Chapter Seven
1154 Words
“I’ve never thought of this like that.” I admit.
“Of course you haven’t. But you have to go. Besides, if you go, you’ll be graduating from The Lunar Crest. Can you imagine the opportunities? I mean, I will not be sitting here, explaining you what this means. You have to go, Kaya. “
“I… no, I don't consider this as an option. ”
“You should, then.”
I open my mouth to protest, but she lifts a hand to silence me.
“I will apply next year. “ Miley says. "We'll be together there, but if you don't go now, it can't happen."
“You will? Really?”
“Yes, I don’t see why not, it’s not over. And you can’t get rid of me so easily.”
this time I laugh with her.
“Come on,” she says, “and I’ll come visit. All the time, I promise. “
Why does this feel all sad, nostalgic and exciting at the same time?
I am hesitant before I say a quiet “okay.”
Miley smiles and I smile at her despite the roaring thoughts in my head.
“Besides, who will be keeping an eye on Asher for me before I go to him? “
“Oh, no…”
i feign irritation.
“Yes. I will keep stalking him, but now have an inside person. “
She laughs conspirationally and winks at me.
For the first time in days I feel like I can finally breathe.
***
“Did you take your ID?”
“Yes. “
“Papers. “
“Yes, all here. “
“Long -sleeved jacket for when it gets cold and…”
“Yes, yes and yes. “ I say and pause in the middle of the alley.
“I took everything, I am sure. I will be fine.”
“Okay, I know.” My mom says. “I’m just making sure you have everything you need. “
I resume walking, then I stop right before I get on the bus.
I have close to nothing anyway.
That’s what I think, but I never say it.
Instead, I turn around to look at her and smile.
“ Everything is here, I checked. “
“Okay. “She exhales and takes a step towards me to hug me.
“I’ll miss you. “
“I’ll miss you too, mom.”
My arms close around her and I return the hug. “ Everything will be okay.”
She says.
“You promise?”
I ask against her shoulder and for the first time since I agreed to all this s**t I fell… scared.
“What if I’m making a mistake?”
I pull back from her and my mom runs her hand over my head.
"What if all this is one big, huge mistake?"
“You’ll just come home. We’ll always be here. “
“I will have wasted my time.”
“A few months?”
She asks and we laugh.
“Not too much, right?’
"Right. Now get on, or I’ll never let you go. “
I get on and sit in the back of the bus. It’s almost empty. It’s six am and it’s started to get chilly. Septembers are always cold here, but it’s not so quiet and empty because of the weather, but because there’s almost no one going to the capital from our town.
I get a message from Miley wishing me good luck and a few others from our classmates and friends.
They all say they’ll be waiting for me. My brothers sent messages too, since they had to go to work and only mom could see me off. I have almost no bags- I’ve never had much anyway.
I put my phone back in my pocket and lean back in my seat.
Then I look through the window.
“Please, please, don’t let this be a huge mistake.”
I have this awful feeling we sometimes get. It’s like something is gnawing at your gut but you don’t know what, so you think it’s because you are hungry or because you had too much coffee.
It usually is just nerves.
Or is it?
***
Noises. Bodies pushing me from all corners. Honking. The air is heavy with smoke and the scents of so many people and wolves. I catch the scents of other animals too. Where I come from I know everyone.
Here is different.
It’s too fast, too loud and too much. All of it.
I get off the bus at the stop. I need to transfer here and get another one for the district. After a few changes and a long bus ride, I arrive.
I take a look around to find empty autumn streets and cars.
Lots of cars running fast around me.
No one stops.
I don’t see any bus stops either.
I was supposed to be waiting here for a bus to take me to the Lunar Crest.
There’s no such thing. All the information I must have had turns out to be wrong.
"Great,"
I mutter. I am tired and hungry, but I'm still not going to give up.
I look around and spot a gas station in the distance. I rush towards it and get in.
There’s a blond girl behind the counter and I approach to ask her where the nearest stop is, when a new scent- one I’ve never caught before-fills in my nostrils.
What is this?
I think frantically as I approach when I realize where the scent comes from. There’s someone in between the stands, choosing a sandwich.
Unexplained fear begins creeping up when I peek and see him. He is in his human form, but judging by the way he looks and the light blond hair I realize what he is.
A mountain lion.
I stand there, frozen and unable to move in the middle of this gas station shop in the middle of nowhere and there’s a mountain lion casually browsing for his human food.
“Hello?”
The girl from behind the encounter waves a hand at me. “Wolf girl, do you need anything? “
“I…”
“Are you okay?”
She asks and I turn to look at her.
“Never seen a lion before?”
The voice comes from behind me, then I hear the approaching footsteps and my heart begins beating like crazy.
The man places the sandwich on the counter and smiles at the cashier.
“This. And a pack of Newports.”
Then he turns to look at me.
“Not from around here, are you? " he says, "Where are you headed to?”
He’s going to kill me
I realize the moment the lion flame sparks in his eyes.
Mountain lions are our biggest, sworn enemies.
And he'll finish me in one jump, one bite. And I have no where to hide.
- Writer
