My heart still racing I checked all the windows to make sure they were locked and then walked slowly over to the sliding door, opening my basement door on the way, another possible escape route. We had a ranch house with a full walk-out basement that had full windows and doors on the backside of the house. In the front middle was a living and dining room, behind them lie the kitchen and eating area connected by a short hallway and a door to the basement. Off the eating area, where I am now, is a sliding door connecting a two story deck. Below the deck is a storage shed. The kids had rooms on the right side of the house and our parents the left.
I felt my eyes pool up, stop it don't cry no one was here to attack me. I am just hearing things. I gathered up a bit of courage and realized the chances of another attack actually happening to me must be slim to none. I have never heard of a girl getting sexually assaulted or attacked 2-3 times a year.
Once I got myself to imagine that I just heard a stray cat, or Rocky the Raccoon I felt better. We have a raccoon that comes up to our back door once in a while and we feed it by hand. We obviously named him “Rocky the Raccoon” but once it started knocking over our outside garbage cans digging for food and bringing friends, making a huge mess we stopped feeding him and eventually they stopped coming around. I inched toward the sliding door to peek out. I heard something again. I flipped the outside light on and peeked out the sliding door and saw a raccoon flinching on the porch on its side, not quite dead yet.
I heard another noise, screamed and held the pan over my head, my heart leapt so hard it hurt. I saw a shadow of headlights flash threw the house. My dad must be home. I ran to the front window and saw him pulling down the driveway and then went and looked out the kitchen window. I didn’t see anyone.
I ran down the stairs and told my dad about the noises and the raccoon. He told Tori and I not to move and went out the garage door. I saw him grab a bat and sneak out of the garage. We were standing in the hall not making a peep or moving an inch, I was still holding the pan when my mom pulled in the garage. She came in the door holding two bags said “I got ice cream!” Kit and Tori ran upstairs and she followed. My dad came in “Yep a dead raccoon, nothing to worry about.” he said and rubbed my head. And that was it, no one else thought another thing about it.
I went in my room to do my homework and started thinking about my date with Cale, I got really worried about our first date – I imagined going out to dinner, after he tried kissing me and I tell him no, WHAM! He's on top of me and I'm struggling to get away and then I'm the crazy girl crying again. Same vision I always have where I cannot get out from under him and I can't scream. My sister startled me and asked if I was okay, “Yeah, I'm fine” I said sarcastically. “Just asking!” she replied in the same tone, total sister 'I don't care' jargon.
I have to stop worrying about it, I thought of Cale and then I thought if mom likes him he’s probably a geek. On the other hand if he is one of the most popular boys in school, maybe he just knows how to talk to adults. I think I’ll cancel; I can't do this and went to bed. I had bad dreams again, this time I was at the football game and Cale came up to me and started shaking me, but when I woke up my mom was waking me for school.
As I got ready for school, I was still preoccupied with the notion of whether I would even go out with Cale or not. When I got to the kitchen, my mom and dad were talking, my dad turned to me and grabbed me by the shoulders, my mom hovering over “I guess you may have seen someone in our yard last night, the White's house got broken into last night.”
I was too tired to make any sense of this or anything right now. The Whites were our neighbors and although we had large yards, the sides of our two houses were kind of close together.
“I told the police you saw something but didn't see any details. Is that right?” My dad asked me.
“No” I said slowly “I mean no, I didn't see any details on who or what it was, I just heard stuff and found the raccoon.”
“Yeah about that, it wasn't there this morning.”
“What?” I asked still in a fog, time for some coffee.
“The raccoon, from the porch is gone, another animal probably snatched it up for dinner.”
“Ewww” was the response he got from me and my mother. Tori walked in “What'd I miss.” No one answered her. I went about the business of getting my breakfast together. We've never had any problems in our neighborhood before, Tori and I talked about it on the way to the bus stop. I think it was the first time Tori and I actually socialized at the bus stop, it was kinda nice.
I was too preoccupied by the break-in, it was consuming my head but not for too long before I remembered the fact that I had to make a decision about dating Cale came back to me. I wondered if Nic even liked Topher or would consider a double date. Who was I kidding of course she would, Topher is gorgeous. Maybe if they went with us it would be much easier and less pressure for me. I guess I'd be finding out soon enough.
I met Nic at her locker. I was in a better mood, but still a little weirded out about our neighbor's house getting broken into. I told her the deal about Friday night and she said “You should have said yes, you know I don't have plans and if I did I would have canceled. Why didn't you call me last night?”
“I'm asking you now. Would your answer have been any different last night versus today?”
“You know you are always a smart ass. Yes, I will go.” Nic said excitedly.
“Sorry, I just don't have a very good filter. Plus, I don't know if I want to go, I'm not sure I'm ready to go. I get all wigged out when I think about it.” I looked at Nic and I knew she understood what I was talking about.
“Addie, if we go on a double date we'll stick together, I'm sure there will be nothing to worry about. Girls always go to the bathroom in pairs so we'll just make sure we stay together. It'll be fine.”
I looked at her with a hard face and said “You better, promise me.”
“I promise, besides us girls have to stick together. Two are better than one!” As we walked to class I could tell Nic was super happy, she couldn't stop smiling. I briefed her on my dream and my neighbor’s house.
I waited for class to start, the lecture and assignment were given and the radio turned on. Cale came up to me right after the teacher was done talking. “Addie why didn’t you call me back last night?”
“Hmmm, there are only so many phone calls I can make in a night, besides I told you I would see you today and the fact that I didn't write down your number made it a problem.” I continued “Just so you know I am not a typical girly girl.”
Nic chimed in “She's not.” Shaking her head in agreement with her lips pursed.
“I don't like to talk on the phone a bunch. You know girly stuff really isn't me, like putting make-up on is okay, but I don't want to spend hours doing it, and I am not one to spend hours in bathrooms like most girls either. However, I did put a brush through my hair today just for you.” I said pushing my hair up at the ends, then held a slight pause and smile. Cale just looked at me with his crooked smile and puts his head down.
“You really are somethin',” he said.
“Nic and I are fine for Friday. Shall we make it a date?”
“Yes, good” he said letting out an exasperated breath. He looked up at me, looking me in the eyes so I couldn't look away “You should wear your hair up tomorrow.” He said, and it sounded more of like a command than a suggestion. So my smart mouth replied, “Yeah, okay just because you asked my dear.” and I laughed. Nic nudged my side. “Oww!”
“Next time call me back would ya, I was going to skip first and second period today, but came in just so I could talk to you.”
“Ohhhh, sorry.” I said.
“You are being sarcastic aren’t you? It works for you though.” He squinted his eyes at me and gave me a half smile.
“Addie is a bit cranky today, she had a bad day and night yesterday. Her neighbor’s house got broken into,” Nic said. I think she's trying to cover for me, I guess I need to c
hill.
“I didn't mean to be sarcastic that time, I would never interfere with cutting classes, really,” and although I meant it to be serious, it wasn't coming out that way. I am surprised he didn’t cancel with me on the spot.
Cale looked down at his feet and then over at Topher and nodded his head toward us and he came over to talk with the three of us. They were leaning on our desks just chatting; Topher is very funny, we all laughed with him. Nic said under her breathe “Check that out.”
“What? Check what out?” Topher responded.
“All the girls, look at all the girls in the class, they’re all staring at us.” The boys turned their heads slightly to check out the scene and gave a half quiet laugh.
I said “They aren’t staring at us they are gazing at the good view they have.”
Cale stood right up knowing I meant that the girls were staring at their butts. Cale admitted under his breath “They aren’t staring at our butts.” He actually turned a little blush. Topher changed his stance; he leaned on the desk sideways so his rear faced the front of the class where no one else sat.
“Trust me if I was sitting over there that’s what I would be looking at – do you think they are looking at me because I look so good today???” I batted my eyes. They both pursed their lips together which led me to believe they agreed with me.
“And look you're both blushing too!” I continued.
“Cale, she is sarcastic but funny and… on that note I'm going back to my desk and... I am going to walk backwards.” as Topher began to walk backwards and try to navigate himself around a bar stool he fumbled a little. It was funny, we all laughed. Nic said “Really no viewing for us?” he bumped into the cutting board table still blushing and turned around to look where he was and then turned around again to get back to his desk. We both caught a glimpse, “It is a nice view.” Nic said and I agreed with an “mm-hmmm” we exhaled and giggled under our breath.
“Addie and Nic, I can’t believe you two. “ Cale said still blushing.
“Me either, we are in rare form today.” I replied. Cale had changed his stance and actually seemed uncomfortable looking right at me with his crooked smile and a twinkle in his eye. “You are worse than guys.”
“What’s wrong Cale?” Nic asked sweetly. He took my notebook wrote his number on it leaned back on my desk on his elbows pushing himself a little closer to me and said softly so no one else could hear "Paybacks!” When he said it he gave me a chill down my spine and he walked away.
But a fine walk that was – Nic and I looked at each other - what did we get ourselves into, we sure hope they don’t pay us back. Because now that I think of it, if I knew the whole class was looking at my butt, I would most definitely be a little uncomfortable myself, maybe.
As soon as they were out of ear shot I turned to Nic – she was smiling ear to ear “Holy crap Nic I cannot believe that you and I have a date with some of the hottest guys in school and Topher is totally funny too! And you're right the two of us will be fine together on a date and I think it'll be fun!” Nic started saying how nice they were and how excited she was about the date when my sister walked up.
I froze and looked at her, she said with a big sincere smile “Hey! Why were Cale and Topher over here? “I decided to be nice about it, and I told her straight out, “Nic and I have a double date with Cale and Topher on Friday.” I expected some flak from her but instead she was cool and asked us the details. I ticked another one off for our new found relationship.
Nic and I had a plan. I decided to wait until about 5 minutes before the class was over before I went up to Cale and Topher, so I didn't have to talk too long. At five 'til I went over and said “Hey sorry about my comments earlier I really didn’t mean to embarrass you, I sometimes have no filter, I just say what comes to mind – no thought process involved obviously...”
Topher interrupted “Don’t apologize – I thought you were cooler before. Besides we have already plotted our revenge.”
Cale asked me what I was holding and I replied “Nothing, it's a drawing but it's not done, I’ll show you later.” I felt both their eyes on me while I returned back to my seat, it could have been the sign I was holding over my butt as I walked, it read “Bring it on!” with a simple curved shape “W” under it. I heard them both laugh as I walked away. I barely made out Topher’s words.. “I like these girls!”
The bell rang and we piled out of class. Cale was waiting outside the door and grabbed my hand. His hand was cool and soft.
“Where are you headed?” he asked.
“Class.”
“Which class”?
“History.”
“I remember, I’ll walk you,” we walked a few steps and Cale said “So now you’re blushing, so it's not going to be that hard to get you back then. Or is me holding your hand embarrassing?”
My face felt warm, I was completely flushed, I felt uncomfortable, edgy, I wanted him to let go, though I wasn't sure why. All I could say was “No, of course not, you just caught me off guard.” We walked in sort of an uncomfortable silence.
We reached my class quickly, which I was happy about. I let go of his hand and said “Here we are. Soooo the four of us are going out Friday. We should have fun.” I was leaning against the wall and Cale across from me when Mr. Emotional comes up and just stands right next to us.
“Can I help you?” Cale retorted.
“Ah no, but Addie I have a message and love letter for you from Logan.” He held up a folded piece of paper. I froze and said “What?” shakily.
“He said he loves you and to call him.” Storm said it with such a bite I wanted to smack him.
He waved the note “It says it in the note too.”
Cale just chuckled and didn't seem concerned at all. Storm walked into class still holding the letter in the air. “Jerk” I looked back at Cale thinking he was going to have questions for me but instead he bent over and whispered “He likes you.” He kissed me on the cheek and said “I'll catch you later,” and left.
I sat at my desk and the folded note was sitting on my desk. I sat down and picked it up like it was a diseased piece of paper and put it on Storm's desk. He didn't touch it he left it there the entire class, and he gave me the cold shoulder so badly I could feel a chill in the air. What’s his deal? I tell you Storm has more moods than Jekyll and Hyde, but his main mood is grouchy.
He got up in a hurry after class and bolted for the door, leaving the note on his desk. I of course couldn't leave it there so I grabbed it and threw it in my bag.
Later that afternoon, Nic and I met for a bathroom break. We never actually went to the bathroom, we would just pick a time and place and meet up and chat some. Today I brought both my notes, I gave her the note about my dream, we both leaned up against the wall just around the corner from the elevators. “That truck keeps on coming up everywhere.” I told pointed to the place in my letter where it mentioned it. “Yeah, I see that...” she said, we were deeply engrossed in my note when we heard a noise.
I stopped holding up the wall and looked around the corner but saw no one. We finished up that note and I handed her the one from Logan.
“I wonder if they ever found Jewel's bracelet and if she was really attacked like I saw?” I was rambling “I can't take it that Logan’s trying to contact me, and what if he's telling everyone what happened and better yet what if he is embellishing the story, telling everyone a bunch of lies.”
I think Nic was listening to me, at least as much as she could while reading at the same time. “This guy's unbelievable, and I don't think he's going to leave you alone unless you say something to him or send your own message back to him.” Nic said. She looked up at me with sympathetic eyes. But then they got really big. “Hey Cale!” she said and handed me my notes back “see ya.”
I folded the notes up as fast as I could and jammed them into my pocket and turned around slowly, not sure of what to say, I just smiled.
“You're lucky I'm not the hall monitor
” Cale said with a no teeth smile. “She's on the second floor right now.”
I replied “I know, funny seeing you here.”
“I should say the same. What are you and Nic up to?”
“Swapping notes.”
“Hmmm,” was his response. He took my hand and kissed it, “I gotta go, I'll catch ya later” he said pulling my hand gently with him letting it go slowly and giving me a wink. I shook my head, who is this guy Romeo or what? I wonder why he didn't ask me about that darned note again, here he sees it twice and could care a less about it. I wonder if he heard us talking. I hope not.
I flashed back to my dream about my wolf, its grey eyes against his sandy brown coat and white under belly.
CHAPTER 7
Nic and I were sitting in Home Ec and I was daydreaming when the class got interrupted, in walked Topher, he whispered to the teacher and then toward us and announced to the class “This rose is from an admirer butt!” he said putting the emphasis on the word 'butt’.
“...he doesn't want to disclose his name!” He cleared his throat and started again ‘butt' he really wanted to send... this message to you my dear Addie...
I like you very much butt
We owe you big because you started it
You need to challenge me butt
Not run and flee
Although you may want to
Cause paybacks are coming to you, butt
Just so you know they'll be fun and gentle
Cause our meeting was not accidental
Will you go out with me?
…..this is a special gift for you.”
He handed me a single red rose. The class “Ahhh's” but he wasn't done “Butt in return my dear he would like permission for a date this Friday.”
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