Her Unknown Wolf

Let's Go To The Mall

~Savia (Sah-vee-ah)

"Sav, time to get up for school! You don't want to be late!" Mom calls upstairs from the kitchen.

I groan and pull a pillow over my head, blocking the light and the noise. Just 5 more minutes, please. I silently pleaded. A few moments later I hear the steps creak as she comes up.

"Savia Lynne Reed, get up for school. NOW!" She yanks the covers off of me and I deeply sigh. "Oh you test me, child!" She huffs before opening up my blinds and flooding the room with bright sunlight.

"Moooom..." I whine.

"No. It's your last day of your senior year and you need to go."

"Whyyy?" I whine some more, not wanting to be awake yet. I move the pillow away enough to look at the time. 7:04 am. This caused another groan. I knew I shouldn't have stayed up til 4 am talking with Brooke on the phone.

"Because you've never missed a day and you're not breaking your streak now." She raises an eyebrow and smirks at me. "Now, get up and get dressed. I'll be dropping you off today."

"Can't I ride the bus? " I protest, but to no avail.

"Nope! I won't get the chance to drop my little girl off ever again after this." She frowns. She is always so sentimental, getting emotional over the smallest things ever.

"Fine." I sigh and finally sit up on my bed. "I'll be down in a few minutes." I shoot a sleepy half-smile at her and she nods and goes back downstairs.

I made my way towards my closet with a full length mirror next to it so I could see all 5'4" of me. I looked at my reflection and saw how wild my waist length silver hair was. Sticking up in all directions and frizzy, I could tell I slept poorly last night and tossed around. I would need lots of anti-frizz product in my hair today. I sighed and frowned, trying to figure out what the best way to do my hair today would be.

After changing from my pale tan pajamas into a pair of white denim shorts and a light blue halter top, I went over to my vanity and began brushing my hair. Adding a generous amount of product, and some patience, I was able to get it up into a ballerinas bun. I was pretty proud of myself.

Next I moved onto my make up and decided that, while needing a tad more product under my eyes, I would go for a more natural look today. I swiped on some winged eye liner, a light blush, and a soft pinkish peach lip gloss. Studying myself to make sure everything was perfect, I grinned. Looking good as always, Savia. I thought to myself before leaving my room.

As soon as I entered the hallway I was hit with the scents of breakfast. Anyone could easily mistake the smells for those of a fancy diner during their breakfast hours. It probably helped the illusion since my mom was a chef at the best restaurant in town, La Nappe Veloutée. I could tell she had been up for awhile working on cooking even though it was just the two of us.

I went down the stairs and entered the kitchen to a spread of fried eggs, bacon, sausage, fried diced potatoes, and hash browns. My mouth instantly started watering. This was my favorite breakfast.

"Wadda ya think?" My mom asked, opening her arms wide towards the food between us.

"I think it looks absolutely delicious." I grabbed a plate and began getting a little of everything. My stomach growled, forcing more saliva to fill my mouth. As soon as we sat down I dug right in.

We always ate together. It was so important to my mom that we had this quality time to talk, that's why she worked while I was at school. We would speak about anything like our plans for the day, if I had anything exciting happening or if she did, who's getting on who's nerves, if we met anyone we thought was cute. This morning we talked about my graduation, who I planned to keep in contact with, who I can't wait to not have to see again, what I'll miss, and what memories were my favorites of all.

"I can't believe you're going to be graduating tomorrow. Where did my little girl go?" My mom spoke as we were putting our dishes in the dishwasher so we could go.

"Mom." I rolled my eyes and smiled while shaking my head.

"What? It seems like just yesterday you came into my life and now you're all grown up and going to be heading off to college soon."

"It's community college. I'll be home every night."

"But what if you have evening classes and we miss our supper chat?"

"I'll try to avoid later classes. I like our talks too."

We continued to speak on the way to the car and it wasn't long before I was at school.

"I'll be working till 6 tonight so I'll be home late. If you want to, you can make supper for us, or you can meet me at the restaurant and we can eat there if you'd like. Just text me and let me know, okay, sweetie?"

"Okay, Mom."

"Alright, I'll see you later. I love you."

"Love you!" I said on my way out the door before I ran towards the entrance of the school where my friends, Brooke and May, were procrastinating going inside, but not to the point where they want to miss the first bell.

Brooke is a short girl who stood at 5'0" with shoulder length black hair and side swept bangs. She had green eyes that lit up any time she heard drama or sassed others, full of amusement.

May, however, was tall and lanky, standing around 5'7" but she'd never admit it. She had wavy blonde hair that came just past the bottom of her shoulder blades and dark brown eyes that only seemed to get brighter when she spoke about the books she loved. Her dream was to become a school librarian so she could share what books she thought were the best of all with future high schoolers.

"Savy!" Brooke called as I got closer. "Why don't you look as tired as I do?"

"It's called make up. Maybe you should try it sometime." I grinned as she feigned offense.

"You jerk!" She shoved my arm playfully and we all giggled.

"So can you guys believe we're going to graduating tomorrow and going off to college?" May excitedly asked.

"Oh no, you can count this girl out. I'm not going to college. When I cross that stage tomorrow I. Am. Done." Brooke said while putting emphasis on the last three words individually. "There is no way in hell that I'm going to torture myself with more school. You two are crazy."

"Crazy, maybe, but it'll all be worth it when we have our dream jobs. Isn't that right, Savy?" May asked while looking at me.

"Yeah, that's right." My dream was simple enough. I wanted to be a cosmetologist and make up artist. Eventually own my own salon.

"You guys are so boring." Brooke complained. "Anyway, we should go to the mall today after we get out. We'll have it mostly to ourselves until the other kids get out at 3." We were dismissed at noon as a special privilege and then don't have to attend the rest of the week.

"Sounds good to me, I don't have any plans." I said.

"I don't have any either. I'll go too." May spoke up just as the bell rang, indicating we have 3 minutes to get to class.

......

When we got to the mall we decided our first stop was a hole in the wall store that sold novelty items and gag gifts. We spent time trying on the hats and looking at the shirts before moving on to their other items. We picked up their glass cups and shot glasses, reading all the sayings, showing funny ones we found to each other. We found a few genital shaped gag gifts and giggled before bringing our purchases to the register.

We were still talking and laughing as we exited the store, bags in each of our hands, when I felt the hair on my arms rise. I looked around and my smile faded when I saw a group of three guys, sitting on a bench, and staring at us intently. They kept leaning their heads in towards each other and whispering, while the middle one was absolutely not taking his eyes off us.

"Hey," I turned towards the girls and made my voice a whisper as well, "those guys over there are staring this way and whispering. We should go."

"Or we can call them out on their creepy behavior." Brooke said, eyes lighting up at the idea of causing a scene in public.

"No, they look kinda dangerous." May said. "I wouldn't trust them not to follow us to our car if we left now. Let's just go into another store and see if they leave."

We locked arms and entered the nearest store. They sold perfumes, lotions, and other bath and body products.

We spent an hour, and more money than we should have, smelling the various products and getting caught up in sales and promotions they had going on. When we left the store we didn't see the group of guys anymore and, having no more money left to spend, left.

I was the first to be dropped off at home and I made them promise me they wouldn't miss my 18th birthday party in a few days for the world. After I stepped inside I texted my mom about supper plans, wanting to eat restaurant food but not wanting to walk there. She replied with a question mark but I only said I'd tell her later and watched TV until she got off work.

When she returned she had to go boxes of chicken fettuccine alfredo and garlic bread, claiming to have made it herself before she got off so she could hurry home faster.

"So, whats wrong, honey? Why didn't you want to eat at the restaurant? We could have made Brandt make this for us." She added with a smirk.

Brandt was the evening chef for the restaurant and my mom's friend. It was funny because he absolutely loathed alfredo. He couldn't stand the smell of it and claimed it made him sick. It always made me wonder why he would be a chef at a place that served a dish that would him gag.

I twirled some noodles around my fork as I began. "Well, we went to the mall and in between stores this group of guys kept staring at us and whispering. It was creepy. I know it's probably silly since they were gone by the time we left but I didn't want to walk across town all by myself."

My mom reached across the table and placed her hand on top of my free hand and looked at me with understanding in her eyes, comforting me. That's what I love most about my mother. She always makes sure I know that every thought and feeling, no matter how silly or insignificant it may have seemed, was valid and important.

"Would you like to get some protective items tomorrow before your graduation? I dont mind." She asked softly before removing her hand from mine.

"Sure." I replied.

"If you never use it then it's at least for peace of mind. Yours, and mine." She added.

......

I woke up to my heart pounding and my body sweaty. I dreamed of the guy from the mall and about how his eyes looked hungry. I normally wouldn't be this worked up by such a small encounter. They could have been talking about anything right? Something just really unnerved me and seemed strange about him. Anytime he popped into my head since yesterday I've felt weird and my heart rate quickened.

Finally having calmed down I glanced at the clock and realized I had been woken at 4:32am. I tried to go back to sleep but every time I started to doze off I would see his eyes and hear a low growl. Realizing I wouldn't be going back to la la land I dragged myself out of bed and into the kitchen to make some coffee.

I texted Brooke and May in a group chat about my dream and, to no surprise, Brooke instantly replied asking me to call her. She picked up immediately.

"What do you think it means?" She burst out right away.

"Well hello to you, too." I grumble before replying. "I have no idea what it could mean. Whatever it is though, it's obviously keeping me from being able to sleep."

"I don't know why he gives you the heeby-geebies so much. I'm not affected by it like that."

"Brooke, he was staring right at me." I emphasize. "He didn't look away and they all kept glancing in our direction. We could have been kidnapped."

"I don't know. They were creepy, yes, but the one was kinda cute and now I really wish I said something. I mean, seriously, when will we ever see them again?" She tried to calm me in her own way. She was right, I knew it. Chances of actually running into them again were slim. Something just kept feeling off to me. I didn't understand.

We talked awhile longer before Brooke said she was going to try to sleep. A few minutes later my mom made her way into the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of reheated coffee.

"Hey, kiddo." She yawned coming into the living room with her mug, still in her robe and slippers. "Long night?"

"Very. I woke up sweaty with my heart pounding. I had a nightmare about that man from the mall. He looked dangerous and stared at me with a look of hunger. It felt like I was being hunted." I told her about my dream and she sighed.

"Always trust your instincts, honey." She said, sitting herself right beside me on the sofa. "Whenever you're ready to go, we can head out." She said while yawning, clearly having hoped she had time to wake up before I was awake and ready.

"I'll let you finish your coffee." I smiled.

When we arrived at the store we were greeted by a member of a women's self defense class the building held on Wednesdays. Mom offered to pay for it if I wanted to sign up and I told her I'd have to think about it.

When we left we had gotten a small container of mace and a keychain icicle looking thing that I can put my house key on. Before leaving I did decide to sign up for the class just in case I ever needed it. More for peace of mind rather than anything else. Even if I never need it, at least I know it right?

Brooke thought I was crazy when I told her and May about the steps I took after our encounter. She thought I was being paranoid. May, however, thought it was practical and that self defense should be something everyone learns.

"Okay, everyone, ready?" The schools guidance counselor asked the group of seniors before her. "We are going to do a practice run through. Make sure you're in your correct spot in line. You have 2 minutes to get there before we begin. You'll be entering the auditorium in two lines. Don't start until the person in front of you is 4 rows in. Try to time this nicely."

Rehearsal went well, a few of the guys tried to be jokesters 'walking' for their fake diploma and getting scolded over it. Otherwise everything went without a single hitch and we were ready for graduation. A few hours later and that was it. We were officially no longer high schoolers.