by Reed, Zoe
Kyla nodded and, trying to include Luna in the conversation, looked in her direction. “Do you guys do that a lot on the weekends?”
Luna shrugged and laughed. “There’s not much else to do on the weekends.”
“I’ve been figuring that out pretty quickly,” Kyla agreed. I hadn't seen her talk to many other people, but while she was talking to Luna I could stare at her smile without her noticing. At least until she turned and caught me staring. “How long are you guys staying today?”
“Who knows?” I shrugged, cheeks burning redder as I hoped she didn't know how long I’d been looking at her.
Then Kyla inched closer to me, and it was obvious that she wanted out, but I was so shocked by it I stared at her wide-eyed for a couple seconds. “Sorry,” she said with a giggle. “I’m going to go to the bathroom.”
I did my best to nod casually as I got up to let her out, and then sat back down with a sigh.
“Jesus,” Luna snorted with laughter as soon as Kyla was out of earshot. “You’re a fucking mess.”
“It’s not funny,” I scowled. “And for the sake of your shins, you better not make it worse.”
She smirked, raising an eyebrow teasingly. “How would I make it worse?” To put any ideas out of her head, I kicked her again. “Ow!” She growled, leaning forward against the table to rub her leg. “Do that again and I will make it worse. Much worse.”
Before I could retaliate with a threat, Kyla returned. While scooting in next to me she covered her face with her arm and coughed.
“You’re still sick?” I asked, shocked. Werewolves never got sick so I didn't know how long it was supposed to last, but I’d thought Kyla would have been completely better by now.
She shrugged nonchalantly and took a sip of her lemonade. “Eh, I’m almost better. I hardly feel it now.”
I was about to compliment her on being a trooper, but something made me freeze. I noticed Luna's nostrils flare and her body go frigid, and seconds later I knew exactly what caused it. The scent of a werewolf, slight and quick, blown in from the outside by the opening of the door.
I sat there, unsure of what to do with Kyla sitting there. Of course the minute Kyla arrived would be when the mutts finally turned up. Luckily, sensing my dilemma, Luna spoke up.
“I’ve got to make a phone call.” With that she slid out of the booth and followed the scent outside.
“How’s your weekend been so far? Why’d you hang up on me the other night?” Kyla asked, and remained looking at me until I tore my eyes off of Luna.
Even though I looked at her, I made sure I could see Luna out of the corner of my eye in case the mutt was still outside. It wasn't the same scent as the one at the school, and it didn't bear any resemblance to it the way biologically related scents would. It had to be Charles.
“Yeah, sorry about that.” I paused for a second, trying to come up with an excuse. “Um, Luna put liquid soap in the dishwasher. Bubbles everywhere,” I lied, pleased when Kyla laughed. Luna followed the scent into the middle of the street and stopped, looking up and down the empty road. From that I knew they'd driven away and there was no way to follow. “By the time we cleaned it up it was late,” I continued, still keeping my sister in my peripheral vision, “And I wasn’t sure I should call you back.”
Luna came back in but didn't sit down. “I just talked to Dad, he needs us at home.”
Even though I feigned disappointment, I really did wish I could spend more time with Kyla. We left a five dollar bill on the table for our drinks and as composed as possible escorted Kyla to her car. I left her with more than enough apologies and a promise that we’d eat lunch together the next day to make it up to her.
“They were in a car?” I asked as Luna and I nearly jogged back to the grocery store. She had already called Niko to have them meet us there.
“They had to have driven. The trail stopped cold at the middle of the street.” Luna nodded as we turned down another road.
I had a clammy, heavy feeling in my chest. Something else wasn't right. We hadn’t crossed that trail on accident and Charles didn’t mess up for us to catch his scent. We were being messed with.
“Camille, I don’t think they’ve just been watching Kyla,” Luna said as if she’d been reading my mind.
I nodded in agreement. “I know. They’ve been watching all of us.”
I walked into my third period English class and shivered as the blast of cold air hit me. Summer was long gone and I didn’t have the slightest clue why the school felt it was necessary to still have the air conditioner on. As I made my way to my seat on the opposite side of the room I scanned the agenda that the teacher put up on the board every day, and smiled when I saw we’d be doing worksheets the whole period. Worksheets meant the teacher didn’t really pay attention to us, which meant we would get to goof off and talk for the entire class.
With a smile at my friend who sat in the desk next to mine, I sat down and pulled out my literature book and a pen. Moments later the bell rang and the teacher strode into the room, set her bag on her desk, and busily pulled out the day’s worksheets. Without saying anything she passed out the papers and sat back at her desk, pulling out another stack that she immediately began grading.
After letting a minute pass to make sure the teacher was fixed on her work my friend, Megan, turned to me. “Hey, how was your weekend?”
The volume in the room began to pick up as more students chatted, so I gave my answer in a louder tone than she had used. “It was pretty good. I didn’t really do anything too exciting though. How about you?”
Megan smiled and turned toward me, clearly excited that I had asked. “It was great! I went to a party on Saturday night at Sarah’s house, she said she knows you, and I convinced her to have another one next weekend. But anyway, it was so fun.” Megan paused but looked like she had more to say, so I nodded with a smile. “You’re friends with Camille right?” I nodded again. “At the party I danced with her brother, Niko. He’s so cute. I was going to see if, since you’re friends with her, you could ask her if he said anything about me.”
I held back a laugh. Megan was obviously serious, but I didn’t have to know Niko too personally to know that he wasn’t the type to take girls seriously. However, I didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news, so hoping that Megan would soon forget about it, I agreed. “Sure, I can ask for you.”
“You’re the best.” She grinned thankfully and then paused like she wanted to ask something else. “Are you pretty close with Camille?”
With an upward glance from the teacher the room quieted slightly, so I whispered, “Yeah, I guess you could say we’re pretty close. How come?”
“It’s just so weird,” Megan whispered back, unashamed at how her comment could be taken offensively. I didn’t assume she’d meant it that way though, so I waited for her to continue. “Well, I just mean that I’ve never even seen her talk to anyone unless she really has to.” After another thoughtful pause Megan said, almost to herself, “I wonder if she likes you.”
I couldn’t help but be surprised at the comment. When Camille had told me that she liked girls it didn’t seem like she was entirely open about it. It made me wonder how Megan had suspicions about it. “What do you mean?”
“Well I heard she likes girls,” she answered matter-of-factly. “But I guess you’d know better than anyone since she actually talks to you.” Another pause, and after a few moments I realized that was her way of asking me if it was true.
“It’s not really my place to say,” I told her shyly. Curiosity took hold of me though, and I had to find out how she knew. “What makes you think that she does?”
Megan took a breath so that she could explain in one wind. “I have a friend that goes to our rival school who said she knows a girl that had a thing with Camille.”
I couldn’t deny that Megan’s explanation left me slightly confused. Whenever Camille and me talked, she never mentioned her past relationships. It was stupid of me to assume that Ca
mille didn’t have a history, but a part of me was disappointed at hearing it from someone else.
I satisfied myself with the explanation that it couldn’t have been serious or Camille would have mentioned it. “Oh, I don’t know, she never said anything about it.”
Megan must have seen the disappointment on my face, because she apologized without hesitating. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up if the two of you…”
I laughed and shook my head at the assumption. “No, no. We’re not. I have a boyfriend.”
“Oh, sorry!” she apologized again, cheeks slightly blushing at the mistake of her assumption. “Is your boyfriend back in Texas?”
“That’s okay. Yeah, his name is Aaron,” I answered, exaggerating that it was okay that she made the mistake so she didn’t feel uncomfortable. Though I couldn’t help but wonder why people kept assuming. “We haven’t been together for too long, but we’re going to try the long distance thing.”
A nod of understanding showed Megan’s sympathy on the subject. “Well, I wish you guys luck.”
“Thanks.” I smiled genuinely and sat there thinking to myself as Megan turned to her worksheet. She seemed to know things about Camille that I didn’t. I knew Camille wasn’t social, but the fact that other people found it strange filled me with the need to ask. “Why’s it so weird that Camille talks to me?”
Megan finished whatever sentence she’d been writing on her worksheet before turning back to face me, and after turning she took another moment to think before answering. “Like I said she doesn’t really talk to anyone unless she has to. Her whole family seems to keep to themselves a lot, like they don’t want anyone getting too close, but I’ve even seen her sister and Niko hang out with people more than she does.”
So I’m not the only one who thinks she’s got secrets, I thought to myself, and wanting to hear more on the subject, asked, “Why do you think they’re like that?”
“I heard that they have some weird, cult-like religion,” Megan speculated with a shrug. “Like voodoo or something.”
The laugh that statement received earned me a few questioning glances, but the idea of Camille and her siblings being a part anything that extreme was too far-fetched to be taken seriously. My own theory that Camille was a werewolf was much more entertaining to me than the Zade family being radical religionists.
“I can safely say that that rumor isn’t true.” I made sure to put the thought out of Megan’s head so it wouldn’t spread any further.
She shrugged apathetically, but smiled at the reassurance the rumor was false. “I’m just saying what I heard.”
With a finishing nod I let Megan return to her worksheet and did the same, reading the questions and turning to my literature book for the answers. Once I became engrossed in the assignment the period seemed to fly by, and the bell for fourth period pierced my concentration, making me jump a little. With a goodbye smile at my friend I left for chemistry, pushing my way through the crowded halls until I reached the door.
Jonathan could be seen in the hallway through the spaces between other students, patting the back of the same guy I’d seen him exchanging with before. Not wanting to seem like I was spying on him, I ducked into the class before he spotted me watching. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him stop at the door, eyes scanning the room, and it must’ve been spotting me that made him continue to our table and sit across from me.
“Hey, Kyla.” He dropped his backpack on the floor with a smile and brushed his hair out of his eyes so he could see me.
“Hey,” I smiled in return, and thought about something to talk about while I pulled my workbook out of my own backpack. “How was third period?”
“I didn’t go,” he stated confidently while he followed my lead and reached into his bag. After pulling out his book he watched me carefully as he made his next statement. “I only came to chem because I wanted to see you.”
Ah, crap, was my first thought as I looked away awkwardly. I was always flattered when a guy was obviously interested in me, but when I wasn’t interested in return I hated having to feel bad for turning them down. Under the table I crossed my fingers that Jonathan would take my lack of response as the let down. Before things had a chance to grow increasingly awkward, the teacher walked in and began to explain the experiment we’d be doing because it was supposed to be extra difficult. It took about ten minutes, but after that he turned the class loose and Jonathan began grabbing instruments like he’d done the experiment before.
“You’re really good at chemistry, huh?” My question elicited a grin from a proud Jonathan, who began setting up beakers without glancing at the directions.
With a nod he paused to look up at me and answer. “You could say that. I love puzzles, especially ones like chemistry when there are always new things to discover.”
“I see.” I couldn’t see the allure in chemistry that he obviously did, but I admired his passion for it. “I wish I liked it as much as you did, I might actually stop having nightmares about this class.”
“No need for nightmares.” The apparent chemistry genius laughed and shrugged. “Never fear, Jonathan is here.”
I couldn’t help but giggle and throw up my hands in gratitude. “Thank God!”
He shook his head in amusement and continued with the experiment. After a couple minutes of instructing and letting me copy his answers he stopped again, and watched me until I met his gaze.
“So look, I don’t do this a lot,” with the pause my heart instantly dropped and my cheeks grew red. I knew the question that was coming and how awkward things would be after I turned him down. “But I was wondering if you’d want to go out with me Friday night?”
“I’m flattered, Jonathan, really, but um,” my cheeks grew a deeper crimson and I hoped nobody at the tables around us was listening and getting a laugh out of how uncomfortable the situation was. “I’m actually seeing someone already.”
“Oh, you have a boyfriend?” Jonathan said slowly, and when I nodded his eyes fell to the table. A second later he recovered and smiled at me. “Well, if things ever change, I’ll still be here.”
It was hard not to admire how easily he bounced back, and I was definitely grateful that he didn’t seem bitter about it. After that he got up to take his quick ‘bathroom’ break, and once he came back we continued working on the experiment. We finished out the rest of the period as we had before he’d asked me out. While I could still feel his eyes watching me every once in a while, I was relieved that at least now I didn’t have to worry about him pursuing me further.
When the bell for lunch finally rang at the end of the period, I gathered up my stuff and followed behind Jonathan toward the door. Upon exiting I saw him make for the nearest exit, and realized he had been completely serious about only coming to chemistry. I shook my head and smiled pitifully at the lengths teenage boys would go for a girl, and after stopping to spray my favorite perfume on I made my way to the cafeteria, planning to tell Camille about my awkward experience. However, when I reached the cafeteria and had made my way to Camille’s usual table, only Luna and Niko were sitting there.
“Hey guys,” I said and stopped, still standing near the table while their eyes, which had been wandering around the cafeteria, finally landed on me and they smiled. “Where’s Camille?”
Luna swallowed the large amount of food she had in her mouth before answering. “She couldn’t come today. She had some important stuff she had to do in town.”
“Oh.” The disappointment in my voice was obvious, and while I was hoping that Luna and Niko would pick up on it and invite me to sit with them, their eyes returned to searching the lunchroom. For what, I couldn’t be sure. “Okay, see you guys.” They were so distracted they didn’t even seem to hear me as I turned and searched for someone else to sit with.
Sarah could be spotted sitting on the other side of the room with Megan and a couple other girls I’d been introduced to the week before, and so I wistfully made my way over. Nearly
every day I had seen Camille, and now that without warning she hadn’t shown up, I couldn’t help but feel severely disappointed. What kind of stuff in town would be so important that she would have to miss school?
All around smiles greeted me as I sat down at the table, but all I could think about was how boring the rest of the day was going to be. All the fun of the day relied on seeing Camille at lunch and during sixth period. Aside from boredom I’d been hoping to ask her about the girl that Megan had mentioned her being with, but that hope was shattered and now I’d have to deal with the curiosity and wait. It seemed like ever since I met Camille I’d been waiting to find things out about her. I supposed I could wait a little longer.
The Pack member, Julian, arrived on Wednesday that same week. He was a tall Native American man, probably the same age as my father if not a year or two older, who was as serious as they came. He and my family went through the routine of patrolling the town the entire week without turning up much of anything. We took shifts day and night, searching out every nook and cranny of Tranquility. I’d been allowed to bring Kyla along on a couple of my daily patrols under the façade that we were simply exploring town.
Niko had been able to follow Jonathan’s scent around the school and figure out a couple of the classes he had, but every route except one hadn’t been used in so long that his trail was almost gone. Good thing about this, the mutts were lying low and hopefully remained inactive for the moment. Bad thing, all werewolves need to Change sometime. Not finding their scent anywhere near town meant that they weren’t staying in town. In fact, they had to be staying quite a ways out of it.
After not finding anything the previous week and going through this week of the same disappointment, when I saw Niko practically running to our table during lunch on Thursday, I started to get excited.
“So,” Niko said grinning, and practically threw his tray of food onto the table and sat down. “I caught scent of our friend. Fresh scent. Like, still in the air fresh. Looks like he’s back from vacation.”