Statera - The Balanced One

Chapter Three

Three Weeks Later -

If Keitan only knew what kind of girl he'd befriended that first day, he'd probably have run the other way. My father's side of our family is—mysterious, for lack of a better term. Mom's side—oh boy, where to begin. Unusual doesn't quite hit the mark, so we'll just say—advanced. When you bring those two worlds together, it makes for some pretty interesting bloodlines. When I was little, dad told me stories about our tribe that seemed like fairytales. I never believed Dad's legends or Mom's tales of supernatural powers. But then, I turned ten, and Dad took me on my first hunting trip.

***

The adrenaline running through me was so intense that I could barely steady my bow. It was aimed at a small rabbit when, suddenly, a wolf leaped over a log ahead of me. I was too scared to make a sound or even drop the bow. In times like this, a person usually reacts in one of two ways, fight or flee. I did neither; instead, I froze, petrified with fear. Then, a deep growl from behind me became a ferocious roar that catapulted my fear into terror.

When I spun around, I stood toe to toe with a grizzly bear. It just gave me a confused look, almost as if annoyed, and, without warning, a massive paw sent me flying sideways as the bear charged. The wolf fled without looking back.

I searched the underbrush frantically for the bow that had gone flying when the bear struck me, but it wasn't anywhere to be found. Then a twig snapped a few feet in front of me, and I raised my gaze to see the bear had turned its menacing glare on me. So, I did what any ten-year-old girl would do. I cried. Through tear-blurred vision, the bear got smaller as it got closer until, finally, it was my father kneeling before me, so much for fairytales.

****

"Zora, did you hear me," Keitan asked, staring at me.

The sound of his voice pulled my thoughts from the past.

"Huh? Sorry, Keitan. What were you saying?"

He laughed, "Zora, you can call me Kei. It's fine, I promise."

I couldn't help but grin. No one else called him Keitan but me.

"Well, Kei, maybe I like Keitan better? I mean, isn't that what's on your birth certificate?"

At first, all I heard was laughter, then he said, "Hmm, yes, and seeing how you have a point, I guess I'll get used to it. Anyway, never mind, it wasn't important."

Stopping, he glanced down at me momentarily, asking, "I know we've been hanging out for a few weeks, but I have no idea where you're from? You have this accent. It's definitely not Midwestern or Southern."

That question always irritated me because I didn't think I had an accent.

"I don't have an accent, everyone else does, but I'm from The Great Northwest."

He let out a sound of disbelief that resembled a snort and asked, "Canada? You're joking, right!"

"No, not Canada—wow, Washington State. What about you?"

He inclined his head, saying, "I was born and bred here. Well, there's the warning bell. Talk to you at lunch?"

It took real effort to not let the disappointment I felt show.

I gave him a small wave and said, "Yeah, see you there."

I liked him but couldn't open up enough to tell him—I was scared. Even so, I'd sneak a glance at him in the hall every so often just to find him already staring at me. He didn't seem concerned that I or everyone else knew he was watching me. As he came down the hall that afternoon, whatever he'd been saying to his best friend Josh was lost on his lips and replaced with a lopsided grin as they strolled past.