Rise of the Moon (Moonlit Series Book 1)

by Rachel Hera

But it was only Thursday –which meant that my date was still a day away.

  I sat on the grass on the football field at lunch with the girls, enjoying the warmth of the sun. The small bump I’d received on Tuesday was gone, and I felt fine, though they still asked from time to time if I was alright. Maddie and Blake did, anyway. They were talking about ditching class one day to go to the beach –one final trip before the weather started turning cold.

  From where I sat, I saw Blake walking along the field with Jason. He waved at me, as if me buying him a cookie yesterday at lunch made us best friends. I just shook my head, trying to pay attention to the conversation.

  “You were right about him,” Maegan said, following my gaze. “He really is rude.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Well, Tuesday night he came into my store, and I asked him if he needed a hand with anything and he totally came across as an ignorant jerk,” she told me

  “I’ve heard that he made a girl cry just by glaring at her,” Kristy added.

  “No –Clara was already crying when she bumped into Blake. She couldn’t see where she was going through her tears,” I defended. “Thomas broke up with her yesterday.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d been crying because of Blake,” Chantelle shrugged. “Really though? Thomas and Clara are over?”

  “I don’t know. I’m kind of expecting them to get back together by next week,” I said honestly. “But I was there –it wasn’t Blake. To be honest, I was starting to feel like I’d misjudged him. He may be rough around the edges, but he’s nice when he wants to be.”

  “Evelyn, trust me. This guy brings nothing but bad news. And have I ever been wrong about this kind of thing?” Maegan asked.

  “Well, no…” I said slowly. She’d been right when it came to a lot of different people. She had a good sense of them, I guess, almost like she could read their minds. But I always thought my judgement of character was pretty good, too.

  “Blake’s bad news,” she repeated. “Unless you’re into the entire bad boy persona.”

  “Bad boy? You’re kidding, right? He might keep to himself, but he has done nothing to give him that kind of reputation,” I snorted.

  “Besides, it’s not like she was considering him to be her boyfriend,” Maddie stood up for me. It’d been weird for her to stay silent for so long. “Besides, Evelyn has Shayne. And from what I’ve heard, they’re nothing alike.”

  “Shayne, huh?” Kristy reached across Chantelle to push my knee. “You never tell us anything these days.”

  “I just didn’t want to jinx it,” I shot a look at Maddie.

  “Shayne who?” Chantelle asked. “Campbell? Grover?”

  “Ew, no,” Maddie wrinkled her nose. “Van Owen –the guy that moved to the old house between Evelyn’s place and mine.”

  “He has a little brother that goes to school here,” I told them. “Though, I don’t know what his little brother looks like, to be quite honest. Grade Eleven. James.”

  “James Van Owen,” Kristy nodded. “I heard he’s quite the sweetheart.”

  “Shayne’s a gentleman, so I’m not surprised,” I smiled half-heartedly. It felt weird to be talking about him to them. Two separate worlds colliding, almost.

  “I’ve been begging her to let me meet him, but for some reason, she just won’t introduce me to him,” Maddie pouted.

  “I can understand that,” Chantelle leaned in and mock whispered, earning laughter from all the girls, Maddie included.

  “Hey,” she said defensively. “I just want to support my best friend in her relationship endeavour. She deserves the best and I want to make sure that she gets it.”

  “You’re sweet, but I think I can handle myself. You’ll meet him one day. Let me just actually achieve the status of ‘girlfriend’ first though, alright?”

  She sighed, “Fine. I’m agreeing because I love you.”

  “Thank you,” I laughed.

  “So when’s your first date?” Kristy asked.

  “Tomorrow,” Maddie answered for me.

  “Are you excited? Nervous?”

  “I am, but… it’s date number two,” I told them.

  “Wait –when was date number one?”

  * * *

  “Don’t listen to what they said about Blake,” Maddie told me over the phone. I had her on speaker as I got ready for my date with Shayne.

  “The girls?” I asked, pulling my hair back. Did I want my hair up or down? Maybe half and half?

  “Yeah. I mean, Blake might not be talkative, but I think it’s kind of sweet that he only really talks to you.”

  “Well, truth be told, Maddie, I’d rather not talk about Blake when I’m getting ready for a date with Shayne,” I dropped my hair, making the decision to have it down.

  “No, I get it,” she yawned, and even though I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t help the yawn that forced its way past my lips.

  “Are you leaving for your aunt’s soon?” I tugged my tank top down, adjusting my cardigan. Light blue on black –casual, but classy. Or so I liked to tell myself. Maybe I should change. Maybe I could wear my black cardigan over an oatmeal tank instead.

  “Yeah, I’m just packing my bag now. Mom’s going to drive me out there as soon as I’m done. They’re heading down to Niagara Falls for the weekend. It’s their fifth anniversary next week, so they’ve made big plans.”

  “I can’t believe you almost forgot,” I laughed, exiting the bathroom and turning off the light. In my own room, I looked over other outfit choices I had laid out on the bed. “Maddie –”

  “Don’t even think about changing again –and they’ve had this thing five months in the making. Of course I forgot,” she said. “Coincidentally, though, I’d kept the weekend free of plans, so I knew subconsciously.”

  “I just… I don’t know. And you and I always make plans last minute –we don’t make plans in advance.”

  “All the better,” she giggled. “Anyway, Evelyn, I’m telling you –you look fine.”

  “You aren’t even looking at me,” I scoffed.

  “I don’t have to look at you to know you look gorgeous,” she told me.

  “You’re so full of shit,” I replied.

  “You’re so full of self-doubt,” she countered.

  “That I am,” I muttered. “Fine. I won’t change. Only because Shayne should be here any minute.”

  “Good. He should consider himself lucky,” she said. “Anyway –I just need to grab my toothbrush before I’m on my way. I’ll call you tomorrow, alright?”

  “Sounds good. Bye Maddie,” I said.

  “Love you,” she said before hanging up.

  I had barely put my phone inside my purse, ready to go downstairs to wait for Shayne to arrive when the doorbell rang. I sighed. I had asked Shayne to wait in the car. Curse him for being a gentleman.

  I gave myself a final once-over in the mirror, turning to make sure the back looked as nice as the front before hurrying downstairs.

  “I can see where Evelyn gets her good looks,” I heard Shayne say as I turned down the stairs and into our front hallway. Talk about old-fashioned. That line should have been dead, really. If only it didn’t work like a charm –my mother laughed girlishly, although no one has ever told me I looked like her.

  Shayne looked up at me as I descended the final steps smiling immediately. If I hadn’t been nervous before, suddenly there were butterflies in my stomach. Or there should have been. Where were my butterflies?

  “All ready to leave?” he asked me. I glanced at what he was wearing comparatively to me. He was dressed semi-formally while I felt I was more semi-casual. While I hadn’t expected him to dress in a t-shirt and jeans when we agreed on casual-wear, he still surprised me with a while long-sleeve shirt and a light, casual grey vest.

  “All but my shoes,” I said, grabbing my flats and slipping into them. I let my curtain of hair cover my face as I died a little inside with how lame that was. “T
here. All set.”

  “Lovely,” he smiled. “Shall we, then?”

  “We shall,” I said. “Bye, Mom.”

  “Have fun,” she called after us. “Don’t bring her home too late, Shayne.”

  “Bye, Mom,” I said again, cutting Shayne off and pushing him towards the door. I patted Shadow on the head as we stepped into the warm September evening. I looked up at Shayne as we reached the gate, out of ear-shot of my mother, “Sorry. She just… My mom loves to talk and set rules and boundaries. I told you to wait in the car.”

  “I grew up surrounded by proper etiquette –Of course that means meeting your parents before taking you out on a date –I would have done it the first time but your mother was out shopping,” he opened the passenger door for me when we reached his car.

  “Getting groceries,” I nodded as he closed the door. As he walked around, I did up my seatbelt, resting my purse in my lap. He got in on the other side. I cleared my throat; “So, what do you have planned for this evening?”

  “A walk through the park. Maybe a movie if you’re up to it. There’s a small theatre in town, isn’t there?” he asked, starting the car and backing up onto the road. He put it in drive and off we went.

  “There is,” I nodded. Even though I lived just outside of town, Maddie and I usually got a ride into the city for more of a selection of movies. Our theatre only had two screens, after all. I tried to remember what two were playing, but drew a blank. I loved watching movies, so it wouldn’t surprise me if I’d seen either before.

  “We could get some ice cream,” he suggested.

  “I work at the ice cream parlour,” I reminded him.

  “I was kind of hoping you could get it on the house,” he winked at me. “But if you’re sick of ice cream…”

  “I definitely could get it on the house,” I grinned. “But you’re right. I have to stare at the ice cream at least three nights a week. Needless to say, I seldom touch the tub of ice cream in the freezer at home.”

  “Smoothie, then?”

  “Actually, that sounds fantastic,” I admitted.

  “Perfect. So where does one go for a smoothie here?” he asked.

  “There’s a few places, I guess,” I shrugged. Kristy was working at one such place, actually.

  “Then I’ll let you lead the way as soon as we get to town,” he told me.

  “Well, if you insist,” I grinned.

  He just chuckled. The radio, which had been at a low volume, could be heard now that we weren’t talking, but just barely. I tried to figure out the song from the few chords and lyrics I caught to no avail. So I turned my attention to Shayne, who watched the road intently for someone so young. He had his right hand firm on the wheel while the other arm rested against the door, his fingers gently touching the wheel, almost as if it was prepared to jump in in case of an emergency.

  He glanced at me, catching me staring.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “You’re a pretty safe driver, aren’t you?” I commented.

  “I never really thought about it,” he gave a small shrug. “But I’ve been in an accident before.”

  I didn’t know what to do with this information, because it was kind of shocking. Shayne seemed so… together.

  “It just made me realize how unimportant trivial things such as ‘being on time’ actually were. I’d rather me and my passengers arrive in one piece and be late than to not arrive at all,” he said.

  “You should tell that to my dad. He has a heavy foot when it comes to the pedals,” I tried to lighten the mood a little –and he did laugh.

  “What about you, do you drive?” he asked.

  “Well, I have my license. I’m saving up for my own car,” I said. The vast fields slowly became houses that grew closer and closer together as we entered town.

  “I can respect that,” he nodded. “This current generation that’s growing up is very needy and incompetent. Sometimes I feel like teenagers don’t understand the value of money like I had to growing up.”

  “My parents declared bankruptcy at one point when I was little. And, I mean, we’re doing fine now, but I’m just trying to do everything I can to make sure that I never end up in that position. I remember talks of them debating selling the house. We even went and visited my grandmother when I was seven. I’d never met her before, and she just glared at me the entire visit. Afterwards, my father strived for a better job. He was always charismatic, so he kind of charmed his way up the food chain. Now he’s a negotiator for a company that’s been expanding abroad. I hardly get to see him lately because he’s away.”

  “How long has this been going on for?”

  “About half a year,” I said slowly. “But he used to travel for work before that, too. Not for as long, though.”

  “Bummer,” he replied.

  “You can say that again.” I pointed to the next intersection, “You can take a right up here.”

  “Bummer. And okay.”

  I laughed.

  “I like that it’s so easy to make you laugh,” he said –then, just as my cheeks went red, he added: “And embarrassed.”

  “I do feel like you go out of your way to embarrass me,” I pointed out.

  “By giving you compliments?” he chuckled.

  “I’m just not used to it. Make a left up here.”

  “Modest?”

  “Not particularly. I’ve always been smart. And I’ve been known to make a person laugh so hard they peed their pants.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. Third grade. Kyle still hates me for it. Naturally, no one let him live it down. Just like Rick in seventh grade. Ripped his pants.”

  “You ripped his pants?” Shayne looked at me, completely taken aback.

  “What? No. It was in music class. He started dancing, went to do the splits –for who knows what reason –and ripped his pants. I don’t think a single kid that was there that day has forgotten since.”

  “Yikes. Poor guy.”

  “You actually thought I would rip a guy’s pants?”

  “I just imagine you being a trouble maker. Or at least an instigator. Perhaps you challenged him to a dance off or something.”

  “Instigator maybe. Trouble maker? Well, I never!” I placed a hand on my chest and did my best southern belle impression. “You can just park along the road there.”

  “So you didn’t challenge him to a dance-off?”

  “No, back then he was just the chubby kid that tried too hard to be cool. He had his moments of funny –ripping his pants was one of them. I hope he grew up well though. I wouldn’t know because he moved in the summer after grade nine.”

  “Probably for the better,” Shayne commented. He parked the car and I got out, waiting for him on the sidewalk.

  “It’s not like we picked on him for it. I just said we all wouldn’t forget that it happened.”

  “Do you have any moments that everyone else won’t forget ever happened?” he asked. The two of us walked side-by-side down the road. The smoothie place that I had in mind was just down the street. Mr. Smooth Smoothies was probably the best place I would ever know that dedicated its business to the fruitful mixture. Although the logo was kind of lame. The blender with a pair of shades didn’t feel too far off from the Koolaid man –although the Koolaid man was awesome on the sole fact of smashing through walls with a surfer-dude dialect.

  “I have a moment that I know for sure I won’t ever forget about,” I offered.

  “Is it embarrassing?”

  “Horribly so,” I covered my face with my hands, unsure if I actually wanted to tell him this story. But, I’d already begun.

  “Then I’m all ears,” he said, laughing.

  With a big sigh, I let my hands fall back to my side. I looked up and down the street, making sure no one else was around. We were twenty steps away from the entrance to Mr. Smooth, but I kept us from getting any closer for the sole purpose not having to finish the story inside. “I was five and in kindergar
ten. And all the only reason that this happened was because I had it in my mind that I had to hold up my hand and ask permission to go to the washroom. It was story time, and I sat near the back, behind a boy named Matt. Suddenly I felt so sick –like, ‘vomit coming up your throat and you’re trying to hold it back’ sick. I put up my hand and waited. And waited. And waited. But the teacher either refused to acknowledge me or just never saw my hand. Though, with the franticness I had been trying to wave her down with, I strongly believe it was the former. Finally I just couldn’t take it any longer. I projectile vomited all over poor Matt. And I have never forgotten that day.”

  “When you started, I thought it was going to be a ‘I peed my pants’ story. Twist ending –I liked it,” he chuckled.

  “I still feel so bad about it to this day. It’s horrible,” I said.

  “You were five. As if you could do anything about it. I’m impressed you held it that long –but I have a weak stomach, so if you’re going to vomit I will let you know that you are more than welcome to just get up and leave. Midsentence if you need to. I might feel a tad offended, but I assure you that I’ll get over it.”

  “Believe me when I say that it’s not a moment I would want to re-live anyway,” I told him. “Like, I honestly think that showing up to school forgetting to wear pants would feel less embarrassing than throwing up on another kid.”

  “I’ve never had that dream,” he admitted.

  “You know what? Neither have I.” We started walking again towards the doors, and I hoped we were done with that conversation.

  “So, just for future reference –how far away do I need to stay if you are going to throw up?”

  “Shayne!” I exclaimed, just wanting the conversation to be over and done with.

  “I’m joking,” he laughed, holding the door open for me.

  “Evelyn!” Kristy called out from behind the counter as the two of us entered. She smiled when she saw Shayne, giving me a nod of approval. Maybe I should have picked another place that sold smoothies.

  “A friend?” Shayne asked.

  “This is Kristy,” I told him. “Kristy, this is –”

  “Shayne. I’ve heard a little about you,” she grinned. “How goes the date?”