Jonathan and me. We’re supposed to be writing a Halloween story together. But I don’t think Meredith and Carolina came over to our group because they are interested in our writing skills. They want to find out what happened to Gary.
Meredith is tall; her hair is long and straight and black, pulled back into a pony tail. Her eyes are huge and brown, her lips are red and full, and I think I’m staring at them just as she nudges me under the table.
I’ve known Meredith since elementary school. I think she even came to my birthday party in fifth grade. I’ve had a crush on her for years, since we were little. But she hasn’t talked to me for just as long, as I became weirder and she became more popular.
Carolina though just moved from Salem with her parents. It’s just like an hour and a half from Lansfeld, but I’ve never been there. Which is weird, I guess, since my mother is a witch.
That’s not all that’s weird about Carolina, though. I catch her look around quickly and then take a bite out of something. Swallow. I don’t have to see it clearly to know what it is. I can smell it. It’s meat. Beef jerky. Carolina catches me sniffing, or looking, and for the second time today our eyes meet. For a moment I feel her hunger, feel the moon, the call of the forest. I want to get out of this building and run out into the trees behind the school.
I want to hunt.
Pull yourself together, Stanley. I shake my head to clear it. Meredith nudges me again, and I look at her blankly.
“Stanley!”
“Huh?”
I think I need to get some kind of Small Talk for Dummies book.
“How’s it going?” Meredith says.
Carolina giggles, and I look at her again. What is there about her eyes? Why is she sneaking Slim Jims?
“Fine,” I say.
Carolina giggles again. “We’ve got to invite you to my Halloween party.”
Meredith pumps her fist. “ Yes ! That would be so cool. It’s going to be really scary. Carolina lives over by the cemetery.”
I nod. “Okay...”
“But tell us how you scared Gary like that,” Carolina says.
I don’t look at her this time. I look at Meredith instead as I screw up my face and hold my hands up above my head like claws. They stare at me in shock, but I crack up, and then everyone at our table is laughing.
Meredith sticks out her tongue at me.
I thought I could only be like this with Jonathan and Enrique, but maybe not. Maybe if I relax, I can make pretty much anyone laugh, or at least smile.
If only I could get Karen out of my head. I finger the friendship bracelet on my wrist.
And if that wasn’t enough, track tryouts are coming up. If Lauren gives me the okay. She can’t hold off much longer, I figure. All the scans show no scarring. I feel fit as a fiddle, but if so, why are my hands shaking?
Just as we are about to be released from class, Carolina is called away to the office for a second time. She looks confused, surprised. She even looks at me for a moment, like I could clue her in, but I just shrug.
Unless ... unless she’s been hiding meat snacks in her locker, too.
What have I gotten myself into?
Chapter 14: MY BIRTHDAY POTLUCK
W alking home from the bus, I smell something in the wind. It’s sweet, tangy. The smell of blood. I follow it into the woods by my house. First there is just the smell, faint in the air. Then there’s a raccoon. Or what was left of one. It’s torn apart. All I can really recognize is the tail.
Something tore apart a raccoon as a snack. Why isn’t my stomach turning?
When I get home my mother tilts her head to the side, squints at me as I walk through the door. She sniffs the air.
“What’s the matter now, Mom?”
She shrugs, still squinting at me. “I know you don’t like to hear about it, but there’s a lot of weird talk in my coven.”
My mom’s Unitarian church has these special interest groups that meet once a week. My mom is a member of two. One is for Earth based Judaism, or Jewitchery. Another is for Wicca. The second
Meredith is tall; her hair is long and straight and black, pulled back into a pony tail. Her eyes are huge and brown, her lips are red and full, and I think I’m staring at them just as she nudges me under the table.
I’ve known Meredith since elementary school. I think she even came to my birthday party in fifth grade. I’ve had a crush on her for years, since we were little. But she hasn’t talked to me for just as long, as I became weirder and she became more popular.
Carolina though just moved from Salem with her parents. It’s just like an hour and a half from Lansfeld, but I’ve never been there. Which is weird, I guess, since my mother is a witch.
That’s not all that’s weird about Carolina, though. I catch her look around quickly and then take a bite out of something. Swallow. I don’t have to see it clearly to know what it is. I can smell it. It’s meat. Beef jerky. Carolina catches me sniffing, or looking, and for the second time today our eyes meet. For a moment I feel her hunger, feel the moon, the call of the forest. I want to get out of this building and run out into the trees behind the school.
I want to hunt.
Pull yourself together, Stanley. I shake my head to clear it. Meredith nudges me again, and I look at her blankly.
“Stanley!”
“Huh?”
I think I need to get some kind of Small Talk for Dummies book.
“How’s it going?” Meredith says.
Carolina giggles, and I look at her again. What is there about her eyes? Why is she sneaking Slim Jims?
“Fine,” I say.
Carolina giggles again. “We’ve got to invite you to my Halloween party.”
Meredith pumps her fist. “ Yes ! That would be so cool. It’s going to be really scary. Carolina lives over by the cemetery.”
I nod. “Okay...”
“But tell us how you scared Gary like that,” Carolina says.
I don’t look at her this time. I look at Meredith instead as I screw up my face and hold my hands up above my head like claws. They stare at me in shock, but I crack up, and then everyone at our table is laughing.
Meredith sticks out her tongue at me.
I thought I could only be like this with Jonathan and Enrique, but maybe not. Maybe if I relax, I can make pretty much anyone laugh, or at least smile.
If only I could get Karen out of my head. I finger the friendship bracelet on my wrist.
And if that wasn’t enough, track tryouts are coming up. If Lauren gives me the okay. She can’t hold off much longer, I figure. All the scans show no scarring. I feel fit as a fiddle, but if so, why are my hands shaking?
Just as we are about to be released from class, Carolina is called away to the office for a second time. She looks confused, surprised. She even looks at me for a moment, like I could clue her in, but I just shrug.
Unless ... unless she’s been hiding meat snacks in her locker, too.
What have I gotten myself into?
Chapter 14: MY BIRTHDAY POTLUCK
W alking home from the bus, I smell something in the wind. It’s sweet, tangy. The smell of blood. I follow it into the woods by my house. First there is just the smell, faint in the air. Then there’s a raccoon. Or what was left of one. It’s torn apart. All I can really recognize is the tail.
Something tore apart a raccoon as a snack. Why isn’t my stomach turning?
When I get home my mother tilts her head to the side, squints at me as I walk through the door. She sniffs the air.
“What’s the matter now, Mom?”
She shrugs, still squinting at me. “I know you don’t like to hear about it, but there’s a lot of weird talk in my coven.”
My mom’s Unitarian church has these special interest groups that meet once a week. My mom is a member of two. One is for Earth based Judaism, or Jewitchery. Another is for Wicca. The second
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