Chapter 11: Friends
1285 Words
Monday arrived quicker than it ever should. After a weekend of tv watching and lounging, Naomi began to settle back into the school week. The November winds were beginning to pick up and brought a distinct sharpness to them as the seasonal changes brought a chill across the state.
Naomi sat with her back against the tree trunk. Her lunch was seated in her lap as she absentmindedly pushed roasted potatoes around the bento box. Student passed by in clusters laughing, talking about their weekends and the day’s classes. These moments, she realized, were like pressing her face against glass. Naomi was an onlooker to the rest of the world but somehow, never part of it.
Leaves began to shuffle overhead. Then, a shadow dropped. Naomi peered up on instinct to find Sav hovering above her on a branch like a country bear. She lay across a thick branch like it was a couch she’d claimed years ago. She lay back breathing steadily with one arm draped down lazily. Her boots hooked at the bark like she trusted gravity more than most people trusted chairs.
“All she needs is a pot of honey,” snickered Thalia.
“Well,” Sav said casually, chewing on a piece of jerky, “this is a better spot than Friday’s emotional crisis classroom.”
Naomi blinked up at her. “Are you… in my tree.”
Sav glanced down, unimpressed. “It’s a tree.”
“It’s a campus tree.”
“Still a tree.”
Naomi stared at her for a long second, then shook her head slightly and went back to her lunch. “You’re going to get in trouble,” she mumbled underneath her breath.
Sav hummed. “Not yet. You always eat under here?”
“No,” Naomi said. “Sometimes I eat inside like a normal person.”
“Doubtful.”
Naomi ignored that. “What are you doing here?”
Sav let her head tip back against the branch as she looked through the leaves.
“Existing,” she said.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It is if you’re me.”
Naomi exhaled through her nose, a quiet almost-laugh she didn’t fully commit to. After a beat, Sav shifted slightly, turning her gaze downward again.
“I go here.”
Naomi frowned. “I’ve never seen you on campus before Friday.”
“Why would you? You aren’t exactly miss popular.”
“Well, neither are you.”
“True.” Sav smirked. “But bears are loners by nature. Much like your lone wolves. Surviving without out a pack. Doing it solo!”
Naomi’s eyes narrowed. “You’re dodging the question.”
Sav sighed like she’d been accused of something serious, then swung one leg off the branch so she was hanging slightly sideways.
“Fine,” she said. “You want an actual answer?”
“It’s only fair. You know my deepest secrets.”
“Hmm. I feel I am only beginning to scratch the surface with you Nomes.”
“Nomes?” Naomi asked perplexed.
“Yes. All the best duos need nicknames. You think? Salt n Peppa, Milli Vanilli, City Girls! And now, Sav and Nomes. Kicking ass. Taking names.”
Naomi burst out in a fit of laughter. “Sure. That’s what we are.”
As the laughter died down, Naomi looked up at Sav again. She noticed her picking at a bit of bark near her fingers, suddenly less playful.
“My mom moved us to Asheville after my dad died.”
Naomi’s posture changed without her meaning to. She stared up at Sav as she patiently waited for her to continue.
After a moment, she continued. “Wolves. Or rather, rogues.”
Naomi’s stomach tightened at the word.
Sav didn’t look at her directly when she said it, like it was easier to talk to the space between branches than to the memory.
“The attacks started out relatively unnoticeable. Our village was small. We didn’t have many resources and mostly kept to ourselves. Bears and Humans had lived peacefully together for hundreds of years. As wolves began to expand into our lands, territory wars started. Then the rogues came. Soon the war bled over to our village. After my father was killed protecting our home, it wasn’t safe anymore. So, my mom—she’s human—decided it was best that we left. I was 10.”
Sav gave a faint, humorless huff.
“She wanted to be closer to bears.”
Naomi frowned. “Closer to bears?”
“Yeah.” Sav’s mouth tilted slightly. “She thought if she moved us into bear territory, we’d be… safer. Protected. Like proximity equals belonging. But, bears don’t really do packs like wolves. We’re mostly solitary. Or small family units. Immediate family, usually. That’s it.”
Her gaze drifted again through the leaves.
“So my mom thought, ‘Great, strong supernatural community, we’ll just slot in.’”
Sav’s tone shifted as a heavier sadness set in.
“But we didn’t find any Weres. Only bears. She didn’t understand I can’t exactly go chat with a grizzly like it’s a PTA meeting.”
Naomi’s lips twitched before she could stop it. Sav, ever observant, caught it and smirked faintly.
“Anyway,” Sav continued, “she remarried 4 years ago and moved to Asheville. I have a little sister now.”
Naomi’s expression softened without permission. “Human?”
“Yeah,” Sav said. “She’s human.”
A pause stretched between them.
Sav’s voice stayed even, but something sharper edged in.
“My sister’s great. My mom’s… trying. But the guy she married—” Sav stopped herself, jaw tightening slightly, then exhaled. “I don’t like him.”
Naomi watched her carefully. “They left and you stayed here?”
Sav shook her head once.
“No,” she said. “I moved out for college and rented a small apartment.”
That landed differently than Naomi expected.
“By yourself?” Naomi asked.
Sav made a face like that concept personally offended her. “Bear, remember. I am okay with being alone.”
Naomi glanced down at her lunch again and whispered, “Being alone and lonely are not the same thing.”
Sav huffed, neither agreeing or disagreeing.
“And your family?” she asked quietly.
She shrugged. “I still see them. My mom doesn’t really understand what I am, even now. She tries. She just… translates everything wrong.”
Naomi looked up at her again. “And your sister?”
Sav’s expression softened immediately.
“Love her,” she said simply. “She’s why I stay close.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The quad carried on around them—distant voices, footsteps, life happening in parallel. Then Sav tilted her head again, studying Naomi more directly now.
“You’re quieter today,” she said.
Naomi stiffened slightly. “Am I supposed to be loud?”
“I don’t know,” Sav said. “But you were practically vibrating on Friday.”
Naomi looked away, focusing on the edge of her container.
“I’m fine,” she said automatically.
Sav didn’t respond right away. When she did, her voice was gentler than before.
“Okay.”
Then, after a pause:
“But if you ever stop being fine, you can say it out loud. You should be able to tell a friend.”
“So, we’re friends?”
“Obviously. I’ve poured my heart out to you. You poured your heart out to me. We’re practically besties now.”
Naomi smiled to herself. She liked the thought of a friend. “Okay.”
- Writer
