Ties To The Blood Moon

  ***

  When I pulled into my parking space at school, Luna and her brothers loitered under a tree, and I assumed they were trying to get out of the rain without going inside the building. I saw her looking around anxiously, like she was watching for someone. When she spotted me climbing out from the Jeep, she smiled and waved me over.

  I still didn’t feel any less guilty for what I’d done to her brother. I couldn’t help but smile every time I thought about it. For a guy that looked so muscular, I sure didn’t have a hard time shoving him across the hall. I must have just caught him off guard.

  I looked at the ground while walking and chewed the inside of my lip the whole way. When I got to the spot where Luna was standing, I reluctantly looked up. Joseph smiled as he came to join us.

  “Genevieve?” He smiled crookedly.

  “It’s Gen.” I smiled nervously back.

  “Sorry. Gen.” He held out his hand and I shook it. “Let’s start over. My name’s Joseph.”

  Relief instantly washed over me. “It’s nice to meet you, too.” I could tell he was as shy as me by the way he looked down and kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. “I’m really sorry about yesterday,” I said sincerely.

  “Hey, it’s all good. It’s just that when I saw my sister standing with you, I thought she had told you about us already.” He got quiet for a minute then looked up with a huge smile. “How’d you get so strong? Do you lift weights, cause you don’t look like you do?”

  I could tell he was being totally serious. “Nah, I’m really not strong at all. I guess between the adrenaline and catching you off balance, you just thought I was.”

  The school buzzer rang and he turned to leave, but turned back quickly. “We’re all going to Wolf’s Point for a bonfire Friday night. Luna’s going. And some of the kids from school. You wanna come?”

  “Sure…but, I don’t know where it is—I don’t know where anything is.” We smiled simultaneously. Luna must have been listening because she looped her arm through mine and said she would ride with me. I think it was more to make sure I would go.

  When I walked in to English class, I was almost at my desk when I started feeling light headed again, and was suddenly very hot. My vision tunneled, but I managed to make it to my desk and drop into my seat. I laid my head down for a minute and then heard a familiar voice. Without lifting my head I opened my eyes. William was sitting two seats over and talking with Luna. I had this nervous pit in my stomach and my heart drummed in my head. What is it with this guy?

  After a few deep breaths I started feeling a little better, but was still weak. For some reason when I got close to him a weakness came over me. “But that can’t be. People don’t have that kind of effect over other people,” I said under my breath. When I glanced back over at him the corner of his mouth curved up with that same crooked smile of his. I thought I might melt onto the floor just then.

  All during class I sat with my head propped on my hand and kept catching myself staring at William. You know, one of those opened mouth stares. Then, the most embarrassing thing of my teenage life happened.

  “Miss Labreck!” Mr. Donovan snapped at the same time as he slammed his pointer stick on someone’s desk in the front row.

  I jerked and sat up straight. “Huh…uh, yeah?” You can worship your Romeo after class. Right now we are talking about Juliet’s Romeo.” A burning flush flew over me when the entire class busted out in laughter. I pulled my hoodie further over my head and sunk down into my seat as far as I could go. I would have gotten under my desk if I could have fit.

  For the remainder of the class, I had to fight to keep from looking at him. When the bell rang, I grabbed my backpack and hurried out the door. Even though I already had my book for my next class, I went to my locker anyway. I thought maybe if I kept my face buried inside it, I wouldn’t have to talk to anyone I was just in class with.

  Unfortunately, it didn’t work. Two cheerleaders from class stopped just behind me and purposely talked over the loud voices that filled the hallways between classes.

  “Hey, Gen!”

  I looked briefly over my shoulder, then went back to rearranging my bubble wrap—like there would be more than one way to stuff it into my locker in the first place.

  “You might as well hang it up, new girl—William is mine. You got it? Keep your pasty-white paws off!”

  I pretended to not hear them. Luna had warned me about the cheerleaders here. They thought because they were popular, it gave them first dibs on everything—even guys. She said she’d once dated a boy for two years, and one night she caught him with a cheerleader at the bonfire. She said the girl had been her best friend since first grade.

  What did I care anyway? He was way too beautiful for someone as plain as me. There was something about him, though, that I couldn’t shake. He was like a drug…and I was quickly becoming addicted.