Indian summer

Chapter 8

The wolf in front of me that was supposedly Embry dipped his head and flicked his tail. My breathing was ragged and my heart was pounding. This wasn't possible. The wolf backed into the brush and I felt the weird shimmer in the air. Embry walked out of the same brush with a wary look on his face. "Do you believe me now?"

I nodded weakly but couldn't believe this was happening. It was unreal. "That's... wow." Embry laughed. "I have to get out of here." I muttered quickly. This was just too weird.

"No, wait!" Embry shouted after me, but I tried my hardest to ignore him. It felt like it took all my strength to walk away from him. He didn't follow after me.

I walked home briskly. I had a horrible time thinking straight; I almost got hit by a car a couple times. My mind was swirling with thousands of questions. And despite all the weirdness... I wanted to go back to him.

I nearly forgot how to open the door when I made it home. Yeah, I was that freaked out. My mom walked out of the kitchen to greet me and almost dropped the plate in her hand.

"Dixie, what happened to you?" She gasped, "You're as white as a ghost! And why are there leaves in your hair?"

I reached up and grabbed one of the bigger ones and tugged it out of my hair... furiously trying to come up with something. My mind wouldn't let me. "I... uh... there was a dog."

My mom paused, cocking her head to the side. "A dog? Were you chased by a dog?"

"No..." I muttered, "I followed it." I continued to pull the leaves out of my hair.

"You followed a dog?" She repeated, "Why were you following a dog?"

I shrugged and started up the stairs to escape, "I don't know, mom. I really don't know."

***

Stacy ran up to me in the parking lot before my first day of school. "Why didn't you call me last night? And why do you look like hell?" We started walking for the buildings. We had the same class first period.

"Sorry," I muttered. "And I didn't get much sleep last night." Stacy stopped walking and stared at me. "No!" I quickly corrected, "Not that!"

"You scared the crap out of me," she laughed.

I didn't say anything. The whole night I debated what I was going to do about this whole Embry thing. The image of him walking out of the bushes as a wolf flashed through my mind a thousand times last night. It wasn't possible was what I kept telling myself. There was no such thing as shape-shifters. They were just something Hollywood made up. But I had seen it with my own eyes. I had seen him become a wolf and then change back into a human.

But why was he so straight forward? That wasn't the kind of thing that you went around telling anyone and everyone about. Why me? What was special about me? Was that why I was drawn to him? Was it the reason I dream about him and can never get him out of my mind?

And what about the rest of his tribe? Was his friend Quil I saw at the beach one, too? How many where there? He said yesterday that they turn into wolves when there is danger. What's the danger?

"Earth to Dixie!" Stacy was waving a hand in front of my face. Evidently I had completely spaced out.

"Sorry," I apologized again.

"You just about walked into that wall." She laughed. "That would have been the perfect way to start the school year."

I forced all thoughts out my head and laughed. "Yeah, that wouldn't have been good."

The school day dragged on. I lost count of how many times I explained who I was and where I was from. The whole day I felt the entire school's eyes on me. I was the new thing. I dressed better today. I left my belt buckle and boots at home. Yet, I just couldn't escape the already set redneck stereotype. I actually had someone come up to me and ask if I was 'the redneck.' Guess word spreads fast in this town.