What Happens in the Dark

Chapter 11

The whole way home I couldn't stop thinking about our conversation. I found myself smiling and blushing when I replayed it in my head over and over again.

When I got home I saw Raymond in the kitchen washing a cup that was in the sink.

"Hey kid." He smiled.

"Hey old ass." I grinned back walking past him to get a tea out of the fridge. Suddenly he froze and inhaled. I turned toward him closing the fridge behind me.

I looked at him and his face went blank looking down at the counter, as if he was thinking hard about something.

"Did I hurt your feelings?" I asked.

"Oh, uh- no sorry I just forgot I had to go get more salad for dinner." He grabbed his keys suddenly and walked through the garage.  Well that was odd.

I went upstairs to my bathroom and stripped my clothes to take a shower. I tied my hair up in a messy bun then stepped in. The water ran down my body relaxing me. I couldn't stop thinking about what that blonde girl had told me. I got angrier as I thought about people making accusations about someone they didn't even know, but then again that's literally the definition of highschool.

I stayed in there about 30 minutes before I washed my body, shaved my legs, and got out. The local news was on my TV as I stepped out and the title caught my attention.

Wolf attack in Nebraska. It wasn't Courtside Heights however it wasn't too far from our town.

A man was found mauled on the Gardeners Hiking Trail this Tuesday afternoon. Deputies quickly arrived on the scene along with paramedics, and it wasn't long before the incident was concluded to be a wolf attack.

I turned the TV off. I don't hike anyways. I pulled on my favorite pajama pants and a T shirt and left my hair to air dry as it fell down my back.

My phone started to ring. Mom.

I looked at the screen for a minute pondering on if I would answer or not and turned my ringer off. I wasn't ready to talk to her anymore. She didn't call about my first day, she didn't apologize before I left, she had the chance to say anything, so manu times, and didn't. If I was starting this new life, then I needed to stop making excuses for the people who were supposed to protect me. It's her turn to miss me.

As im in my train of thought I looked through the glass balcony door and noticed Raymond coming through the back yard gate that opens to the woods. What was he doing in the woods when he said he needed to go to the store? Does it have something to do with why he left so suddenly? I saw him brush off his shirt and run his hands through his curly brown hair before heading inside.

Odd.

"Seven!" Aunt Dana called from downstairs. I walked to the railing to see her. "Are you ready for dinner?"

"Coming." I answered. I walked downstairs into the dining room where aunt Dana just came to sit down.

Raymond brought us our plates and started to head back into the kitchen.

"Raymond please, eat with us!" She demanded. He nodded and joined us at the table.

"So Seven, any thing new in school? Any homework yet?" She asked me.

I fiddled with my fork on a piece of the salad thinking of Monroe.

"No homework, except in my first hour we had to partner up to do biographies as an introduction assignment. It has to be done outside of school for the most part." I explained.