Willow

  Chapter Nine

  The In Crowd

  "Carlie's hair smells like strawberries," I told Rueben the next morning. His angular frame was leaning against the locker next to mine.

  "I know," he grinned, "she uses some pink crap on it."

  Carlie had hugged me so many times that morning that I had lost count, and it was only third period. "It's nice."

  "Maybe you should use it."

  "Are you saying my hair stinks?" I slammed my locker and punched it like Jed had showed me. It latched shut.

  "Most girls can't punch that hard," he commented absently. He fell into step beside me. "And no, I don't think your hair stinks."

  I smiled wide, but then remembered I was supposed to be grieving Jed's death. "Jed will be happy to know how much he is missed here."

  "Hey," Colby came up behind us.

  "Hey Colby."

  "Guess Jed was right."

  "About what?"

  "Assembly today after seventh."

  I groaned inwardly. Now I'd have to endure that many more hugs. "I'm going to skip it. I'm suddenly not feeling well. Overcome by grief, you know."

  Colby jabbed my back playfully. "No way. You're going to be there."

  I jumped away from him, nearly colliding with Steven. "You should be more upset," he said in his calm voice. Steven always managed to sound bored with life. His pale brown eyes stared intently at me through his coke bottle glasses.

  "I am upset." I lowered my voice to a near whisper. "This is so ridiculous."

  "We should just move," Rueben suggested again. They had tried to talk me into it last night but I had refused. This would be a good lesson for the boys on staying invisible. When I caught the eyes of a grief stricken Carlie down the hall I had to wonder if maybe moving was the best option.

  "Incoming," I muttered under my breath. Steven quickly faded into the shadows and Colby fell back into a different crowd. Only Rueben and I were standing there when Carlie reached us.

  "Oh, Willow," she moaned, throwing her arms around my neck. "You must be so heartbroken."

  The scent of strawberries invaded my nostrils. "I am." I tried to sound convincing.

  She pulled herself away from me. "Will you still be able to do try-outs next week?"

  "What?"

  "I'm sure Coach Clinger would understand if you're not up to it for a few days."

  "Oh yeah, I'll have to … "

  "Carlie!" Aubrey and Lindsey, Carlie's two right hands, came rushing towards us. Lindsey's straight blonde hair was pulled back in a high ponytail and her hazel eyes were widened. "Did you hear about the assembly today?"

  "What assembly?"

  "After seventh," Rueben answered smoothly. "I'm sure it's for Jed." He hung his head low. I couldn't say anything with my tongue pressed into my cheek.

  "Oh, poor Rueben," Aubrey cooed. Her bronze colored skin always looked like she had just gotten out of the shower and her thick black hair was also pulled into a ponytail.

  "It's so tragic," Carlie's bright green eyes were filled with an emotion I couldn't place. Like she was scared but also strangely excited.

  "I guess there were other people with him," Aubrey added.

  "But they all got away."

  "What I don't understand," Carlie stated in a low voice, "is why these people didn't go to the police."

  "Maybe they were injured."

  "They searched the woods."

  I glanced at Rueben, who kept his head down during the entire exchange. "They didn't find anyone," I offered.

  "Well, you know what I heard?" Carlie leaned closer as if she were going to tell us a great secret. I couldn't help but lean in towards her to catch what she heard. "I heard they were werewolves."

  One of the girls gasped, I didn't think it was me. "You believe in werewolves?" Rueben asked with a scowl. He was much better at being normal than I was. And I'd had so much more practice than him.

  "My dad heard it straight from Mr. Helmer. He said they weren't regular wolves. There was a whole pack of them and," she held her finger in the air, "Jed was one of them."

  A hysterical sound came from my throat as all the air left my lungs. "He … he said that?"

  "Oh come on, you can't believe what he says," Rueben exclaimed. "Everyone knows that eighty percent of the time Jonas Helmer is drunk and the other twenty he's passed out." Aubrey shared a knowing grin with Rueben, which enraged Carlie. Red splotches appeared on her cheekbones.

  "All I know is that he shot a wolf and it turned into Jed."

  "I can't believe you actually put any stock in Jonas's crazy stories." Rueben managed to look disgusted. All I could do was try not to hyperventilate. We would have to move now for sure.

  "I didn't say I believed it," Carlie crossed her arms tightly over her chest, "I'm just saying what I heard."

  "Wow." Rueben raised one eyebrow and shook his head sadly.

  Aubrey and Lindsey giggled with their hands over their mouths and quickly took off down the hall. "You coming to class?" Carlie asked Rueben.

  "I'm walking Willow to her class first. I'll see you around." She glared at me before stomping away.

  "We are going to have to move," I moaned when Rueben and I were alone.

  "No we won't." He grinned wickedly as if he were enjoying the tension. "Don't you know anything about high school, Willow?"

  "I've been to plenty of high schools," I countered, "and in my experience everyone listens to girls like Carlie. Their word is like high school law."

  "We shall see."

  

  By lunch, Rueben was proved right. It seemed the entire school was no longer talking about the death of Jed. Instead, they had turned to talking about the fact that Carlie Morgan thought werewolves attacked him. It amazed me that one boy with a cute smile could change the hierarchy of high school.

  Carlie didn't come to the cafeteria for lunch. As soon as I entered the room, Lindsey and Aubrey bombarded me. "You'll never guess what we heard," Lindsey gushed.

  They guided me to an empty table. "What?"

  "Rueben and Carlie broke up."

  "What?" I twisted the cap off the bottle of Snapple I had bought for lunch. I couldn't be trusted to eat in large groups.

  "Right before lunch."

  "He dumped her."

  "For being insensitive."

  "To you."

  My throat closed up mid-gulp. To me? Rueben walked by then, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He winked at me as he passed by. I was sure that no one noticed.

  "Did you see that?" Aubrey squealed.

  "He winked at you."

  "I would make my move if I were you."

  "I hardly think under the circumstances that would be appropriate," I stammered.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You only dated Jed for one day."

  "It's not your fault he was attacked by a bear."

  "A wolf."

  "Whatever."

  "The point is … "

  "You don't owe him your whole high school career."

  My head felt numb from listening to the two of them. One thing was for sure, though, high school boys had nothing on the girls. Not a thing.

  "We're going shopping today after school," Aubrey announced.

  "You need new clothes."

  I looked down at what I was wearing, suddenly wondering if I had remembered to put on clean clothes that morning. My faded blue jeans and plain grey t-shirt seemed fine to me. "Shopping?"

  "Rueben told us you were staying with your uncle." My lips pulled down at the corners over that piece of news. He shouldn't know so much about me.

  "He won't care if you go shopping with us, will he?"

  "Rueben? Why would he care?"

  Lindsey laughed loudly. "No, not Rueben. Your uncle."

  "Looks like you got Rueben on the brain," Aubrey chuckled.

  I blushed and pushed my hair back. "Gage won't care if I go," I mumbled.

  "Yay," they squealed in unison.

&nbsp
; I thought guiltily of the credit card I had shoved in the front pocket of my school bag. Blake had said to use it for whatever I needed. I was seventeen, I needed new clothes. I smiled brightly at my new found friends.

  Just like that, Carlie was out and I was in. It happened without any effort on my part, so naturally that I hardly noticed what had happened. Aubrey and Lindsey held my hands tightly during the assembly, where principal Mayse warned us all not to walk alone in the woods. Rueben and his friends sat directly behind us. I didn't see Carlie anywhere.

  Rueben met me by my locker after school but I had to decline his offer to drive me home. I waved the credit card in the air. "I'm going shopping," I announced.

  "Shopping, wow. How very girly of you."

  I shrugged nonchalantly. "They want to give me a makeover."

  "I like how you look."

  "Yeah well, you're not a cheerleader." I slammed my locker shut with a huge grin. "Although, you could probably pull off the skirt."

  "And make it look cool." We both laughed.

  "Why do they listen to everything you say?"

  "Most of them don't have an opinion of their own." He held his hand out for my bulging bag. "They just like to think they do." I surrendered the bag even though I could have easily carried it. "I'll see you at home," he winked.

  "Don't hunt without me."

  "We learned our lesson."

  "Rueben," I warned in a teasing voice, "you heard what principal Mayse said. Stay out of the woods."

  "He only said not to go alone."

  "Wait for me."

  He rolled his eyes but consented. "All right." His lips brushed lightly over mine and then he was gone.

  "Did he just kiss you?" Aubrey squealed, coming from behind me.

  Were they stalking me now? "I guess so." I caught my bottom lip between my teeth. "Ready?"

  "Why don't you follow me to my house so you can leave your car there," Lindsey suggested. I quickly agreed.

  On the short drive to the mall, which was in the next town over, Lindsey kept her music too loud to allow any conversation. I tried to mimic the way she bobbed her head to the music, but I was pretty sure I didn't look as good.

  "Willow, you are so pretty," Aubrey gushed as we searched for the right shirt to make me fit in.

  "Ivy is a lot prettier than me."

  "Who's Ivy?"

  Were they really so self-absorbed that they hadn't noticed her? But then again, she had only gone to their school for one day. Maybe they hadn't seen her. "My sister."

  "You have a sister?"

  "Rueben didn't mention that you had a sister."

  "Really? He knew her." I wondered why he hadn't mentioned her. Surely he had noticed how beautiful she was. Carlie had known her.

  "Hmm, well Rueben only sees what he wants to."

  "How about this one?" Aubrey held up a sequined pink top that looked barely large enough to cover a baby doll.

  "That won't fit me."

  "You need to try it on," Lindsey ordered. "And here's some jeans."

  To my horror they declared it a "perfect fit" and found several more outfits of similar size. I modeled outfit after outfit for my small audience and managed to find many things that were suitable for my new status.

  I had to defend my stomach after an embarrassing growling episode had Lindsey in a fit of giggles. "I didn't eat lunch." My face flamed red.

  We found a nice little place in the mall that served Mexican food. As a general rule I never ate Mexican food, but today I was willing to make an exception. One lousy pop tart at seven a.m. was just not cutting it. I ended up only ordering a taco with no vegetables. I wanted to order a whole platter but I was bullied out of it. These two were worse than Bella.

  To ensure that I didn't inhale my food I tried to make small talk while I ate. "So, have you two dated Rueben?"

  They looked at each other and smiled widely. "Rueben has dated half the squad."

  "Hasn't he only been at this school a few months?"

  "Four months," Aubrey corrected.

  "How long has he dated Carlie?"

  "He's going steady with Carlie. For about two months; well, he was."

  My eyes narrowed in confusion. "And he dated both of you?"

  "We just went out with him a few times." Aubrey grinned. "Or three."

  My fork paused halfway to my mouth. "Wait … you don't mean sex?" The word blurted out before I could stop it.

  The couple at the table next to us glared at us disapprovingly and Lindsey burst out laughing. "You're not a virgin are you?" Aubrey asked way too loudly.

  "Yes," I whispered.

  "Not for long," Lindsey chuckled.