Boy from the Woods (9781311684776)

by Minkman, Jen

  “Sounds good to me. I don’t know the way to your house yet, so…” Michael gave her one final hug, whispering in her ear: “I’ll miss you tonight.”

  “Likewise. Have fun at your aunt and uncle’s.” Michael was having dinner with them together with his parents. He’d invited Julia to join them, but she wasn’t ready to meet his family yet, so she declined.

  Once she’d lost sight of Michael, Julia sat down in the bus shelter opposite the park. The bus would show up soon. Her cell phone showed one missed call from Gaby, so she called back but it went through to voicemail. A blissful smile spread across her face when she clicked off and looked at her phone display – her new background picture was a photo of Michael. She should drop by Gran’s later so she could tell her about everything that had happened in her life since their last chat.

  As she got on the bus, her phone dinged: ‘can you go and pick up anne in eichet? i finish at 9!’ Her mom. Well, that was a lucky coincidence. She’d be able to talk to her grandmother sooner than she thought. She’d warm up some leftovers when she got home and take a bus down to the next village to pick up her sister and tell Gran all about her new boyfriend.

  Just as Julia finished her reply to her mom, Gaby called her back. “Heya Jules,” she trilled. “Axel invited us over to watch a movie at his place tonight. Are you free?”

  Julia chuckled. “Are you sure Axel meant to invite us both?” she teased.

  “Of course!” Gaby retorted with disdain. “You don’t honestly think I’m asking you along because I’m afraid to go alone, do you?”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  “Ha-ha, very funny. So are you coming?”

  “What kind of movie are we watching?”

  “One of those really creepy ones, he said. You know, some re-make of an Asian horror movie.”

  “Ah, yes, that makes sense. He’s probably hoping for you to hold his hand. Or crawl into his arms in sheer terror.”

  Julia alighted from the bus and patiently listened to Gaby objecting to her comments. “What time is he expecting us?” she cut in before her friend could go into another round of outraged hysterics.

  “Half past eight.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there. I don’t have to work tomorrow anyway.”

  “Cool!” Gaby sounded unmistakably relieved. “See you there!”

  Julia hung up, sporting a wide grin. She turned the corner onto her street and felt her stomach rumble when she caught a whiff of grilled sausages in the air. Someone on their street had fired up the barbecue. The trail of smoke spiraling up to the sky seemed to be coming from the neighbors’ yard.

  “Hey, girl next door,” a familiar voice called out to her. Thorsten appeared at the gate, waving at her with a pair of barbecue tongs. “You hungry?”

  Julia nodded tentatively. “A little,” she admitted.

  “Well, would you like to join us for dinner? Sabine went to the pool with my dad, so it’s just me and my mom.”

  Her heart skipped a beat. She should say no – after all, she’d promised herself to keep away from Thorsten. On the other hand, what harm would it do to join him for a little while? His mom would be there as their chaperone. Plus, this would be the perfect opportunity to tell him all about her romantic afternoon with Michael so it would be clear to him where she stood. It was a bit lame to go home and microwave leftovers if she could have fresh food and a good time with the neighbors.

  “I’d love to,” she replied. “Hold on, I’ll just dump my bag and come right back.”

  Julia went inside and walked up to her room to put her bag on her desk and quickly brush her hair. She looked at herself in the mirror. Wow, she looked so much in love. Her eyes sparkled and there was a glow to her cheeks.

  Tomorrow, her mother would meet Michael for the first time. She’d have to play it tactically. It might be a bad idea to mention she had already been on a date with him– and an even worse idea to disclose that she’d spent the night. Her mom was still under the illusion that her daughter had crashed at Florian’s place that night because they had been to some party.

  Julia headed out to the hallway and saw the door to Anne’s room was open. Her little sister hadn’t properly closed her window. The wind had caused some of her sketches to fall off her desk. They lay scattered around the room. Julia quickly dashed inside to pick them up and put them back.

  The drawings were quite amazing. Anne had made two sketches of trees in the forest, and a portrait of a boy with long, blond hair like Legolas and blue eyes like Thorsten. Anne was engrossed in her own fairytale – that much was clear. Julia forced herself not to steal a curious glance at the other sketchbooks on the desk. She put the papers on the seat of Anne’s desk chair, closed the window and left the bedroom.

  When she stepped into the Ebner family’s front yard, Thorsten’s mother was sitting on the deck, sipping from a glass of wine. “So you’re Anne’s sister,” she said pleasantly. “Nice to meet you.”

  Julia picked another deck chair and gratefully took the can of Coke Mrs. Ebner handed to her. “Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Of course. It’s nice to finally meet face to face! Thorsten has told me a lot about you, actually. Aren’t you the girl who loves going for runs in torrential downpours?”

  Julia laughed. “Well, I can hear I’ve made a nice impression on you.”

  Thorsten stepped onto the deck with a plate of sausages, catching her last words. “I told my mom I admired you a lot.” He grinned playfully.

  Julia blushed. “You did, huh?”

  Thorsten caught her gaze. “Yup,” he simply replied, no longer playful.

  Quickly, she looked away, almost choking on the large swig of Coke she chugged down. Why was he still able to make her nervous? Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  “Anyway, I’m starving,” she announced in the silence that had fallen. “I don’t know why, really. I mean, I’ve been on a picnic with Michael in the park all afternoon, so I should be stuffed.”

  Thorsten smiled. “Did you have a good time?” he asked serenely.

  Julia cringed a bit. Even though he didn’t sound at all jealous, it was still obvious her remark had stung him. “Yes, we did,” she replied. “He’s coming over for dinner at my place tomorrow night.”

  While enjoying the food, Julia told them a bit more about her afternoon in the park and her new job at the bookstore. She actually felt comfortable around Thorsten and his mother. When she got up at seven in order to get Anne, she was almost sorry to leave.

  “Thanks again for inviting me,” she said when Thorsten walked her to the gate. “It was nice to meet your mother.”

  He looked at her and unexpectedly took her hand in his. “It was nice to see you so radiant and happy,” he said earnestly. “That Michael is a really lucky guy, you know.”

  Before she had time to react, he bent forward and kissed her on the cheek before swiveling around and walking back to the table.

  On her way to the bus stop Julia felt a dull headache setting in. It could be due to sitting in the sun all day, but then again, it could also be all of today’s impressions. By the time she rang her grandmother’s doorbell, the pain hadn’t subsided. It had only gotten worse.

  “My sweet girl, you look like you’ve been put through a wringer,” Gran exclaimed when opening the door. “Do you need something for that headache?”

  Of course, Psychic Gran knew exactly what was wrong with her the moment she set eyes on her.

  “Some paracetamol would be nice,” Julia moaned. “Or something else to patch me up. I’m still going out tonight.”

  Gran looked at her doubtfully. “Are you sure? If I were you, I’d make it an early night.”

  Anne appeared in the hallway, holding a half-eaten Popsicle in her hand. “Are we going soon? I still want to go to the woods when we get back.”

  “No, you’ll stay in until mom gets home,” Julia said in a strict voice.

  “But…” her sister started.
<
br />   “No buts. You can go tomorrow. Those trees aren’t going anywhere.”

  Anne glowered at her and stomped away indignantly. Julia sighed, slumping against her grandmother when the old woman put a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t budge, Julia. Anne is reaching puberty and she has a very strong will of her own.” Gran frowned. “I can sense something is bothering her.”

  “Yes, that’s my impression too. She’s running away from upsetting things lately, fleeing into the woods all by herself, writing in her diary a lot. I think she’s beginning to miss Dad more and more.”

  Her grandmother nodded. “Maybe we should talk about this. Why don’t you come over for dinner tomorrow night? I’ll make your favorite pancakes.”

  Julia bit her lip. “I can’t. Uhm... Michael is coming over for dinner tomorrow.”

  “Oh, really?” Gran shot her a curious look.

  “Yes. He turned out to have a job at the bookstore too. He told me… well, he’s in love with me.”

  “How wonderful for you, sweetheart!” Gran gave her a sunny smile. “So it wasn’t as complicated as you thought after all.”

  Actually, it was complicated, but she didn’t have the time or energy to explain it to Gran. Julia rubbed her forehead with a pained expression on her face. Her grandmother opened the top drawer of the hallway cupboard and pulled out a strip of paracetamol. “Stay here. I’ll get you some water.”

  Gran popped into the kitchen and soon returned with a glass of water, Anne following in her wake.

  “Are you going out tonight?” Anne wanted to know.

  Julia made a noncommittal sound. “I’m just going to Axel’s for a few hours. But I think I’ll stay in if this headache doesn’t go away.”

  “Hmm,” Anne muttered, sounding a bit disgruntled over the fact that her big sister wasn’t going out. Julia frowned. Could she be planning on sneaking out to the woods with no one around to pay attention? Perhaps it was better if she stayed at home then – she wasn’t about to let Anne off the hook.

  “Shall I ask Ignaz to give you a ride home?” Gran asked. “That will be quicker than the bus.”

  “Yes, please,” Julia sighed. Gran’s neighbor often helped them out by playing cabbie, and she couldn’t wait to get home and lie down.

  A little later, Julia was slumped into the back seat of Ignaz’s old Volvo. Anne was in the passenger seat chatting animatedly to their grandmother’s neighbor. Her foul mood seemed to have blown over. She hadn’t mentioned the woods again, but Julia was determined not to let Anne out of her sight. Besides, she really didn’t want to go out anymore – so far, the paracetamol hadn’t worked at all.

  “Hey, look, Sabine is having a barbecue,” Anne enthused when Ignaz dropped them off at their doorstep. “Shall we go and say hi?”

  “Go ahead,” Julia said. “I was there before picking you up. Why don’t you ask them if they have any sausages left for you, and I’ll call Gaby to cancel our date.”

  As Anne dashed into the neighboring yard, Julia shambled inside. “Hey, Gab,” she said when her friend answered the phone. “I have a killer headache. I won’t be able to make it tonight.”

  There was a pause at the other end of the line. “But…” Gaby started, her voice sounding a little strangled. “I’m already on my way!”

  “Well, good. Say hi to Axel for me. I’m sure you guys will have a good time.”

  “But he invited us both. Please don’t ditch on me. Maybe he doesn’t want to see just me.”

  Julia snickered. “Don’t be an idiot. Why wouldn’t he want to see just you? He asked you out to dinner, for crying out loud. Just you.”

  “Movie night is totally different, though,” Gaby persisted.

  “Oh, for the love of Pete. I can’t deal with this right now. My head is about to explode, and you’re not helping. You’re a big girl and I’m sure you’ll survive this night without me just fine.”

  Gaby swallowed audibly. “Well. Okay then. Talk to you later.”

  “Call me.” Julia hung up and flopped down on her bed. Maybe her headache was a blessing in disguise: this would give Axel the opportunity to have Gaby all to himself for the night. She could only hope he’d use this golden opportunity to his advantage – if her best friend and her cousin were going to be this twitchy around each other for much longer, it would drive her stark raving mad.

  Julia pushed herself off the bed and looked out the window. Anne was sitting at the neighbors’ yard table having a hotdog. Good – she was being taken care of. Mom would be home in less than thirty minutes, so she could hit the sack at the same time Anne went to bed. This day, wonderful as it might have been, had left her drained.

  Just as she was dozing off, her sister’s voice startled her from sleep. “Hey. Have you been in my room?”

  Julia sat upright, blinking at Anne holding a pile of paper in one hand. Her little sister looked upset.

  “Oh. Yes, I have. I picked up some of your drawings. The wind had blown them off your desk. Why?”

  Anne bit her lip and gave a tiny shrug. “Nothing. I just thought you’d secretly taken a peek.”

  “Why would I do that?”

  Anne didn’t answer the question. Instead, she clutched the drawings close to her chest. “You can’t look at them,” she said nervously. “They’re secret.”

  Her sister’s words stung more than Julia cared to admit. Maybe the times sharing stories and fairytales with Anne about the forest so close to their house were gone – a thing of the past. Anne wanted to keep her stories to herself now.

  “Well, I didn’t see anything world-shattering,” she replied, smiling weakly. “Just put them away properly in the future.”

  At that moment, Julia heard the front door slamming shut downstairs. “I’m home!” their mother called up at them.

  “I’m going to say hi,” Anne said, padding out of the room still clutching her drawings. Julia decided to put on her pajamas and crawl into bed. She was dead beat. By the time her mother popped in to say hello, she had almost fallen asleep again.

  “Hey, Mom,” she mumbled blearily. “Michael’s having dinner here tomorrow.”

  Ms. Gunther cocked her head. “Michael Kolbe? That boy from the woods?”

  “Yeah, that one. He’s one of my colleagues.”

  “Ah.” Her mother looked at her expectantly, a smile tugging at her lips. Slowly, Julia’s face flooded with color.

  “We… we went out today,” she floundered. “To the park. And it was fun. And so I thought it’d be nice to invite him for dinner.”

  “If you’re cooking.” Her mom winked. “How about pizza? I’m going to pay aunt Verena a visit during the day, so I won’t have time to prepare anything, but you’re not working tomorrow, are you?”

  Julia smiled. “Leave everything to me.”

  “Well, why don’t you get some beauty sleep now? You have an exciting day ahead.” Her mother kissed her on the forehead and walked out the door humming a happy tune.

  With a faint smile still on her lips, Julia switched off her bedside light and floated off to sleep in mere seconds.

  10.

  She was walking in the forest. The trees around her were giants looming over her, and just for a moment, Julia felt as if she herself had shrunk in size. Somewhere, far away in the distance, music resounded in the woods.

  ‘Have you seen him?’ the trees whispered to her, their ancient voices like leaves in the breeze.

  ‘Who?’ she asked without speaking.

  ‘The boy from the woods,’ the trees replied.

  ‘Who? Michael?’

  ‘His heart longed to be with you.’

  The music grew louder. A moan escaped from Julia’s throat when she slowly woke up and realized her phone was ringing.

  Groping around blearily, she found her bag under the bed and rummaged around to find her cell phone and answer it.

  “Hey Flo,” she muttered. “Thanks for your wake-up call.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” Florian yelped. “I t
hought you’d be awake by now. It’s eleven o’clock, you know.”

  “Really?” Julia sat up a bit straighter, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Geez, I’ve slept the whole morning through. And I went to bed at nine yesterday! Strange.”

  “Well, I bet you feel very rested then. Would you like to join me this afternoon when I go to Moritz’s band practice? I’m going to be his Yoko for the very first time.”

  “Sounds great! What time are you going?”

  “Around four.”

  “Oh, uhm, no. That’s inconvenient for me, really. Michael’s coming over for dinner tonight.”

  Florian started to chuckle. “Ah, yes! Axel told me. You went on a date with him yesterday, right?”

  “Yeah, and it was awesome.”

  “I’m really happy for you,” Florian said warmly. “Apparently, that blow to the head did wonders for his social skills.”

  “Yeah, it did. And don’t ask me why, because I’m not asking any more questions myself. I’m just so sickeningly happy that I don’t care.”

  “Well, enjoy the rest of your day, Julius. I’m going to call the others. Axel might join me. Do you know whether Gaby and Tamara are working today?”

  “Haven’t got a clue. Let’s all meet up together some evening this week, okay? Say hi to Moritz from me.”

  Julia rung off. The dream images were still lingering in her mind. The trees talking to her, telling her that Michael had longed for her… was it possible the forest sprites had really known what he felt for her? Was this their way of telling her? She couldn’t escape the feeling that the dream had been a message. It had felt so life-like, despite the fact that it contained very strange elements.

  At that moment, her mom pushed open the bedroom door. “Hey, sleepy head! Finally back in the land of the living? There are some fresh breadrolls downstairs if you want.”

  “Great, Mom, thanks!”

  “You’re welcome. I have to go now, but I’ll be back around five. Anne is going on a playdate with Sabine, so you’ll have the house to yourself. Why don’t you take your time to lay the table with our velvet tablecloth and take out the candlesticks, honey?”