The forest stretched out beyond her bedroom window as Lenore stared at the map on her phone. After securing Lenore's promise to drop off the permission slip, Fiona texted her a pin of Victor's address. It was just like he had said that first day in the cemetery—his house was really just on the other side of the forest. If you took a pencil to the map, you could draw a straight line from her home to his. It would be an easy walk.
But the path wasn't the issue.
Since she had gotten home, Lenore had been sitting in this same spot, on the built-in bench beneath the window. She had been just staring at the map and fidgeted with the edge of her sweater while the debate on what to do raged in her mind. She had told Fiona she would take him the form, but she could back out, and make up some last-minute excuse as to why she suddenly couldn't. Was it really so essential to make sure he got the form today? Probably not.
But, again, that wasn't the problem.
The problem was Victor.
The feelings she had discovered earlier today had yet to be processed. During class, she had done her best to shove it down and pretend nothing was wrong. Even now, she was fighting it off, pushing it to the edges of her mind. If she laid eyes on him like this, now, knowing what she knew, she didn't know what she was going to do.
But she would have to see him eventually... They had class together and a presentation. He was her locker neighbour. She couldn't put it off forever. There was no avoiding him.
Not that she wanted to...
Maybe, then, it would be better to get it out of the way.
She folded up the sheet of paper and stuffed it into her pocket before getting up from the window side bench and grabbing her jacket.
Outside, it had gotten much colder than when she had come home. The light of the day was quickly dying, and as the sun sank away, it took its warmth with it. Another reason not to dawdle. She pulled her coat closer. Thankfully the wind had calmed, with only a gentle breeze stirring the air.
Setting out down the path, Lenore found it was even darker inside the trees. She was glad she had thought to bring a small flashlight, though she kept it in her pocket for now.
The familiar path quickly led her to the edge of the graveyard. In the last days of autumn, with the trees stripped bare and the grass a pale brown, the place looked more like something from a movie, an abandoned haunting ground for something sinister. Lenore hurried through and kept her eyes down, watching her feet, so she didn't trip over some of the older, sunken headstones. She had to remind herself that even if this place were haunted, it would be by her own family, and she doubted they'd mean her any harm—
Creeeeeak.
The long, shrill sound echoed through the quiet of the forest, bringing Lenore to a stop. She glanced around, but she was alone as far as she could tell, though the darkness was closing in fast and made it hard to see much.
What could've made that sound? Lenore wondered as she scanned the cemetery. Lenore pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on, a comforting beam of golden light spilling across the deadened grass and lopsided, moss-covered stones.
The sound had been like something dragging across stone... Something metallic. Almost like...
The beam of the flashlight fixed on the small mausoleum, only a few feet away. The metal gate was still half open, leaning precariously on its hinges. Lenore let out a breath. The gate, of course. It could've easily made that sound, having been pushed by the wind. The wind was certainly strong enough—
Only it wasn't. The wind was uncharacteristically gentle right now. It barely stirred her hair as it swirled around her.
But then...
A wave of cold erupted over her skin, burrowing right down to her bones.
She no longer cared whatever had made that noise, family or not. She turned back and half-ran out of the cemetery and down the rest of the path.
She was panting when she stepped from the trees on the other side of the woods. She had emerged out onto a rather ordinary suburban street with houses lining one side and looking out into the forest.
Lenore let out a long breath and turned off her flashlight. Out here, under bright street lights, everything felt normal again. Lenore felt silly for her moment of panic. She shook it off and continued on, looking for Victor's house.
According to the address Fiona had given her, Victor's house was right across from the mouth of the path. It was a lovely house, a newer build of two stories with an attached garage and a small porch out front. The porch light was on as if they were waiting for someone.
As Lenore studied the place, she realized she had recognized it. She had once come to a birthday party here when she was very little, back when it was good manners to invite your entire class and before anyone would have objected to her presence. She couldn't remember the kid's name, but she knew they moved away a few grades later. It must have changed hands a few times since, and now it belonged to Victor's family.
Now that she was here, though, she was having second thoughts. She debated turning around and forgetting the whole thing. Only the daunting idea of having to walk back through the graveyard prevented her from heading back the way she came.
She crossed the street and headed up the neatly kept walkway that led to Victor's front door. It was painted dark green and looked welcoming under the warm porch light. She tried to think of what she'd say to him when he answered the door. Or maybe his mom would answer, and Lenore would have to explain who she was. She wondered if his mom had heard about her and if she would be as accepting of her family's reputation as her son...
Her palms began to sweat, and she had to wipe them on her jeans. Maybe she didn't need to hand over the slip in person. Maybe she could just stuff it in his mailbox—
The front door flung open, and there stood Victor. Directly under the porch light, his brown hair seemed to shine gold. He didn't look particularly sick, either. He was beaming at her, almost excited.
"Hey!" Victor cheered at the sight of her. "I was wondering when you'd get here."
Lenore stared at him. "You were?"
He looked a bit sheepish. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I saw you coming up the walk." He pointed to the large picture window just off the porch.
"Oh." He'd been watching her this whole time. She was suddenly thankful things hadn't gone to plan. She couldn't imagine what he would've thought if he had watched her put the slip in his mailbox before running off like a frightened deer. "Well, I-I was just coming to give you the permission slip—"
"I know," he said. "Fiona told me you were coming."
She did? Lenore felt another rush of hate toward his friend and immediately felt guilty. Of course, Fiona would tell him. Why wouldn't she? She bet there was very little she didn't tell him.
She hurried to dig the paper out of her pocket. He held out his hand to accept it, and she had to hurry up the walkway to meet him. She put the paper into his hand and backed away.
"Thanks," Victor said, giving her a big smile. He absent-mindedly pushed his hair out of his face. Lenore's heart gave a jolt.
"You... You look like you're feeling better," she sputtered.
"I am," Victor confirmed. "Don't worry, it's nothing contagious. Just a bit of food poisoning." He made a face. "I guess that's what I get for ordering from that new sushi place."
Lenore remembered what her mom had said this morning. "I've heard that it's not great," she said with a small laugh. She guessed it was for the best that they wouldn't be ordering from there tonight.
"Oh, did you?" Victor said with a laugh of his own. "I wish someone would've warned me."
Lenore didn't know how to respond to that. Victor always seemed to make her brain short-circuit. As the silence stretched on—only for a moment or two, but it felt like forever—Lenore was sure she was wearing out her welcome.
"Well," she began. "I should probably—"
"How was class?" Victor said at the same time.
"Class?"
Victor chuckled at her blank look. "You know, biology. "
"Right. It was... Fine. I didn't have much to do for the project because we're already done," she babbled, averting her eyes. "I wish we had a chance to practise the presentation...." She realized that he might interpret that as blame or something, so she quickly added. "Not that we need to. I'm sure we'll be fine."
"We could practise now," Victor offered with a shrug. "If you're not busy, that is. I'm not."
Lenore looked him over. Aside from a slight pallor, he looked fine. "Are... Are you sure?"
"Of course. I told you, I'm feeling much better. So, is that a yes?" He stepped aside from the door to let her through.
Lenore hesitated. She twiddled with the sleeves of her jacket, unsure what to do. Of course, it would be beneficial to practise their presentation before next week, but that wasn't why she wanted to stay. She felt stupid. This was nothing more than homework, and it was pointless to let herself feel this way because she knew he was with someone else. But as she stared at him—his hair slightly messy from laying around all day, his dimples deep as he smiled at her—she couldn't bring herself to refuse.
"It's a yes," she said, stepping through the door.
As he closed the door behind her and led her into the living room, Lenore thought briefly of her mother. They had made dinner plans... But Lenore quickly pushed all that to the back of her mind. Some part of her was glad for a reason to flake on it. It was her mother's turn to be forgotten.