Willow (Blood Vine Series)

by Amy Richie

  Rueben obliged and I soon fell into pace with Rodney as we made our way into the school. “I’ll see you inside,” Rueben called. He smacked his knuckles on the roof of the car.

  I turned to smile my agreement but something in his eyes made my smile freeze in place. “What is it?” I whispered to Rodney.

  “Listen,” he hissed.

  “I don’t hear anything.” I expected screaming or growling or both but there were only the normal sounds of high school.

  A small group next to the door was hurrying to copy each other’s homework before the first bell. There were a couple of boys, wearing spiked belts, that were smoking more than cigarettes in the car next to us. Rodney was likely friends with the pair but that wasn’t what made Rueben look at me like that.

  I pushed my senses out further. I usually kept the sounds of other people’s conversations blocked out, especially at school, but I needed to know. Snatches of conversation confused me at first but the longer I listened, the heavier my stomach became.

  “Did you see it?”

  “ … huge grey wolf … ”

  “My dad saw it, I didn’t … but he looked scared.”

  “It wasn’t a normal wolf.”

  “You know what Carlie said at the Lounge the other night. Maybe she was right.”

  “Werewolf.”

  “Werewolves in Grover … ”

  “Werewolf.”

  “Who are they talking about?” I hissed. Rueben had come to stand close to me.

  “Was it Gage?” he asked.

  “They said it was grey … ”

  “It’s got to be Steven,” Rodney spoke my thoughts out loud.

  “We should go to class,” I murmured.

  The boys didn’t argue. For once, Rueben looked as worried as I felt. Well maybe not that bad. My stomach twisted violently when I bent to get my books from my locker.

  “See you at lunch,” Rueben half-heartedly said goodbye at my locker before hurrying away.

  Was he going to talk to Steven? My heart sped up. I should be present when the two of them talked. I suddenly felt oddly calm. I felt the air whoosh in and out of my ears and I heard the soft murmurs of gossip all around me peppered with the fear of giant wolves. I didn’t feel panicked, though.

  I set my lips in a straight line and hurried to catch up with Rueben. We’d have to move this time, I realized with finality. I had to get the boys away from all this before the council decided I couldn’t handle things.

  I found them all huddled in a circle in a back hallway of the dungeon. Rueben was glaring at Steven but Steven wasn’t cowering down.

  “Are we having a party back here?’ I asked cheerfully. I stepped into the middle of their circle and everything clicked into place. “Why wasn’t I invited?”

  “It was Steven,” Colby confirmed what I had already figured out.

  I raised an eyebrow at Steven, who managed to look ashamed and defiant at the same time. “Decided to go on a morning run?”

  He jutted his chin out in the aftermath of Rueben’s warning growl. “I was running late,” he said tightly.

  “You should have just taken the tardy,” I told him with a hint of a smile still tugging at my lips.

  “We’re supposed to stay in character; I didn’t want to be late.”

  “Or,” I widened my eyes on the word, “you were feeling cocky and decided to see how far you can push your new morphing abilities.” He looked away quickly.

  “I was … late,” he said, sticking to his story but he had lost most of his defiance.

  There was a small moment of complete silence then Colby asked me, “So what do we do now?”

  Five pairs of eyes swung around to rest on me. “We move on,” I told them in a clear voice. My tone left no room for argument. I had made my decision. It was easier to come to than I would have thought.

  “Just like that?”

  “We’ll send Jed and Rodney ahead of us to secure a place.” I looked at Rodney. There was a strange sort of excitement there. He nodded.

  “When?”

  “In a few days. I’ll talk to Gage and see where would be the best place for us to go. I want to stick with a small … ”

  Suddenly the space in the small hallway became very crowded. Someone behind us cleared their throat quietly. I turned slowly, already knowing who I would see.

  “You coming to class?” Carlie asked in a small voice. It was obvious from her expression that she had heard most of our conversation.

  “Yeah,” I stepped out of the center of our makeshift circle. “Of course.”

  “We’re all late.”

  “You shouldn’t have waited,” I laughed nervously. Moving out of Grover would get rid of Carlie. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed by that.

  “I was worried.” She shrugged but her green eyes were entirely too bright.

  “I’ll see you guys at lunch,” I said by way of dismissal. Like a wave of motion, they all shot off in different directions.

  “Willow?” Her eyes moved to take in the gaudy blue and yellow tiles of the floor.

  Like a sore tooth that you couldn’t help wiggling with your tongue, I couldn’t stop myself from questioning Carlie; even if I didn’t want to know. “What’s wrong?” My concern invited her to say what was on her mind.

  “Are you guys moving?”

  “We’re um … we’re thinking about it.” It was my turn to study the tiles. The one I was standing on had a deep crack running through the middle. I wondered absently what had happened to it.

  “Why?”

  I looked up sharply. “Haven’t you heard the rumors?”

  She shook her head, looking puzzled. “I was running late this morning. I haven’t talked to anyone.”

  “Well, let’s just say you weren’t the only one running late.” I tried hard not to smile, so it might have looked more like a grimace.

  “I have no idea what that means.”

  She looked so serious, I couldn’t choke down my laughter. Soon we were both laughing, the sound echoing down the empty hallway. She put her arm through mine and dragged me along the hall, still laughing.

  “Where are we going?” I gasped.

  “To class,” she hissed, pressing her finger to her lips.

  “Class?” My nose wrinkled in distaste. Forty minutes of Elizabeth Bennett. We had the same last name, but that’s where it ended. I couldn’t see how anyone thought her story was interesting. And what did she see in Mr. Darcy anyways? He sounded like a complete …

  “Willow?” Carlie stopped abruptly and turned to face me. I jerked myself back to stop from running into her.

  “What?”

  “You won’t leave tonight, will you?”

  “No,” I answered truthfully. “I don’t know when, but not tonight.”

  “So I still have time to talk you out of it,” she grinned.

  “Carlie … ”

  She didn’t wait for me to say anything though. She whirled back around and pulled me along to English.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  BFF’s

  At lunch that day, I followed Carlie to an empty table with a million butterflies swarming around inside my stomach. It was ridiculous to be so nervous, I mean I had been alone with her since she had seen … everything. But then I had thought she wouldn’t say anything to anyone and now the rumors were starting to get loud. Obviously she had to have talked to someone. Should I ask her about it?

  I sat down awkwardly in front of her, my mind racing over the possibilities of what she would want to talk about. I remembered my first day of school here. Carlie had hated me then, she had told me to stay away from Rueben. Not much time had passed since then, and yet everything was different now. And the worst part was, she knew about it all.

  She smiled at me and she didn’t appear nervous at all. My lips twitched up into a half smile, but I knew it didn’t meet my eyes. I picked my fork up and stabbed the part of my lunch that was supposed to be meat, half expecti
ng it to poke back at me. “I had fun at the Lounge last night,” I began in as cheerful of a voice as I could muster.

  “It’s ok,” she shrugged. “We don’t have a lot of options here in the big town of Grover.”

  “Yeah, guess not,” I readily agreed. My mind frantically searched for another safe topic when that didn’t have the desired effect. If I had said that to Lindsey and Aubrey I wouldn’t have had to worry about talking for the rest of lunch. “This doesn’t look very edible,” I poked the meat again.

  “I think it’s a taco,” she suggested helpfully.

  “Really?” I turned my attention more fully onto the mystery meat.

  “A processed taco,” she giggled.

  “Mmm.”

  “You probably like your meat a little more raw, huh?”

  I dropped my fork with a clatter onto the tray. Did she really just say that out loud? “Um … ”

  “Do I make you nervous?”

  Yes! The way she looked at me, all eager and shining. The casual way she mentioned the fact that I was a monster in my free time. Why did this not bother her? “A little,” I admitted.

  A loud group of high school boys passed our table, hooting and hollering all the way to their own table. Carlie rolled her eyes as one of them plopped down beside her just so he could make some rude comment about what she was doing that night. “Not you,” she replied back with a tilt of her chin.

  “You back with Rueben Massie?” he asked with a grin.

  “Maybe,” she shrugged.

  “Heard you were.” He winked and looked over at me. “Sorry, Willow.”

  “It’s … ” I blushed and forced myself to stay seated and not run out of the crowded cafeteria crying like a little kid. “I’m not … ”

  He winked again, this time at me, and sauntered over to join his friends. He said something in a low voice to one of the others, which caused a fresh round of catcalls and elbow jabs. “Boys,” Carlie rolled her eyes.

  “Don’t I know it,” I mumbled.

  Carlie sat staring at me for a few awkward moments. She didn’t even bother to pretend interest in her lunch like I was. “I heard,” I looked up at her and she leaned close to me so she could lower her voice, “the rumors, I mean. The big grey wolf that was spotted.”

  “Yeah, I heard that, too.” I grinned a little despite the seriousness of the situation.

  She sat back, grinning along with me. “A couple of freshmen girls wanted me to go looking for them later tonight.”

  “Them?” She couldn’t possibly mean the werewolves.

  “The werewolves,” she chuckled.

  I felt my eyes bulging dangerously. “What did you say?” I threw my fork back down on my plate.

  She snorted, somehow still managing to sound like a girl, “No, of course.”

  I sat back and crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t get it. In all the time I was with Bella nothing like this ever happened.”

  “Never? No one ever figured out what you were?”

  “We were very careful.”

  “How … ” She hesitated with her question; I braced myself. “How old are you, Willow?”

  “Seventeen,” I answered without any hesitation.

  “My father says werewolves live … forever.”

  I cringed at the free way she said it. “You probably shouldn’t … you know … talk about them so freely.”

  Her eyes skidded around the crowded lunchroom. “No one is listening to us.”

  “It doesn’t mean they can’t hear.”

  She ducked her head with a smile. “So what do you want to talk about then?”

  “Um … ”

  “You have your eye on any of the boys here?” She took an innocent sip of her apple juice.

  I laughed out loud, making a few people near us pause in their own conversations to look our way. “No,” I got out around my laughter.

  “Are you sure? Because I think Lucas Roberts is giving you the eye.”

  “Oh! I can’t believe you said that.” My face turned bright red, making us both laugh all over again.

  “Either that or his milk has gone sour.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  She shook her head quickly, her dark brown hair bouncing on her shoulders. “Not what I meant,” she squealed.

  Warmth started low in my stomach. It took me a few minutes to recognize it for what it was. I was enjoying myself. It had been a long … I had never really felt like this with anyone. Is this what having a friend felt like? Sort of silly and carefree? Like the things that were really important didn’t matter as much.

  We were preparing to leave town because one of us had been spotted. I should be freaking out, but I wasn’t. Was it Carlie or was I just becoming what Noreen had always wanted me to be? A leader.

  I swallowed over the nervous lump that had formed in the back of my throat. It was too late in the game to become friends with Carlie, I knew that, but I felt a pang of regret sharply in my chest.

  “I know,” I waved away her concerned look with a not so natural chuckle. “It probably was just the milk.”

  She rolled her bright green eyes. “Wanna skip the rest of today?” she unexpectedly suggested.

  “Skip?” My eyes widened in mock horror.

  “Yeah. The act in which rebellious teenagers don’t go to class.”

  “And where would said rebellious teens go?”

  “We should go to my house,” she declared firmly. “I want to talk to you about all this.” She waved vaguely to her uneaten lunch but I had a feeling she wasn’t talking about over processed tacos.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

  She sat back, blinking rapidly. She obviously hadn’t expected such an easy agreement. “Ok.” A slow smile spread along her face.

  Maybe it was irresponsible to get chummy with Carlie now, after everything that had happened, but Gage did want me to find out what she knew and this might be my best chance.

  “I’ll have to go tell the boys.” I pushed my tray away and stood up quickly, not giving myself time to change my mind.

  “I’ll meet you out in the parking lot.” She stood up with me.

  I scooped my tray up with one hand. “Will the teachers just let us leave?”

  “No.” She scrunched her nose up. “But if we hurry up and leave before lunch is over they’ll never know.”

  “Right.” I turned abruptly and deposited my tray on the way out of the cafeteria. I expected everyone to stare at me as I left, knowing somehow that I was planning to break a school rule, but no one paid any attention to me.

  I hurried through the hall as fast as I could, self-conscious the entire time. Just when I was considering morphing in the girl’s bathroom I saw Rueben ducking into a classroom. He was alone but I knew without any doubt that the others were already inside waiting for him. Why were they being so careless? I half ran to the door he had disappeared through.

  As expected, five pairs of eyes met mine when I got inside. “What are you guys doing in here?”

  “Having a meeting,” Rueben said angrily. He was breathing hard at Steven.

  “Rueben,” I put one hand flat in his hard chest. The heat rippling off of him surprised me. “You need to get a hold of yourself,” I scolded.

  “I have to move because of this idiot.” His face creased with fury.

  “We,” I took a deep shaking breath through my nose. “We are long overdue to move.”

  “I like it here,” Colby complained in a half whine.

  “I do too.” I sat down beside him so I could put a hand on his slumped shoulders.

  “Let’s just stay,” Rodney suggested. “Steven can stay home with Jed.”

  “No one even knows … ” Steven began but was cut off by a low growl.

  “We’re moving,” I said firmly. “Soon.”

  “What about Carlie?” Rueben asked without looking at me.

  “What about her?”

  “We saw you talking to her. You just going
to leave her?”

  Comprehension started to dawn on me. So Carlie was the reason Rueben didn’t want to leave Grover. Another thing to add to my growing list of reasons we HAD to go. “It’s not safe … you know, having relationships with humans.”

  “She’s your friend.”

  “She’s not my friend,” I denied quickly. “I like her, but … ” I shrugged. Maybe going with Carlie now wasn’t such a good idea.

  “So is this a lesson we all need to learn?” His voice grew bitter. “Don’t get too attached.”

  “That’s rule number one.” I stood up with a heavy sigh. “I’m going to skip the rest of the day.” I made my way back to the door. “You guys need to split this up. We’re going. Nothing left to discuss.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Carlie’s.” I tried not to sound guilty.

  “What?”

  “Gage asked me to talk to her.” I put my hand on the doorknob, prepared to bolt. “It’s now or never.”

  

  Carlie was standing beside her car, bouncing on the balls of her feet when I made my way out to the parking lot. “It took you long enough,” she said in a low voice.

  “I … sorry.”

  We both slid into her car and ducked low as if we were a pair of criminals about to go on another crime spree. She started her car and we both held our breath, watching for any sign of angry teachers. We didn’t breathe properly again until we were out on the road.

  “No one will even notice that we left,” Carlie said in an unconvincing tone.

  “Not until the bell rings.”

  “Yeah.”

  My lips twitched but I refrained from laughing just yet. We needed to be a safer distance away first. “We’ll be fine.”

  “It’s not like they send people to jail for skipping a few classes.”

  “No.” I laughed nervously.

  “Should we go back?” My shoulders tensed slightly. “No, we’ll be fine,” she answered herself before I could.

  “Will your dad be at work?”

  “He works from home. Freelance writer.”

  “Oh,” I nodded slowly. “Will he be mad if we come home?”

  “No, he doesn’t care about things like that.”

  “Does he know,” I stumbled awkwardly over my inquiry, “does he know everything that you do?”