on half.” Lily smiled with her mouth full of food.
“No biggie, I can pick them off.”
“Hey, Lily, go get the wine and then tell us about your date with Eddie,” Lauren suggested, holding her pizza up in front of her mouth.
Lily disappeared into the kitchen to pour us some kind of sparkling fruity drink that really didn’t taste like wine, all the while relaying her night with Eddie. Apparently, he took her to the batting cages and then to Wapoose Park. They ate hot dogs by the lake and then rode on rides the rest of the night. “He said he got the idea from Nate,” she explained, looking at me.
I almost gasped in surprise as she quickly looked away. I wasn’t sure if she knew or not. It had never occurred to me that Eddie might tell her. He was there the first time we kissed, but maybe Nate had told him not to say anything.
When the last of the pizza was eaten, my phone rang. I had drunk about two of the fizzy drinks so I wasn’t at all concerned when Allison reached in my bag and answered it. “Hello…yes, she is. Can I tell her who this is?...Hello?” Her voice was forcefully smooth, however, her flushed cheeks gave away the fact that she had more glasses than I had.
Oh crap, it was probably Nate. I jumped up, taking the phone from her, rushing into the kitchen. I huddled by the back door in front of the refrigerator that was filled with pictures of Lily as a child. “Hi,” I whispered, hoping no one could hear. It had gotten very quiet in the living room.
“Hi. Who was that?” Nate asked from the other end.
“Allison. We’re having a sleepover at Lily’s. I tried to call, but your phone was dead.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I forgot to charge it. Are you going to be there all night?”
“Is that okay? I just figured since you’ve been busy all week.”
“No, that’s fine and why I was calling. I just wanted you to know I wouldn’t be home until late.” I knew he’d say that.
I brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face. “Did you tell Eddie to keep quiet about us?”
“No, why?”
“Because he’s dating Lily and I think she might know.”
There was a brief silence on the other end. I used the break to glance over my shoulder. No one was there, but the living room was still quiet. “Oh, I never thought of
that.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“It’s okay. I was just worried about it getting around all over school, but as long as just a few people know I’m sure it will be fine.” I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t want him to be mad at me. “Anyway, have fun tonight, Meg. I love you.”
“I love you too,” I whispered, hoping no one in the living room would hear.
I heard him laugh softly just before the phone went dead. I smiled, picturing his vivid blue eyes sparkle when he laughed.
I turned around, feeling all fuzzy and warm and not just from the fizzy drinks.
Lily, Allison and Lauren were standing in the doorway side by side, arms crossed and smiling.
Chapter Nineteen
The Rileys
“That was Nate. I have barely heard him speak, but when I did, I remembered it.” Allison narrowed her eyes, waiting for me to deny it. Honestly, I was tired of lying and since he did kind of give me permission I was dying to talk to someone about it.
I just smiled and said, “So?”
“I knew it! You can’t lie to me.”
I glanced at Lily. “Did Eddie tell you?”
She smiled and nodded.
Allison spun on her. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“It was her news to tell.” She headed back into the living room. We all followed taking our previous spots.
“Lauren, aren’t you mad at Lily for keeping it to herself?” Allison whined.
Lauren sat down on the couch beside me. “No, she’s right. It was Megan’s news to tell when she was ready to tell it.”
“Why did you lie?” Allison asked, sitting back down on the floor.
“Because Nate wanted to keep it hidden from everyone at school. So I did. I’m sorry.”
“Why did he want to keep it a secret?” Lily asked.
Riley's Secret (A Moon's Glow Novel # 1) Page 16