Something in the Woods

Chapter 3

It was a cold rainy day. Katie stared out of the window, wondering what the beast was doing now. Was it keeping dry or did it prefer the rain? There were so many questions she wanted answered but Katie was apprehensive about going back in the woods again. One thing that did strike her as odd was why the beast didn't follow her out of the woods. It was bigger than a house, so it could easily destroy the town if it wanted to! This didn't make sense. 
There was a knock on her door. Katie turned around to see the small Latina girl peeking her head in through the door. 
"Um, are you gonna eat dinner today?" Maríana asked. 
Katie nodded and followed her downstairs, poor Maríana had been so scared since Katie told her what happened yesterday. She didn't even want to sleep in her own room last night!
The two girls walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Anthony. Thankfully, Ms. Doris wasn't in the room. 
"Hey Katie, what did the monster look like?" He asked with a mouthful of cereal.
"Well, it was covered in moss and really huge!" Katie stretched her arms above her head. "I don't know how long it's lived in the woods, but I'm surprised it never tried to come out and attack the town!" 
Anthony's green eyes lit up. "Cool."
"No, not cool, I almost died!" 
Maríana whimpered. "The monster won't get us right, Katie?" 
"As long as it stays in the woods, we should be fine." She reassured. "But I better go before I miss the bus." 
Katie went to grab her backpack but she noticed the purple bag was not in its usual spot. "Oh no…"
"What's wrong?" Anthony asked. 
"I left my backpack in the forest!" 
"You can't go back there!" Maríana protested. "The monster will get you!" 
Dread filled in the pit of Katie's stomach. She really didn't want to go back in the woods, but Ms. Doris will do way worse if she finds out she lost her backpack.
~~~~
Katie nervously bounced her leg as Mrs. Biggs got closer to her group. How was she going to explain why she didn't have her homework? Maybe Mrs. Briggs will give her a pass this one time if she tells her the truth? 
"Katie, where's your homework?" 
"Um… in the woods." 
Mrs. Briggs raised an eyebrow. "Why is it there?"
The three other girls in her group grew curious and starred at Katie, so to avoid embarrassment, she tried to mumble her reason. 
"What? Katie, speak up!" 
"I said, I got chased out by the beast in the woods." 
"Excuse me?" 
Sarah and Michelle started giggling. "You actually believe those stories?"
"Katie those are just rumors!" The teacher exclaimed. 
"But it's true," Katie snapped. "I really was chased out by a giant beast!" 
The whole class went silent as the spotlight was put onto Katie. She didn't think she would be loud enough for the whole class to notice, her cheeks burned in embarrassment. "Nevermind." 
Mrs. Briggs rolled her eyes. "If you didn't do the homework, then just say so Katie." 
Katie kept her head down as the teacher walked away. She could just feel the glare from Sarah and Michelle. 
"So, what did this monster look like?" Byssa asked. 
"Just forget it." Katie snapped, great now Byssa was gonna tease her as well. 
"I can tell you what it looks like," Sarah laughed."Blonde hair tied in raggedy braids, four eyes, often wearing an ugly green sweater, definitely an orphan." 
"Shut up, Sarah!"
Byssa surprisingly didn't laugh. "Yeesh Sarah, have you ever considered asking your daddy a better personality?" 
"Excuse me?" 
"I mean, you're gonna attack her for not having parents? You must be a piece of-!" 
"Don't tell me you believe that little chicken legs outran a monster!" Michelle asked. 
"I never said I believed her, I was just curious about this monster." 
"Please, adults just tell kids those stories to keep them from going into the woods." Sarah locked eyes with Katie. "You'd have to be stupid to believe that." 
Katie slammed her hands on her desk. "Follow me in the woods if you're so sure I'm lying!" 
"Sorry but I have to go to tryouts for this basketball season." Michelle said. 
Katie clenched her teeth. "We'll go after tryouts." 
"Sorry but we have better things to do than to follow the freak in the woods." 
"Aw, what's wrong?" Byssa pouted. "Are you two scared of some giant monster?" 
"Absolutely not." Sarah snapped.
"Then prove it." 
The two girls looked at each other as if they were silently debating what to do. Then Michelle spoke up. "Fine, we'll go." 
Katie stared at the two girls in shock; they're actually going to follow her? 
Sarah turned to Byssa. "What about you, are you coming?" 
"Oh me? I actually have to be home to help my brother with dinner." 
"Oh, how convenient." 
"Look, if you guys don't get eaten by the monster, I'll check it out for myself next time." 
Sarah rolled her eyes. "Whatever." 
A wave of anxiety and excitement washed over her. On one hand, she was glad she could prove herself, and hopefully get her backpack, but on the other hand, she really didn't want to run into the monster again.