Howling In The Night | Night Cat #2

Howling In The Night - Chapter 10

Full-Moon Lies

 “Would you care to repeat what I just said, Avery?”

The sound of Mr. Kebler’s annoyed voice yanked my out of my dream world and back into Spanish class. “Huh?” I asked, blinking sleepily.

“I asked you to repeat what I just told the class.”

“Um…”

I bit down on my bottom lip as I tried to recall what my Spanish teacher had just said. The only thing that popped into my mind, however, was the slogan off an apple-pie ad that I’d just seen from the window as a delivery truck passed by. Somehow, I didn’t think that Mr. Kebler had suddenly started endorsing Aunt Maye’s Apple Pies, so that couldn’t have been it.

“Sorry Mr. K. I must have missed it.”

“Mm-Hmm…” He shook his head, frowning. “I’ll repeat it one last time, Avery, and I hope you’ll pay attention.” I winced at the irritation in his tone. I guess he wasn’t in such a good mood with me today.  “I said, sus exámenes parciales son la próxima semana. Could you tell me what that means, Avery?”

“Um..” I started, scratching my head. Why was Mr. Kebler picking on me today? “Our midterms are next week?”

He nodded, pleased. “That’s right. At least I know you’ve been paying attention in our previous classes.”

I gave him a wry smile – which he pointedly ignored as he continued. “Como algunos de ustedes sabrán, hay una noche de luna llena.”

“Si.” Some of the students in the front of the class replied. I just nodded. “As some of you may know, there’s a full moon tonight”? What did tonight’s full moon have to do with our midterms?

“Yo quiero todos ustedes a escribir un ensayo para mí.” He continued, walking around the class and peering into everyone’s notebooks.

He wanted us to write a paper for him? Let me guess, it had something to do with full-moons, didn’t it?

“I want you to write a paper on Legends of the Full-Moon.” He continued, switching to English.

Bingo, I thought with a sly smirk. Ten points to Avery.

“Legends of the full moon?” Beth, the girl sitting beside me, repeated.

“Anything except werewolves. I think that’s been way overdone since Twilight took over the world.”

 “No werewolves? What else is there to write?”

Mr. Kebler shook his head sadly. “Don’t you people read anymore?”

No one answered, so neither did I. I wasn’t going to be the only geek in class who knew a few ancient tales that centered on the full-moon. Since I wanted to be an archeologist, it was kind of necessary for me to know this kind of stuff – but no one else needed to know that.

I joined my fellow classmates in giving Mr. Kebler blank stares. After one sweeping glance around the classroom, he pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb, and sighed in exasperation.

“Really?” He asked again, giving me an odd look. “Nobody?” The class remained silent. “Well, consider this your first step into the world of research. I want all of you to go home and fiddle around on the internet. You’ll be amazed with what you might find.”

The class chuckled quietly just as the bell sounded, signaling the end of class.

“I want two hundred words on my desk next Monday. It counts as 50% of your grade.”

I leapt out of my seat and swept my books into my arms, wanting to get out of school as soon as possible.

“Are you coming over today?” I looked up to find Xander grinning down at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Beth shoot me a knowing look.

“Um, yeah.” I replied with a smile, cautiously looking around to make sure no cheerleaders where giving me the stink-eye. “I’ll come over once I’m done with my chores, okay?”

“Cool.” He replied with a casual nod. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”

I pulled my books closer to my chest and proceeded to follow Xander out of the classroom when, suddenly, Mr. Kebler called out to me. “Avery! Could I speak to you for a moment?”

With a mental sigh, I waved Xander on, telling him that I could get home on my own, and then turned around to face my Spanish teacher. Funnily enough, I still had to be on the look-out for stink-eyes.

“You rang Mr. K?”

He chuckled. “Yes, I did.” He waved towards one of the empty chairs in the front of the class. “Please, sit.”

I sat. Seeing the questioning look on my face, Mr. Kebler got to the point. “Avery, how well do you know Xander?”

I felt my eyebrows rise on my forehead. I definitely hadn’t expected that question. “Um. Pretty well, I guess. Why?”

“No reason.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Do you trust him?”

“Yes. I do. Mr. K, what’s this all about?”

“Nothing. I was just… curious. No one really knows much about him – except for you. Even his teammates don’t hang out with him as much as you do, and the two of you seem to have gotten very close in the past few months.”

I gave my concerned Spanish teacher a wry look. While his story sounded very plausible, I had the strange feeling that he was lying. “Uh-huh.” I replied, hoping that I sounded like I believed him. “I appreciate your concern, Mr. K, but really, Xander’s a good guy. I know he isn’t the most open person in the world, but you’ll have to trust my judgment.”

He stood up, frowning. “Just be careful, okay? Appearances can be deceiving.”

I followed suit and rose from my seat, too. “Don’t worry about me, Mr. K. I can take care of myself.”

I turned and made my way towards the door. I had barely put a toe out of the classroom when I heard Mr. Kebler’s voice again. Surprisingly, when he spoke, his voice was coated with worry. “I really hope so, Avery.”