Help Me

Chapter 4

“I’m sorry, Nate,” Andy exclaimed.

Nathan adjusted the phone against his ear, “‘Sorry’ would be if you told a teacher I cheated on a test. Not telling Suzie about Elizabeth Thomas. Besides,” he added, “I thought you hated her.”

“I do.”

“Then why did you tell her?” a bang outside his door made him jump. His mother, probably, putting towels in the closet.

“She threatened to chop off my nuts, Nate. I need those!” Andy was practically pleading.

He lowered his voice, “Tell her anything else, Andy, and I will chop them off.”

“Nate, I-”

“Hang on a second,” Nathan jumped off his bed and walked to the window. Cool night air streamed in as he pushed it open and stared out into the darkness. He thought he’d seen… There. A beam of white light peeked through the trees behind his house. It moved slowly to the right and back to the left.

“Nate? Are you there? Earth to Nathan Gray,” Andy shouted.

Nathan turned away from the window as his bedroom door opened. A second later, his bedroom light flipped on and his mother exclaimed, “What are you doing? It’s thirty degrees out, Nathan!”

Nathan turned and slammed his window shut. His gaze lingered on the trees outside, but the light had disappeared. 

“It’s time for bed,” his mother said, breaking into his thoughts, “You need to tell Andy goodbye and get ready for bed.”

Nathan nodded, “Did you get that, Andy?”

Andy laughed, “Yep. ‘Night, Nate.”

Nathan hung up. 

********************

Halloween came and went without celebration in the small town of Barton Hollow. Most of the older population was superstitious and the younger ones had never been exposed to the candy-crazed event. Nathan spent most of the day with Jack and Andy trekking through the woods and talking about random things. The next day was a Sunday, which meant church in the square and the rest of the day spent with your family. To his surprise, the Blakes didn’t show up for service and nobody saw them the rest of the day. Nathan wondered if they went to a church in town, one with a real building and pews instead of open air and a dirt road. 

On Monday, Suzie showed up at school with a nasty cut on her cheek that ran from her chin to her slightly bruised nose, leftover from a tumble down the stairs the week before. When asked, she told them that she’d cut herself when she was climbing trees Saturday. 

“Little Suzie climbing trees already?” Andy teased, “She’s already turning into one of us.”

“Shut up, Andy,” Suzie said, punching his arm. 

“Next she’ll be eating road kill and running around barefoot,” said Jack, his expression unreadable.

“You guys are such weirdos,” she moaned, but her eyes sparkled with quiet laughter. 

“This is coming from the girl who reads Serial Killers 101 and How to Kill Your Best Friend,” added Nathan.

“More like ‘How to Kill Your Annoying Classmates’.”

“Ouch, right in the heart, Suze. And I thought you liked us,” Nathan glanced around the table at the others, “Well, me at least.”

Suzie didn’t answer. When Nathan glanced at her, her eyes had glazed over and she was staring in the direction of the back doors. She lifted her face, as if she were Juliet defying her parents. To Nathan, she looked fierce. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to experience that fierceness. Then the moment passed and her face fell. Her head bowed towards the table. Suddenly, she snatched up her lunch bag and stood up. Without looking at the boys, she turned and stalked out of the lunchroom.