Don't lose HOPE [COMPLETED]

Chapter 11

HOPE

I guess they are serious about me living here now. I'm glad that they're not sending me back home, but I don't understand why I'm staying in Zeke's room when they have more than one guestroom. I know that they don't trust me to not try to hurt or kill myself again, but surely, Zeke must get tired of having me in his room and take up space. It's not like he can bring a girl home while I stay there. The way he looks, he can pick and choose, but now that I think about it, I haven't seen him with any girl the two weeks he's been at school. Even if I keep to myself, I notice stuff, and he's been turning every girl down.

Is he gay? That would make me more comfortable to keep staying in his room, but for some reason, I feel sad thinking about it.

"Mom left us some food. They've already been eating," Zeke says and brings out food from the fridge. It's some kind of chicken stew with rice and vegetables. Zeke scoops up a small portion for me and a full plate for him. "I'll leave this out in case we want another portion," he says and brings my plate to the microwave.

I'm never going to be able to eat another portion even if he made me a small one, but I guess he will.

"Now that you've rested, do you have the strength to take another walk? It's not far. It's just another place I want to show you," Zeke says.

I nod. I liked being outside yesterday. I might need another sweater, though, so I don't get cold.

We eat up and he walks us upstairs to his room again. He walks into the closet and rummages around for a while before coming out with some clothes. He holds out a thick fleece jacket that I put on. It's as big as his shirts and goes down to my knees.

He helps me pull the zipper up all the way, puts a beanie on my head and gives me a wide smile. "Perfect."

I just look at him. He's like an overprotective dad that's dressing his child way too much...but I get cold easily, and after yesterday, I guess he doesn't want me to get cold again. He doesn't dress any warmer, though. He's just wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but I guess he can have his jacket back if he gets cold.

He takes my hand again and we walk out and to another path in the woods. We walk for about 10 minutes before we come to a clearing and a small stream. It's big enough to jump over if you have long legs like Zeke.

He sits me down on a big rock and walks to the edge of the stream. It flows calmly and the sound is so relaxing.

"Chris and I used to go here when we were kids," Zeke says, smiling. "We built boats out of bark, sticks and leaves and followed them down the stream to the lake."

I look at him and try to pull the corners of my lips into a small smile, just to assure him that I'm listening. I don't know if it showed, though.

He grabs a piece of bark, presses a stick through it and a leaf through the stick, like a sail. "Like this," he says, proud of his creation.

I nod and he puts it gently in the stream, then we watch it float away.

"When you have more strength, we can build one each and follow them to the lake. It's not that far."

He lies down on the grass with his arms under his head, his legs crossed and closes his eyes, like he's got no care in the world.

I wish I could be like that.

I pull my legs up and rest my chin on my knees. I close my eyes too and we stay like that for a while in comfortable silence.

"We better head back so we're not late for dinner," Zeke says, making me open my eyes.

It's starting to get chilly again, but I'm not cold. Zeke must be freezing.

"Do you want your jacket back?" I ask him quietly.

"No, I'm warm.," he says, smiling and grabs my hand. His hand is really warm.

We walk back on the path, and suddenly, I see some movement in the bushes. A huge wolf appears about 30 feet from us. I freeze. Zeke stands behind me and wraps his arms protectively around me, but seems calm. He stares at the wolf. The wolf stares at him, then bows.

What the hell!

The wolf continues walking into the woods.

I turn around and grab Zeke's shirt with slight panic. "I-it was a wolf."

He rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah, they're quite common around here."

I remember the three wolves I saw the other day on my way to the cliff, but then, I didn't really care what they did to me since I was going to die anyway. Now, I'm quite shaken up.

"It's ok. They won't harm you," Zeke says comforting.

How can he be so sure?

He grabs my hand again and starts walking, but I'm still frozen. What if it comes back?

"Would you rather stay out here when it gets dark or would you rather go home?" Zeke says.

I don't need to think about that. I hurry behind him and grab the hem of his t-shirt with my other hand. He chuckles and keeps walking.

Finally, safe inside the house, I take the jacket and beanie off. We walk into the kitchen where the others are.

"There you are. Did you take another walk?" Kate says, smiling.

"W-we saw a w-wolf," I say, stuttering and still quite shaken up.

They all look at each other, but doesn't seem surprised.

"Well, they're...around," Evelyn says.

Are they that common that they don't even care or get scared of them? I've never seen wolves before, and now I've seen four in the matter of three days.

We sit down at the table and they change the subject.

"How do you feel about going back to school on Monday?" Richard, Zeke dad, asks me. "You don't have to worry about anyone. I've talked to the principal and I gave him a proper scolding about how they've been handling your situation. All of the teachers have also been informed."

I look down and Zeke grabs my hand and squeezes it gently.

"Zeke is with you in all of your classes. You have the protection from him and the boys at all times, and we discussed that Evelyn should transfer too."

Evelyn lights up and seems really happy. Now she can be with Chris a lot more.

"I've got you, girl," she says, winking at me.

I don't want to go back, but I also want to finish my last year if I'm still going to be on this earth.

"Okay," I say quietly.

"Good. I'll call the principal right after dinner and make sure that Evelyn can transfer," Richard says.

We eat up, and then go and watch another movie in the media room, which makes me fall asleep again. I'll take care of my new clothes tomorrow.