Part of the Plan (Book 2 in the 'part of' series)

Chapter 8 my my what a big mouth you have

Chapter8 My, My, What a Big Mouth You Have

I regretted wishing for something to happen the next day. I started off like every other, I woke up and went downstairs. Everything at home was somewhat normal, at least it was the new normal which I had become accustomed to. The real differences came about when I met Emi at the school gate.

"Hello?" I asked her as she nearly walked past me. Her hair was covering her face and she was looking down. I had stepped in front of her to stop her from walking into the road. "You alright there?" I asked with a chuckle, yet concern was clear. She looked at me in shock and then to the school. She gave a small chuckle and moved some hair out of her face.

"Harlow! Hi, didn't see you there." She seemed nervous and distracted. I still had my hands on her upper arms and so i tried to turn her towards the school. "Sorry about last night. I'm technically not allowed to use my phone." I nodded as I tried to start walking, she didn't follow me which made me turn around,

"It's alright. Are you coming?" I pointed towards the school, we weren't exactly late. We were just about on time. We may become late if we didn't hurry though. "Or are you skiving again?" I couldn't help the disappointment which laced my tone. I wasn't disappointed in Emi, just the fact that I wouldn't be spending the day with her. She shook her head and gave a light laugh.

"I'm not skipping. Don't worry." She reached up and ruffled my long hair, much to my annoyance. "I've just got a fair bit on my mind at the moment." That concerned me much more. Emi wasn't really the type of person to have a lot on her mind. She was usually care-free and cheerful. She was also rather impulsive and preferred to do things and ask questions later. "Though I agree we should get a move on."

I trailed a little bit behind her as she led me into the school. It was adding more to the stress which I felt. I didn't know what was wrong or if it concerned me at all. "Are you sure everything is alright?" I couldn't let this rest. There was too much. "You know you can tell me if there's something wrong right?" She turned to look at me with a small frown on her face.

"I just didn't think your dad would get involved in anything like that." My head snapped towards her as she spoke with a soft tone. I furrowed my eyebrows and stopped walking, reaching out to grab her hand. She didn't move to pull away. I could see that she was a little bit upset. She looked at me like she pitied me.

"Like what?" I asked in a quiet tone. We were in the middle of the hallway now, I looked side to side before pulling her into the only place I thought we'd be with no chances of us getting caught. The disabled toilet may not have been the best choice. It was the first thing which my eyes saw. "Emi, what did my father get into?"

She gave a light chuckle and shook her head. "The construction company is real, they plan on starting the project." She then trailed off slightly as she slowly spoke. "They plan on just knocking down the forest. They don't have plans to construct anything in it's place." It only made me more confused and a little bit more angry. Aiden would have lost his mind already if he knew this.

"Why? What would be the point?" I shook my head and tried to comprehend everything which I was being told. I wondered if father knew, I remembered his wide smile when he saw it on the television. It made no sense to me why anyone would purposefully destroy a part of the forest.

"' of the wolves." Emi said simply. She made it sound as though it was obvious, it was anything but straightforward in my opinion. My eyes were wide and I looked at her seriously. The bell then went off, echoing through the school, I was standing beside the door so I made no move to unlock it, I needed more answers. "What?" I ignored the rude tone and continued on.

"There's no wild wolves in the forest." I said plainly. "There can't be, there's bears in the forest. I know that for sure, Aiden told me." Her face became a little paler. I could see her hands start to fidget. "He was camping out there and he had to cut his trip short." I explained rather bluntly. I eyed her suspiciously, she was making me very anxious with her behaviour. She obviously knew more than she was letting on.

"Well then...I don't know what to tell you." She crossed her arms over her chest. "There are wolves in the forest. Aiden might not have seen them." She stumbled over her words and her speed increased slightly. "Or he just didn't tell you about them, let's get to class." She moved past me and unlocked the door, she didn't bother to see if there was anyone there before pulling me out. I bit my lip slightly. Would Aiden really have lied to me about what he saw in the forest?

The school day went by in a blink of an eye. Emi was slightly avoiding me, it was difficult to do considering we had a lot of lessons together. It just made me upset. Everything was making me upset at the moment and I just wanted to go away and hide. That's when the idea came to my mind. I would go and see whether or not there were wolves in the forest.Aiden had done it a few times, there was nothing saying that I couldn't go out for a few hours.

When I got home, I headed straight upstairs to pack a bag. Other thoughts come through my mind. Dad was always telling me to get another job. I might ask him if I could join him one day. I wasn't the strongest but I'm sure that I'd be able to be of some use. It might just be a day or two but I could try and get more information. I could try and see what Emi, and maybe Aiden, were hiding from me.