Blue Moon.

Chapter 27

We drove in silence, the calm before the storm. As I hugged Liam around the waist, the motorcycle now zooming down the street parallel to Peterborough high, I realized what all this meant. It was going to be hard, and nothing would ever be the same, but I was ready. I hoped Liam was too.

"My car's in the parking lot." I said into his ear over the hum of the bike's engine. He nodded and drove into the deserted parking lot, my car the only one inside it. The bike came to a stop next to my red Pontiac and Liam put up the kick stand, sliding off the seat and helping me off. I unfastened the helmet strap under my chin and handed it to him. He hung it on the motorcycle handle by the strap and let his eyes find mine.

He walked me to my car and I leaned against the door, grinning up into his blue eyes. "I can't wait to see Jake tomorrow. I'm trying to guess whether you gave him a broken nose, or a black eye. Either one of them sounds painful enough though, so I guess I'm okay with either." I giggled and he smirked.

"Ten bucks says it's a black eye." He bribed and I shook my head with an incredulous giggle.

"That's not fair; of course you know where you hit him!" I accused, poking his chest with my index finger.

He laughed. "Yeah but I could use ten bucks." He replied and I scoffed.

"Right, you little cheater." I teased, setting my hands on my hips.

Slowly his amused face fell and so did mine. "Listen um... tomorrow's Friday, so it's not a school night or anything..." he began and suddenly my happy face perked back up. "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to have dinner at my place. Cliff is still a little sore about you guys having me for dinner and wants to repay you." He said, scratching the back of his head.

I beamed at him and his lips turned up into a sheepish grin. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" he chuckled, his face starting to glow red.

"Are you asking me on a date?" I teased with a grin and his face widened incredulously.

"No, I'm asking you to dinner. Actually, Cliff is the one practically asking you to dinner!" he scrambled quickly with chagrin, but I continued to grin smugly at him, my hands at my hips.

"Oh, so Cliff is asking me on a date?" I played along, and Liam's face looked like it relaxed a little.

"Yes- NO! No, cliff is not asking you on a date! I'm only asking you to dinner at my house!" he ranted and my ribs were beginning to ache as I laughed. Teasing him was just too much fun.

"Okay, so you are asking me to dinner at your house, as a date?" I teased once more, but at this he just glared at me, his shoulders slumped with defeat.

"I give up, never mind, don't come." He scoffed, and began to turn away. However once I got my giggles under control I jumped at him, catching his arm just as he began to walk away from me and my car.

"Okay, okay Liam; I'll come over for 'just dinner'." I chuckled lightly, and his face scrunched up with a mixture of pleasure and the remainder of annoyance I had just caused him.

"Alright, we usually have dinner around seven, so um... I could come get you or-"

"I know the way there." I cut him short, and his face smoothed over.

He nodded his head sharply. "Okay. Seven o'clock." he confirmed and I nodded too.

"It's a date." I said without thinking about it. Suddenly he groaned and turned away, stomping towards his motorcycle. My words slowly caught up to me and I slapped my hand over the huge grin spreading over my face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that Liam!" I called to him through a fit of giggles, but he was already starting his motorcycle, which rumbled to life. I grabbed at a stitch in my ribs as I continued to laugh and used my other hand to wave at him while he drove off, his head shaking back and forth as he passed me.

I watched him go until his red taillights disappeared and turned away, reaching for my door and pulling it open with a silly grin still stuck on my face. My purse was right where I left it, in the passenger seat, and I pulled it into my lap, fishing out my car keys. I found them and put the biggest silver key into the ignition, turning it and starting the engine.

Out of habit I reached back into my purse and pulled out my cell phone. As I looked at the screen, my stomach sunk with a roll of worried nausea. I had just about 20 missed calls from my house, probably my mother calling in hysterics, unsure where I was. I looked at the clock set into the face of the car's dashboard and saw that it was 8:30.

I should have been home five hours ago.

Quickly I shoved my purse back onto the passenger seat and put the car into drive, driving like a bat out of hell out of the parking lot and towards my house. I raced down the neighborhood street and stopped with a screech in my driveway, my heart hammering in my chest. I turned the car off, ripped off my seat belt and grabbed my purse, tearing out of my car and slamming its door shut.

I made it under the threshold and reached forward to open up the screen door. Next I pushed open the heavy front door and felt warm air rush across my body as I stepped inside, jogging towards the kitchen where I thought I would find my mom.

Sure enough my mother was leaning against the kitchen counter, one hand's fingers tangled in her wiry hair and the other hand holding a phone against her ear, talking frantically into it. Her face was sunken with worry, but as her head turned towards me it shifted into relief.

"Never mind she just walked in. Thanks Joni." She said into the phone, shutting it off. She rushed over to me and I braced myself to be yelled at beyond belief, but she grabbed me and held me against her, kissing my face all over.

"Oh my god, Aubrey, I thought something awful happened to you!" she shuttered, still hugging me tight.

"I'm sorry I didn't call! I had some... trouble with my car and my new friend Liam helped me out but we ended up hanging out for a bit after he... err jumped my car." I lied to her and she pulled away, holding my face in her hands.

"I don't care what happened, I'm just glad you're here. I just heard on the news that they found a girl dead in the woods this afternoon and when you didn't come home I thought- oh I thought it had been you." She said, her eyes red and watery.

My heart leapt up my throat. "Someone died?" I asked her with shock and she nodded her head.

"An animal attack. It's awful isn't it?" she said, trying to regain her composer. She looked me over, her eyes taking in my dirty clothes from lying on the ground all day, and shook her head before pulling me back into a hug. "Oh my gosh, I thought I'd never see you again." she said into my shoulder, and my hands slowly lifted and I numbly patted her on the back.

"I'm so sorry mom, I didn't mean to worry you." I said to her, and after a while she straightened up, pulling away. She looked me in the eyes and touched my face, her lower lip trembling.

"It's okay, just call next time okay?" she said finally and I nodded. She dropped her hand and sucked in a big breath before she turned away, picking the phone back up and dialing in a number.

I began to walk away as I heard her tell a neighbor that she had found me. I walked towards the staircase and made my way upstairs, then going down the hallway towards my bedroom. As I passed my dad's room, I noticed his door was still open. I peeked in for a second only to see him sitting in front of his computer like always, looking completely calm and normal.

He probably didn't even know I had been gone.

I ducked out of the doorway and walked into my room, shedding the day's clothes and replacing them with pajamas. I turned my light off and got into my bed, hugging the covers around me with all kinds of thoughts buzzing in my head.

I was full with elation, remembering Liam's warm hand on my cheek and his invitation to dinner the next day, but something else was swimming around in my mind. Someone was dead. Somewhere else in Peterborough a family was probably in mourning with the news of a lost family member. Not to mention, what an awful way to die; an animal attack.

Suddenly my eyes flew open as I started to drift asleep in my bed. What if it hadn't been an animal at all?