by K. R. Smith
“Yeah, OK. Your Grandpa keeps lending me books to read, to study up on Naturopathy.” Rachel shrugged.
“Mr. Lightfoot is lending me text books and stuff as he and Aunt Susan teach me how to do lesson plans. Next year I could start teaching one or two days a week.” My other friend informed.
“Gees Mandy, why do you want to go BACK to school for?” Rachel joked.
“Hey at least it will be different this time, as a Teacher I won’t have to do homework.” She shrugged.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that if I were you.” I smirked. “I see my Gran marking stuff all the time when she’s at home.”
Rachel cracked up laughing and pointed tauntingly at Mandy, who bad-temperedly hit her hand away.
“At least I’ll be marking it instead of doing it.” She came up as her excuse and then she changed tact. “B, have you ever thought about going to University to study History?”
“University?” I echoed in surprise.
“I saw on the internet that a couple of Universities have reopened, including Cambridge in England. You’re part English or something, aren’t you?” She remembered.
“Yeah.”
“Hence her Lokoti dark hair and her English blue eyes.” Rachel laughed.
“You could probably study History at Cambridge.” Mandy shrugged.
“Yeah!” My eyes lit up at the idea. “That would be cool! I could study History in a place full of history! And I have relatives in England I could visit.”
“You’re all set then.” Rachel laughed.
“But my Dad says University education is expensive.” Our friend warned.
“Mandy, I’ve heard her English relatives live in a frickin’ castle! A CASTLE! I don’t think money - or English money - will be a problem.” Rachel jibed.
“Plus I’m supposed to be a Circulator.” I shrugged. “When my ability to phase starts up, I’ll be able to travel back in time, pinch relics and bring them back here to sell for heaps of money.”
“Yeah, there’s always that.” Mandy shrugged.
Just then we were interrupted by Roger a boy who was three years older than us, when he walked up to our small circle.
“Hi Rachel. Hi Mandy. Hi Bianca.” He greeted nervously.
“Hi Roger.” Mandy gave his sudden appearance a curious look.
“Bianca.” He turned to look my way. “Hi… I mean er, how are you?”
What the…? What the hell is going on here?! Is this some kind of joke or a prank or something, with the guys at this party tonight? Am I secretly being filmed as apart of a ‘Candid Camera’ skit?
“I’m good thanks Roger. How are you?” I replied as I forced myself to be polite, although I felt like taking off and running out of here.
“Me? Oh um, I’m good.” He looked down into his drink, which was trembling slightly in his hand. “Um Bianca, can I ask you a question?”
“You just did.” Rachel said dryly, making Mandy giggle.
“Oh yeah, I did.” He laughed nervously. “But um, Bianca, are you going out with Derik?”
“What?” I looked from him to my other friends, embarrassed. “Um, no. Why?”
“Then would you like to come over to my place for a movie night tomorrow? Or I could bring the movies over to your place…?” He asked hastily, almost forcing it out.
“Um…” I felt my face heat up, “…no, I’m sorry Roger but no thanks.”
“Oh… ” he looked completely crestfallen, “…um, why?”
“Look Roger, you’re a nice guy. But um, I’ve never seen you more than as a friend.” My face flushed as I looked from him and then into my drink. To be honest, I’ve never seen him more than a casual acquaintance!
“Really?” He looked on pleadingly. “Why not?”
“Because um, I don’t know you that well…”
Suddenly I was saved by the bell when Derik walked over and joined us.
“Derik!” I cried out in relief.
My best friend stood next to the intruder, giving him a warning look. But Roger refused to be scared off by Derik who was three years younger than him so he glared back. But then Declan appeared beside him and he looked on Roger… and he skedaddled out of here with out being told.
“I’ll see you later Bianca.” Roger said annoyed, before he turned around and walked off.
“Wow, you’re popular tonight.” Derik frowned, watching the back of Roger disappear into the party.
“Is this some kind of joke? Is this a prank? Did somebody arrange this or something?” I looked from Mandy to Rachel then to Derik. “Are people going to next yell out, ‘April’s Fool’!”
“What’s a joke?” Rachel gave a peculiar look.
“I don’t know, but that was my first guess. Besides my blind younger brother, I don’t know who would see you as attractive.” Declan scoffed.
Derik turned around and whacked him! Older brother growled at younger brother, as the two stood tense and angry with each other for a minute or two.
“I told you Daniel was checking her out.” Mandy nudged Rachel, inferring me.
“What?” Derik’s eyes widened in alarm, as he next looked over to where his competition was standing with his friends.
“But I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, Derik.” Rachel laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Daniel may be older than you? But you’ve got way more years in experience by knowing B and by knowing what makes her tick.”
“Now that’s not something he can boast about, nor would be something difficult to do.” Declan muttered into his drink before he was whacked him on the arm again. Then he tossed his plastic cup into a bin two meters away. “Alright, I’m outta here.”
“Thank God for small favors.” I said sarcastically.
“I’m on patrol tonight.” Declan glared at me before he looked at his little brother. “Tell Mom I’ll be home at dawn.”
“See you.” Derik watched his brother leave as did Mandy.
I caught her checking out the back view of his strong build, as he walked away…
“Mandy, no way!” I looked on askance.
“What?” She shyly looked away, but Derik sprung her.
“Why Mandy, I never knew.” He teased.
“Shut up.” She blushed whilst taking several large mouthfuls of her drink.
“This is just like Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Nights Dream’ with all the awry love going on here.” Rachel remarked.
“And Declan is the ass that the Fairy Queen falls in love with.” I nodded in agreement.
*****
The rest of the evening passed relatively free of incident, but I grew bored around 10 PM.
“I think I might head off.” I excused myself.
“OK then.” Rachel said, as I gave her another kiss on the cheek and then on Mandy’s.
“We should catch up soon.” She said sincerely.
“Yeah, that would be cool.” I agreed.
“I’ll walk you home.” My best friend threw away his plastic cup.
“No Derik, it’s OK -” I began.
“I’ll walk you home.” He repeated as he took hold of my hand. “G’night guys.”
“G’night Derik. G’night B.” Rachel and Mandy waved back.
I noticed that Roger, Daniel and Leaf, watched us leave as they stood apart with their different groups of friends. I looked away from the party as I focused my gaze on the road ahead. We left Ben’s place and headed towards the wood-encrusted hill, where I lived. At first we walked in a comfortable silence, as I looked upwards and stared at the stars…
“I can’t wait for the day when I can travel to Mars and Taurus Six by myself.” I sighed.
“Really?” Derik frowned. “Why are you so anxious to leave?”
“I’m not ‘anxious’ to leave… I just can’t wait until I can phase there and not rely on my Mum or my Gran taking me.” I shrugged.
“OK.” He looked on ahead whilst tucking his free hand into his pocket.
“Oh.�
�� I remembered something else on this note. “Mandy told me tonight that Cambridge University in England has opened again.”
“B, I know where Cambridge University is.” Derik chuckled.
“Sorry!” I playfully poked him. “But anyway, have you ever wondered what it might be like to go away and study somewhere like that?”
“Um, yes and no… I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I mean, sure I want to further my education, but I don’t know if I could live overseas to do it.”
Then we turned quiet for a couple of minutes. We walked along the dirt road in the dim light, but in the starlight I could make out the pot holes so I knew when to step over them. But Derik seemed to have a harder time making anything out in the darkness and at one stage he nearly tripped over!
“Aagh!” He cried out, but I quickly caught him.
“Are you OK?” I held him steady.
“Er, yeah… good reflexes you’ve got there.” He said, impressed. “I can’t see the pot holes in the road properly.”
“Really?” I asked in surprise. “I can see everything pretty well in the starlight.”
“Are you kidding?” He sounded further surprised. “It’s so dark, especially with the trees blocking out most of the light.”
I stopped us in our tracks. “Derik, you don’t have to walk me home…”
“B, don’t be stupid.” He said adamantly as I caught him blush. “Of course I’m going to walk you home.”
I laughed as I shook my head, “no wonder my Dad likes you; you seem a lot alike.”
“Yeah?” He sounded surprised.
I shrugged, but he didn’t see me shrug. Actually, I don’t think he could see much of anything. I had to take hold of his hand and guide him, as he was veering off all over the place.
“You know what?” I started to slow. “I don’t think you should walk me home, as you can barely see where you’re going.”
“I’ll be fine….” He started, but then he tripped over a rock on the road! I caught him a second time as I helped him return to his feet. He laughed, embarrassed. “Woah! You ARE strong and you see well in the dark! Are you sure Lokoti women can’t turn into Werewolves?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” I giggled. I stopped us in our tracks and when he tried to pull me onwards, I ended up pulling him back. I said firmly, “Derik, this is the end of the line for you. I don’t want you to walk back by yourself and break your neck.”
“Yeah, I guess you have a point.” He chuckled. “Or I could walk you home and maybe borrow a torch for the walk back?”
“There’s no need. You’ve walked me more than halfway home now. You should go home yourself.” I said resolutely, but Derik sighed disappointedly for some reason. I watched his nervous look appear on his face. “What?”
“This isn’t the walk home that I imagined taking you on.” He sounded regretful. I gave him a funny look, thinking that this was an odd thing to say, but I don’t think he saw that either. “B, do you remember that afternoon by the river a few months back?”
“Derik, we’ve spent many an afternoon by the river.”
“Yeah, I know. But I mean the afternoon we kissed for the first time, our first French kiss for the both of us.” He said awkwardly, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. Oh oh… my stomach lurched as I felt tension tighten my shoulders. He went on, “I know we kissed just so we could get out of the way our first kiss with anyone? But I liked it and I liked kissing you that way. I know that you see me as your best friend, but don’t you think that’s good grounds to base a relationship on?”
“What, am I next going to start kissing Rachel and Mandy like that?” I laughed at his logic as I gave a playful shove.
Derik laughed uneasily before he rolled his eyes, “just in case you do, make sure Declan isn’t around. Otherwise he’d probably lose his self control.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
We turned quiet again and I noticed how we fell into an uncomfortable silence which was unusual for us. I caught Derik looking away, frowning deeply. Oh oh, don’t tell me that I’m in jeopardy of losing my best friend, because I don’t want to kiss him?
“Look.” He spoke in a low voice. “B, couldn’t we just try it?”
“Try it? Try what? We’ve already tried kissing…” I said confused.
He took hold of my hand to pull me to him. “Try seeing me as more than a friend even if it’s just for a moment, or even for a little while. Just see me as grown up Derik, instead of childhood friend Derik.”
Now he put his arms around my waist…Frickin’ hell, what do I do? Do I push him away? Can I turn around and run home? But most importantly, do I really want to hurt my best friend?
This was the thought which stayed me. I forced myself to remain still when he bent his head forward to kiss me. I had to use all of my self control and staying power to not gross out. It’s not like this was deliberately torture, but I didn’t feel that way about Derik… I just didn’t.
BANG!
We pulled apart to look about in fright.
“Did you hear that?” He asked worriedly.
“That was a gun shot.” I said anxiously. “It sounded far away, like it was coming from the border between Lokoti land and Alma.”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I ended up clinging onto Derik’s top as he held me tighter.
“Come on, let’s get you home!” He turned us around to speedily walk us up the hill with his arm about my shoulders.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The shots rang out through the still night, echoing through the trees… the noise seemed to wash over the woods and reverberate through the darkness.
“What the hell is going on down there?” I uttered out, afraid.
My stomach knotted as I fretted about which two Lokoti Werewolves who were on patrol tonight, were up against THAT?
Suddenly I stopped, “oh no!”
“What?”
“DECLAN is on patrol tonight!” I cried out. Derik froze as a look of utter dread spread across his face. I grabbed hold of his hand as I began to run us back down the hill. “Come on!”
“Where are we going?” He objected.
“To your house!” I barked back. “If anything has happened to Declan, the Lokoti Werewolves will bring him there where Grandpa will treat him!”
Now he ran faster and we bolted whilst holding hands, all the way to his house.
*****
He barged through his front door, with me right behind. We found his mother dressed in a nightgown and robe, pacing up and down in their small lounge room.
“Derik!” She tearfully held out her arms and her youngest son rushed into them to comfort her. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, I heard it.” He said unhappily.
“I had just turned off my light and settled down to sleep when I heard it!” Aunt Susan’s eyes watered. “It’s Declan’s turn to patrol tonight.”
“Yeah, I know.” He walked her over to the couch to sit her down. “But remember what Uncle Em says about European Werewolves, which Declan is? They’re stronger and faster than Lokoti Werewolves so I’m sure he’ll be OK.”
I nodded encouragingly, “Grandfather says Declan is the strongest and fastest of the pack.”
“And he’s a fast healer.” Derik went on. “Remember the time he accidentally nearly cut his finger off when he was helping you cook last year? Remember how much blood there was? Declan completely healed from it in two hours and he was right as rain.”
She turned away to quietly cry into her hand which was in a tight fist, pressed against her mouth. Poor Aunt Susan, I felt bad for her. She lost her husband and now her eldest could have been harmed?
I too was worried, not just for Declan but for the Lokoti Werewolves who were family members or friends, who took turns patrolling the borders. I know Dad wasn’t rostered on tonight, since he patrolled last night. Two Werewolves patrolled at a time, to cover our vast territory. I hoped it wasn’t Grandfa
ther or Uncle Julian’s turn tonight. I sank onto the couch which was opposite Derik and Aunt Susan’s seat.
“This damned, damned war…” Aunt Susan sniffed, “…I thought moving up here, would have got us away from the looting and the chaos.”
“Well, it has.” Derik squeezed her shoulder. “I mean, how many times has something like this happened since the whole time we’ve lived here?”
“Declan’s not even 21 years old.” She trembled with emotion. “He may have been patrolling the border since he was 16 years old, but he’s too young for this kind of responsibility and danger!”
I kept my mouth shut, as I recalled the fact that Uncle Julian and Dad began patrolling the borders when they were 16 or 17 years old. They started as soon as they were turned, right after the war. Their Lokoti Werewolf genes were activated from the deaths of their grandfathers, who died in altercations with marauders. Aunt Susan saw my uneasy look and shook her head at herself.
“I’m sorry B.” She said weakly. “I must sound like an ingrate sitting here and complaining. Your family and the Lokoti people have done a lot for us. But when you’ve already lost your husband and now something like this happens to your son?”
“Shhh.” He pulled her into his arms. “Shhh…Mom, it’ll be alright.”
I kept quiet as my legs jiggled nervously. I exchanged a worried look with Derik before we both looked away at the same time.
*****
I contacted Mum on Aunt Susan’s walky-talky to let her know where I was . In return, she told me Dad had rushed out of the house before the first gun shot was heard, to be back up. She had used the walky-talky to contact Gran, who told her that Grandfather had done the same thing. Aunt Susan’s eyes widened as she and Derik listened in.
“Oh no! Oh no!” She panicked as she cried harder.
“It’s alright, it doesn’t mean anything’s happened to him. It’s standard procedure.” I quickly reassured. “Every time there’s trouble, the whole pack runs to help. Usually when they fight altogether, nothing bad happens.”
Then I sat back down on the couch to wait with them.
*****
