Deep in the Forest (Wattpad Editor's Pick, June '22)

4

A Criminal Justice textbook that must have weighed at least fifty pounds, slammed against the table in front of Zoe. She jumped while the sound reverberated through the sparsely filled cafeteria.

"I feel worse than the hangover I had the day after my twenty-first birthday." Takota plopped onto the orange chair next to hers'. His usual dusky color was hidden behind a sickly, gray hue and his eyes had dark bags hanging under them.

Zoe gulped her coffee, waiting for Takota to elaborate.

"I swear the spirits didn't want me to sleep. They kept me up with strange noises coming from the forest."

"What noises?"

"Like, trees being broken in half and strange animal howls, of the bone chilling flavor." He rubbed his face. "I can't even tell you what was discussed in class."

"I didn't sleep well either."

"You sick too?"

People wandered into the cafeteria through the black double doors, filling the large space with conversations that echoed off the stone walls. The smell of peperoni and bacon came from the mini pizzas departing from the kitchen. Takota turned an unsightly shade of gray-green before covering his nose with his favorite Pearl Jam t-shirt.

Zoe leaned closer to him. "I didn't hear any howling, but the motion sensor on the back of the house kept me up most of the night. I might have slept a total of three hours."

"Raccoons again?

"Nope, I didn't see them or anything for that matter."

"That's weird. You should get a game camera so we can see what it really is."

"If I get a picture of those buggers getting in the trash again, maybe animal control will finally do something about them. For now, I'm going to change the bulb and hope that takes care of the problem."

"And I hope, I can stay awake long enough to make it through the rest of the day."

She could feel him staring into the side of her head for a few moments before speaking, "You said something about a weird vibe yesterday. What was that about?"

Zoe's skin chilled as she thought of the black hemlock. "I thought there might have been a bear hiding in the bushes, watching me, but I didn't see anything. It was unsettling."

Takota ran his fingers through his long black hair before gathering into a pony. Zoe knew he groomed himself whenever he had things that weighed heavily on his mind. "I told my mom about our ride and she got really upset. She forbids me from going there anymore, said the land was cursed. I'm my own man but if mom says, 'stay away', I do."

Zoe wondered if Takota was doing as he was told because he loved his mom or feared her shotgun. She was a good aim after all the years of chasing predators away from the Sohappy Boarding Stables. "My parents don't want me going up there either, but didn't really tell me why."

Takota rolled his eyes. "Some old legend about Ste ye hah."

In her head, Zoe went through the stories her mom told her but the name didn't sound familiar. "Who?"

"Bigfoot."

Zoe snorted. She didn't believe in legends, myths or fairy tales, she believed in things she could see, touch and study.

Takota shrugged. "I thought she might have been hitting the peace pipe a little too hard, if you know what I mean."

"Your mom has always had a wild imagination. There is no such thing as Bigfoot."

"How do you know?"

"To this day, no conclusive evidence of any kind has been found." She swished a gulp of her coffee around in her mouth to wash away the silly idea of Bigfoot being real and hanging out in her yard last night.

"What about all the footprints people have pictures or casts of?"

"Hoaxes by people looking for their fifteen minutes of fame."

"Eh, maybe, you're right." Takota yawned. "I need a bed or even a bench would do."

"Yeah, I could...sleep." Zoe lost her train of thought as the crowd near the doors parted.

Rebecca Fairchild strolled to where Zoe was seated, her thumbs hooked into the red backpack straps at her shoulders. Green and blue paint splotched her combat boots. Her long legs stopped at the frayed bottom of her dixies. And the ensemble was completed with a blue and black cotton flannel that hung off one of her sun-kissed shoulders.

"Hi, Zoe." Her singsong voice sounded like an angel. "Takota."

Takota nodded. "Sup?"

Zoe cleared her throat. "Hey, Rebecca." Her eyes reminded Zoe of a dark red wine—very dark red.

Takota slowly rose to his feet and retrieved his heavy load from the table. "I have class across campus in ten. Catch ya later."

"Yeah, bye." Zoe waved halfheartedly at his departing back. "How's it going?"

There was a small gap between Rebecca's front teeth, that added to her brilliant smile. "Good. Um, I was wondering if you are busy this Friday?"

Zoe felt the adrenaline shoot through her body as her excitement clashed with her nerves. She wiped her sweaty palm on her pants. "No, not yet anyway."

"Do you remember that I submitted a piece to the local gallery?" Rebecca was majoring in art, but Zoe didn't have a creative bone in her body. Her one and only piece of self-created artwork hung in her room as a way of saying, 'yes, I am creative—once.' It was a color by numbers picture of butterflies and flowers, and had taken the better part of a year to complete.

"Yeah, that was months ago. Did they ever get back to you?"

Rose colored Rebecca's cheeks as she tucked her long hair behind her ear. "They are featuring my acrylic this week as 'artists to follow'."

"Oh my gosh, that's great news!" Zoe wiggled in her chair. She had to curb her desire to jump to her feet and give Rebecca a hug, since they hadn't so much as touched hands.

"We should go check it out Friday. Maybe, have dinner?"

Zoe reminded herself to breathe. She dreamt of asking Rebecca out hundreds of times since they met, but never had the courage to do it. "I'd love to."

"Great. Pick me up at my place. Like, seven thirty?"

"Seven thirty."

"Can't wait." Rebecca turned on her heel and walked away.

"Me either."