The Wild

-5- Wolves and Gunshots

I scratched the corner of my nose and took a bite of my dinner. Amaya had already exploded over the entire event that would probably scar me for the rest of my young life, and now we were left to watch television over a plate of chicken.

The cold rain outside must have gotten to me, as well as the spices tickling my nose, since I sneezed after finishing my dinner and couldn't seem to shake the stuffiness in my nose. While Amaya drank her tea over a cup of ice, I heated mine up and felt instantly better with the warmth it provided.

"It's only been a day since Bennet left and I already miss the little stinker," she sighed, reclining back in her chair as she did so. I drew my knees up to my chest, eyelids growing heavier.

"Yeah, he needs to fix my gutter."

She chuckled, which succeeded in bringing a smile to my face. We watched a cheesy romantic movie until we became too drowsy to finish it. Slumped against the couch bundled up in thick wool blankets, we fell asleep to the sound of thunder rumbling overhead that pounded in my chest like when I listened to the beat of someone's heart against my ear.

There wasn't any way to tell how long I'd been asleep, considering I'd forgotten the time somewhere between starting the movie and ending it, but I woke up when it was still pitch black in the house. There was a gurgling in my stomach that sounded too bizarre to be taken for digesting food. When I started to feel a tense bitterness building in my throat, I leaped from the couch and took off for the bathroom.

---

"It's not food poisoning, I swear. I think I'm just a little sick," I reassured Amaya the next morning. She'd been worrying about whether or not she'd get sick, since we both ate the chicken for dinner, but since she was perfectly fine I knew it wasn't food poisoning. I only just puked once that night, and I was sure it was a one-time thing.

I was suited up for work, well, as suited up as she could be. Work wasn't something we dressed up for... unless we were Hazel. Then yeah, we would dress up. Unfortunately I worked with Hazel today, which meant I had to deal with that overbearing, pompous, cheerleading-quality girl. Sure, I felt a bit woozy in the head, but if I was contagious then Amaya would be feeling the same way I did.

Amaya tagged along, since she was hungry and eating at the diner meant she got a free meal, since she worked there and all. We set off on our walk down the deserted streets of her neck of the woods. Being around a bunch of empty vacation homes provided a haunting gloominess to the air, as if the rainclouds didn't add enough depression to the atmosphere. There was an ugly overcast hanging over our heads that was meant to last until the afternoon.

Once arriving to the Square, I nearly slapped myself in the head for being so stupid. There, lined up perfectly along the gravel parking lot, sat a row of motorcycles. A few of the guys were mingling around the front of the closest store to the parking lot, which was one of the few who had an entrance both facing the road and facing the inside of the Square. I had the distinct urge to switch to the opposite side of the road to avoid them, but realized that Amaya didn't seem all that concerned. She avoided them as we passed, so I did the same.

But that didn't stop one of them from intercepting our path. I instantly recognized the facial similarities between him and a slightly goth version of Edward Cullen from Twilight.

"Hey, Lily," Brian started, sounding awkwardly adorable with the way he stuffed his hands in his pocket and kept his head tilted slightly down on my level. "Sorry about the whole episode yesterday at your house. I don't know what we were thinking."