Savanna

Chapter 14

It was clear enough that he didn't come here only because of the poster. He could have just as well do it by himself. Actually, that was exactly what he did. Even if I did try to say something, or do anything to help, his knowledge was beyond mine. So eventually I decided it was best to just shut up. Jake did his job like a robot. His hand moved non-stop, smoothly and so fast that the beautiful cursive handwriting for a result was just inhumane. I mean, I can't write that fast even if I do mistakes after every two letters. And at the same time his eyes kept flitting at those notes we had taken while we were in the woods. Well, before we had to make a run because of the hyenas. By the way, Jake also had Melany's notes with him, from which I could only make out that he had planned coming here.

The strange thing was that again and again I found myself searching his eyes, which seemed distinctively dark at the moment. Every time they flitted at the notes, they reminded me of something otherworldly, surreal. And what more I thought about it, that more difficult it was to look away. A part of me was just so enchanted with all that supernatural stuff. I had no idea if he had noticed my staring. He should have had by now. But he didn't give me even one glimpse.

At one point he tilted his head a little to reread the text he had written before. And I saw his eyes from another angle. Then it hit me immediately, why they had seemed so different. There was this transparent layer on them, like you could see on a cat's eye if you looked from the side. It came to me so suddenly that inadvertently I flinched, hitting my knee on the desk.

That earned me Jake's attention. A smile appeared at the corners of his mouth, his pupils reducing into thin vertical lines on the bright greenish background.

"Can't get your eyes off, eh?" His voice sounded amused.

I had pulled back a little, staring at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. If before his eyes had me... yeah, enchanted, then now they filled me with slight fear.

He turned his gaze back at the poster and carried on writing. "If you're wondering, then it's easier to do the job like this," he explained, not looking at me anymore. But a while after the incident, I still remained like a statue, my heartbeats accelerated. It had scared me, because it reminded me of that night at the old schoolhouse. I might be aware of the fact that he's not human, but it doesn't mean I'd act like everything is normal when I'm face to face with a guy with cat's eyes. Eventually I gathered my courage again, of course, and leaned forward to the desk, waiting for him to finish. And waiting to get him out of my house.

Finally he put down the pencil, giving a quick look at his work. He had written down every species from our notes, added a short description, lifestyle and stuff like that. And the only source he had used were our notes. I tried not to be too astonished. It must be coming from the fact that he's half an animal himself. He just has more knowledge of the animal kingdom. I should also mention that the whole job only took him about fifteen minutes. But there barely was a white spot on the paper.

Jake pushed the sheet towards me. "Wanna do the illustrating?" His dilated pupils reduced a little when he looked at me, but this time they still stayed rather dilated. I had to suppress shudders.

"So you aren't that good at drawing?" I asked, adding sarcasm in my voice.

"I just thought you might wanna do something yourself."

I took a sharp breath, keeping back a sigh. "Okay, but you'll see it tomorrow at school," I replied, putting the poster away.

"Will you go now?" After a few seconds of silence he still hadn't showed any signs of leaving.

It looked to me as if he kept himself from rolling his eyes at me when he stood up and slowly sauntered towards the stairs. I followed him to be sure he'd leave. But when we had made it downstairs, he stopped at the kitchen to look back at me.