Savanna

Chapter 18

I began to wonder about when my mum will get home. What will I say to her when she finds me here with Jake again? To think straight, I knew he should go. I, by no means, want to spend time with a guy who kills people in his spare time. Or who has done it. But surprisingly, at the moment, I didn't want to see him go.

"You're not playing with my mind now, are you?" I asked suddenly, looking up at him. I wasn't sure when it had happened exactly, but somewhere during the long silence we sat in, both of his arms had slipped around me, and I was leaning against his chest. But it didn't feel wrong. Instead, I felt safe. Safer than ever.

"No," he replied, playing with strands of my hair between his fingers. His eyes landed on me, an eyebrow rising slightly. "Why do you think so?"

"Doesn't matter." I let my gaze fall back at the darkness of the thick forest before us.

"Let's just say you'd feel if it I did."

"I didn't feel anything yesterday."

A smug grin appeared on his lips as he said the following words. "You were too busy to notice anything."

I could feel the blush crawl on my cheeks and I had to look away in an attempt to hide it. If he saw that, I'm not sure. At least he didn't say anything for a while, which let my face gain it's normal color.

Then, "I haven't even asked yet," he said suddenly, "what happened to your leg?"

"I fell."

"And it caused you to break it?" Jake sounded a little surprised, which made me feel like the weakest thing.

"I's only a little fracture," I said quietly. Then, to change the subject again, "Hey, I wondered if there might be some other creatures out there that... maybe savannians should be afraid of, or something?" I wasn't sure how to put it.

Jake frowned as he looked at me again. "What brings you to that thought?"

Shrugging, I told him. "When I hurt my knee, that guy named Shane found me. He took me to the hospital and back again, only... he was being very helpful and friendly."

Jake only kept his eyes on me for a while, not saying a word as he seemed to mull over it. Then, "If you're referring to that he can't be a savannian if he's generous, then let me lighten you, again; not all savannians are bad guys."

I then realized this was exactly what I had thought. For some reason I had stuck with the idea that if a person is 'good', then they can't be a savannian. It also dawned on me that this had been one of the main reasons I was mad at Rudy.

"What is Rudy?" I asked suddenly. "What animal is he?"

"You haven't asked him?"

I shook my head. "Our conversation didn't go exactly how I'd liked it to."

"Then you should make up. You could ask him yourself."

"Why can't you tell me?"

"It's not up to me to tell you."

I frowned, remembering that he had told me something along the same lines before. "But why?"

"Their species is their own business. If Rudy is willing to tell you, then he will."

"Rudy is my best friend. I should know," I argued back, not understanding what he meant. "Besides, nothing stopped you from telling me about Melany."

"And because of the fact he is your friend, you should honor his wish. You're not so close with Melany, so there's not much difference if you know or not. Just as well I could tell you that about half of our school's football team is Asian black bears."