Blood Moon Lake

Chapter 1

Setting my final on the professor's desk, he nodded at me, and I slipped out of the classroom. I let out a sigh of relief as the door slid shut. My first year of college is finally over. Now, I can relax and not worry about papers due or affording my food for the next week.

All I need to worry about is finding a summer job and making sure my friends don't get hurt because they did something stupid.

Speaking of my friends, where are they? As far as I know, the only other person who has class today is Ella, and it's sometime after two.

Glancing down at my watch, I saw it was one fifteen. We better hurry up and get lunch if she wants to get to class on time. Pulling out my phone, I pulled up the group chat and sent out a message: "Hey, I'm done with class. Where are you guys?"

I continued walking until my phone buzzed. Grabbing my phone, I looked to see who replied. It was Jack. "In the cafeteria, we already got our food."

"Without me!?" I replied in mock offense.

I headed toward the cafeteria, thoughts of summer plans swirling around my head. My friends and I are staying in a cabin for a week, then I will go home for the rest of the summer. I need to get a summer job.... I'll probably go back to working at Starbucks.

I also need to find a way to avoid my parents as much as possible when I am home, so they can't rope me into another conversation about political values, what is good for the economy, and how my political views are messed up and that I need to fix them. Because apparently, my personal opinion isn't welcome in the house unless it's the same as theirs.

I also need to make sure I get a gift for my nephew's birthday, which is coming up. Oh, I also want to visit my aunts when they come into town for the week. I haven't seen them since Thanksgiving two years ago.

Then, the most important thing, hanging out with my friends and making sure they don't die, because knowing them, they will find some way to put themselves in mortal danger. Pushing the cafeteria doors open, I scanned the area for my friends. My eyes landed on a group of three people sitting at a table toward the left corner, arguing. There was one boy and two girls.

I waved as I walked over. "What are they arguing about?"

The boy turned to me, fluorescent lights beaming off his charcoal-colored hair. "These two are arguing over what movie is better."

Tucking a stray edge of his white t-shirt into his black jeans, he took another bite of his pasta. "How was the finale?"

I shrugged. "Fine, I guess, most of what I studied was on there."

"That's good," he replied.

"Jack! Help me out here!" A pale girl cried, gesturing over to the other darker-skinned one.

Jack sighed, brown eyes resisting the urge to roll. "Why do I have to help?"

"Because Ella's not listening!" she replied, "You know I'm right!"

"No, I'm listening. You're just wrong." Ella shot back.

The other girl huffed and crossed her pale arms over her chest. "You just have bad taste in movies."

Ella rolled her dark green eyes from behind her burgundy bangs. "Says the person who only watches romance!"

"Okay, settle down," I said. "What movies are we talking about?"

"Anna is saying The Notebook is the best movie, and Ella is saying the James Bond movies are better," Jack explained.

Anna's cat-like green eyes lit up when she saw me. "Luke! You'll side with me! Won't you?"