The Wyrd of Willowmere

Chapter 10

Presently she turned to see Linda standing at her locker, gazing at her intently. "What is it? Is something wrong?" Claire asked.

Linda fidgeted. "No. Well, sort of." She stepped closer to Claire, and then blurted: "I just thought you should know why Donna's in such a bad mood these days. Just so you understand. You see, Donna likes Brian. I mean really likes him. She's been sort of trying to get close to him for months, and she was really excited to be in this gaming group he was in. And then—" She stopped short, looking startled at her own outpouring of words. 

"And then I came along," said Claire. Her heart sank.

Linda shifted from one foot to the other, not meeting Claire's eyes. "Yeah. And it's so obvious he likes you. You two are going out together, aren't you?"

"Well—not yet. We haven't been on a real date or anything." 

"But you will. Everyone knows that—Donna included. And it's, you know, kind of hard for her."

Claire nodded. "Because she was hoping to date Brian herself." 

"Oh, no. She knows that'll never happen. Donna's totally realistic about her chances with Brian, or any guy really. She was just hoping she could be his friend. But it still hurts her, you know? When she sees you with him. Anyway, I didn't tell you this to make you feel bad. I just hope you'll understand now why she's acting the way she is. She's not a bad person. She's just hurting, and she can't always hide it."

Claire's heart sank even further. She realized this must be just one more in a long series of defeats for Donna—and that was why the girl had developed such a tough exterior, as an armour against the world that delivered blow after blow to her self-esteem. And who could say whether she might not have had a chance with Brian if Claire hadn't come between them? Friendship could easily turn into love with time. Great—just great. I can't even join a group without messing it all up, she thought. And now I've got a big load of guilt too. What had given her such pleasure, she realized, was causing suffering to another person. She opened her locker and stood aimlessly gazing into it while Linda returned to hers.

After a few moments she heard the voices of Brian and the others, and she closed her locker door and turned to meet them. "Hi, guys," she said.

"Hi, Claire," Brian said, moving to put an arm around her shoulders. Claire saw Donna's frozen expression and she sidestepped involuntarily, avoiding his arm. Such demonstrations of affection must not take place in front of the other girl. But how could she explain to Brian without betraying Donna's secret? Donna would be humiliated if she ever found out—and it wasn't Claire's place to tell. Just what I needed in my life: more tension and stress ...

Brian stepped back. It seemed to Claire that he looked slightly hurt, and she made haste to say, "Oh, Brian, I'm really loving the music you sent me. So are we going out again today?" Once more she was acutely aware of Donna, who had gone quietly to her locker. "I mean, all of us?" she amended.

Brian nodded, though he made no more moves to close the little distance between them. "Earl and I will be heading for the ravine after school to pick up the camera film. We finally got an interesting shot yesterday. Take a look at this." He held out a photograph. "I think that's our Frankenbeast."

Claire looked at the blurry photo. It showed the vague, grainy shape of a doglike animal with humped shoulders and long forelegs running through a stand of trees. "Wow. It does look like a hyena. And it looks enormous," she said, feeling a sudden misgiving. Enormous—and horribly dangerous. Particularly if it were under Klaus van Buren's control. She didn't want her friends to come anywhere near it. "I think this photo should be enough to take to the press, don't you? We don't need any more shots."