Moonlight Passion

Chapter 2: Those Eyes

Rayne's birthday camping trip had been a wonderful vacation from her daily life. She had finally gotten a chance, however brief it was, to escape the routine of waking up, doing as her friends wanted, going to sleep, and repeating the process every single day. Sometimes she wanted to bash her head at the wall when Vivian suggested going to the mall. Why was that their go-to place to hang out? Why was it ALWAYS the damn mall? Being out in the mountains surrounded by strong trees, listening to the sounds of various animals that she knew meant them no harm and were simply curious about the new arrivals to the forest was about as close to paradise as Rayne had ever known. 

But, when they woke up the next morning it was back to reality, and there was nothing Rayne could do about it. John packed up all their stuff, loaded everything into the car, and the group set off together as unchanged as they had been before they came out in the first place. It was heartbreaking for Rayne to say the least, but at least she could treasure the time they got to spend together in the woods. 

A few days had gone by when rumors began circulating. Apparently, there was a new student at their school. Everyone thought it was strange to be starting school on a Wednesday, so clearly that meant that they had to talk as much about this stranger as possible. Rayne almost wished that she could make herself deaf until school ended. She couldn't get away from the rumors. 

Yes, in their school, and even in their small town, the rumor mill never quit and everyone had an opinion on some new development within a short period of it occurring, but Rayne had never seen gossip spread so quickly before! The first sighting of the "new guy" was ten minutes before their first period, and by the time everyone had filed into the cafeteria for lunch, Rayne had heard so much about this stranger she could have written a book about him without ever having laid eyes on the poor soul! 

"Did you see him? He looks crazy!" 

"He needs to check his sell-by date, scruffy is sooo out!" 

"Someone put this guy in a psych ward! There's something off about him!" 

"I heard his mother broke out of the loony bin!" 

"I heard he's a druggie!"

"Do you think he might be in a cult? He sure looks like it!" 

"Someone told me that they saw him light up a cigarette in class!" 

"I swear, I saw him sneak a beer into class! He took a swig during the lecture and hid it quick before the teacher could see!" 

"I heard that he moved here because he tried to kill himself and his parents thought relocating would do some good for him. It's a shame they decided to come here!" 

"Look out! People are gonna start going missing, we have a resident serial killer!" 

By the time Rayne had entered the cafeteria she was sick of hearing about him, especially because the things they were coming up with were clearly not true. If he'd done anything as crazy as smoke or drink in class he would have immediately been suspended or expelled. It's not that easy to tell if someone is a drugged up loser if they aren't doped up at the moment, or you don't know them. And there was no way anyone could know anything about his life before he showed up. It's impossible. And even if he was around long enough to know things like that, the wild tales people were telling couldn't possibly be true! 

Rayne was so wrapped up in her hatred of the rumor mill that she didn't notice that she was about to run into someone until she had. Thankfully, before she fell back onto her rear end, the person she ran into took hold of her arm and helped her to her feet. "Careful there, you don't want to hurt yourself. You alright?" An unfamiliar voice asked.