Being Casey

Chapter 2: More Attacks

The rest of the day went by in a blur. I had two classes with Ethan, and he sat at my table in each class. And it turns out he didn't just forget and stare at me. He stared at me the entire time in each class. But when I looked at him, he looked away. It was so frustrating. But when he stared at me, it wasn't crush stare, but a stare, like he was studying me. Once the bells had rung for me to get out of those classes, I ran so fast.

"Hey Casey." Kelsey said as I walked out to the bus stop.

"Sup bro?" I said, along with a smirk.

"That's my phrase!" She yelled.

"Alright! How's life?" I asked.

"Not to bad. How many classes do you got with the new kid?" She asked.

"Two. And he stares at me the whole time! It's creepy."

"Oh...Do you want to just walk to your house? It's a nice day."

"Sure." I said, as I started to walk the familiar trail. Kelsey walked next to me, kicking the rocks or sticks. We walked in silence, until I realized that my dad had told me to stay out of the woods. I stopped suddenly. "My dad told me to stay out of the woods Kelsey."

"Why?" She asked. "This is like your favorite place."

"Haven't you heard about all of those attacks?"

"Attacks?"

"People being torn apart! Haven't you heard?"

"My parents don't tell me anything." She shrugged. I looked around the woods, and instead of feeling safe and at home like I usually did, I was scared. A screech, a twig snapping, made my heart stop beating. Then, darkness formed and I saw a huge black bear walk out of the woods. I stood still. Slowly, I turned to Kelsey. She looked terrified.

"Run," I whispered. She shook her head.

"Not without you."

"Go or we both die." I held her hand and shoved her off. "Get out of the woods." I paused. "Run," She nodded to me. And ran. I turned to the bear. Instead of chasing Kelsey, the bear stood with me. I held my ground, even though I was shaking. The bear walked around me carefully examining me, almost seeing if I was good enough to kill. I took a deep breath, and looked around at the woods. I thought that this would be the last glimpse of anything I knew. I closed my eyes, and prepared for the worst. But the worst didn't come. I peaked through one eye, and saw nothing. So I opened the other eye. The bear just stood there, looking above me. Terrified, I turned around. I gasped at what I saw. A wolf. A grayish wolf with a white under chest. The wolf looked at me, and jumped. I crouched down, thinking that it was going to pounce on me, but when I heard the bear cry, I knew other wise. Taking the opportunity, I ran. But before I left, I whispered a silent thank you to the wolf for saving me.

****

I panted so hard when I got back. I've have never ran that fast in my life. I turned the knob to the door and pushed. No one was home, so I ran upstairs. I grabbed my door Handel and pushed. Kelsey sat on my bed, crying. "What's wrong?" I asked out of pure stupidity. She looked up and ran to hug me.

"I thought you were DEAD!"

"No..." I said.

She looked concerned. "What happened?!"

"Ummm...errr....it's hard to explain."

"No, I need to know."

I sighed. And explained the whole story. After I had told her, she just sat there, not knowing what to say.

"A wolf? A freaking wolf saved you!"

"Yeah," I said. Suddenly, I felt guilty. Guilty at I didn't listen to my dad. Guilty that I had left without my brother. And also, that I had left the wolf. "You didn't tell anybody. Right?"

"No...I got here and started crying."

I sighed in relief. "I need to do something to stop thinking about it." I said. "Go home Kelsey, your parents will be looking for you." Kelsey nodded and walked out of the room. I looked down at my hands, they were stilling shaking. Without knowing, I started crying. I didn't know I had cried until the tear landed on my arm. I laid down on the bed, and cried. After I had cried myself out, I fell asleep.

****

I woke up to my stomach growling. I looked at my clock and quickly got up. It read 7:18. Holy! I thought. I slept for a long time! I ran to my closet and got a different shirt. After, I got new shorts. I darted to the bathroom to rinse off my old make-up. Then I re-applied it. Without anything to slow me down, I ran down the stairs and when to the kitchen cupboard, grabbing a fudge pop tart. I unwrapped it and put it in the toaster. I ran back upstairs and grabbed my socks and sneakers. I looked in my body mirror and nodded at my clothing. I was wearing light shorts with a 'Minnesota Gophers' shirt. I tucked my shirt into my shorts, making it look better. I jogged back downstairs and grabbed one of the pop tarts, leaving the other one. I grabbed my backpack and walked out the door to catch the bus.

***

The bus pulled into school just as the first bell rang. Great, I thought. I ran/walked to my locker, grabbing my stuff for history. I walked into the class just as the bell rang.

"Miss Parks," Mr. Alvig said. "Why are you late?"

"Bus was late. Sorry." I said, taking a seat in my usual spot. I looked at Ethan as he was sitting across from me again. He had scratches on his face and a bruise above his right eye. "What happened?" I whispered to him.

"Got in a fight." He said.

"With who?" I asked.

He hesitated before he said. "Uhhh...my brother." I nodded, knowing he wouldn't tell me anything else. With nothing else to do, I took out my book at started to read. I was lost in the pages. I didn't know I had read for that long until the bell rang, sending me jumping from my seat in fright. The class laughed at me. I managed a small smile before grabbing my things and hurrying away from the classroom.

***

"When's lunch?" Kelsey asked me. We were currently sitting in Algebra2. And we were both bored. We had learned this stuff last year, but we were now in a class of morons, who never paid attention and wasted half of class. I'm not saying that it's bad to waste half of class, but when you go over and over and over something, it's like, bro, seriously, just shut up.

"In like," I looked up at the clock. "2 1/2 minutes.

"Awesome!" She whispered.

"Miss Parks, Miss Jackson." Miss Gregor said.

"Yeah?" I said.

"If your talking is more important than class, what is the answer to this-" the bell cut her off.

"Yes!" I cheered, before darting out of class.