Don't Wander

Secret Note

The next morning at school, while everyone was outside waiting for the bell to ring, I was shocked when Eden placed a hand on my shoulder and said softly, “Can we talk for a sec?” I looked around at my friends, all of whom wore a mix of surprise and curiosity on their faces, and even jealousy in Ben’s case.

“Sure,” I said breathlessly and followed him across the parking lot. He stopped next to a motorcycle and I noticed it was the same one that was parked at his house. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

He rounded on me and said tersely, “I told you to mind your own business. You didn’t listen to me. Do you have a death wish or something?”

“A death wish? What are you talking about?” I was totally confused.

“I know you were sneaking around at my house in the middle of the night. What was that about? I told you that you wouldn’t like what you found, and I bet you didn’t, huh?”

“You know about the wolves in the area that chased me? Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“It doesn’t matter. The point is it’s your fault for being stupid and ignoring my warnings.” He leaned against the motorcycle and stared me down.

I crossed my arms and shot back, “Well maybe if you’re lucky, I’ll get eaten by those wolves and you won’t have to worry about me bothering you anymore.” I turned and walked quickly away from him, toward my friends. He jogged in front of me and then grabbed both of my arms, halting me. He looked at me earnestly.

“Don’t you get it? I don’t want you to get eaten by wolves, or hurt at all, that’s why I’ve been trying to keep you away. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me, but I’m actually trying to protect you.” Surprised, I stared up at him and wracked my brain for something to say. My arms scorched where he touched them, and I had an incredible urge to wrap my arms around his neck. Suddenly, I was being pulled out of Eden’s grip.

“Ouch!” I yelped involuntarily.

“Sorry,” Ben said, and then he stood in front of me and told Eden, “Leave her alone! Don't touch her! Ever heard of manners?” Eden looked extremely annoyed, but smiled slightly and took a step forward so that he was directly in front of Ben.

“Ever stopped to think that maybe she likes to be touched by me?” He laughed mockingly at Ben’s stunned silence and said, “Thought so. Now if you don’t mind—or if you do, I don’t care—I’m talking to R, so get lost.”

“She doesn’t want you to touch her, and I’m not going anywhere!” Ben said stubbornly.

“Oh, you will, kid. You can either do it willingly and with dignity, or I can make you,” Eden replied.

I squeezed in between them, placing a hand on each of their chests, and said, “Stop, both of you. No one is making anyone do anything." First I turned to Ben. "Thanks Ben, but I’m fine." Then I challenged Eden with my eyes. "Eden, chill.” He returned my challenge with one of his own, and I didn’t know how long I could stand being pressed against him before doing something crazy. My fingers were already itching to explore his firm body. Lucky for me, Ben backed off and I was able to put some space between us.

Ben took my hand and said quietly, “Are you sure Bek? This guy seems like bad news.” He eyed Eden with displeasure.

“We’re just talking. I’ll be fine.” I pulled my hand from his. I could see the hurt in Ben’s eyes, but I stood my ground.

“Alright, be careful,” Ben said, and gave Eden a dirty look before retreating. Eden looked smug.

He said, “How pathetic. Why are you friends with him exactly?”

I said acidly, “Shut up! You’re a jerk. I’m friends with him because he isn’t one.”

Eden pretended to pout and said, “Ouch. That wasn’t very nice babe.”

“Don’t start that again,” I rolled my eyes.

He smiled devilishly and said, “Or what?”

I said smoothly, “Or I’ll get myself eaten by a bunch of wolves.” Then I stormed off and left him standing there with a bemused look on his handsome face.

“What was that about?” Britt asked when I returned. The bell rang and we all headed to our lockers.

“Nothing. He was just asking me about homework in algebra,” I replied.

“Yeah right. What was it really about? And why did Ben run off?”

I sighed and said, “He’s upset with me for wanting to talk to Eden without him there.”

“Ohhh!” Britt trilled.

“It’s not like that Britt,” I said hurriedly.

She gave me a sidelong glance and smirkingly said, “Sure, it’s not.”

I shook my head as I opened my locker. I was amazed to see a note with my name on it taped to the inside of the door. I snatched it quickly and looked to make sure no one was paying attention before opening and reading it. It said in unfamiliar handwriting:

You can repay me by staying away from the forest from now on.

I gaped at the paper in disbelief. It was impossible. It had to be some kind of joke. Maybe I had told someone else recently that I didn’t know how to repay them. Even while thinking it, I knew that wasn’t true. The only one I had said that to was the black wolf. Maybe someone overheard me. But..how? None of it made any sense. Sure, the wolf seemed smart, but not smart enough to figure out how to write me a note and stick it in my locker at school.

In English, I couldn’t concentrate on the lecture. I kept thinking about the note tucked in my back pocket, and how its existence was possible. My gut told me it wasn’t, but something else inside me kept thinking one thing. Eden had something to do with it.

I quickly devised a plan to test my theory. I wrote, “Thanks a lot. Ben won’t talk to me now. It’s your fault,” on a piece of paper and passed it back to Eden. I could compare whatever he wrote to the note I found, and see if the handwriting matched. To my dismay, Eden whispered, “So we’re passing notes now? What happened to talking?”

“I don’t want to get caught,” I whispered back.

“We’ve never been caught before.”

“We’ve barely ever talked, and we did get caught that one time, remember?”

“But you did so well pretending to be working,” he joked. That plan was a bust. I’d just have to figure out another way.

Near the end of class, Mr. Mitchell asked, per usual, for volunteers to pass out graded papers. This time I volunteered. As I passed out the graded poetry assignments, I flipped through them searching for Eden’s. Once I found it, I pulled the folded note out of my pocket and opened it on top of Eden’s paper. The handwriting was unmistakably his. My stomach felt like it had been submerged in ice water.

Unable to help myself, I looked over at Eden. He looked back at me darkly before turning away.

When I returned to my desk, I swallowed hard, and asked, “Is this a joke?” I didn’t dare to look at him. When he didn’t answer, I tried again, “Were you there or something?” He still didn’t answer, and this time I didn’t get a chance to ask again, because the bell rang.

When I got to algebra, Eden wasn’t there. He never showed up. At that point I decided to do something completely insane. I was going back to Eden’s house after school to confront him and get answers.