She Came From the Forest (James and Tera: book 1)

7

The rest of the week went by fast after the whole library situation. Classes seemed shorter. School days seemed to fly by like a breeze. Tests were easier. Things were so simple.

During the week, Tera and I had gotten closer. She was hanging out with me and the guys more and more. She and Sage were best friends since they shared the same style. They even both agreed to perform in the school talent show together. She and Kai got along alright as well. They didn't exactly see eye to eye, but they respected one another. And her and Terry, oh man they made jokes about EVERYONE.

It was Friday afternoon. Class had finally ended and we were all out of the school for our weekend. Sage and I were walking through the parking lot to meet up with Kai as usual. Terry was out sick today. Or so that's what the teachers think. He texted me and told me he was going to the pond to "fish". In reality, that means he was going to walk to the pond behind his house to get wasted.

Kai liked when we came to talk before leaving, even if he didn't show his appreciation. Kai was always a tough person. He kept his feelings bottled pretty well. He was always a loner, but sometimes even a loner needs to communicate, right?

Tera was sitting on her Harley talking to Kai, who was sitting in his Corvette with the door open. She had started parking here after she decided to join the group. Besides, she liked hearing Kai talk about cars. Kai took mechanic classes after school. He had a passion for vehicles, big or small. He'd looked at Sage's mom's car a few times before, but it was never anything major, just oil changes or replacing sparkplugs.

They both looked over and Tera smiled and greeted us. "Hey guys. We were thinking of going to see Terry and wanted to know if you guys wanted to come along."

"I'm down!" Sage agreed without hesitation. "It's fun hanging out with him outside of school." Yeah, or fun for you to hang out with the free booze. I thought.

Kai looked at me. "What about you, James? You wanna come along?"

I sort of hesitated. "I don't know. I'm not really into hanging out with him like that." Oh I had no problem with it, it's just that my dad had found out Terry had snagged a couple of beers out of his fridge when we were hanging out at the house and forbade me from hanging out with him outside of school.

"Come onnnnn." Tera begged, walking over and putting both her hands on my shoulders. "I'll even drive you and have you home before late. How's that sound?" I felt myself starting to blush at her touch. She had been really touchy lately.

I looked away. "Fine."

I pulled out my phone and texted my mom.

Me: Off to hang out with Sage. Be home before late.

Mom: ok. Be safe.

She would most likely tell Dad who I was hanging out with. That is if he noticed. And if so, it wasn't a lie. I was hanging out with Sage, but I didn't exactly say where or who else was hanging out with us.

I looked up from my phone and gave the thumbs up. "All set."

"Woo!" Sage yelled. "Let's have some fun, amigos!" He jogged around to the other side of Kai's car. "Unlock the door, Houdini!"

Kai looked at us with a sympathetic expression. "What did I ever do to deserve this? When one idiot is out sick, there's always another to harass me."

Tera laughed. "Those idiots will be with you forever."

Sage put an arm over Kai's shoulder. "'Til death do us part.'"

Kai slapped his hand away and shut the door. He switched his engine on, backed out of the parking spot, and was off and out of the parking lot.