Forbidden

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The next day after school I have another tutoring session with Nathan. He's unusually quite and only talks to ask me a question about his math homework. For some reason I preferred it when he was cocky and obnoxious. Silence doesn't really work with him.

When he's finished his homework and studying for upcoming tests, I wait out front for my mom to pick me up. I told her about my tutoring after school and she said she could leave the shop for a little while to come and give me a ride.

After I get in the car, she drives me back to her art shop and I spend the next few hours helping out there.

Nothing much really happens for the next week and a half. I spent two more days after school helping Nathan and then decided he didn't need tutoring anymore. Everyday after school I helped my mom with her store and tried my best not to worry about Kieran.

Although in all honesty, I am worried about him. I can't help it. I have no idea where he is or what he's doing or when he'll be back.

And where were the other werewolves? I had thought for sure they would have caused trouble. It's been a few weeks though and so far there have been no reports of any deaths or any injuries. Maybe they just decided to move on and start their lives. Or maybe some of them decided to do what Kieran had done and figure out how everything works first.

Either way, I was just glad they were gone.

Right now I'm just enjoying being around my mom and finally getting to spend more time with her. After I got out of school today, I headed down to her shop to help her decorate her store for Halloween. In just one week, next Friday, it would be Halloween.

The school had completely gone all out and decorated every possible inch for the holiday. And everyone was buzzing about the Haunted House the high school apparently hosted every year. From overhearing people talk about it, I found out that each year the senior class was in charge of decorating the high school as scary as they could possibly make it. This year was supposed to be the best because the seniors had held a bake sale to raise money for new decorations.

Which meant everyone was going to be there for the Haunted House. Also for the first time ever, the town of Calm Woods was going to have a haunted trail in the forest. Obviously, each year before they couldn't do that since it was kind of home to thirteen werewolves. But this year Pastor Locke had announced that the woods were no longer a threat and were no longer forbidden. In fact, the haunted trail was his idea.

People seemed to be more excited about the trail than the Haunted House. Well, the girls weren't really looking forward to it. Most were scared after hearing about all of the murders in the woods but of course the boys were just the opposite.

"Why don't you go home and start dinner?" My mom suggests as she hangs up yet another Halloween decoration.

"Are you sure?" I ask. "There are still a lot of decorations left."

She waves her hand. "I'll be fine. You've done enough for today and besides, I'm sure your father will be starving when he gets home. Have dinner ready in two hours?" She asks.

I nod and head out of the store. The walk takes me ten minutes and when I reach my house, I shower and change into jeans and a jacket. The weather continues to grow colder and colder and my big house doesn't seem to want to heat up very fast.

I walk down stairs and to the kitchen to think of something to fix. Since I can't cook without music, I plug my iPod into the dock and blare the music. I decide on steak and potatoes and set the meat out to thaw.

With my homework done and nothing else to do, I hop on the couch and flip on the television. My music still blares from the kitchen but I ignore it and turn the volume up on the TV.

The sound of the doorbell ringing is just audible. I sigh and flip off the TV and run up to the door. I open it quickly and prepare to greet the person on the other side.

I frown when I see Nathan. Oh gosh, this is what happened last time.

"Before you close the door on me, can I just talk to you for like five minutes?" He asks.

I nod and let him come in. "What's up?" I ask.

"I wanted to propose something," he says.

I raise an eyebrow.

"And before you kick me out, no I'm not going to get on one knee," a smile touches his lips.

"So what exactly are you talking about?" I ask.

He clears his throat and it's obvious he doesn't know how to start. "Since you've made it clear that we can't um, well that we can't be together...I was wondering if maybe we could just be friends."

This catches me off guard but in a good way. The fact that he's offering to stop flirting with me and just be my friend is touching.

"Heather?" He asks peeking at me.

I forgot that I never answered him. I laugh and say, "I would like that."

He smiles as well. "Good. Well...I guess I'll see ya."

I nod. "Yeah, I'll see you."

He turns and walks out the door. Well that had gone much better than last time! I start to wonder though if this is going to work out. Me and him being friends? It just seems almost impossible. But he's obviously willing to give it a try and so am I.

When Sunday rolls around, I get dressed for church and then my parents and I get in the car. When we get inside the church we're greeted as usual by the Pastor, his wife, and their oldest son. The only unusual thing about it is that Nathan is also standing with them. Normally he's lounging lazily in the chair in the corner. But here he is, standing proudly next to his family, shaking hands with people as they walk in.

I shake the Pastor's hand, then his wife's, then Elijah's and finally I get to Nathan. He smiles and holds out his hand. "Good morning, friend," he says to me.

I laugh and shake his hand. Surprisingly he doesn't hold on longer than needed. I had expected him to at least hold my hand for a long time, but he doesn't. He holds it as long as he has with everyone else.

I continue walking on and follow my parents to our seats.

The next day goes by slowly. I have nothing to look forward to anymore. Kieran's gone and...well I guess that's pretty much it. When it's time for lunch, I grab my sack lunch and go to my new table by myself.

I sigh and take out my sandwich. Before I can even take a bite, someone plops down in the empty chair next to me. I gasp and snap around to see who it is.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Nathan asks.

I smile to myself. "Why are you here?"

Nathan shrugs. "Well its lunch time and well, call me crazy, I tend to eat my lunch in a cafeteria."

I laugh and nudge him with my elbow. "I meant why are you here at my table?"

He takes a bite of his pizza. "Would you like me to leave?"

I sigh, frustrated that he's not getting it, or at least pretending not to get it. "Normally you sit with all of your friends. Why aren't you with them?"

"I am with my friend," he says with a smile.

I groan. "Nathan that's not what I mean!"

He sets his pizza down and looks at me. "I just figure that no one should have to eat lunch alone. I don't know about you but I definitely do not enjoy eating at a table all by myself. Yes, I could be eating at my usual table but I thought I'd eat here instead if that's okay with you. I was actually thinking I'd start eating here everyday. The lighting over here is quite good, much better than my usual table's lighting. So, for seeing purposes I thought I'd try sitting over here. What do you think?" He looks at me, waiting for an answer.

I look down, touched that he's actually here sitting with the unpopular girl when he could be sitting with all his popular friends. "Well," I say. "I guess if the lighting over there was really that bad..." I look over at him and smile.

He laughs. "Then it's settled. I'll sit here from now on."

I look down to hide my smile.